Spanning the years 1966-2009, DO WHAT YOU WANT, BE WHAT YOU ARE: THE MUSIC OF DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES, the definitive Hall & Oates anthology, collects 74 sublime tracks, culled from seven different labels, on its four discs.

The set showcases 16 previously unreleased cuts including a host of wonderful live performances, as well as never before heard studio tracks and remixes. This set is also enhanced with an eloquent introductory essay penned by pop critic Roy Trakin, plus invaluable track-by-track annotation and commentary regarding each track by Daryl Hall and John Oates, drawn from extensive interviews with Ken Sharp.

They are the most successful pop music duo of all time. Daryl Hall and John Oates, who met as students at Philadelphia's Temple University, have long since surpassed Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers in the annals of pop pairings, having scored no less than 22 Billboard Top 20 singles, including six number ones, six platinum albums plus another six gold LPs. A close listen to their work displays repeatedly that Daryl and John turned out a stunning string of finely wrought tunes, parlaying their Philly Soul roots into pop mini-masterworks.

Of special interest will be the 16 previously unreleased tracks, which can be roughly divided between studio material and live performances. Highlights of the live performances include:

• "Lady Rain," "Beanie G," "Better Watch Your Back," "Abandoned Luncheon¬ette," and "When The Morning Comes," five tunes [all drawn from their Abandoned Luncheonette (1973) and War Babies (1974) LPs] recorded at the New Victoria Theatre in London on October 3, 1975, the first Daryl Hall and John Oates show in England, where their popularity would rival the U.S.;
• "I Want Someone," from 2008, the first audio ever released from the popular LiveFromDarylsHouse.com web series – one of the songs that bonded Daryl Hall and John Oates together back in the '60s, when they realized that they both loved the tune, as first done by Detroit R&B vocal group the Mad Lads on Stax-Volt in 1966;
• "Everytime You Go Away," recorded 1996 in Tokyo, an explosive 10-minute version of the song that was introduced on 1980's Voices, and became a massive #1 U.S. hit for England's Paul Young in 1985;
• "Starting All Over Again," recorded at Tokyo's Budokan in 1995, an evocative take on Mel & Tim's 1973 soul standard (originally covered by Daryl Hall and John Oates in 1990, on Change Of Season);
• "Do What You Want, Be What You Are," live in 2007 (the song that gives this box set its title), originally from 1976's Bigger Than Both Of Us;
• "So Close," a song from 1990's Change Of Season, is heard live in 2006 in Portland, Oregon.

Along with these, it is appropriate to highlight the two tracks that are drawn from Live At The Apollo With David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick. The album celebrated Daryl Hall and John Oates' headlining show with the two late former Temptations, at the re-opening night of the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, May 1985. "Possession Obsession" was all about excess in the '80s, from their Big Bam Boom LP the year before; and the Temps' medley of "The Way You Do The Things You Do/My Girl" speaks for itself.