for those without any solo daryl hall this is quite nice.

i only wish there were more from live at daryl's house: joe walsh, shelby lynne, kt tunstall and kandace springs were all great shows.

What's the difference between his solo stuff and H & O stuff? I can't say I've heard his solo work.

His first solo album, "Sacred Songs", is an experimental rock album produced by Robert Fripp of King Crimson, and includes Tony Levin, the Roches, and Jerry Marotta amongst it's musicians. The second one, "Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine", was produced with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and is more mainstream pop/rock. I haven't heard his other solo work.

jason hits those 2 album right on the head and then there were 3 albums after that:

soul alone - 1993 - much hall & oates-ish

can't stop dreaming - 1996 - a little move away form his 'philly' sound but not completely.

laughing down crying - 2011 - much like 'can't stop dreaming'

none of the solo hall stuff will make you jump and down, but all of it is quite good. the first one is also very very different, the robert fripp influence is obvious.

i will also add that i would take any of hall's solo stuff over the solo work of john oates.

there was a time when i would see all 5 of them in the used bins, bit its now been quite a while since i've seen any of them.

I actually found a great copy of "Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine" for $1.99 recently, but have yet to spin in. Think I'll have to play it today.

Wasn’t Sacred Songs considered to be part of a loose thematic trilogy with Robert Fripp’s Expisure and, I wanna say Peter Gabriel’s second solo album?

Yes, that was Fripp's plan. I believe it was supposed to be Hall, followed by Gabriel, followed by Fripp's LP, but the plan was thwarted because Hall's management, or RCA, held up Sacred Song's release for a few years. Fripp also wanted Hall to be vocalist for King Crimson.

A sample from the compilation:

IMO Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine is the only essential Hall solo album, but this is a nice overview and as usual Hall has very good taste in covers and those are welcome additions. Strong agree with Renny that a separate compilation of Daryl's House performances might have been even better.

There's also a handful of b-sides/bonus tracks that could have been part of the compilation.

If anybody isn't familiar with Live from Daryl's House, I highly recommend checking out clips on YouTube. Wonderful series with great guests and some truly terrific performances. And I'm not a big Hall and Oates/Daryl Hall fan, although I have a lot more respect for Daryl now.

Some of my favorites are the episodes with Todd Rundgren, Billy Gibbons, Diane Burch (had never heard of her), Joe Walsh, Rumer (check out the rendition of Be Thankful for What You've Got), and Company of Thieves.

I agree a lot of the Daryl's House episodes are great. As you mentioned the Diane Birch episode is really good. Some of the performances I really like are when Hall did I'll Be Around" in the KT Tunstall episode. It's mostly acoustic, but I just have always liked that version. "Here Comes The Rain" with Dave Stewart, "Above The Clouds" with the Bacon Brothers, "I Can't Go For That" and "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' with Mayer Hawthorne are some of my favorites. It does seem to me that Daryl Hall doesn't get the respect he deserves for some reason. It seems like Hall or Hall & Oates are supposed to be a guilty pleasure, but he's pretty good to me and I feel no shame.

Wow, I hadn't seen the Bacon Brothers episode. Watching them do Above The Clouds right now. Love that song. One of Paul Weller's best.

Another sample: