Love is Served

Daryl Hall and John Oates launched a comeback effort in 1997 with Marigold Sky, but few paid attention – partially because the time wasn't right, partially because it wasn't the right album for a comeback. Six years later, the duo tried it again with Do It for Love and, remarkably, it all clicked. First of all, the climate was ripe for a Hall & Oates reunion, not just because the group was subjected to a flattering episode of VH1's Behind the Music, but because their longtime fans and '80s nostalgiaics alike were warm to the duo's hooky, sophisticated, effortlessly enjoyable blue-eyed soul. Then, there's the fact that Do It for Love is their best album in 20 years, even if it has very little to do with the sharply modern new wave-soul of Private Eyes and H2O. Although it sounds like neither, this hearkens back to the sensibility of both Abandoned Luncheonette and 1975's eponymous debut for RCA, where the emphasis was on the songwriting and the productions understatedly served the song.