Pros: "Out of Touch", and a couple other songs transcend dunderheaded, self-conscious production
Cons: Dunderheaded, self-conscious production
The Bottom Line: "Big Bam Boom" may have extended Hall & Oates' winning streak, but it was a clumsy, self-conscious attempt to fit in with current radio trends, and it largely falls flat.
plorentz's Full Review: Big Bam Boom by Hall & Oates
For a mainstream pop act, Hall & Oates always had something of an adventurous streak that made them consistently one of the most interesting bands on the radio. Somehow, they managed numerous stylistic shifts – many quite unexpected – without letting songwriting take a back seat to studio trickery. Not everything worked, of course, but at the very least, the songs were always catchy, the band (featuring G.E. Smith on Guitar, T-Bone Wolk on Bass, and Mickey Curry on drums) was always tight (really frickin’ tight) and they played with a showbizzy flair. And then, of course, there was Daryl Hall’s voice, one of the most recognizable (and recognizably wonderful) in the rock era.
Of the many acts who had made their name in the 70s, but lived to face the challenges of the much more visually-attuned 80s, Hall & Oates were probably the most proficient at incorporating the aesthetic of the new wave and punk movements into their sound without ever coming off as bandwagon-jumpers, or sad, old wannabes. They hit their stride on a series of albums from 1979-1982 culminating in the wonderful “H2O” a winning streak that generated 14 hit singles, including 4 Number Ones. By 1984, when they released “Big Bam Boom”, the 80s were shaping up to be Hall & Oates’ decade. (But then, along came Madonna... and that’s another story for another time.)
“Big Bam Boom” was their first studio release following their triumphant (and optimistically titled) hits package “Rock & Soul Pt. 1,” and though it proved to be a major commercial success, generating another 4 Top 40 hits and one more Number One in the form of the immensely likable “Out of Touch”, it also found the band struggling with their musical identity in a most-unflattering and self-conscious way, and it eventually proved the duo's (temporary)undoing.
Whereas many of their previous albums explored a diverse array of sounds, from Todd Rundgren-inspired power-pop to Robert Palmer-style synth-soul, the sound of “Big Bam Boom” feels washed out and uniform. Much of the album feels like a blatant attempt to mimic the sounds of the then current-flavors-of-the-month. Songs like “All American Girl” and “Method of Modern Love”, with their slinky sax lines and faux world-beat rhythms, are bald-faced Thompson Twin-isms.
The strategy may have been successful at the time: “Method of Modern Love” was a huge hit on the radio, peaking at Number 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100. But 20 years removed from the commercial context into which that single was released, the ridiculousness of the song (and its accompanying video) is plain.
In fact, much of “Big Bam Boom” feels inspired by (if not fully geared towards) the dance clubs, from the lead-footed bass drums, prominent synth lines, and experiments with tape-looped vocals on “Going Through the Motions” to the white-boy rap in “All American Girl”. The highly talented band is mostly wasted on this material, and even on relatively enjoyable songs like “Cold Dark and Yesterday” (one of John Oates’s entries), “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid”, and “Possession Obsession” (another John Oates song, and a single to boot!), it seems a little sad that G.E. Smith, one of the most colorful and playful guitarists of the 80s, was brought in to the do the work of any anonymous studio session player.
“Big Bam Boom” has its moments, but then, most of those moments are available on any one of numerous recent hits packages (I’d recommend the double-disc import “The Very Best of Hall & Oates”), making this album merely a fossil (an interesting fossil, to be sure) of one of the more problematic moments of an otherwise distinguished pop music career. Recommended, but hardly essential.
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In Summer 2004, BMG Heritage (finally) issued a remaster of "Big Bam Boom"; the new package includes much-improved sound, excellent liner notes by Ken Sharp based on interviews with Daryl Hall and John Oates, completely reprinted lyrics, along with three bonus tracks - 12" inch remixes of "Out of Touch", "Method of Modern Love" and (somewhat inexplicably) "Dance on Your Knees". If you're gonna blow your money on this album, this is the version to have.
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“Big Bam Boom” by Hall & Oates
Originally Released 1984, RCA Records
Re-released 7/27/04, BMG Heritage
Produced by Daryl Hall, John Oates, and Bob Clearmountain
41 min.
SONGS: Dance On Your Knees - Out of Touch - Method of Modern Love - Bank On Your Love - Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid - Going Thru The Motions – Cold Dark and Yesterday – All American Girl - Possession Obsession
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