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DistantLight Post subject: Romany
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Joined: 10 Apr 2004
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This album is from the sound very close to Distant Light but it sounds completely different! Why? Because of Mikael Rickfors who does a fantastic job replacing Allan Clarke! Of course Allan will always be my favourite songer in Rock'n'Roll but the Hollies couldn't have chosen a better singer as a replacement! His soulful voice fits perfectly on ballads like his selfwritten Touch or the tender Romany, he shines on the rockers like the heavy (maybe the heaviest song they have ever recorded) Slow Down with a great guitar riff or the driving rock'n'roll song Courage Of Your Convictions and he is on top of his powers on the Pop/Rockers like the single Magic Woman Touch. Another standout track is the rocking opener Won't We Feel Good That Morning which starts this album in a great way! Romany is also a very diverse album: there is the almost acoustic rocker Delaware Tagget And The Outlaw Boys and the bluesy shuffle Blue In The Morning (written by the Hicks/Lynch team). Terry Sylvester gets two songs to sing: Lizzy And The Rainman and the other single Jesus Was A Crossmaker which are both great tracks! A complaint, which they would correct on the next album, is that they only wrote 2 songs themselves!
The CD version I've got has a lot of bonus tracks on it. 3 songs from Out On The Road which I will discuss in the Out On The Road review, the great single The Baby with the B-side Oh Granny sung by Allan Clarke and written by Hicks/Lynch, the other B-sides Indian Girl and I Had A Dream written by Terry Sylvester, the first one sung by him, the second by Rickfors and there is the rarity If It Wasn't For The Reason That I Love You, written by Cooke and Greenaway (the two that wrote Hey Willy and Long Cool Woman together with Allan).

Best Songs: Won't We Feel Good That Morning, Lizzy And The Rainman, Slow Down, Courage Of Your Convictions

Worst Songs: Words Don't Come Easy (it's not bad but a bit boring), Down River (the only track where I don't like his singing!)

Rating: 10 out of 10
PostPosted:Sun Sep 26, 2004 10:02 am
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MichealC Post subject: Re: Romany
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This is why I like the Hollies. They are a Manchester beat band, they loose their lead vocalst and replace him with a Swedish soul singer! Interesting choice, no?

Rickfors isn't Allan Clarke but he can sing. And sing in a style of his own. Some people dismiss him, but for me hearing his voice the first time really made an impression.

Ron Richards quit for this album because he didn't see it as commercial enough. The Hollies self- produced, feeling that they were now a mature bunch of musicians not concerned with hit singles. One would expect then some sort of serious musical statment with Romany, however, the album is shockingly unfocused with a very broad mix of songs almost entirely penned by outside writers. Rickfors contributes one song, and Hicks/Lynch another. The rest are imports.

I like a lot of the songs on here but, only a few "group" together. The styles are inconsistent. Rickfors' own ballad Touch is a nice heavy, sad number. Down River is similarly nice and sad. Romany is a lovely, pretty, sad song, while Words Don't Come Easy is ridiculosly melancholy, "A song so sad, the rose in her hand was crying..."

Delaware Tagget is OK with a touch of country. Jesus Was a Crossmaker, a terrific Hollies-ized version of the Judee Sill song.

Lizzy and The Rainman is a great poppy number with Sylvester doing the vocals. Magic Woman Touch is also a fine more pop- orientated, middle of the road effort. There is a terrific acoustic version of this out there, that shows just what great singers they were at this stage.

The rest of the album I can take or leave. The opener Wont We Feel Good... is tired. The others, to my ears are noisey, unmemorable rockers.

