YOU would have to feel sympathetic towards the plight of The Hollies. In the Sixties, they rivalled The Beatles, Kinks, Beach Boys, and Rolling Stones in terms of success: some of their close harmony pop and beat music belong in a box marked "Great". Yet the Manchester band - who formed in 1962 - and obviously still marking time until their 35th anniversary - rarely scaled the same heights as their colleagues in relation to influence, attitude, or tragedy. Even in the current Britpop soaked, Sixties influenced environment, it is rare (if ever) that The Hollies are mentioned in passing as important. Maybe they weren't, but boy, some of those tunes still sound fine when heard on the radio.

It's sad, then, to report that The Hollies now come across as a high powered cabaret band, playing most of their hits with scant regard for their original sound. With few exceptions (Here I Go Again, Just One Look, Carrie Anne, King Midas In Reverse), each hit was swathed in superfluous guitar effects and swirling washes of keyboards. Quite pointless, really, considering the inherent quality of the songs. And then there was the problem of the cover versions, perhaps a throwback to their wilderness, chicken'n'chips circuit years of the late Seventies and most of the Eighties. Professional but incredibly redundant versions of Riders On The Storm and Purple Rain were inexplicably thrown in for good (?) measure. Aside from the occasional pleasure of one of their hits played with gusto, the best song was ironically, taking into account original member Graham Nash's defection to Los Angeles a rendition of Stephen Stills' Helplessly Hopping.