Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Even the neophyte Hollies fan deserves better than this Greatest Hits collection that hasn't changed since its first release in 1973.

Even upon its initial release, it overlooked their last Top 40 hit of the Sixties--"Jennifer Eccles." It does include three minor hits: "Dear Eloise" (No. 50), "Just One Look" (No. 44) and King Midas in Reverse" (No. 51). But where's "I Can't Let Go" (No. 42) or "Sorry Suzanne" (No. 56)or "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top" (No. 82)? The Hollies were always more popular in their native England than in the U.S. [The last three singles I mentioned all went Top 10 in the U.K. In fact, the Hollies had eight Top 40 hits in the U.K.--including the No. 1 "I'm Alive"--before charting their first Top 40 in the U.S. with "Look Through Any Window" in 1966.]

With the three-disc 30th Anniversary Collection out of print, it's too bad Epic hasn't compromised with a two-disc set containing all of the band's more than three dozen U.K. and U.S. singles. The Hollies, after all, were a great singles band. And they were responsible for some of the catchiest pop music of the era. But until Epic decides to put out a more generous greatest hits package, this is the one to own. RECOMMENDED

It took a while for The Hollies to evolve in the 1960's, but once they did the change was as dramatic as the metamorphosis of The Beatles from 'Beatles '65' to 'Rubber Soul', or Bob Dylan going electric. The most productive era for the band was 1966-1967 when they logged 8 of the 12 chartmakers chronicled here. 1968 and 1969 found the band without a Top-40 single, and their sound changed noticably with the departure of Graham Nash in 1969. Terry Sylvester, formerly of The Swinging Blue Jeans was added to the lineup and took over lead vocals from longtime crooner Allan Clarke. After Nash's departure, the band logged 4 more hits, but the sound is radically different. If the title on the CD didn't still say 'The Hollies Greatest Hits' , you might be convinced you were listening to two different bands.

The original lineup included Clarke and Nash, whose vocals form the centerpiece of every noteworthy Hollies song from the 1960's. Tony Hicks added an occasional decent guitar riff, but instrumentation is by and large not what attracts people to the work of The Hollies. This collection reaches back to 1964 to snatch their first big hit, a UK number two rendition of 'Just One Look'... yes, the same 'Just One Look' that Doris Day took to number 10 on the Billboard charts in 1963, and that was covered by Linda Ronstadt in 1979. All 3 versions are consumable in their own way, The Hollies' being by far the most up-tempo.

The Hollies took off for real on the US charts in 1966 with 'Look Through Any Window' (#32 in January), 'Bus Stop' (#5 in August), and 'Stop, Stop, Stop' (#7 in November). 1967 was their banner year, featuring 'On a Carousel' (#11 in April), 'Pay You Back With Interest' (#28 in June), 'Carrie Anne' (#9 in July), and 'King Midas In Reverse' (#18 on the UK charts in September). In most cases the charts adequately reveal the quality of each song, though in retrospect it is hard to imagine why 'Stop, Stop, Stop' was apparently so much more appealing to listeners than 'Look Through Any Window'. The latter has become a standard on Golden Oldies radio, while the former rarely receives airtime. 'Bus Stop' seems overplayed, while 'Carrie Anne' and 'On a Carousel' always prompt me to crank up the volume.

The revised incarnation of The Hollies produced their first hit (topping out at number 7) in February of 1970, the reknown 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother'. Unlike the Double Bubble of earlier chartmakers, 'He Ain't Heavy..." is rich in orchestration and is laden with social consciousness, a prerequisite for many compositions of the era. Another stunning transformation produced a Billboard number two hit in July of 1972, a song featuring the most memorable guitar hook the band ever produced, 'Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)'. The most recent hit included on this compilation was the follow up to 'Long Cool Woman...", 'Long Dark Road' which, despite reaching only number 26 in December of 1972, is a strong composition many listeners will harken back to.

The true hits are rounded out by one further composition, another release from 1967, 'Dear Eloise', which finished its rise on Billboard at number 50. Many 'Greatest Hits' compilations include one or two songs that makes you wonder "why, why is this here?", and 'Dear Eloise' fills this niche for 'The Hollies Greatest Hits'. While the running time would have been truncated, the consistency of the CD would have benefitted had 'Dear Eloise' and 'King Midas In Reverse' been edited.

This CD is strong on nostalgia. For anyone who indulged in Top-40 AM radio in the 1960's, songs such as 'Bus Stop' and 'Carrie Anne' are indelibly etched into your brain cells. Each and every listen released a cocktail of endorphins, because these songs were light, bouncy fare that lifted the weight of the day from your shoulders. Surely they did little to change the course of your life, yet they just as surely whitecapped your immediate disposition. The nice thing is that they haven't lost that magic.

I was let down to hear "Long Dark Road" is the shorter radio edit. And what a bad edit it is! What could the people at Epic have been thinking? I've recently purchased the new Hollie's compilation CD, and it's much better, more complete AND includes the LP version of LDR.

