The Hollies :: View topic

I think overall Hollies is a pretty good album, it is similar to Distant Light but no quiet as good. It has solid songs but no real stand out classics. I guess it was a deliberate attempt to recapture Distant Light, where they left off. I think Bobby Elliot said as much.

Falling Calling-- An enjoyable song with memorable hooks. It continues the vaguely religious series of songs such as What A Life I've Led and Why Didn't You Believe. Were the Hollies a little relgious or was it the country and western thing?

It's a Shame, It's a Game-- A solid rocker, nice and soulful with that terrific Allan Clarke end, "I really thought my drainpipes were out of sight!"

Don't Let Me Down-- One of the best Hollies songs ever, if you ask me. Possibly the best song Allan Clarke ever wrote, "Can't compete with your beauty, couldn't if I tried."

Out On The Road-- A good hard rocker. A good touch of the western music man. How does this compare to the Rickfors version? I can't imagine Rickfors singing something that isn't vaguely depressing. Perhaps he lingers on the burning shack?

The Air That I Breathe-- A good song but not one of my favourite hits.

Rubber Lucy-- Another Clarke classic, I don't know why it's good though. A mix of the country and the jangling soul sound.

Transarlantic Westbound Jet-- A song I could never like. Again, how did Rickfors do it?

Pick Up The Pieces-- For me, a failed attempt to do another Cable Car. It just isn't as good.

Down on The Run-- I dont care much for this either. I feel this and the nextsong don't really cut it.

Love Make The World Go Round-- Too cute and old fashioned. A bit too country and all.

The Day Curly Billy-- A Hollies classic or a guilty pleasure? I like it. It has a great chorus.

Well, folks, thems my opinions. Please feel free to agree/ disagree/ sit on the fence.

Michael

Hi Michael!

I agree with almost all the things you've said - I never saw that similarity to Distant Light but you're really right with that! But of course it's worse that Distant... although it's also good!

I agree with your comments to the songs 1-6, 8-10, but I love Trans Atlantic... and I love The Day That Curly Billy...!

Rickfors does a good job on Out On The Road and Trans Atlantic... different but great.

As I said in another thread Rob should make a review section! If you think so too write your opinion in the thread I've opened here in the Write On section!

Hi Michael,
This Album would have to go down as one of my favourite Hollies records. I think that Don't let me down was Allan's finest moment. I also love the album cover front and back, this record has some brilliant R'N'R numbers. Oh did I say it was my favourite Hollies line up too.
Classic album

Hi guys

Hollies 74 is my second favourite Hollies album. I love all of the songs on it and the guys sound great. My favourite tracks are: Falling Calling, Out On The Road, The Air That I Breathe, Down On The Road and Love Makes The World Go Round.

The 70's lineup is my favourite.

All The Best

Susie

A terrific album...although must admit I'm not too fond of Terry's Pick Up The Pieces...just a bit to insipid for my liking. Falling Calling is a great 'funky' starter, and Don't Let Me Down again is without a doubt one of the band's best ever album tracks. Superb version on the 1999 tour with Clarkey. Smile

Banjo Joined: 10 Oct 2004 Posts: 48 Location: Nashville Tn

Being that this was with the return of ALLAN, a lot was on 'trial' for the group in many different aspects. Overall, the majority of it was quite successful in musical terms of reestablishing themselves as serious performers with the once departed frontguy!!!

Standouts:Transatlantic Westbound Jet. The treolo-ish like guitar clenched the song for me. Especially with its highly embellished chorus by the guys. A good mid tempo rocker.

Falling Calling: Always dug the line:...the judge he put me down for 5000 days.... Now what did this guy really do in this song to deserve such a fate!!! The ending of the distant vocal fade (Falling Calling) was quite interesting intersparsed with the percussion.

The worst one: THE DAY THAT CURLY BILLY: Look this one was a direct cop of LONG COOL WOMAN with an intro that sounded like Tony's guitar was on qualudes!!! The gated snare and reverb vocal was TOO reminiscint of the above mentioned track. I remember the fm stations playing that song when it came out and wondered who was responsible for such an atrocity! (Sorry)

Other standouts:Out on the Road Its a SHame Pick Up the Pieces

Banjo Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 40 Location: Australia

Hollies 74 is my favourite album of all time and my favourite tracks are: The Air That I Breathe, Falling Calling, Love Makes The World Go Around and Out On The Road.

Bye For Now

Cathy

Two songs stand out for me - Don't Let Me Down is an absolute classic, the guitar and the harmony are trademark Hollies.
I also like Rubber Lucy. OK, lyrically not quite of the same class as Don't Let Me Down (!) but a funky song none the less. I remember increasing the volume on the stereo to hear more of the guitar solo as the song fades....fun times!

Chirpy.

Rythym Guitar Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 293

Hollies 1974 is my favourite 70s album by The Hollies. It rocks real good with the great Clarke/Sylvester/Hicks harmonies. Allan's vocal performance is outstanding on this album, especially on "Falling Calling", "Don't Let Me Down" and this version of "Out On The Road".
"Rubber Lucy" is one of the greatest songs on this album, I think. It has a nice melody and combines rock with fun. I think I don't have to mention Tony's extraordinary great guitar work on this song.
I must admit that I like the "Out On The Road" album version of "Transatlantic Westbound Jet" with Mikael Rickfors more than the one on this album because it sounds like more a Jam. The change of silent parts and getting to a louder ending with a solo dialogue between Tony's guitar and the piano is great, I think.
But I wonder why noone mentioned "Down On The Run" here because it is my favourite song on this album. The song has a great guitar riff with a nice melody and a great vocal by Allan again. I LOVE IT!!!
What a great album!! The Hollies at their peak on this album in the 1970s, I think.

I really like this one not only for the tunes but also for the return of Allan Clarke. He does get carried away with his drawl in a couple of songs and for many years I puzzled over some of the lyrics. Since locating them on this website I know know the lyrics but in some cases I am still puzzled by them.

The only song I don't really like is Love Makes The World Go Around. It seems a bit weak to me. Unlike some other reviewers I quite like Curly Billy. Yes there are some similarities with LCW but I still like it. I seem to remember it doing reasonably well in the charts in NZ as did Air That I Breathe. I have always thought Transatlantic Westbound Jet and Out On The Road should have been included in their shows. They are great rocking numbers.

Down Let Me Down and Rubber Lucy (what a strange title) have some fantastic guitar and Clarke's vocals are tops.

My album was issued by EMI New Zealand and both the cover and disk label list song 3 side 2 as No More Riders (Sylvester). Another puzzle. Does anyone know if there is such a song?

The album has been structured well. I think the right song opens each side and ends each one. There is a good mix of songs that shows off the talents of the individual members plus the cohesive unit of the band.

Excellent album, but alas it can easily be said that it was their last great album. After that, it was mostly all downhill, leaving one to wonder if re-instating Clarke in the band was really such a good idea in the long run. With Clarke, it was always "the hits" and little else in concert. They didn't capitalize on Clarke's rejoining and do this album justice in a live setting. Such a pity. What were they thinking?