Customer Reviews

Anthology From the Original Master Tapes

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If you bought this CD and Epic's Greatest Hits, you would have every hit by the Hollies to reach the Hot 100 except 1966's "I Can't Let Go" (No. 42). However, these two discs were not marketed as companion albums. There are six songs repeated between the two.

If you buy only Epic Anthology, you don't get "Look Through Any Window," "Bus Stop," "Stop, Stop, Stop," "On a Carousel" or "Pay You Back with Interest."

If you buy only Epic's Greatest Hits, you don't get "Jennifer Eccles," "Sorry Suzanne," "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top," "The Air That I Breathe" or "Magic Woman Touch."

My question is why couldn't these two albums be combined on a single disc to give you a complete greatest hits package? All of these singles were recorded on the same label. If all 26 songs wouldn't fit on a single disc, leave off the acoustic version of "Magic Woman Touch" or any of the non-singles "Everything Is Sunshine," "Try It" or "Indian Girl." From a consumer's point of view, it's only greed that seems to be the motivator for this dilemma. [The other option is to seek out the out-of-print 3CD 30th Anniversary Collection.] RECOMMENDED

I have just recently brought this album, I do have other Hollies greatest hit's one but the difference is with this one is that the quality of sound is just amazing. I have some of the tracks on other compilations but the quality of sound on tracks like carie Ann and King Midas In reverse are so clear I do not know if this cd has been re-mastered or not it does not state this. But for people that have not brought this album yet all of the tracks are in FULL STEREO SOUND, there is only one track that is in MONO and that is DO THE BEST YOU CAN, other wise epic have done a seriously good job on this album.

There is 2 versions of magic woman touch the first ver is from the original album ROMANY 1972 WITH MICHEL RICKFORD, the ver at the end of the album is acoustic AND IT IS REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD, I agree with the other review about this track that it does knock out Crosby stills and Nash on this one... If you are a Hollies fan then you are in for a treat with this one.

I am only 21 years of age and I wish I were around during the 1960's and 70's. The Hollies are almost my all time favourite band apart from the Beatles, Stones, small faces, Pink Floyd and so on. They just have incredible voices when they sing as well as they are just such accomplished singers. Wowwwwwwww Allot of the tracks will just blast you away.

If you grew up in the 1970's and were a big fan of the Hollies, then "The Epic Anthology" just might be your ticket. This collection features all of the great Hollies tunes you would have heard on Top 40 radio.
The Hollies actually began their stint at Epic Records in the summer of '67 with their Top Ten smash "Carrie-Anne". They would go on to have another dozen or so more charted hits over the next 7 or 8 years including "The Air That I Breathe", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and of course their biggest hit ever "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" from 1972. "The Epic Anthology" includes each and every one of these charted hits along with a half dozen other tunes from albums they recorded during this period. I can honestly say that there is really not a bad track on this CD.
But for many collectors like myself, "The Epic Collection" had one major flaw. Originally released in 1990, this collection did not include for obvious reasons the Hollies earlier hits recorded for the Imperial label in the mid-sixties. Tunes like "Bus Stop", "Look Through Any Window" and "I Can't Let Go" were among the best and brightest pop tunes of that era. It was extremely frustrating for collectors because for a good many years was not a comprehensive Hollies collection that included their output from both labels. Finally, in 2003 EMI corrected this oversight by releasing the 2 CD set "The Hollies Greatest Hits". This was a godsend for collectors as it contains virtually all of the hits from both labels and remains to this day the very best Hollies collection around. It does cost a bit more but for me it was worth every penny.
So if you are thinking about picking up a Hollies collection I recommend you carefully compare each of these collections. Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with "The Epic Anthology". The package contains an exceptionally well done 24 page booklet (better than the EMI package) that chronicles the history of the group. What it really comes down to is how fanatical a fan you are. In either case, you can not go wrong. The Hollies were one of the most talented and enduring groups to emerge from the British invasion. Recommended.

This is a good collection of those Hollies songs that made an impact in the U.S. from 1966 on, but even then leaves out two: 'Pay You Back With Interest,' and 'Look Through Any Window.' Also missing, of course, are the several important hits the Hollies had prior to this period in Britain (e.g., 'Here I Go Again,' 'I Can't Let Go,' and 'I'm Alive'). The best overall survey of the Hollies oeuvre I know of is their "20 Golden Greats," which includes both early and late material.

Not the definitive Hollies collection, but a pretty good one. "Bus Stop" is missing, as is "On A Carousel", but it has twenty others from the original master tapes including, the unlikely hard-rocking "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress", the echoey, organ saturated, "Long Dark Road", the novel. skirt chasing, wolf whistling pop of "Jennifer Eccles", and the harmonic Calypso-Mersey beat of "Carrie Anne", along with super hits, "The Air That I Breathe", and the solemn, and surprisingly still vital, "He Aint Heavy, He's My Brother". The crude stereo separation sounds warm and nostalgic, and the CD package includes commentary for each track by lead singer, Allan Clarke and original producer, Ron Richards.

Got a great cd and quick service from the dealer Price was very good and the quality of the cd was as good as they said it would be

If you are an admirer of great british bands and good rock music you won't be disappointed. This is one of the best bands ever and this record brings you a good sound in every track.

Any collection of Hollies hits is worth the listen. These are the later cuts from Epic and there are plenty of gems here to make you wish that you had seen them live. To be fair to the guys in the band, you also have to get a cd with their earlier hits as well. Just one of the best early Brit invasion bands.

one major issue people have w. this is that the earlier stuff (ie bus stop) isn't on there. if you buy this w. hollies at abbey road vol 1 which includes best songs recorded before "carrie anne", which is where this disc starts off. There are many great songs on here: carrie anne, dear eloise, king midas in reverse, try it, listen to me, gasoline alley bred, do the best you can, can't tell the bottom from the top, air that i breathe, long road, long cool woman, magic woman touch(both versions rock! Singer Rifkors sounds like a better version of Eddie Vedder), sandy, another night, and indian girl. for as cheap as its been sold here on amazon, do yourself a favor and pick this one up, along w. the abbey road '63-66 disc and you'll have two great discs w. not even one repeated track between both cd's.

Forget about the harmonies of "The Beach Boys" or "The Bee Gees"- this is THE premeire vocal band of the 70's. I dare you to find crisper, tighter harmonies than those on "He Ain't Heavy" or "The Air That I Breathe".

Like all true classic songs, these are timeless. They could've been recorded yesterday.

There's nothing to really compare this marvelous collection too. The Hollies rock ("Long Cool Woman"), the Hollie's cover Bruce Springsteen ("Sandy"), the Hollie's drip with romantacism (the afore-mentioned "Air That I Breathe")- the Hollie do it all. And they do it well.

What a body of work. I'm glad so many latter day hits were included as this is my favorite era of the Hollie's.

Don't worry though. With the inclusion of such pop classics as "Bus Stop" and "Stop, Stop" Stop", their early hits are well represented. Graham Nash never sounded so good!

Even such experimental songs as "King Midas In Reverse", the song that ultimately led to the loss of Graham Nash to Terry Sylvester, formerly of the Swinging Blue Jeans, are included here.

There's alot of music on this one single disk collection. Listen to it and fall in love all over again!

This set has special meaning today,because in March of 2000, Alan Clarke, longtime lead singer of the band, announced he was retiting from the group forever.

With this collection, his legacy lives on.