★★★★★
In case you're interested, this band is mucho hot among Eastern rock cognoscenti (read, know-it-alls). Very pleasant, too, although John Hall doesn't sing as tasty as he plays. The only impressive song is "Half Moon." Anything Janis Joplin used to sing is impressive, so that may not mean much.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
As
this 20-song sampler demonstrates, Woodstock-bred combo Orleans
embodied both the lyrical ear-nestness and musical banality of
'70s soft rock. While John Hall's calling-card hits ''Dance With
Me'' and ''Still the One'' boast a grown-up romanticism that's
refreshing two decades later, the band's white-boy funkiness on We're Still Having Fun! The Best of Orleans hasn't aged nearly as gracefully.
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
The last of three records by the Orleans while John Hall was in exile, the band goes for a harder-edged sound with the Empire Project's Don Silver producing this release on Radio Records/Atlantic. When they do get mellow, as on their version of a hit already covered by the Everly Brothers, Betty Everett/Jerry Butler, Glen Campbell/Bobby Gentry, "Let It Be Me," it is without the charm that made earlier Orleans so radio friendly...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
The right record deal can easily make or break a band; just ask the members of Orleans, who, in the 1970s, were well aware of the difference between a supportive and unsupportive label. The unsupportive label was ABC, which never really believed in Orleans and ended up dropping the band after two albums (Orleans in 1973 and II in 1974)...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
As with previous Orleans albums, Let There Be Music, from earlier in 1975, and the self-titled 1973 disc on ABC records, the majority of the music on Waking and Dreaming is from the pens of John Hall and Johanna Hall. "Still the One" was the big hit, its inverted Chuck Berry riff embracing a timeless sentiment every lover wants to hear: "We're still having fun -- and you're still the one...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
The first Asylum release by Orleans is an earnestly engaging, though diffuse collection of pop tunes in many flavors. Both the title track and "You've Given Me Something" are pure power-pop numbers; the former is an agreeably forceful and hook-filled electric guitar-based selection featuring an especially ardent vocal, while the latter song is a bit breezier in feel, propelled along by a galloping drumbeat. "Fresh Wind" tosses mild funk and psychedelic touches into the pure pop formula...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
This outstanding live album from Orleans was recorded at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, New York, on October 6 and 7th, 1990. Though Orleans Live, Volume 1 contains their three big hits and Jon Hall's popular "Power" song, this collection contains close to an hour of wonderfully recorded and performed material that works without the radio recognition which made Orleans famous. The only song here that reached millions of homes is "Half Moon," which Janis Joplin covered exquisitely on Pearl...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
This is a very pleasant and valuable work by the post-Jon Hall Orleans who signed to Ron Alexenburg's ill-fated Infinity records label...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28