John Oats
Elektra/PS
2011-04-12
Comprised of covers and originals, this latest solo offering from one half of the Hall and Oates hit machine suffers from a feeling of sterility — it’s produced with radio in mind, something that undercuts the attempts at being “stripped down,” such as on “Please Send Me Someone to Love”, the opening, titular cut, and a failed attempted at swamp soul, “Deep River”. Among the two most unnecessary cuts are the revamped the Hall and Oates classic “You Make My Dreams Come True” and Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up”. The former becomes self-parody, while the latter is more somnolent than sexy. It’s too bad, because Oates can be a formidable musical presence. He just isn’t here.