Hatful Of Hollow [CD]

Hatful Of Hollow presents the raw and yearning performances of the early Smiths at their best, with Morrissey singing "'the sun shines out of our behinds" on the iconic "Hand In Glove", his tongue firmly in his cheek. For many Smiths devotees, this is the band's alternative debut album, containing vital Smiths recordings like the John Porter produced "How Soon is Now?". Other less well-known delights include a beautifully mordant acoustic rendition of "Back to the Old House" and the kitchen sink melancholy of "This Night Has Opened My Eyes". Hatful Of Hollow is a sixteen track collection that is taken in the main from BBC Radio 1's cutting edge John Peel and David Jensen evening shows in 1984. Like The Beatles at The BBC, The Smiths radio sessions sound both timeless and epoch defining, and there is no better introduction to the band's beguiling talent than on Hatful Of Hollow. --James Littlewood

The Smiths tend to be thought of as a band one grows out of--music you listened to as a depressed adolescent and then abandoned when you overcame it all. Such a notion denies them their place in the rock pantheon, not only as an inspiration to countless indie-rock outfits but also as the band that challenged the received wisdom of rock & roll machismo. Fronted by the fey, sexually ambiguous Steven Patrick Morrissey, who married painfully honest lyrics--almost embarrassing in their self-effacement--with arch humor and a melancholic delivery, the British band was quite an anomaly to an America still emerging from the bloated-rock tyranny of the likes of Journey and REO Speedwagon. Hatful of Hollow, released as an import in 1984 and domestically in 1993, is a collection of singles, many recorded live for various radio shows. More-muscular versions of most of the tracks here can be found on the collection Louder Than Bombs, but Hatful has a vitality to it that the studio-bound, somewhat antiseptic Bombs lacks. Check out Johnny Marr's delicate acoustic guitar on the aching "Back to the Old House" or the band's looser workouts of such now-classics as "This Charming Man" and "Still Ill." Two songs not found on other albums make this a must for fans: "Handsome Devil" and "Accept Yourself," a bouncy, jangly number on which Morrissey croons convincingly, "Others conquered love, but I ran / I sat in my room and I drew up a plan." Perfect music for your awkward inner child. --Steve Landau

Already the darlings of the evening tastemakers at Radio 1 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 rather tinny and 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. Equally luckily someone at Rough Trade noticed, and a deal was struck to release these sessions along with some non-album A and B sides as Hatful Of Hollow. In one fell swoop the mistakes of the previous 6 months were forgotten.

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. Singles ''William It Was Really Nothing'' and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'' revealed giant steps in both Morrissey's deadpan witticisms and Marr's way with a punchy hook, while ''Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want'', ''Back To The Old House'' and ''This Night Has Opened My Eyes'' all showed the Mancunian bard to be now a master of gothic, Northern pathos. The last is quite desperately sad, with its moral upbraiding of an unwanted pregnancy's termination.

As if this wasn't enough, Hatful… contains the first appearance of what may be the band's finest moment. ''How Soon Is Now'' encapsulates everything good about the Smiths. It has Morrissey’s faintly mocking sense of teenage rejection ('…so you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own. And you go home and you cry and you want to die'), Marr's stunning vibrato guitar chimes and a rhythm section you could set your watch to. Within weeks it was winning Peel's Festive 50.

Hatful Of Hollow was the point where even to doubters began to really believe the hype surrounding the band. It was their true debut in every sense… --Chris Jones

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Several months after releasing their first album, the Smiths issued this collection of singles and rarities, several of which are BBC versions of songs from their debut. The Smiths treated singles as individual entities, not just ways to promote an album, and therefore many of there finest songs were never issued on their studio albums. As if this wasn’t enough, this compilation contains the first appearance of what may be the band’s finest moment. “How Soon Is Now” captures encapsulates everything good about the Smiths; Morrissey’s mocking lyrics, Marr’s stunning vibrato guitar and a rhythm section you could set your watch to.

Fantastic 1984 set of radio sessions and rarities. Includes "How Soon Is Now?".