Search - Hollies :: Greatest Hits

Buyer Beware! This CD is lacking certain Hollies tracks

PaulB | Saskatoon, SK Canada | 08/05/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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..."

Two bands, two bands, two bands in one...

running_man | Chesterfield Twp., MI | 01/01/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

The Hollies' Greatest (radio edit) Hits

Paul D. Rasmussen Jr. | Pittsburgh PA, United States | 07/07/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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."