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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Don't Change |
| 2. Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts? |
| 3. You Must Be Good For Something |
| 4. The Emptyness |
| 5. Bad Habits and Infections |
| 6. Bigger Than Both of Us |
| 7. Love Hurts, Love Heals |
| 8. Winged Bull |
| 9. The Girl Who Used To Be |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is probably the darkest album Dary Hall & John Oates ever made. And possibly also one of the most difficult to get into. That's not to say that it isn't a good album - there are some gems on here. The opening track "Don't Change" is a lush soulful slow rocker very typical of H&O, but even for an album opener it has a dark edge that contrasts dramatically with the next track "Why Do Lovers..." This is the lightest and most 'pop' song on the album and an obvious single; H&O always at their strongest with this type of Philly soul sound. The most beautiful track on here is John Oates' "Emptiness" - a heart-wrenching ballad with a powerfully emotional performance by Oates, which is made just a little more extraordinary by the unconventional production. Somehow the more rockier tracks here remind me of "War Babies" and lack the soul and warmth that I associate with H&O, but "Bad Habits" and "...Good for Something" are both very catchy. "Bigger Than Both of Us" sounds like it was left over from their previous album of the same name (and that's no bad thing) but it's the last 2 tracks on the album which are the most remarkable: what is Daryl Hall on about on "Winged Bull"? This was recorded around the time of his solo album with Robert fripp and Fripp's off-the-wall weirdness has definitely rubbed off. And the closing track seems to have lost it's direction as it meanders along going nowhere.
What makes this album stand out from other H&O albums is the production and the experimentation - the risk-taking. Sometimes it makes you wonder just what on earth they were thinking about and sometimes you just don't care. Compared to the insipid pop of their later albums this is a dark edgy offering which takes a lot of listening but it is ultimately far more rewarding.
What makes this album stand out from other H&O albums is the production and the experimentation - the risk-taking. Sometimes it makes you wonder just what on earth they were thinking about and sometimes you just don't care. Compared to the insipid pop of their later albums this is a dark edgy offering which takes a lot of listening but it is ultimately far more rewarding.
Format:Audio CD
I just love this album! Winged Bull was actually the first song I ever heard with H&O. It caught my attention right away and I bought the album because of it. (This was the vinyl Beauty on a back street (1977) [VINYL]) The lyrics are quite imaginative, true, but not difficult to understand if you know a few scraps of mythology and it's a poignant love song, refreshingly free from the usual clichés! In fact, the originality of the lyrics is one of the major appeals of this very album. Emptyness is a simply heartbreaking track - don't listen if you've just broken up with your lover! I don't find this a hard to get into album, the songs still feel quite fresh and it has stood the test of time quite well. It's about time it's available on CD so that more people can get acquainted with this gem of the Hall & Oates production. If you think H&O are only good for 80's bubblegum pop this album should blow away your mind!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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14 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Back Street Rocks!
22 Jun 2001
Format:Audio CD
In 1977, Daryl and John were riding high on the success of the "Bigger Than Both of Us" album and it's #1 single "Rich Girl" and in August of that year put out "Beauty on A Back Street" which has a much more electric presence than its predecessor. Daryl and John both stated that they didn't like the production of this album (an artist is usually his own biggest critic) and they never really were until they started producing themselves in 1980 with "Voices".
There are a lot of signature songs here, plenty that would have been hits. The first release "Don't Change" was released as a remix on 7" vinyl (strings were added at the intro) and others like "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?", "Love Hurts (Love Heals)" "Bigger Than Both of Us" and "You Must Be Good For Something" all defined the sound that differentiates this album from their two prior RCA releases. This album features Tom Scott on saxaphone.
The only criticism I have is that there's not a lot of upbeat John Oates material. I can give or take "The Girl Who Used To Be" and "The Emptyness".
Another song called "How Could You Survive" was also intended for this album. It was listed on the back of the songbook that goes with this. It later appeared on Daryl Hall's "Sacred Songs" album as "Survive".
