Hall and Oates (1972) Waterwheel

From their experimental Folk debut album Darryl Hall's delicate falsetto carries a renaissance styled emphasis along side the albums' reflective arrangements of cocktail piano, finger-picking acoustics, stabbing strings and sturdy bass. High above all the clouds is Hall's characteristic vocals soaring incandescently alongside ringing piano flourishes all dressed in a classy arrangement. This neo-renaissance romantic and semi acoustic vibe would be a 100 million miles from their New Wave and indie pop personas a full decade later, but the offbeat harmonies and counter melodies that would be part of their HALLmark are present here.