Hall & Oates - Along the Red Ledge (Original Recording Remastered)
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Hall & OatesEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2008-07-29
Music Label: Friday Music
Soundtracks:
- It s A Laugh
- Melody For A Memory
- The Last Time
- I Don t Wanna Lose You
- Have I Been Away Too Long
- Alley Katz
- Don t Blame It On Love
- Serious Music
- Pleasure Beach
- August Day
Free Music Notes for Along the Red Ledge (Original Recording Remastered)
Free Music Review: Stellar Reissue of Their Best Album
Hit: 5 Stars
I couldn't be happier with the reissue of this, Hall and Oates' finest album. Musically, it represents an effective amalgam of the various styles they had traversed on the previous 6 or 7 albums: we have dreamy R&B-tinged soft rock ("It's a Laugh"), surprisingly edgy and experimental hard rock ("Alley Katz" and "Don't Blame It on Love"), a moody tone poem a la "Without Tears" from "Sacred Songs" (the closing "August Day") and lots of other stuff in between, nearly all of it great. The only misstep for me would be the self-consciously retro "Pleasure Beach", which sounds suspiciously like a "Grease" outtake (heck, Oates' lead vocal even resembles John Travolta!). Special credit should go to the backup band, this time largely comprised of Elton John veterans. They are occasionally supplemented by session musicians, and while that invariably renders the performances a little bland and generic, here the session musicians happen to be Robert Fripp, Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick, George Harrison and Todd Rundgren. Their contributions, rather than taking away from the music's personality, imbue it with even more energy, imagination and distinction. Amazingly, this brilliant record was produced by future schlockmeister David Foster, but this was long before he found fame, fortune and indignity producing Celine Dion. He does a good job pulling together these different styles, while resisting the temptation to smooth out the rough edges. In fact, there are several moments that are delightfully raw, one might even say "underproduced" (refreshingly so). Hall's lead vocal on "Alley Katz" is a prime example: at various points he's clearly straining to hit some of the notes with the requisite power. While some may suggest this demonstrates his inability to deliver a convincing hard rock vocal, I find it rather strangely endearing and impressive. It's not a straight hard rock vocal and it's certainly not the R&B vocal delivery for which Daryl is known... rather, it's as if he's atttempting to bridge the gap between the two and in the process, creates something entirely different and wonderful.
Friday Music have done a first-rate job with the reissue. The sound is smooth, crisp and punchy in all the right places. The packaging features the lyrics and pictures (albeit in microscopic form) included with the original album and they even went so far to package the disc in a red-tinted case to mirror the "red" theme of the album title and graphics. Nice. Also, the lyrics are printed in a handwriting-style font to mirror the way they appeared on the original inner sleeve! There's nothing extra, really, in the way of pictures, interviews or bonus tracks, but in every area that truly matters (sound and original packaging) this is just about the most perfect reissue of Hall and Oates' most perfect album I can fathom. Well done.
Along the Red Ledge (Original Recording Remastered) Poster
Along The Red Ledge was a return to the soulful rock sounds that superstars Hall and Oates were known for. It proved to be a huge hit with the fans netting several hit singles and accumulating another platinum chart record for the team. As an eighth album in their extensive catalog, the Philly duo explored a redefined approach to their trademark sound, which would continue their winning streak for the next long run of platinum plus albums into the new millennium.Enlisting a new producer in David Foster, the new conglomeration got down to business and put together a stellar list of ten new songs and kicked things off with the huge radio hit It s A Laugh. Clocking in less than four minutes, this magical song had the melody, harmony and familiar guitar and piano interplay that only Hall and Oates could create.
Their band included some of the hottest musicians of that era with stellar players like Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, long time stable mate Charlie DeChant and future superstar producer David Foster.
If that wasn t worth its weight in gold, the duo also brought along some very big heavyweights for the session including the late great George Harrison, Toto s Steve Porcaro and Steve Lukather, King Crimson founder Robert Fripp, Cheap Trick s Rick Nielsen and of course Westbrook Park, PA native and Philly soul brother Todd Rundgren.
The sessions were recorded and mixed in Los Angeles and New York City and proved to be the winning combination to capture some of this collective duo s most powerful recordings from the late seventies. Along with their aforementioned hit It s A Laugh, Melody For A Memory finds Hall and Oates with a very classy nod to the progressive rock style they found on their previous works like Is It A Star, Winged Bull and more of their harder edged material. The Phil Spector influenced The Last Time is a very interesting departure from the rest of the album. Drenched in 12-string rhythm guitars, the wall of sound drum beat , the strategically placed string section, and Hall s strong vocal, made this one of the finest album tracks in their repertoire. If you never heard this song before, you will never stop playing it. It is just one of those carefully crafted hypnotic tunes that you ll remember forever in the record player in your mind.
Growing up in the Philly area back in the sixties and seventies, you had the golden opportunity to have been blessed to listen to and buy the coolest soul and rock sounds ever waxed. Both Hall and Oates had their beginnings as well in several area bands that would eventually lead to their superstar partnership.
Daryl Hall (originally Daryl Hohl) was in the blue-eyed soul band, The Temptones, who had cut a few Temptations influenced sides. Later on, he formed Gulliver with another fine songwriter/vocalist Tim Moore, while John Oates was carrying some very fine melodies himself with his band The Masters. The significance of the second hit single culled from this album, I Don t Wanna Lose You, truly brings all of these rudimentary elements and influences to the forefront and helped deliver a slamming soul rocker that is still one of their finest songs ever.
Don t Blame It On Love captures the essence of their live performances at the time. On the level of 1976 s Room To Breathe from Bigger Than Both Of Us (Friday Music 1976) or from some of the more rocking offerings from 1977 s Beauty On A Back Street (Friday Music 1977), this track displays the incredible range this act could deliver on a consistent basis.
The amazing thing about Along The Red Ledge is that it has been out of print for over a decade in any format, that is until now. As a second installment in the extensive HALL AND OATES REMASTERS series, Friday Music has gone back to the original source tapes and this gem is now presented as pristine remaster. More to follow!
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