From pop's early days

(Morning Star, Saturday 18 February 2006)

ALBUM: The Hollies - Staying Power
(EMI)

HAVING appeared on the first ever Top of the Pops in 1964, The Hollies have proven that their staying power is quite almighty.

It seems incredibly unlikely that the old timers of British pop will be invited onto the show in its new guise, with their yester-pop crafted for Magic FM listeners. Well, we may be surprised.

In the meantime, this is tipped by the band themselves as their best ever studio album and who am I to argue?

First, the idea of the band still being The Hollies after all this time is an anathema to their youthful exuberance, not to mention how many are still original members. Very Stranglers.

Many tracks here are full of the same old pop ideas, but they don't really have the charisma to carry them off.

The Spanish guitar in So Damn Beautiful is peculiarly nauseating, while album closer Let Love Pass is unwieldy for the casual listener and just too too much.

With the vocal harmonies The Hollies are famed for peeking in every so often, most notably on Touch Me, there are sparks of inspiration, but the overall effect on this listener is one of antipathy, amplified to repulsion when the sleeve reveals Enrique Iglesias's part in the songwriting duties.