Micheal
PostPosted:Thu Sep 30, 2004 21:20 pm
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Otis Robb Post subject: Romany One of My Personal Favorites
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For this reason alone: Coming off ALLAN CLARKE, The VOICE, leaving to go it solo, left a big gap in the lead frontman department. Enter one MIKAEL RIKFORS, blond Swedish, phonetically operative, a major departure for the group. Mickael in my estimation made the group work harder at its harmonies and writing skills, since their mainstay of almost 10 years (at that time) hit the road for greener pastures (not so, My Name is Arold was a so-so release) Its same situation when JOHN LAWTON entered URIAH HEEP, 360 again! The band' s writing and harmonic phrasing changed around the singer. Ditto with Mikael. It was a daring career move for the Hollies that if it DIDNT happen, probably would have been the end of the group at that point in time.

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PostPosted:Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:21 am
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KingRickfors Post subject: Re Romany



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
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Location: UK

My favourite Hollies album ...... no bad tracks, Hicks at the top of his game (Courage Of Convictions) and a fantastically underrated singer who was bringing things out of the Hollies that we never realised they had........ and by the way, despite what has been said previously, Down River is one of the best ever tracks with Rickfors !
PostPosted:Tue Apr 18, 2006 18:52 pm
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Dennis Post subject: Re: Re Romany
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KingRickfors wrote:
My favourite Hollies album ...... no bad tracks, Hicks at the top of his game (Courage Of Convictions) and a fantastically underrated singer who was bringing things out of the Hollies that we never realised they had........ and by the way, despite what has been said previously, Down River is one of the best ever tracks with Rickfors !


I think this is the first post I've ever read that I TOTALLY AGREE with. Smile
By the way, if you don't already have it, get the US version of "Romany". It has much better sound, courtesy of Epic.
PostPosted:Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:56 am

Last edited by Dennis on Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:34 am; edited 1 time in total
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Dennis Post subject: Re: Romany
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MichealC wrote:
This is why I like the Hollies. They are a Manchester beat band, they loose their lead vocalst and replace him with a Swedish soul singer! Interesting choice, no?

Rickfors isn't Allan Clarke but he can sing. And sing in a style of his own. Some people dismiss him, but for me hearing his voice the first time really made an impression.

Ron Richards quit for this album because he didn't see it as commercial enough. The Hollies self- produced, feeling that they were now a mature bunch of musicians not concerned with hit singles. One would expect then some sort of serious musical statment with Romany, however, the album is shockingly unfocused with a very broad mix of songs almost entirely penned by outside writers. Rickfors contributes one song, and Hicks/Lynch another. The rest are imports.

I like a lot of the songs on here but, only a few "group" together. The styles are inconsistent. Rickfors' own ballad Touch is a nice heavy, sad number. Down River is similarly nice and sad. Romany is a lovely, pretty, sad song, while Words Don't Come Easy is ridiculosly melancholy, "A song so sad, the rose in her hand was crying..."

Delaware Tagget is OK with a touch of country. Jesus Was a Crossmaker, a terrific Hollies-ized version of the Judee Sill song.

Lizzy and The Rainman is a great poppy number with Sylvester doing the vocals. Magic Woman Touch is also a fine more pop- orientated, middle of the road effort. There is a terrific acoustic version of this out there, that shows just what great singers they were at this stage.

The rest of the album I can take or leave. The opener Wont We Feel Good... is tired. The others, to my ears are noisey, unmemorable rockers.

Micheal

No, buddy, your REVIEW is tired. "ROMANY" (US version, with superior mix and better playing order, opening with "Magic Woman Touch") IS BRILLIANT. IT IS THE BEST ALBUM EVER RELEASED BY THE HOLLIES.
PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:23 am
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James Towill Post subject:
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C'mon, Dennis, Micheal's review wasn't that bad Very Happy

We don't want another Staying Power thread brawl over an album released 34 years ago now, do we? Wink

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PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:37 am
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DistantLight Post subject:
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Joined: 10 Apr 2004
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The US version opens with "Magic Woman Touch"? I think that "Won't We Feel Good" is the perfect opener and the complete running order of the British version is ideal in my opinion. There's a good balance between the rock and pop songs and the quieter stuff.
PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:00 am
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MichealC Post subject:
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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Location: Ireland

The immaturity of the comment on this board is frankly boring. There is an old sporting saying, "play the ball not the man". This element of sportsmanship "Dennis" does not seem to have grasped. It is rather absurd that someone would get so worked up about a thirty- something year old album that they have to criticise me for not unconditionally liking it. Heaven forbid that any of my positive thoughts should be qualified.