The Hollies were probably a second-tier band in
the British Invasion of the 1960s, falling in the
same category as The Seekers, Gerry And The Pacemakers,
and The Animals. The top-tier should go to The
Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks
and The Yardbirds. That should not take away from
the fact the Hollies were responsible for some very
good and memorable songs during their existence.
Their pop melodies led to comparisons to The Beatles,
albeit with nowhere near the successive of the Fab
Four.
Some of these songs should be familiar today, even
to those who haven't paid attention to the Hollies before.
For example, Just One Look was used in an advertisement
for a soft drink company (Pepsi I think). He Ain't
Heavy, He's My Brother is another familiar song. The
problem with this compilation is it omits songs like
The Air That I Breathe and Jennifer Eccles. I know
the Remastered Version of this title has The Air That
I Breathe included, however there is also another
problem with this recording.
Like The Who's Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, this CD
was made from the original tape. The hisses and other abnormalities made certain songs (Just One Look for
example) very difficult to listen to. While this
disc contains gems, I have to deduct one star for what
it lacks in terms of Hollies tracks, and another star
for the inconsistent sound quality. However, not all
songs sound that bad on this disc. Bus Stop, for example
sounds fairly good.
My advice is for Hollies fans, and those who are
curious about their music is to avoid this disc and go
for the Remastered version of this title or a more
comprehensive Hollies compilation. My suggestion would
be to go for the 1978 version of their Greatest Hits,
which contains 20 tracks, including Jennifer Eccles.
This 20 track compilation is called 20 Golden Greats,
and Amazon.com does stock this title in their
inventory, so you should be able to get a copy.
I guess I got what I paid for when I bought this
disc, but I plan to buy at least one more album by
this group...

Unless you're a major Hollies fan, this CD version of the LP will have everything you want, compared with the longer 1-CD "All TIme Greatest Hits", but won't tie up your CD player for 50% longer. Both CDs are terrific; this one is more to the point.

This collection concentrates on U.S. hits only, and even then misses 'Jennifer Eccles' and 'Pay You Back With Interest' (as well as 'The Air That I Breathe,' which came out after this package was originally put together). In their earliest years the Hollies had a whole slew of hits in England that were never released here; these too of course are missing. For the best overall selection on one cd, try "20 Golden Greats."

I wish that this album was a mono/stero album. Bus Stop, Look Through Any Window, and On A Carousel sound horrible with the music in the left channel and vocals on the right channel.

I love the Hollies and their music. However, this CD has been re-mastered and the re-master includes "The Air That I Breathe." A Hollies anthology that has 47 tracks also exists. Before you buy a greatest hits collection from the Hollies be sure you know what is available and what each collection offers.

I admit, this is bubblegum music for the most part, but who cares? I enjoy variety in my music, and occasionally the Hollies are an excellent change. Furthermore, while many of the Hollies songs were throwaway tunes with relatively simple lyrics, occasionally the Hollies threw themselves into their music and transcended themselves.

Perhaps the song that was furthest from The Hollies traditional music on this CD is "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)". This song is styled exactly like Credence Clearwater Revival. The song begins with a heavy beat and moves into a fast-paced beat with reverb and solid guitar work that all sounds like the bayou music of CCR; one of the Hollies best works.

A song that aches for a big hall with heavy echo is "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." This song is slow and mellow. Somewhat maudlin, with a wailing harmonica interjected from time to time, and soaring vocals on the refrain, in some ways this song is like a reprise of the song "The Air That I Breathe," which is not included in this collection. Perhaps I just have a thing for sickly-sweet songs from the 60s and 70s. In any case, I love to play this song really loud.

The Hollies were around for a long time, releasing albums from 1963 to 1983. However, most of their hits came in the 60s and early 70s. Most of their top 40 hits are on this CD; however, a word of caution. While this CD contains the core Hollies songs, as I noted at the beginning of this review there are collections with many more songs. If you are only interested in the Hollies top 40 music, then this CD is likely perfect for you. If you think you might like more than just the top 40 music, you may want to go find one of the collections that is more of a "best of" than just their single hits.

One other word of caution; this CD has a paucity of liner notes. I think most people look for some history of a group or the songs, and liner notes have started to become mini-biographies and histories. Forget about that for this CD. There may be another CD out there that has better liner notes, but I am unable to direct you to it.

Yes, The Hollies had bubblegum music. Yes, some of it may be considered sickly-sweet. But I still enjoy listening to it. Perhaps it reminds me of my 60s youth. Occasionally the Hollies were able to rise above their own throwaway music to create classics that are played and enjoyed again and again. This CD gets 3 stars for the good songs, short of 4 or 5 stars because of the poor liner notes and the lack of "Air That I Breathe."

It's a nice CD, that covers a wide sample of their work.
It's a perfect gift for a person that isn't a fan of Hollies, but like this music.

This is the one to have if you want all the hits. It is not limited by this factor, as they are all over the place and you will enjoy the ride.