Hatful Of Hollow [CD]

Already the darlings of the late great John Peel and the music press, Morrissey and Marr's Smiths had, by 1984, yet to make a satisfying entry in the album stakes. Their eponymous debut had some fine songs, but the production had left them sounding un-finished. Luckily their prodigious work-rate and sensible decision to use Radio 1 sessions as substitute studio/rehearsal time meant that they were soon perfecting their recorded sound as well as honing their formidable writing skills. A deal was struck to release these sessions along with some non-album A and B sides as Hatful Of Hollow. Hatful...'s versions of the debut's material, including ''Hand In Glove'', ''Reel Around The Fountain'' and ''What Difference Does It Make'', suddenly come alive in this quick and dirty environment, more closely resembling the live favourites that had won them acclaim in the first place. But it was the new material that really shone here in both Morrissey's deadpan witticisms and Marr's way with a punchy hook, mastering the gothic, Northern pathos. It has Morrissey's faintly mocking sense of teenage rejection offset by Marr's stunning vibrato guitar chimes and a rhythm section you could set your watch to. It was their true debut in every sense. This is the prime dose of Smiths, these versions of old tried and tested songs have a freshness about them with a inexplicable raw edge that makes them sound about a hundred times better than they did on the debut. There aren't many bands within modern English language pop music that can elicit versatile heartfelt sighs.

Hatful of Hollow captures precisely 16 shots of adolescent displeasure, humour, frustration, wishful thinking, and frankly, fixation; sounding in turns like slaps, punches and long, drawn out sighs. It is a band summing up beautifully what it means to be growing up awkwardly and feeling strange; wanting love and yet still not fully believing in it. Hatful of Hollow truly is a great record. The Smiths had an impressive catalogue in their regrettably short life, and the fact that they were able to release such an exceptional compilation after nothing more than one album to their name is a testament to their early musical spark and vigour. Hatful of Hollow was released in late 1984 to tide the gap between their eponymous debut's release earlier in the year and their eagerly anticipated sophomore studio album, Meat is Murder. Hollow

The Smiths will of course always be derided as miserabilists. But it's the humour and beauty involved that those criticisms always seem to miss or worse yet ignore. They somehow managed to interoperate with pinpoint my own personal pangs and social frustrations and suffering with as much blunt accuracy and humour. This topics share the same shattered and lonely individualism, a wish for self-centeredness that is both juvenile and laughable over a collection of subtle overlapping guitars of such beauty and timelessness. This is why the Manchester quartet will always be important, as through the combination of Morrissey's wondrous lyrics and Johnny Marr's aching guitar melanges, they could instantly make you feel nostalgic, aching as it were for something,

This though the release is not a real album but a collection of at the time unreleased singles, their mostly fantastic b-sides and much of their first album redone for the John Peel sessions. And that it could hold up and some say surpasses their studio work is remarkable, though it illustrates how strong and orginal band they were, and how they were improving. But aside from these revisited tunes, what makes this collection great is the sheer incredible breadth of it, as not once among the entire set does the quality, focus, or energy dip, this though many mellower songs abound.
The Smiths were a band always at their best when playing to their contrasts; Morrissey's Gladiolas to Marr's leather jacket, sexual references among declarations of celibacy, poppy and light sounds while lifting eruditely from literature, deadly serious yet mocking themselves and the world around. The Smiths are a band worshipped across the globe by legions of spotty awkward angsty ridden teenage timid and social rejects, and despised by most everybody else. The reasons are entirely due to lead singer Morissey's persona. The "oh, the agonies of life!" whining of this miserable, hypersensitive, vegetarian, celibate moppet can certainly put you off the band for good, but you really shouldn't. Morrissey has a supreme talent of hitting on both the male and female perspectives The other reason to pay attention to the Smiths is that they contained possibly the best English guitarist of their generation, Johnny Marr. Morrissey's sexual ambiguousness, both in his media personality and in his lyrics, allowed the listener to mould the song to their own liking and interpret it however they saw fit. Some saw "Reel Around the Fountain" as nothing more than an harmless love song, others saw it as a bestial telling of paedophilia. Some listeners interpreted "These Things Take Time" as an innocent retelling of a friendly drunken afternoon - others interpreted as a ghastly abomination detailing unrequited homosexual love.

