THE HOLLIES/FOR CERTAIN BEACUSE PCS 7011 (-66) UK STEREO

For a while now I've been into checking out stereo mixes for the sixties albums of which I already have and love the mono versions. When it comes to Hollies that's like riding a roller coaster with a succession of tophole and awful. For exemple the albums surrounding this - "Would You Believe" and "Evolution" - came with unnatural stereo having vocals in one channel and instruments in the other. So you could expect this to be in the same mode, but it's not. Instead the mix reminds a lot of the one on the "Evolution" successor "Butterfly" - well balanced offering quite enjoyable listening. Downers in comparison to the mono are further reverb was added here and I hear less prominent bass, otherwise nice. As a whole I do perfer the mono as direct and more dynamic though a couple of the cuts win from opening up more in stereo, like "Tell Me To My Face" and "Crusader". But more important - this together with "Evolution" and "Butterfly" are some of the best albums that came out of Britain in the sixties. All three filled with great melodies, beautiful vocals and fair shares of experimenting. I've seen them compared with three contemporary Beatles LP:s - this with "Rubber Soul", "Evolution" with "Revolver" and "Butterfly" with "Sgt. Pepper". Maybe accurate in some way. You can hear the same gradual development towards better songwriting and studio perfection with top result. But there the similarity ends. Hollies that period didn't sound anything like The Beatles, but had their own tonal style and expression well worth exploring for anyone interested in good music. So if you haven't got'em already - go fetch and get in. (HÖLY*) (PÖX*)