The Hollies - Another Night

After 12 years, the Hollies' vibrant harmonies (derived from the Everly Brothers, but with an added third part) remain unsurpassed. They've always had a knack for constructing and rearranging concise, melodic songs that display that vocal work in top form. Although they can rock when they want to, their forte remains the big ballad. These are full-bodied songs, unrelated to the flaccid "I Honestly Love You" brand of MOR stagnating today's airwaves. Another Night features a bumper crop of beat ballads -- it may be their most impressive album to date. Of the five slow songs, their version of "Sandy" shines as a tour de force while only the maudlin "Lucy" is subpar.

Further reading on
Super Seventies RockSite!:

Album Review: Romany

Album Review: Hollies

Single Review:
"Long Cool Woman"
(In a Black Dress)"

The Hollies Lyrics

The Hollies Videos

Now that Bowie has apparently punked out, the honor of being the first to cover a Bruce Springsteen song has fallen to the Hollies. (Actually, their lead singer Allan Clarke beat them to it on his last solo album in Britain, but that's there and not here; for all intents, especially since they're releasing it as a single, this is the first.) The song in question, "Sandy," from Bruce's second album, is one of those poignant ballads in honor of the boardwalk life at Asbury Park, and I must admit it's quite a shock initially to hear those soaring British three-part harmonies that are the Hollies' trademark applied to such an ode to sleaze. But it works, and I am quite in awe of the performance here. I hate to bring up the Dylan comparisons, but it reminds me a bit of the rush of hearing the Byrds' California vocalisms applied to "Mr. Tambourine Man" for the first time. I don't know if the Hollies are going to make Bruce a household word the way the Byrds did Dylan; I can but hope.

The rest of the album is typical of the Hollies since Graham Nash's departure; in other words, it's erratic. The rockers are uniformly blah, but the big production ballads ("Sandy," "I'm Down," "Give Me Time") are exquisite, and their ensemble singing remains one of the most thrilling sounds in all of pop music. Next time out, I just hope that they have the smarts to do an album with outside writers, as they did on their last totally successful record, Romany. In the meantime, this one is more than worth your $6.98.

From the initial British invasion only four groups survive in a meaningful way today: the Rolling Stones, Who, Kinks and Hollies. Here, the Hollies come up with their most ambitious and well rounded effort in several years, serving up a set of songs dealing with characters and situations of the city without turning the set into a boring concept effort and utilizing the distinctive Allan Clarke lead vocals and trademarked three part harmonies of the group to best advantage. Top notch string arrangements, tasteful use of horns, and the acoustic quality the band has favored recently are all here. The best cuts are the ballads and easy rockers the group has recently been associated with, and the set is as skillfully commercial as the band has always been. Expect AM and FM exposure. Best cuts: "Sandy," "Second Hand Hangups," "I'm Down," "Give Me Time," "Lucy."