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HOLLIES is a comprehensive album that features the catchy and infectious sound of the seminal U.K. rockers. CD contains 11 bonus tracks. The Hollies' third album saw a band in the throes of transition between the Merseybeat and rock & roll with which they established themselves, and the folk-rock and soul music that was blowing the strongest winds of change in 1965. They clean up their backlog of cover staples with versions of tunes by Lloyd Price, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison, and delve into soul by taking on the Miracles' "Mickey's Monkey" and Curtis Mayfield's "You Must Believe Me." Their attempt at "Fortune Teller" won't make you forget the Rolling Stones' version; nor, for that matter, are any of the other covers impressive. That leaves five reasonably good originals, the best of which are the gorgeous "So Lonely" and the excellent Merseybeat knockoff "When I Come Home to You." They also sound Beatlesque on "I've Been Wrong," but "Too Many People" and their cover of Peter, Paul & Mary's "Very Last Day" hearken to a folk-rock direction. The album was issued in the U.S. as Hear! Here!, replacing "Mickey's Monkey" with their number one British hit "I'm Alive." [The album was reissued by British EMI in 1998 with both the stereo and mono mixes featured on a single CD.] ~ Richie Unterberger
