Evolution – THE HOLLIES****

Then The Heartaches Begin/Stop Right There/Water On The Brain/Lullaby To Tim/Have You Ever Loved Somebody You Need Love/Rain In The Window/Heading For A Fall/Ye Olde Toffe Shoppe/When Your Light’s Turned On/Leave Me/The Game We Play

The modish psychedelic cover disguises the mostly well crafted melodic pop tracks within Evolution, which unusually for The Hollies contains no hit singles. (US:43 UK:13)

"Supposedly psychedelic, but it's light on that for the most part. Just The Hollies doing what they do best - nice, light pop/rock, a tight band with some great melodies and some nice hooks. When they try to go 'weird' for the sake of doing it, it sounds dumb, Lullaby To Tim being the greatest offender."

"The Hollies always wrote much more interesting and adventurous songs than many of their contemporaries in the mid 60s and this is a fine example of that. More than just a singles band, not quite an albums band, but interesting none the less."

"Though often touted as a 'psychedelic' release, this is just more of the same great vocal harmony pop they're known for, with little if any discernible psych influences."

"The Hollies try to hit the psychedelic trend head on with Evolution, but it winds up sounding pretty much like classic Hollies with psych-pop touches here and there. The result is a hit and miss album, but even the tracks that don't connect like Lullaby To Tim are still interesting to listen to."

"Like The Stones, psychedelic trappings don't suit The Hollies who, despite the garish album sleeve still sound like a jaunty 1965 band trapped in the Summer of Love. That isn't what counts here though. Evolution amounts to an ability to write their own material to a high standard. All twelve songs are well crafted and show a flair for melody. The best material might however just as easily have featured on earlier albums. Overall, this is a good album, but it could have been a lot better."

"In 1967, The Hollies were 'keeping with the times' by dressing in flower-power garb, bringing in fuzzy distorted guitars, crazy sounding vocal effects, and the obligatory bit of Indian instrumentation."

"The Hollies come in colours. A breeze of fresh air in the magic Summer of Love."