Oops, Eah? 3 Out of 5 Stars
Daryl Hall and John Oates had such an incredible run on the charts that a collapse was inevitable, and "Ooh Yeah" was that album. It's not a bad album as much as an average one, and after a four year break between studio albums, average equated bad in the ears of the public. Add that "Ooh Yeah
" is overproduced, and the duo's string broke here.There should be a caveat inserted in here that the times were also changing; Phil Collins was white soul-man of choice by now and his songwriting was hitting a peak in this period. "Ooh Yeah" still managed three top 40 singles in the top 10 "Everything Your Heart Desires," along with "Downtown Life" and "Missed Opportunity." There's also a trilogy of sorts with "Soul Love," "Real Love," and "Keep On Pushing Love" as the album's closers. John Oates gets a solid vocal on "Rockabilty," while "Rocket To God" is one of Hall's better album tracks.
The ultimate problem, though, is the production. Pumped full of 80's electronic keyboards and faux soul horns (think Huey Lewis), most of "Ooh Yeah" now sounds like an obvious date stamp. Which is a shame, because it seems like Hall and Oates recognized that error by the time the follow-up, the far more acoustic "Change Of Season" and the career comeback in 1997 of "Marigold Sky." By then, it was too late to regain their chart dominance, even if they've regained their maturity and excellence. "Ooh Yeah" is an 80's album and sounds the part.
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