About the Album
The album slowly became a massive hit, spinning off four singles into the top 40 of the American pop charts: “How Does It Feel to Be Back” (#30 in fall, 1980), “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” (#12 in winter, 1980), “Kiss on My List” (#1 for three weeks in spring, 1981), and “You Make My Dreams” (#5 in summer, 1981). Although “Everytime You Go Away” was not released as a single, it was covered by Paul Young in 1985 when it went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
The album is seen as a revolution in the Hall & Oates sound, paving the way for future blockbusters like Private Eyes. It was the first album that Hall & Oates produced by themselves.
The original LP album cover was in black & white and had several variations with the duo in different poses and the half circle, sound-like waves were embossed & raised; a marketing technique commonly used in late ’70’s record sleeve packaging. It was subsequently replaced in 1981 with a color photograph of the duo, excluding the original pose of Hall “escaping” from his white trench coat-like jacket. The album was re-released in 2004 as a remastered version with a slightly different cover photo but no additional tracks. The Japanese re-release version had two extra tracks: a remixed version of “Kiss on My List” that had previously appeared on the album 12 Inch Collection 2 and a remix of “Everytime You Go Away” that was also available on the album The Ballads Collection – RCA 100th Anniversary Series.