Add this and "Along The Red Ledge" to your collection and play them back-to-back. You'll wonder why disco lasted as long as it did.
Update: The "Don't Change" remix is now available on Legacy's "Eco-Friendly" album called "The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates"... but be careful, there are two albums with this same title.
There are a lot of signature songs here, plenty that would have been hits. The first release "Don't Change" was released as a remix on 7" vinyl (strings were added at the intro) and others like "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?", "Love Hurts (Love Heals)" "Bigger Than Both of Us" and "You Must Be Good For Something" all defined the sound that differentiates this album from their two prior RCA releases. This album features Tom Scott on saxaphone.
The only criticism I have is that there's not a lot of upbeat John Oates material. I can give or take "The Girl Who Used To Be" and "The Emptyness".
Another song called "How Could You Survive" was also intended for this album. It was listed on the back of the songbook that goes with this. It later appeared on Daryl Hall's "Sacred Songs" album as "Survive".
Add this and "Along The Red Ledge" to your collection and play them back-to-back. You'll wonder why disco lasted as long as it did.
Update: The "Don't Change" remix is now available on Legacy's "Eco-Friendly" album called "The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates"... but be careful, there are two albums with this same title.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
beauty anywhere
30 July 2002
Format:Audio CD
"WHY DO LOVERS BREAK EACH OTHERS HEARTS?" Why-N-L doesn't SOMEBODY put this great song on one of the GREATEST HITS packages? This song was being played on every FM station around, and would of been huge if one of the "boy wonder" producers would of pulled his head out of the labels arse and promoted it,and the album. Of course it didn't help that H&O dismissed it because they weren't crazy about the production, but the album was unlike anything else-it wasn't "chock fulla' hits." Still, it was a nice change for H&O, and, I think there were several songs that could of been hits. Having Tom Scott on board, I thought, was a big plussoposi. All said, this may not be H&O's best release, (that would be "ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE" in my opinion.), but it's still worth your money and time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
It's Only rock and roll, and I like it
4 Aug 2004
Format:Audio CD
"Beauty On A Back Street" found Darryl Hall and John Oates veering way far away from the blue eyed soul that gave them their first handful of hits, and it took everyone by surprise. Radio stations shunned it upon release in 1977, and it became one of the very few H&O albums to not produce a Top 40 single. Not like there weren't any contenders here. "Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts" and "Love Hurts/Love Heals" had hooks for days. It also contains one of John Oates' best (and saddest) ballads, "The Girl Who Used To Be." But the focus seemed to be on the fact that a couple of the songs on "Beauty" sounded more like the Rolling Stones or Led Zepplin than what was expected from Hall and Oates!
In particular, the lyrically mythic "Winged Bull" was a direct rip from "Kashmir," right down to the quirky strings and time signature. "You Must Be Good For Something" was Mick Jagger misogynist, and the six minute rocking opus "Bad Habits and Infections" was the hardest song the duo had recorded since the Todd Rundgren experiment (and inexplicably out of print) "War Babies." This wasn't your big sister's blue eyed soul pin-up record, and sales slumped accordingly. As for me, it remains one of my three favorite H&O CDs, and I snatched it up when it was reissued in 1996. If you wonder where that "Rock and Soul" tagline that got applied to Hall and Oates' career came from, this is an overlooked album to check out.
In particular, the lyrically mythic "Winged Bull" was a direct rip from "Kashmir," right down to the quirky strings and time signature. "You Must Be Good For Something" was Mick Jagger misogynist, and the six minute rocking opus "Bad Habits and Infections" was the hardest song the duo had recorded since the Todd Rundgren experiment (and inexplicably out of print) "War Babies." This wasn't your big sister's blue eyed soul pin-up record, and sales slumped accordingly. As for me, it remains one of my three favorite H&O CDs, and I snatched it up when it was reissued in 1996. If you wonder where that "Rock and Soul" tagline that got applied to Hall and Oates' career came from, this is an overlooked album to check out.
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