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| HAL | 
 enlarge | Artist: Hal
Label: Rough Trade Us
Category: Music
List Price: $15.98
Buy New: $2.25
You Save: $13.73 (86%)
New (10) Used (20) from $0.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 196079
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 021823005829
EAN: 0021823005829
ASIN: B00096S3WW
Release Date: May 10, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | What a Lovely Dance | | • | Play the Hits | | • | Keep Your Love As Your Golden Rule | | • | Dont Come Running | | • | I Sat Down | | • | My Eyes Are Sore | | • | Fools By Your Side | | • | Worry About the Wind | | • | Satisfied | | • | Slowdown (You Got a Friend) | | • | Coming Right Over |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Hal are brothers Dave (26, lead vocals/guitar) & Paul Allen (23, vocals, bass), Steve Hogan (28, drums) and Stephen O'Brien (27, keyboards). All hail from in and around Kiliney, a town just south of Dublin, Ireland. Hal's debut album is populist and arcane, modern and timeless. Most groups aren't endowed with a voice as breathtaking as Dave Allen's, whose falsetto gives Hal's songs a saintly luster and evokes the days when rock was sun-kissed. The harmonies he forges with brother Paul (it's a blood thing, see Everly Brothers and the Wilson brothers) are warm enough to melt the coldest of hearts.
Album Description
Dublin four-piece Hal are a band with the confident swagger of musicians happy to recall a near forgotten era when the likes of Todd Rundgren or Brian Wilson could bestride both the cutting edge and mainstream taste with ease. Rough Trade. 2005.
Album Details
Hal's Debut Album is the Sound of Four Young Irish Men By-passing the Computerised Production Line of 21st Century Music to Create Both a Perfect Piece of Pop Joy and an Aching Heartbreaker of an Album. Features the Glorious Singles "Play the Hits", "What a Lovely Dance" (Top 40), and "Worry About the Wind" (Top 50). Citing Harry Nilsson, Brian Wilson and Van Morrison as Direct Influences, their Classic Yet Quirky 70s West Coast FM Pop Influenced Sound is as Polished as Steely Dan, as Heartfelt as Al Green.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Best Album of the Year June 24, 2005
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
How to describe this music? I'd say: Brian Wilson meets the Beatles. It is clear that the Allen brothers grew up with their parent's music, including the Beach Boys, The Beatles and other 60's and 70's music. Though their music is more like Smile than the Beach Boys albums.
HAL has re-entered a path in music that has only been trodden by Brian Wilson before them. Their music is extremely cheerful, very catching but above all things: truly beautiful!
Finally a young band that dares to make music inspired by the oldies! Some might worry that a debut album this good can hardly be exceeded by a second album, but I do not fear this. HAL has so much musical talents and the fact that their music is unique!
This album is a must for those who love beautiful music inspired by the 60's and 70's. I have rarely heard a better debut album in my life!
For better samples, go to HAL's website: www.halmusic.com
the missing sequal to Pet Sounds September 23, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Allen brothers voices are simply amazing and the arrangements are flawless. The care they bring to each song is evident, in that each one is its own universe, but somehow the album maintains a cohesive tone. Each song has unexpected but plesant surprises -- an a cappela break here and or an acoustic bridge there. It's one of the few albums over the last five years that bears repeated playing, always offering something new to the attentive listener.
If you loved Pet Sounds, you need to own this album!
 Sweet Summer Pop November 2, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you're a huge Beach Boys fan, then you will almost certainly dig this band. For a bunch of lads from Ireland, Hal's sound is distinctly American. You could slot this record into a box set of classic albums from the 1960s San Francisco scene and no one would blink twice. Lester Bangs probably wouldn't even notice. It's refreshing to hear a band brave enough to bring back happy, lazy Sunday, summer pop.
Hal's self titled debut attempts to strangle the current rock progression, directing music back to a time when musicians bought love and peace into everyone's living room. There're no songs about shooting, pimps or drugs, just eleven beautifully crafted love songs. The soft melodic lyrics roll off David Allen's tongue effortlessly, and the sweet piercing backing vocals give Hal's sound a definitive edge. I'd love to say something bad about this album; there just isn't anything bad to say. Each song is different from the last, all charming in their own special way, each with the potential to make you suddenly burst into song at any moment. "Satisfied" and "Slow Down (You've Got a Friend)" run slightly repetitively into each other, but its no big deal
As the weather starts to warm up, spin this album, grab a beer and something to smoke and just chill out. When Hal finishes, have your vinyl copies of Crosby, Stills and Nash's 'Renaissance Fare' and Simon and Garfunkel's 'Bookends' ready to spin. You'll have all you need for a afternoon in the sun.
The Beach Boys Tripping with Sparks May 23, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Paul and Dave Allen, the Irish brothers at the forefront of quartet Hal, harmonize like the Beach Boys tripping with Sparks. Throughout their eponymous debut, Hal quote - both knowingly and unconsciously - from the 70's songbook. Rasperries' hook here ("Play the Hits"). Big Star groove there ("Don't Come Running"). Retro is all over these 11 tracks like white on rice. Yet there's something of the Irish struggle that permeates this debut - no matter how fresh and happy the music is, melancholy lurks beneath the surface. It's this hint of darkness that keeps the treacle to a minimum, and imbues Hal's sunshine with its warmth. And makes this a band worth watching.
Hal May 13, 2005
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Hal is a breath of fresh air in a world filled with bubblegum pop and wannabe rockstars. It is 60's-esque with a modern twist. Sweet harmonies and cool beats lend an old school feel that almost sounds like it came off a vintage vinyl. Songs like "Play the Hits" are upbeat and will put you in a good mood, but the rest of the album is more subdued. I can't stop listening to it.
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