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

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

No gate/nag screen:

https://archive.is/PuPr3

Hatful of Hollow 40 today

 

[BookishBoy]

God this is in dire need of an edit, though:

The Smiths’ gloomy, overcooked debut and buried on 1985’s morose, muffled Meat Is Murder. Hatful Of Hollow captures this mannered, doleful band at its most exuberant and joyful –

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Hatful, my least favorite of the bunch.

‘..a freshness and immediacy that was lost elsewhere in The Smiths’ discography’

probably just never played them loud enough.

 

[Roman Holiday]

The Tate sessions stomp the Peel sessions like a grape. I realize the Smiths were trying to rectify the production issues of the debut, but the many of the Peel session tracks don't cut it. And Accept Yourself is their worst track until Golden Lights would come along to take the title. Louder Than Bombs covered all the b-side material better; Louder Than Bombs and the Tate sessions make Hatful of Hollow kind of obsolete.

 

[Ashley_TakeABow]

Hatful, my least favorite of the bunch.

Same.

If we're talking compilation albums.. Louder than Bombs is the best, in my opinion.

 

[Ashley_TakeABow]

Accept Yourself is their worst track until....

That song is in my top 10 favorite Smiths songs.

 

[trans]

i think this album is special to those who were there. i never hear a younger person give this one so much praise and it does feel sorta obsolete with the other compilations. agree with ashley about accept yourself. its got some funny lyrics with him going on about shoes (still going on about shoes) and the dynamic between the choppy rhythmic chords and melodic lines makes a nice back and forth / push and pull maybe echoing the lyrics and the young mans uncertainty

 

[Seymour Glass]

That song is in my top 10 favorite Smiths songs.

That's because you've been into them for a month and a half and don't know any better.

 

[Seymour Glass]

It's not an album, it's a compilation.

 

[gashonthenail]

It's a great cover. Captures the adolescent 'angst' that The Smiths did so well. With the 'arty' reference to Jean Cocteau.
Agree with Aubs about the production. Never cut it for me.
Meat Is Murder is by far the better album. But the rawness of those lyrics on The Smiths and Hatful is remarkable.

 

[Juan Dulces]

Hatful is terrific! Those session (non-single) tracks are packed with groove and energy (see Hatful's 'What Difference' vs the high gloss 80s production version) and members like Andy really shine. The simple yet groovy version of TCM (which is very much my favorite version) also displays Andy's ability and timing. It's hard for me to say something negative about that record. Well, I'm not keen on 'These Things...' - the speed/flow is jerky, but besides that - it's tough for me to complain.

A 'Secret Santa' gave me Hatful as a gift for being in a play in 9th grade, and my life became forever better. I can remember looking at the band pictures from when they were in Paris (inside the CD booklet) and listening to the incredible music for the first time. And honestly, the album still sounds just as exciting to me today (30 years later )!!!!

 

[Juan Dulces]

It's a great cover. Captures the adolescent 'angst' that The Smiths did so well. With the 'arty' reference to Jean Cocteau.
Agree with Aubs about the production. Never cut it for me.
Meat Is Murder is by far the better album. But the rawness of those lyrics on The Smiths and Hatful is remarkable.

Meat is Murder is actually the first Smiths record I had ever listened to. The second I had listened to though was Hatful, and I thought the two were musically very complimentary.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

It's not an album, it's a compilation.

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

 

[Bluebirds]

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.

 

[SuedeMoz]

While Hatful is brilliant, I can't call it their best album. Their songwriting continued to advance and develop and Hatful captured them early on.

 

[fidelio's frequency]

 

[Famous when dead]

Via The Smiths mailing list (dusted off for this):

(actually via a Rhino URL).

 

[Ashley_TakeABow]

That's because you've been into them for a month and a half and don't know any better.

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.

 

[Dorothy]

A 'Secret Santa' gave me Hatful as a gift for being in a play in 9th grade, and my life became forever better. I can remember looking at the band pictures from when they were in Paris (inside the CD booklet) and listening to the incredible music for the first time. And honestly, the album still sounds just as exciting to me today (30 years later )!!!!

I love this. An excellent Secret Santa! Amazing how music (and The Smiths in particular) can change lives for the better. It was the first Smiths album I owned back in the day - my absolute favourite for nostalgic reasons.

 

[Tim McP]

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

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

No gate/nag screen:

https://archive.is/PuPr3

Hatful of Hollow 40 today

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.