The Atlantic Albums: Whole Oates / Abandoned Luncheonette / War Babies [Double CD]

For an album as beloved and as famous as "Abandoned Luncheonette" to not be on a straightforward CD remaster somewhere in the world at a reasonable price is downright odd. Up until now Hall & Oates fans have had to put up with bits of it on a 'Best Of' or 'Live Versions' on a pricey Box Set. But this superb two-disc reissue from Edsel of the UK which gathers up their first 3 albums on Atlantic (including "Abandoned Luncheonette") - puts an end to that - and how. All three LPs are remastered to great effect and you even get 4 bonus tracks from 2 compilations covering the period. Here are the details...

Released as a 2CD set on 25 July 2011 in the UK, Edsel EDSD2103 breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (75:35 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Whole Oats", released November 1972 in the USA on Atlantic SD-7242. It was eventually released in the UK on Atlantic K 50306 in September 1976

Tracks 12 to 20 are their 2nd album "Abandoned Luncheonette", released November 1973 in the USA on Atlantic SD-7269 and January 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 40534

Disc 2 (57:14 minutes):
Track 1 is "Past Times Behind" - first released on "The Atlantic Collection" CD in 1996 (it's an outtake from the "Whole Oats" sessions from April 1972)

Tracks 2 to 4 are "It's Uncanny", "I Want To Know You For A Long Time" and "Love You Like A Brother" which were 3 new songs on the "No Goodbyes" compilation album released March 1977 in the USA on Atlantic SD-18213 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50347

Tracks 5 to 14 are their 3rd album "War Babies", released October 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD-18109 and November 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 50086

Edsel have been at this reissue game for a very long time so it's no surprise that even at this price, the 32-page booklet being offered here is superlative - Pages 2 to 7 deal with "Whole Oats", Pages 8 to 13 with "Abandoned Luncheonette" and Pages 14 to 23 with the bonus tracks and "War Babies". Pages 24 to 31 give you a history and appreciation of the albums and that period in their career by noted writer ALAN ROBINSON and in between are pictures of 7" singles, album labels, full-colour artwork and promo stuff. The text even references Ken Sharp's fantastic work on the 2009 4CD Hall & Oates Box Set "Be What You Want, Be Who You Are" (which I've extensively reviewed elsewhere). As I say - it's impressive stuff. But the real fireworks lie in the sound...

Remastered by PHIL KINRADE at the Alchemy Studios in London, the sound quality is superb. The first album suffers a tiny bit from hiss, but by the time you get to the ARIF MARDIN production values of "Abandoned Luncheonette" and the expertise of TODD RUNDGREN on "War Babies" - the audio quality is gorgeous.

Highlights include "Lilly (Are You Happy)" which even in 1972 showed their soulfulness in a rock context, while it's easy to see why "Goodnight And Goodmorning" was chosen as their debut 7" single on Atlantic - it's very upbeat if not a little lightweight. "I'm Sorry" was the follow up 45 in the USA and really should have gotten them noticed - but it tanked (amazingly they didn't reach the US charts until 1976).

But what did get them attention was the quantum leap in song-writing and production quality on album number 2 - "Abandoned Luncheonette". Even now its opener "When The Morning Comes" sounds as fresh as a daisy and still brings a smile to many a face - the remaster of it is just lovely (lyrics above). It's followed by the acoustic guitar opening of "Had I Known You Better Then" which is now very clear - as is its slinky bassline. But that's trumped by the punch of the gambling song "Las Vegas Turnaround..." - it's incredibly good and again still sounds bright-as-a-button after all these years. Then there's the big one and their real breakthrough - "She's Gone" - the audio here is truly gorgeous - with Chris Bond's Mellotron even more to the fore (the strings too). It's also a treat to get the lesser-heard and completely forgotten "Laughing Boy" in great sound - it features Hall on a piano only with a solitary Flugelhorn backing him up (provided by Marvin Stamm) - very nice indeed.

Disc 2 opens with 4 lesser-heard sides including the excellent outtake "Past Times Behind" - an acoustic ditty as pretty as anything on the debut album. The upbeat "It's Uncanny" was released as a 7" single in late 1977. The "War Babies" album had Todd Rundgren at the controls and you can hear his influence on the trippy "Is It A Star?" and "Beanie G And The Rose Tattoo" which sounds like a "Hermit At Mink Hollow" outtake. But the air-raid sirens that open "War Baby Son Of Zorro" still sound like they belong to some other band - as does the metal jaggedness of "Johnny Gore And The C Eaters". "70's Scenario" is more melodic and "Better Watch Your Back" is good too, but little gets you away from the feeling that the vast majority of the album is a badly misguided mistake at trying a new direction. They would get their more natural soulfulness back when they signed to RCA in 1975 and released stuff like "Sara Smile".

To sum up - 3 full albums and more, great sound quality, superbly annotated booklet, tunes you love and some worth getting to know...and it's cheap too.

Even if it isn't all genius - "The Atlantic Albums...Plus" is a very good deal indeed.

PS:
There's a 7" single Discography attached to this review in the 'comment' section - this release will allow fans to sequence their first 8 releases on 45 for the first time

This is a fantastic package. Really great value. The re-mastering is top notch. The sleeve notes are informative and the albums are just brilliant. I'd always thought that War Babies was one of their most under-rated albums and this confirmed my view. Warped soul music with a really tender heart. It's dated well and on its own I'd recommend to anyone. Abandoned Luncheonette is generally recognised as their best album and Arif Mardin's production alongside cracking songs make for a real treat. For me, Whole Oats was the biggest surprise as I'd been expecting an insipid start to their career. However, it knocked me sideways. More folky than any of their other work, the songs are really strong and you can already see why they enjoyed such a long career. You even get some extra tracks from No Goodbyes, their swansong compilation with Atlantic, so all in all this is a must purchase for any fans. For those not too sure about the duo, don't be influenced by their eighties hi-end pop approach, these are three belting rock and soul albums which can stand alongside many great US albums from the early seventies.

Hall and Oates best ever album and it has some competition - Abandoned Luncheonette never really got the credit it deserves, most people have heard She's gone but there are even better ballads on the album and John Oates for once gets the chance to shine with some excellent vocal performances on Had I known and I'm just a kid, Darly Hall not to be outdone sings the amazing Laughing boy. The album doesn't have a bad track and gets better and better the more you listen to it even after 38 years. The main reason i bought this boxed set was to get the remastered version of A.L. and also a CD copy of Whole Oats - another good album with strong songs especially for a first attempt. War Babies is also good but for me Todd Rundgren's production magic is best served up on his own albums and War Babies isn't a patch on Abandoned . Hall and Oates played some 35 year anniversary concerts in the States marking A.L's release pity they didn't come to Britain but here's hoping they do to celebrate 40 year in 2014. For anyone who thinks of Hall and Oates as simply that early 80's band of catchy hits buy this album and if you have any soul you won't regret it . Great Price Great Package worth every penny and more