Beauty on a Back Street isn’t quite as accomplished as its two predecessors, yet it is more ambitious and diverse, as Hall & Oates begin to add some arena-rock conventions to their sound, particularly distorted guitars and anthemic choruses. On War Babies they had tried a similar attack, but on Beauty on a Back Street, the duo’s songwriting was stronger, which meant that the instrumental approach didn’t overwhelm the actual songs. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine