A compilation album by one of the three or four most important alternative bands of the 80s. It’s incredible. 10 of the 16 songs are live takes from the John Peel and David Jensen shows. I can’t tell the difference in sound between those songs and the other six which were presumably recorded in a studio. Production is low key and allows the songs to breathe and feel natural. Pretty much the opposite of the sheen on an album like “Hysteria” by Def Leppard. So many great songs. Morrissey’s got an amazing voice and jangly guitarist Marr is economically brilliant. The rhythm section of Rourke and Joyce is magnificent and bassist Rourke is particularly impressive. This is a band that understood and appreciated the power of the bass guitar. There’s no synthesizer, keyboards, piano, or harmonica. This is stripped down guitar drums bass rock and roll. I like all the songs. There are many standouts. Some are “William It Was Really Nothing,” “What Difference Does It Make?,” “This Charming Man,” “How Soon Is Now?,” “Hand In Glove,” “Still Ill,” and “Reel Around The Fountain.” Except “How Soon Is Now?” which is almost seven minutes long no song is lengthy. There isn’t a down spot on the album and, though this is blasphemy to many Smiths’ fans, I prefer it to their supposed masterpiece “The Queen Is Dead.” The sound here is more authentic and bare. You can feel the incredible unity and strength of a band very early in its recording career. The 10 songs from the shows were recorded in 83. The Smiths released their first album in Feb of 84. They released this about nine months later. The insert is clutch and has easy to read lyrics for every song. No tiny type or lyrics written on backgrounds that make reading difficult. There’s a great pic of the band and two of Morrissey. The jewel case came with a small crack. Unfortunately par for the course with Amazon. I saw them three times. Twice on “The Queen Is Dead” tour and once on the “Meat Is Murder” tour. A very powerful live act and their breakup after only four studio albums is tragic. They released two excellent compilation albums later in their career which I used to own - “The World Won’t Listen” and “Louder Than Bombs.” Morrissey went on to mixed solo success and took at least one very long break between albums. Marr has been active and in a few bands that had some success. Sadly Rourke is dead. Given Morrissey’s personality, a reunion tour or even show is most likely impossible. They were nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at least once but didn’t get in. This was an amazing band that only made great records. This album rocks hard enough for classic rock fans and has enough differences from the norm in both lyrics and music for alternative fans. This band should have been huge and most likely would have been. Listen to this and find out why.

came quick, no damage to vinyl or jacket sleeve cover, vinyl doesn’t skip, overall recommend 👍

The Smiths were one of those bands that, despite being heavily a fan of many of their contemporaries in the New Wave/Post-Punk scene of the ‘80s for many years, I inexplicably never gravitated to, even though everything I’d ever heard about them was that they were amazing, fantastic, one of the greatest bands of all time, and more along those lines… Well, that has changed. I’m still not quite sure what suddenly compelled me to finally give this band a proper listen, but long story short, as an avid listener of virtually everything within this particular sub-genre of music, somehow excluding until recently, The Smiths, they are that good. Having now listened to their entire discography a few times over, I decided to get Hatful Of Hollow, and The Queen Is Dead, after many days of careful reasoning, factoring in the amount of space I have for CDs at the moment, the amount of money I have to spend on CDs at the moment, which songs of theirs I love most, and similar criteria… Hatful Of Hollow is the earliest compilation album by The Smiths, consisting primarily of versions of songs from their first album, recorded live on-air for various radio programs. Each of these tracks differs significantly from the studio take, and personally, I prefer these versions, no offense to that legendary debut LP, which is great, regardless. Notably beyond this, Hatful also contains the first non-single appearance of “How Soon Is Now?”, which would later be added to the US edition of The Smiths’ sophomore album, Meat Is Murder, though I feel like it fits better here. Beyond that, the rest of their pre-Meat singles and b-sides, all of which are fantastic. In summary, this is an essential album, by an essential band of their era and genre. If you’re just getting into The Smiths, this is a great place to start, and if you’re already a Smiths fan, contemplating whether or not to pick up, go for it, unless the decision is between this one, and The Queen Is Dead!

BBC Sessions...plus the classic HOW SOON IS NOW! ❤️‍🔥💥👌

Arrived just as advertised.

The vinyl came well packaged, was in amazing condition, and came earlier than expected!

Well, aside from the music (which is great!) the recording quality suffers from the simple physics of cramming too much music on one record. This should have been a 2-LP set to give the grooves enough width to capture the sound, especially considering they could barely fit it all on one CD. But it isn’t, and therefore the dynamic range falls short of what I’ve come to expect on “180g” premiums.

Particularmente não considero uma coletânea. Um álbum excelente que infelizmente foi ofuscado pelo lançamento, no mesmo ano, do 1⁰ álbum da banda. É um dos meus preferidos.

Un gran disco, una buena edición y el sonido es muy bueno!

Great piece of vinyl to add to my ever growing collection. Brings back great memories. Going thru the awkward stages of my highschool career moving thru one group to the next. In one small group listening to Joy Division, Lloyd Cole, The Waterboys and The Clash. One nite a buddy of mine put on something so haunting, mesmerizing and beautiful I was so hooked after the first verse of * "I'm the son, and the heir" " Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar"* How Soon Is Now* became my always go to band. After 30yrs out of highschool, college and marriage with children I still make it a strong mission to provide time to listen to this iconic band who pulled me outside of myself in years of turmoil, experiences, good and bad. The Smiths, in my opinion, are a great band to add to your vinyl collection.

To listen

nice album.