Daryl Hall – Record-facts…

Soul Alone is a 1993 album by Daryl Hall released on Epic Records. Distinct from the sound of Daryl’s successful duo Hall & Oates, this album features a more soulful and jazzy feel. However, Epic failed to find a marketing niche for Hall’s new sound, and the album was not a commercial success. Soul Alone featured singer Mariah Carey and producer/multi-instrumentalist Walter Afanasieff as composers. One single was released from the album, the track “I’m in a Philly Mood”.

Released ten years after Hall & Oates’ heyday and seven after Daryl Hall’s last solo venture, 3 Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine, Soul Alone finds Hall on unsure ground. It had been only three years since he had seen the upper reaches of the charts, yet it felt like much more time had passed since he had truly reigned over mainstream pop/rock. From the sounds of Soul Alone, he longed for those days, but not as much as longed for his youth in Philadelphia, and with it, the Philly soul and folk-rock that was so close to his heart. As a result, the album is lost in limbo between affectionate homages to years past and a need to regain his status as a hitmaker. Not surprisingly, it’s the homages that hold up, largely because they give Hall a chance to shine as a songsmith and a vocalist. The other material largely sounds forced, although there are glimmers of brilliance every now and then. Mostly, Soul Alone — like his two previous solo ventures, which arrived at similar lulls in Hall & Oates’ career — is interesting as a chapter in Hall’s life, in the way it reflects where he was psychologically and musically at that point in time. Which means, of course, that it’s primarily of interest to any listener who has followed him long enough to recognize that.

The Japanese version of the album came with an extra 12th track, “I’ve Finally Seen The Light.”
Songwriter Janna Allen, who co-composed “Written In Stone” (the only song on the album Hall didn’t have a hand in writing), died two weeks before the album’s release. In addition to being a longtime musical collaborator of Hall’s, she was the sister of his longtime girlfriend Sara Allen.

Tracklist

1. “Power of Seduction” (Hall, Moreland, Smith) – 5:50
2. “This Time” (Hall, Sara Allen, Moreland, Smith) – 4:58
3. “Love Revelation” (Hall, Moreland, Smith, Alan Gorrie) – 4:35
4. “I’m in a Philly Mood” (Hall, Moreland, Smith, Gorrie) – 5:15
5. “Borderline” (Hall, L. Flagbe, Michael Peden) – 6:16
6. “Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You” (Marvin Gaye, Hall, S. Allen) – 4:41
7. “Help Me Find a Way to Your Heart (Hall, Moreland, Smith, Gorrie, Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff) – 4:50
8. “Send Me” (Hall, Moreland, Smith, Gorrie) – 4:55
9. “Wildfire” (Hall, Moreland, Smith, S. Allen) – 4:58
10. “Money Changes Everything” (Hall, Gorrie) – 4:51
11. “Written in Stone” (Janna Allen, S. Dubin, Kevin Savigar) – 5:02
12. “I’ve Finally Seen the Light” (Japan only Bonus Track) – 5:18

Production
Produced by Daryl Hall, Peter Lord Moreland, Michael Peden & V. Jeffrey Smith
Engineers: Paul Max Bloom, Martin Hayles, Yan Meemi, David Morales, Peter Moshay, Michael Peden, John Poppo
Assistant Engineers: Paul Max Bloom, Yan Meemi
Mixing: David Morales, Michael Peden, John Poppo
Mastering: Vladimir Meller

Personnel
Daryl Hall: keyboards, lead & backing vocals
Bernard Davis, Trevor Murrell: drums
Miles Bould: percussion
Frank Ricotti: vibraphone
Bob Bitsand, Alan Gorrie, Rich Tancredi: bass guitar
Tommy Eyre, Eric Kupper, Peter “Ski” Schwartz, Alec Shantzis: keyboards
Peter Lord Moreland: keyboards, arrangements, backing vocals
Terry Burrus: acoustic piano
“Tag”: guitars
V. Jeffrey Smith: electric & acoustic guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, synth bass, saxophone, backing vocals
Tom “T-Bone” Wolk: acoustic & electric guitars, bass guitar
Charles DeChant: saxophone
Phillip Todd: flute, saxophone, EWI programming
Peter Moshay, Mel Wesson: programming
The London Session Orchestra: strings
Strings composed & arranged by Nick Ingman, Arif Mardin & Joe Mardin
Gavyn Wright: conductor
Lorna Bannon, Alan Gorrie, Tee Green, Lorraine McIntosh, Sandra St. Victor: backing vocals