I've run up against these fanatical approaches often enough amongst more extreme fans of groups like The Beatles and The Who. The types who think that the greatest singer to ever walk the earth must either be Lennon or McCartney. It's just a matter of deciding which. I generally don't expect such narrowness amongst Hollies fans. I always assumed people need to be reasonably broad minded to like the Hollies in the first place. Unfortunately this seems less and less so.

If anyone wishes to make themselves defender of one particular album, to the exculsion of all else, that's fine. I don't make the rules. But could we please try for a modium of decorum, manners or maturity? I don't see the point in dragging up a post I made in 2004, yes, 2004 for the puroposes of a cheap shot because I don't genuflect with adequate humility before the alter of Romany. Come on. It's one album.

If people need to make a counter- argument why not just write "These are the reasons I like the album..." Or "These are the reasons I disagree with you..."

As Rob says if you don't like it, you don't have to post. And I'm feeling more and more like that every day. Why should I bother sharing my opinions amongst fans if they are going to decide I'm not the right sort of fan?

Michael
PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 13:43 pm
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carol7cat Post subject:
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I for one found your review very fair and interesting to read!!!
I do not have this one in my collection and after reading this I shall certainly get hold of a copy to listen to!!!
Thank you very much.
PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 20:57 pm
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DistantLight Post subject:
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Joined: 10 Apr 2004
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Well said Michael! Why can't the people here just voice their arguments and say normally when they have a different opinion? It's getting really tiring, and that's not particularly against you Dennis, when people just can't accept other opinions and start insulting the writers of specific comments for their opinion. If someone doesn't like a review and has a different opinion then why not write a good and strong review to bring forward your own opinion? There's clearly too much personal insulting in this forum at the moment!
PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 22:37 pm
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holliesfan Post subject:
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Joined: 17 Jan 2004
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DistantLight wrote:
Well said Michael! Why can't the people here just voice their arguments and say normally when they have a different opinion? It's getting really tiring, and that's not particularly against you Dennis, when people just can't accept other opinions and start insulting the writers of specific comments for their opinion. If someone doesn't like a review and has a different opinion then why not write a good and strong review to bring forward your own opinion? There's clearly too much personal insulting in this forum at the moment!


I agree... BRAVO Michael. Hey if we're not careful with our words Rob may just pull the plug on this whole forum. Why don't we just regroup and approach things in more of an adult way. We, who are true Hollies fans want this forum to prosper. Voice your opinions but let's do it in a more proper way.
PostPosted:Thu Apr 20, 2006 22:54 pm
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James Towill Post subject:
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DistantLight wrote:
Well said Michael! There's clearly too much personal insulting in this forum at the moment!


Correct! I agree.

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PostPosted:Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:34 am
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Johngill Post subject: Re: Romany
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[quote="Dennis
No, buddy, your REVIEW is tired. "ROMANY" (US version, with superior mix and better playing order, opening with "Magic Woman Touch") IS BRILLIANT. IT IS THE BEST ALBUM EVER RELEASED BY THE HOLLIES.[/quote]

A surprising post really - I think regular posters here recognise Michael as a long term and knowledgable fan of the Hollies and I always welcome his comments, whether I agree with them or not.
PostPosted:Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:44 am
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holliesfan Post subject: Re: Romany
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Johngill wrote:
A surprising post really - I think regular posters here recognise Michael as a long term and knowledgable fan of the Hollies and I always welcome his comments, whether I agree with them or not.


Well said John. It seems we must learn to AGREE to DISAGREE. Like Dave Mason said "it's only you and me and we just disagree"...I think that's the lyric... Very Happy
PostPosted:Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:43 am
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