Hollies Epic Anthology CD

This 20 track collection contains all of The Hollies hits on Epic, beginning with Carrie-Anne, plus LP tracks and non-LP B-sides. The CD is mastered from the original master tapes, which were found in England.
The Hollies: Allan Clarke (vocals, harmonica); Mikael Rickfors (vocals); Tony Hicks (guitar, banjo); Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Terry Sylvester (guitar); Bernie Calvert (bass); Bobby Elliott (drums).
Includes liner notes by Al Quaglieri, Ron Richards & Allan Clarke.
The Hollies' Epic Anthology offers the best of their late-'60s to mid-'70s output for the label, ranging from the soaring "Carrie Anne" to the swaggering "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" to "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and all points in between. The collection reaffirms the Hollies' gifts as synthesists; "Dear Eloise" distills the trippier, cheerier moments of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band into three minutes of bubblegum vaudeville pop; the group's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" turns the raw romanticism of Springsteen's original into the kind of lushly harmonized soft rock that dominated the airwaves in the early '70s. The group's breezy '60s songs are still their most enduring, especially the brilliant "King Midas in Reverse" (which was used unforgettably in Steven Soderbergh's The Limey), but even less striking songs like "Jennifer Eccles" and "Everything Is Sunshine" have an endearing lightness and cheekiness that has aged well. While their '70s work isn't quite as strong, "The Air That I Breathe" is still an enduring single and "Long Dark Road" and "Indian Girl," at the very least, sound sincere. Epic Anthology isn't the perfect Hollies collection, as it's missing key singles from their time with Imperial, but it's still a good look at the second half of their career. ~ Heather Phares
EPIC ANTHOLOGY is a long-overdue remastered version of some of the Hollies' best songs, from the period between 1967 and 1975. The disc is especially noteworthy for the songs featuring Graham Nash-"Carrie Anne," "Jennifer Eccles," "King Midas in Reverse," and "Dear Eloise." The original American versions of these tracks were swathed in superfluous echo. For reasons known only to some tone-deaf executive at Epic Records, the effect was somehow supposed to render the songs more commercially appealing (Capitol Records did the same thing to early Beatles albums). For this re-package, the original English masters-complete with occasional studio chatter-were used, and the results are stunning. Stripped of the extraneous sonic murk, these songs really soar. Liner notes include an informative interview with original Hollies producer Ron Richards.