But Morrissey's writing talents and vocal contributions alone would not make this record a success. Instead, guitarist Johnny Marr took firm hold of the writing helms and made the Smiths listenable. Influenced heavily by Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), Ray Davies (the Kinks) Mick Ronson (David Bowie), Johnny Marr had an intense understanding of how to effectively compose guitar-based pop music. His jangling, 60s-harking music, while on paper it may not have looked a fitting accompaniment to Morrissey's whiny livejournal ramblings, served in fact as a perfect foil. Morrissey and Marr's frictional relationship lead to some of the best pop songs put to record. The relationship is odd but reassuringly fitting. We have the proof since neither artist has really achieved much since there break up. The Queen is Dead is often regarded as the pinnacle of the Smiths music, and as one the cornerstones of music history. But Hatful of Hollow, despite being a compilation, serves as a more accurate portrayal of the untempered brilliance of the Smiths.

FANTASTIC

A compilation of unreleased and BBC tracks, 1984's 'Hatful of Hollow' is a 'must-have' for fans of The Smiths and of high-quality music generally. On listening to the album it is clear that unlike other more accomplished Smiths' albums such as 'The Queen is Dead,' 'Hatful of Hollow'is merely a collage of lesser known tracks and alternative versions of classic tunes such as 'This Charming Man'. However this is by no means a negative interpretation. The album is attributed with a distinctively raw sound that many other Smith's albums lack, particularly noticeable in the relantless consistency of Marr's guitar in tracks such as 'These Things Take Time,' 'Handsome Devil' and ' Accept Yourself.'
Personally, this will always be my favourite Smith's album for the simple reason that it was the album that really introduced me to their music. It showcases a wide range of their qualities in that it is a brash lively album but ends on a sombre and sorrowful note with tracks like 'This Night Has Opened My Eyes,' 'Back To The Old House,' and the agonisingly short 'Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want.'
The inclusion of some of the bands most celebrated tracks, 'How Soon Is Now?' 'This Charming Man' and 'William It Was Really Nothing,' ensures that this album is a must for any fan of the 1980's guitar pop phenomenon that were The Smiths.

Many people regard the Smith's studio albums (with the exception of the Queen is Dead) as patchy affairs, skirting dangerously between absolute classics and downright filler. Though, that is an opinion alien to me (I think the first Smiths' album, along with Strangeways Here We Come, are two of the greatest records of the 80's), I can see how such a viewpoint could arise, especially when you measure the success of something like Meat is Murder, alongside the undeniable genius of this.

Hatful of Hollow surfaced in 1984 and would elaborate on the style and sonic template developed by the Smiths on their self-titled debut. The range of styles and ideas, both musically and lyrically, is unparalleled here, with the group culling tracks from their first album, from demos and b-sides, and from various radio sessions, to create a collection that, along with the similar/later compilation, The World Won't Listen, represents the very best introduction to the music of the Smiths. The fact that the band had so much great material just laying around at such an early stage of their career, led John Mulvey of the NME to opine, "there's a sense that the band are rolling out of bed and writing a great song a day"... and it's true! You can't imagine modern-day bands like Coldplay or Keane having so much material left over from their first albums, to the extent that they could easily release a compilation months before starting work on their second...

It is, of course, a testament to the strong songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr during this era of fruitful creativity... with Marr providing those bouncing, jangly rhythms, whilst Morrissey, in his words, launched his diary to music. Each of the sixteen songs found herein is a little symphony to angst, loneliness, boredom, malaise, indifference and the role of the outsider, (which are classic themes within the world of the Smiths), with evocative imagery working against broad humour and enthralling melody. There's no real need to give an in-depth analysis of these songs... suffice to say, tracks like What Difference does it Make?, This Charming Man, How Soon is Now, Handsome Devil, Still Ill, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, Reel Around the Fountain & Please, Please, Please... figure as some of the most iconic and celebrated Smiths' tracks ever produced, and, if you enjoy at least one, you're likely to enjoy them all.

Hatful of Hollow remains one of the very best Smiths' releases and acts as a great introduction to one of the best bands of all time. For a more comprehensive listen, get this alongside The World Won't Listen and immerse yourself in the joys of songs like You've Got Everything Now, William- It Was Really Nothing, This Night Has Opened My Eyes and Back to the Old House, before progressing to the wonders of The Smiths, Meat is Murder, The Queen is Dead and Strangeways- Here We Come.