Yes, Virginia, there were duos before Wham! Neither entirely out of touch nor totally out of time, Daryl Hall and John Oates are in fine form on Marigold Sky, their first album together in seven years. No matter how far out of fashion the reunited two-some may have fallen since their '80s charts heyday, one thing hasn't changed: Hall and Oates still sing real good for a couple of white guys.

On Marigold Sky, the duo deftly touches on most of the sounds it has explored during the last 25 years – from ringing folk rock to white-man's funk – all of it underscored by the crafty, hooky blue-eyed soul that has been at the heart of so much of their silky oeuvre. Not everything here soars, but the album's heights are as high as anything they've ever recorded. Most memorable is "The Sky Is Falling," an exquisite midtempo piece of stately, sweet soul music that's probably the most perfect song the pair has recorded since "Sara Smile." Also on the retro-but-relevant tip is "Throw the Roses Away," a drop-dead-gorgeous ballad that lets Hall fly.

In this age when Babyface has deservedly become a multimedia cottage industry based on his not entirely dissimilar brand of luxurious, romantic pop soul, it's worth taking a little time to give these still-righteous brothers their pop-soul props by sitting back and gazing upon their lovely Marigold Sky. (RS 774)

DAVID WILD