The Hollies

The Hollies' fifth album, For Certain Because..., originally released in Great Britain in December 1966, has been issued in several variations in different territories, starting with the resequenced and retitled American version, Stop! Stop! Stop!, in 1967. In the CD era, there have been versions in the U.K. and Japan featuring both the stereo and mono mixes on a single disc. The French Magic label continues its series of Hollies reissues with this version, which combines the stereo mix with six bonus tracks: the 1966 single "Bus Stop," which preceded the original release; the movie theme "After the Fox," written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, featuring actor Peter Sellers and uncredited session players Bacharach (piano) and Jack Bruce (bass); "Don't Run and Hide," the B-side of "Bus Stop"; and three tracks recorded live in Stockholm in 1966 -- the Four Tops' "Reach Out I'll Be There," Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" (with fragments of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Who's "My Generation"), and "Stop! Stop! Stop!" All of that only adds value to what was already the best Hollies album of their first five, a quantum leap for the band that found members Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, and Graham Nash writing all of the original 12 songs, among them the U.S. hit "Pay You Back With Interest" and, of course, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" The album has very much the flavor of mid-'60s British pop; it's an eclectic mix including 1920s-style pop ("High Classed"), horns ("What Went Wrong"), and sound effects ("Crusader"). (Mike Vickers is responsible for the arrangements on these three.) Clarke is the band's lead singer, but Nash, emboldened by his quickly developing songwriting skill, is making his move, singing lead on the excellent "Tell Me to My Face," which could have been a single, and the ambitious "Clown." The band is clearly listening hard to its peers -- "Suspicious Look in Your Eyes" is a serious Byrds imitation. But they are also flexing their wings in many directions. Their accomplishment shouldn't be overstated: 1966 was the year of Pet Sounds, Revolver, and Blonde on Blonde, and For Certain Because... isn't in that class. But for the Hollies it was a major improvement. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide