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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2020 22:26:55 GMT
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Post by baz on Jan 9, 2020 0:32:01 GMT
Blimey... this brings back memories. From what I remember, he covered "Staying Power" shortly after that came out as I was one of many less than thrilled by that album so Prindle's nuking of it made me laugh at the time. More so, when like others I ended up being persona-non-grata in the official Hollies forum for daring to state what I really thought about that album.
The guy sure has a strange pair of ears though!
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Post by distantlight on Jan 9, 2020 9:06:56 GMT
I find a lot of these reviews pretty funny and he actually has quite a lot of good points. The Staying Power review is hilarious and he mostly understands their '60s records - apart from A Certain Because and Butterfly but he totally loses it after Confessions.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 18:29:52 GMT
Something he is spot on about is the HUGE difference between 'Stay with The Hollies' and 'In The Hollies Style'. This isn't like the differences between 'Please Please Me' and 'With The Beatles', it is more like comparing The Beatles' Decca audition with 'With The Beatles'! The difference really is that great.
I love The Hollies, but I can think of many bands who made far greater debut albums, and not just the obvious Beatles/Stones/Who (Gerry and The Pacemakers' debut is a real gem in comparison).
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Post by stuball on Jan 11, 2020 20:29:10 GMT
Something he is spot on about is the HUGE difference between 'Stay with The Hollies' and 'In The Hollies Style'. This isn't like the differences between 'Please Please Me' and 'With The Beatles', it is more like comparing The Beatles' Decca audition with 'With The Beatles'! The difference really is that great. I love The Hollies, but I can think of many bands who made far greater debut albums, and not just the obvious Beatles/Stones/Who (Gerry and The Pacemakers' debut is a real gem in comparison). Agree totally with this! The first Hollies album sounds a complete mess to me. Rarely ever play it. I realize Bobby had just joined them, but to say that they're not tight rhythmically would be an understatement. Haydock and Elliott definitely hadn't got their act together yet. And some of Tony's solos are...well, meandering and disjointed. And the Clarke/Nash vocals are enthusiastic, but that's about it. Had the group not drastically improved over the next few months (you can hear it in their singles), I don't think we'd be talking about them today. Back then, judging by that first album, The Beatles, Searchers and Gerry and The Pacemakers, etc., were all streets ahead of The Hollies. |
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Post by calvertbesseralseric on Jan 11, 2020 21:06:03 GMT
Something he is spot on about is the HUGE difference between 'Stay with The Hollies' and 'In The Hollies Style'. This isn't like the differences between 'Please Please Me' and 'With The Beatles', it is more like comparing The Beatles' Decca audition with 'With The Beatles'! The difference really is that great. I love The Hollies, but I can think of many bands who made far greater debut albums, and not just the obvious Beatles/Stones/Who (Gerry and The Pacemakers' debut is a real gem in comparison). Agree totally with this! The first Hollies album sounds a complete mess to me. Rarely ever play it. I realize Bobby had just joined them, but to say that they're not tight rhythmically would be an understatement. Haydock and Elliott definitely hadn't got their act together yet. And some of Tony's solos are...well, meandering and disjointed. And the Clarke/Nash vocals are enthusiastic, but that's about it. Had the group not drastically improved over the next few months (you can hear it in their singles), I don't think we'd be talking about them today. Back then, judging by that first album, The Beatles, Searchers and Gerry and The Pacemakers, etc., were all streets ahead of The Hollies. Tony's "solo" on It's Only Make Believe is, I'm sad to say, just terrible! You think, "oh that sounds pleasant" or whatnot... and then it drags on for the entire verse progression! The weakness of the album is a real shame because it'd be so much more distinctive with some of the material they'd written (and recorded) to a standard far above the rather lame R&B covers on Stay! Where were Whole World Over, Hey What's Wrong With Me, Now's The Time (for my money the best track the band recorded pre For Certain Because) and certainly Tony's fantastic When I'm Not There! The album did seem to herald a lingering detriment to their whole career - an unjustified preference for inferior cover singles and tracks over their more creative and melodic originals! |
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Post by baz on Jan 11, 2020 21:12:58 GMT
The first Hollies album was clearly a rush job. It's worth remembering the band had only existed for about one year by that point and with a brand new drummer, the touring schedules and so on, they clearly hadn't had any quality time to settle upon an act or write much material either. I get the feeling Ron Richards decided to cut an album to cash in on the fact they had a third hit and dropped it on them at very short notice, squeezing the sessions into their tight schedules so the lads would likely had been rather tired and now forced to bash out an album... Their harmonies were still not fully in place either so in some ways the album gives an idea of how Allan and Graham sounded before they became The Hollies. "Just One Look" was just a couple of months later and BAM - the harmonies are in place, Bobby's settled in and away they went!
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