“Laughing Down Crying” is the first solo release from Daryl Hall since 1997’s, “Can’t Stop Dreaming”. He’s spent much of that time recording and touring with John Oates. There is something very familiar about the music on this album, but at the same time, it’s obvious that he not only enjoys the craft of writing hooky songs, but he enjoys trying new things on the production end. In the digital age however, the line between soulfulness and slickness is a very fine one. How one defines the distinction will affect how you will like the first part of this CD.
One of the interesting things to me about Hall, it that he has such a knack for writing songs which are catchy (in a top 40 kind of way), but then when you hear his solo material, it’s obvious that he likes to be a bit more daring. Take the first four songs on this disc. They are crafted for radio airplay which means they are very catchy. (Especially the title track and, “Talking to You…”) This of course is not a bad thing, but compared to the rest of the disc, they come across as a bit slick. Things begin to heat up on track 5 as “Save Me” has a bit more grit to it, and it works perfectly with his voice The rest of the CD is the best combination of Daryl Hall… soulful vocals with music that has some bite to it. “Message to Ya”, “Get Out of the Way”, “Crash and Burn” are all great songs. “Problem With You” ends the disc on a high note.
Despite my feelings about the first songs on the disc, I would encourage you to give this a listen. If you are a fan of Daryl Hall, then it is certainly something you will want to buy. His voice is not only as good, but I would contend it’s better than his Hall & Oates days…smooth, soulful and warm. When he wraps that voice around music that is a bit adventuresome, it makes for a nice combo that propels the song from good to great. If you have never heard a Daryl Hall solo disc before, this will not disappoint.