Hatful Of Hollow (studio album) by The Smiths

Album Rating: 83.19
(1,331/16)

Side one

1. "William, It Was Really Nothing" Single A-side - 73
2. "What Difference Does It Make?" John Peel session, 18/5/83 - 97
3. "These Things Take Time" David Jensen session, 26/6/83 - 87
4. "This Charming Man" Peel session, 14/9/83 2:42 - 96
5. "How Soon Is Now?" B-side of "William, It Was Really Nothing" - 97
6. "Handsome Devil" Peel session, 18/5/83 - 97
7. "Hand in Glove" Single A-side mix - 68
8. "Still Ill" Peel session, 14/9/83 - 78


Side two

9. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" Single A-side - 79
10. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" Peel session, 14/9/83 - 77
11. "You've Got Everything Now" Jensen session, 26/6/83 - 75
12. "Accept Yourself" Jensen session, 25/8/83 - 79
13. "Girl Afraid" B-side of "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" - 79
14. "Back to the Old House" Peel session, 14/9/83 - 70
15. "Reel Around the Fountain" Peel session, 18/5/83 - 80
16. "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" - 99

While it repeats many of the tracks from The Smiths, what it adds and leaves out makes it an interesting and compelling album. As many of the tracks were taken from loose sessions for BBC radio, they are looser and less intense than the versions recorded and produced with care for the studio debut. Some of the strengths of this album are things like the inclusion of the stunning "How Soon Is Now?" which was originally released as a b-side, and the first singles, "Hand In Glove", "This Charming Man", and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now". All in all the debut is the better album, but by heck it's close!

16 songs and an average of 87 , that just tell you how amazing this album is

How Soon Is Now? is the best song on this comp. The rest is really good.

100/100

This is better than The Queen is Dead, top 10 albums of the 80s

I found me, one day, somewhere back last year, upset with the way things were going, people changed around me, and they seemed to be slowly forgetting the moments we spent together, likely, to be left on the past. In that especific day, I listened to this album, It wasn't the first time i listened to it, but I came out stunned, frozen from what I heard, as It described exactly what I was feeling. This album got me, emotionally like so so few can do. The Smiths speaked for me in those days, I'm glad I found this band in the right time.

Despite being a compilation it's as close to a proper album that you can get without it being one. All that really matter is that it's pretty much flawless from start to finish.

Great song after great song all in one place. Perfect if you don’t have time to listen to whole albums consecutively.

From Medelsvensson 12/06/2017 22:05

Perfect album!

From JulianR 10/21/2017 21:57

No one cares if it's a compilation. It's amazing. Much of the material hadn't been released before. So I consider it the best Smiths album