Evolution
by The Hollies
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Condition: Used
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Condition: Used
The Hollies bestography
Evolution is ranked 2nd best out of 35 albums by The Hollies on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Hollies is Butterfly which is ranked number 5994 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 221.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Evolution on YouTube
Evolution track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Evolution rankings
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Evolution ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 66 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/14/2025 06:04 |  Norman Bates | 10,078 | 75/100 | |
| 01/25/2025 04:34 | Olli | 6,997 | 63/100 | |
| 03/27/2024 02:20 | kjistok | 855 | 81/100 | |
| 03/15/2024 00:03 | dukeboxkool | 2,127 | 72/100 | |
| 12/30/2023 22:26 | Junomoogmello | 885 | 78/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 12% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.5/100, a mean average of 74.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.1.
Evolution favourites
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Evolution comments
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It's not as good as Butterfly.
Quite an experimental psychedelic album. Marked down for the dreadful vocal effect applied to 'Lullaby to Tim', which does render the track almost unlistenable. If they had kept the vocal 'normal' this would have been a superb track! A lot of psychedelic boxes are ticked, fuzz guitar, congas, harpsichord, flute (or piccolo), even trombone. The sleeve art adds to the psychedelic experience.
Jboy56 01/21/2023 16:01 | #293134
Not the most memorable Hollies stuff. Considering the improvements and changes in the music, this still sounds music from 1965 or earlier. Great vocal harmonies are there, but most of the songs do not impress.
"Evolution" was the first of two Hollies albums released in 1967. The band did a lot of experimenting in those years, both in songwriting and arrangements. Some of it worked, some of it didn't. "Butterfly" is often hailed as their finest and most consistent, whereas "Evolution" suffers from being anything but consistent. The songwriting is more or less on par with "Butterfly", but some arrangements in various degrees ruin the songs.
Worst is the "underwater" effect put on Graham Nash's voice on "Lullaby to Tim". It could have been a great track, but as it is, it's almost unlistenable. I have often wondered if a version with unruined vocals exists.
The distorted guitars put on the opening track "The the Heartaches Begin" and "Have You Ever Loved Somebody", give a forced feeling that does not help the songs, which are really good Hollies songs. The Searchers proved that "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" even had hit-potentials.
Enough negative words said, because there are plenty of succesful tracks that make the album quite enjoyable after all.
Like on the previous album all songs were written by Clarke, Hicks and Nash and Allan Clarke and Graham Nash more or less share the lead vocals with Tony Hicks joining in on choruses etc.
"Stop Right There" is a nice quiet Graham Nash ballad; fine violin solo. Nash also takes the lead vocals on one of the big highlights on the album "When Your Lights Turned On"; classic up-beat Hollies with great guitars and harmonies.
The nostalgic "Ye Olde Toffee Shop" featuring harpsichord is quite charming, but no more.
On "Games We Play" Clarke and Nash share the lead vocals. Incredible that this song was not released as a single. Extremely catchy with funny ( naive ) teenage lyrics.
Allan Clarke demonstrates his powerful vocals on several tracks such as "You Need Love" and "Leave Me".
"Water on the Brain" is another example; a song which also features a charming trombone solo.
So all in all you could call it a hit and miss album, mostly hits!
By the way, this review refers to the British version of the album.
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