Hatful of Hollow

Product Information

I even prefer it over Johnny Marr’s 2012 remastering, which bloats the low end and bizarrely veils his own guitar work, losing the sparkle that is on the UK original. You've Got Everything Now" is slower than the version on The Smiths and does not have any keyboard part.

I don't know whether the original, possibly glossed up versions of these songs are better or worse than what's here, but I can compare this compilation to The World Won't Listen, the only other Smiths release (and compilation) I own.Morrissey sounds gayer here than he does on their later stuff, for what it's worth (not a number of stars up or down, certainly). The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their first album, The Smiths, in 1984.

Additionally, the old cover had a large sky-blue frame with the legends "The Smiths" and "Hatful of Hollow" above and underneath the picture.I've heard _Hatful of Hollow_ described as the definitive Smiths record, and it could well be, but I don't think it's necessarily a great introduction. This is no mean feat considering that we're talking about the Smiths, who have more compilations than regular albums. Released just months after The Smiths’ debut album, this collection of non-LP B-sides and singles finds Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr brilliantly blending deceptively simple motifs with literate, trenchant lyrics. With definitive takes of early songs, The Smiths’ ‘Hatful Of Hollow’ marked the point where “even the doubters began to believe”.

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. Hatful Of Hollow was the point where even to doubters began to really believe the hype surrounding the band. also featured on the soundtrack to the 1986 film Out of Bounds, but wasn't included on the accompanying soundtrack album.

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 Grade A++ collection of tracks, and the folks on the Steve Hoffman forums were right- the Rough Trade pressings are the way to go with this album! This photograph was taken in 1947 by his friend Nelva Jean Thomas in his home town Fairmount, Indiana. It isn’t even so much similar bands they introduced me to, nor just bands that influenced the Smiths or vice versa.