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Old 01-05-2023, 11:50 AM   #2 (permalink)
Trollheart
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Album title: Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine
Artist: Daryl Hall
Nationality: American
Year: 1986
Genre: Pop/Rock
Chronology: 2 of 7 (so far)
What this album means to me: Not all that much but it was interesting
Highlights: Dreamtime, For You, Right as Rain, What’s Gonna Happen to Us
Lowlights: Wasn’t Born Yesterday, Next Step, Let it Out
Lyric of the album: Nothing comes to mind.

I thought about leaving this one out. I mean, there’s no way I’m going to pretend this is one of my favourite albums, so what’s it doing on the list? Well, I have to admit to a sneaking admiration for the way Hall has approached this album. After years of mainstream success with his partner John Oates, and being known as the voice behind such hits as “Maneater”, “I Can’t Go For That” and “Kiss On My List”, he could easily have taken the route of getting someone - or several someones - to write a bunch of hits for him, and putting his voice to them climbed the charts again. That’s not what he did though. Almost everything here is written or co-written by him, and while some tracks do bear a resemblance to the style of Hall & Oates, many are taking him well outside that comfort zone.

He tackles everything from AOR and arena rock to pop and jazz and of course ballad, even a bit of world music thrown in. (Look, I’m not sure about the jazz: it’s been ten years since I reviewed this, but chances are I remarked somewhere about jazz influences). It’s not what you’d call a stunning change, but it’s also not what you might expect from the mainman of what was once the premier “white boy soul” band, or duo, of the 1980s. Truth to tell, this album is riddled with poor or sub-par tracks, but the ones that shine really shine, and in effect though there are only about four of them, they’re so much better than the weaker ones that they almost make up two tracks each, if that makes sense.

Basically, the album is a surprise, though not anything like a shock. You’ll recognise the familiar voice, just he may be singing songs you might not have expected him to. Tender ballads such as the gloriously laid-back “Right as Rain” or the yearning closer “What’s Gonna Happen to Us”, with its eco-friendly tilt, sit alongside power rockers like “Dreamtime” (the hit single from the album, got to number 5) and the standout “For You”, which has a hook that just gets lodged in your brain and won’t let go. It is, I think, a brave decision; not only does he do all or most of the songwriting, but he plays just about everything and even produces the album. This is, in all and every sense of the word, a solo album. AND there’s no sign of a “guest spot” for his partner, which is nice, as he could easily have fulfilled that cliche, but chose not to. Or maybe Oates told him where to stick it. Either way, the album is not a cavalcade of pop stars helping their mucker out: there’s barely anyone here I know. Okay, there’s Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics and a guy from the Pretenders, and Bob Geldof and Joni Michell lend their voices to the backing on one or two tracks. Michael Kamen is there too, conducting the orchestra. But that’s it.

I personally feel it’s a courageous decision he made, and while Christgau may sneer at his attempts - and I wouldn’t necessarily correct him - I feel Hall gets it right here few enough times to justify the price of the album. There’s a lot of filler, but now and again there’s a killer, and those are the ones worth waiting for.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-CJzeup-FM&t=1s

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Last edited by Trollheart; 01-12-2023 at 12:04 PM.
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