Published on Jul 15, 1998
It had been seven years since Daryl Hall & John Oates
released a new album. In 1990,
Change Of Season was released, and when it was announced in
1997 that H&O were due with a new album, it was just a matter
of waiting for the new release to hit the stores.
Marigold Sky is that album, and since I am a huge fan of
this duo, without hearing any media reviews concerning the album,
it was quite obvious for me to pick up this new release. (I don’t
know what the reviews were; I can say that I was not disappointed
with this album.)
Hall & Oates’ music in the past had a 1970s soul feel. But
on
Marigold Sky, the first six songs have a standard pop-rock
sound, and some songs (from the first six) meets the standards of
today’s rock and alternative. (That’s a surprise!) The remaining
six songs are your standard Hall and Oates’ soul-inspired
regulars.
The first six songs – An Update: Hall and Oates meet the
1990s…
“Romeo Is Bleeding” starts out the album, yet it doesn’t have
the soul of their past hit, “Say It Isn’t So”, it is a bouncy pop
song. The title track, “Marigold Sky”‘s main verses has a sound
similar to John Mellencamp’s most recent material, as in “Just
Another Day”, from his album called
Mr. Happy Go Lucky.
“The Sky Is Falling” is another pop-rock song, and it has a
gentle feeling to it. “Out Of The Blue” has a more grittier rock
sound. Likewise, “Want To” and “Love Out Loud” are songs with grit,
and both have an alternative/rock style that could become regular
playlist items on any alternative rock station. (YIKES!! That’s
different for Hall and Oates, but I’m not complaining…)
The remaining six songs – Back to Basics
These remaining tunes captures the sweet soul sound Hall &
Oates are famous for. “Throw The Roses Away”, is a ballad. Having a
1990s sound to it, this is a song that Boyz II Men could of easily
recorded. “I Don’t Think So” has a 1970s soul feel to it. The
solo-Lionel Richie sounding tune, “Promise Ain’t Enough”, is
another soft ballad that is enjoyable and has a smooth new-age jazz
style.
“Time Won’t Pass Me By”‘s guitar works is compared to those
heard in Barry White’s songs. “Hold On To Yourself” is a funky
number, mixing both styles of the 1970s and 1990s. “War Of Words”
closes out the album, and is another soft ballad done well, only
Hall and Oates can do.
Marigold Sky‘s beginning tracks are different than the
common sound normally heard by Daryl Hall and John Oates. It’s pop
rock, and songs with a harder rock edge. This is considered Side
One. Side Two returns the duo back to what they were famous for:
Recording tunes with a sound compared to soul, mixing this style to
the 1990s style of today (in some cases).
For the die-hard H&O fan,
Marigold Sky is not a disappointment. This album returns the
duo back to their common ground popularity, meaning that Hall and
Oates can still write and record songs in their usual style, even
if the sound of today’s popular music is different to theirs. Hall
and Oates didn’t change their style of music completely, they just
took their normal sound and updated it. Hall and Oates are just one
of many few white artists that can truly capture the sound of sweet
soul music, and stamp their names as part of that musical
style.