The Quietus: "Something They’ll Never Have: Why Hatful of Hollow is The Smiths’ Best Album" (November 12, 2024)

Despite not being a proper album, Hatful Of Hollow possesses a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography, argues Toby Manning on the record’s 40th anniversary

thequietus.com

Something They'll Never Have: Why Hatful of Hollow is The Smiths’ Best Album | The Quietus

Despite not being a proper album, Hatful Of Hollow possesses a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography
thequietus.com thequietus.com
No gate/nag screen:

Hatful of Hollow 40 today
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Having 16 Smiths' tracks for £3.99 ten months after the first album and far better sounding than my own radio recordings of the sessions (10/16) - not a bad deal in my book.
FWD.
 
Bluebirds said:
First Smiths album I had. A special memory for me. How anyone who is over the age of 45 can regard this as "obsolete" is beyond me - but each to their own.
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I am 52 yrs old and I treasured it, too, when I first got it. But my collection grew. Louder Than Bombs has many of the same singles and b-sides, plus more. And when I acquired a cassette bootleg of the Tate Sessions in the early 90s (blessed day), those renditions of the early songs (particularly Reel Around the Fountain) were far superior to my ear than the Peel sessions on Hatful of Hollow. Plus Tate has Wonderful Woman and doesn't have Accept Yourself (a 2 swapped out for a perfect 10 IMO). So for those reasons HOH became obsolete for me—not because it's bad, but because everything on it was either retained or improved upon elsewhere. I still have the Tate Sessions cassette with the label writing of the friend who gave it to me; it's one of the few cassettes I've kept even though I don't even have anything that plays cassettes anymore. A special memory.
 
Second Smiths cd I ever bought, in the summer of 2003. It’s not an album, but I’d still place it at number one on my Smiths list. It’s flawless. The rawness of both words and music. The simplicity. The quirkiness and rain soaked northernness. This is peak, quintessential Smiths. And the fact that all of the material is from the 1983-84 era makes it hold together perfectly, like a regular album. It’s not sprawling like LtB.
 
Ashley_TakeABow said:
False. It's been well over a year now, and it's been heavily consumed by me.

Fact: I can have my own opinion on what my favorite songs are.
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I had no idea you were a new(ish) fan! It's such a wonderful thing to discover The Smiths! It can really change one's overall perspective on music. AND they were only together for 5 years! :D

I discovered them (actually discovered Morrissey solo first) in my early teens, but ended up taking a few years off when I was in my early 20s just because I was discovering other music. I rediscovered The Smiths when I was about 24 and it was even BETTER than when I first discovered them. It is truly life-altering music!
 
ZOOM FROM GLOOM said:
Agree. This article wouldn’t have been written if the writer recognized correctly that it is a compilation.

In order of best first …

Louder than Bombs
Smiths Rule OK!
The Sound of The Smiths
Hatful of Hollow
The World Won’t Listen
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I think that’s the whole point of the article. He recognises it’s not an album - “this collection of standalone singles and dashed-off radio sessions” - but thinks it’s better than the actual albums.
 
It might be addressed in the article and I’ve not read it but it’s not a studio album. It was meant as a jump on the bandwagon, maybe they’re a flash in the pan, rag and tag copy and paste from the activity that was happening at the time.
Yes it’s good, but to me that’s less important than the fact that it was a cash in compilation without the planning, love, sweat and tears as something like Strangeways, which doesn’t get the love it deserves from some stalwarts
 
Bluebirds said:
Despite not being a proper album, Hatful Of Hollow possesses a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography, argues Toby Manning on the record’s 40th anniversary

thequietus.com

Something They'll Never Have: Why Hatful of Hollow is The Smiths’ Best Album | The Quietus

Despite not being a proper album, Hatful Of Hollow possesses a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography
thequietus.com thequietus.com
No gate/nag screen:

Hatful of Hollow 40 today
Click to expand...
It IS their best album. There is everything that makes them legendary!
 
i got louder than bombs in the bargain bucket in our price for the pricely sum of £1.99.
always saw hatful in woolworths and as fwd said £3.99,what a bargain.
those were the days.
 
William Fisher said:
I think that’s the whole point of the article. He recognises it’s not an album - “this collection of standalone singles and dashed-off radio sessions” - but thinks it’s better than the actual albums.
Click to expand...

Ah, ok. Didn’t read it. Does he feel the same way about Bona Drag?
 
Bluebirds said:
Despite not being a proper album, Hatful Of Hollow possesses a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography, argues Toby Manning on the record’s 40th anniversary

thequietus.com

Something They'll Never Have: Why Hatful of Hollow is The Smiths’ Best Album | The Quietus

Despite not being a proper album, Hatful Of Hollow possesses a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography
thequietus.com thequietus.com
No gate/nag screen:

Hatful of Hollow 40 today
Click to expand...
Because the majority of Hatful is virtually “live” studio recordings it captures how we remember them in the flesh, which was definitely lost on the first two albums.
It is simply the superior compilation album from that era - the vocals on Reel Around The Fountain with that haunting echoing finale is Moz at his best, still sends shivers down the spine 40 years later, stunning and remains one of my top 3 Smiths tracks.
The Queen is Dead is their best album imo.
The title track and Sweet & Tender Hooligan are my other top three btw.
Enjoy!
 
Tim McP said:
I mean yeah it's f***ing fantastic, but I don't understand why people insist this is better than any of the studio albums.
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Right. It's a compilation - how is it a fair comparison? I would also consider Louder Than Bombs better than some of the studio albums because it has more songs I like, but there's no point is there?
 
Three-Bar-Fire said:
Because the majority of Hatful is virtually “live” studio recordings it captures how we remember them in the flesh, which was definitely lost on the first two albums.
It is simply the superior compilation album from that era - the vocals on Reel Around The Fountain with that haunting echoing finale is Moz at his best, still sends shivers down the spine 40 years later, stunning and remains one of my top 3 Smiths tracks.
The Queen is Dead is their best album imo.
The title track and Sweet & Tender Hooligan are my other top three btw.
Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Yeah, if forced I’d have to agree about Queen is Dead, being their best. Followed by Meat is Murder and Strangeways. The last being the best sounding (somewhere Street is smiling).

Though desert island for me would have to be Louder Than Bombs, no contest.
 

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