BGO
's 2014 set rounds up four full albums
Herman's Hermits
released in the mid-'60s: 1965's
, 1966's
Both Sides of Herman's Hermits
, 1967's
There's a Kind of Hush
, and 1968's
Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter
, which doubles as a soundtrack for the film for the same name. Essentially, this amounts to the four full-length albums the group released in the UK during the '60s (there was also the 1966 soundtrack When the Boys Meet the Girls, but
only had a handful of cuts there, so it doesn't really count as a full album) and, generally, this will be more than enough for most listeners because
were not much of an album act. The first album is pretty slow and heavy on ballads, much to its detriment; it's a drowsy affair.
Both Sides
is a little livelier and therefore has more memorable album cuts: "Little Boy Sad" has a nice little bit of swagger and "My Reservation's Been Confirmed" is a rollicking piece of Merseybeat.
has more color still, as evidenced by its hits "Dandy" and "No Milk Today," and these relatively Baroque arrangements suit the band best; not only is there more aural variety, but the floridness suits the twee
Peter Noone
. The soundtrack also has this color -- a bit of psychedelia's pep and dash -- but the songs aren't as good as
Kind of Hush
. Then again, on each of these records the singles are far and away the best moments on the album. This is for those who want to dig deep, either for nostalgia or archaeological reasons. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine