Herman's Hermits

The group's debut British album was actually issued six months later than its American counterpart, and two months after its second American album, the LP being treated as far more important in the United States than in England. The contents are actually fairly close to the U.S.-issued Their Second Album! Herman's Hermits on Tour, with a couple of important differences. Among the tracks unique to this album, the Richard/Marvin ballad "I Wonder" is pretty dispensable, but interspersed with achingly beautiful ballads are the group's attempts at somewhat harder sounds on numbers like Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Walkin' With My Angel" and more basic, slightly edgier rock ballads such as "Dream On" and their cover of Graham Gouldman's "For Your Love." The latter is decent, and lively enough, but the Yardbirds' version, lightweight as it may have seemed next to their blues sides, is so deeply soulful that it completely eclipses this rendition. Spiced with Keith Hopwood's catchy "Don't Try to Hurt Me" and "Tell Me Baby" (which appear on both albums, a testimony to Hopwood's songwriting ability) and ubiquitous fare such as "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter," the result is a pleasantly upbeat and substantial album by a highly underrated group. ~ Bruce Eder|