1 	Heartbeat 	
2 	Travellin 'Light 	
3 	I'll Never Dance Again 	
4 	Walkin' With My Angel 	
5 	Dream On 	
6 	I Wonder 	
7 	For Your Love 	
8 	Don't Try To Hurt Me 	
9 	Tell Me Baby 	
10 	I'm Henry The Eighth I Am 	
11 	The End Of The World 	
12 	Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter

Peter Noone – vocals
Derek Leckenby – lead guitar
Keith Hopwood – rhythm guitar
Karl Green – bass
Barry Whitwam – drums

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, AllMusic Review

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01 - Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter
02 - There's A Kind Of Hush
03 - Just A Little Bit Better
04 - Something's Happening
05 - I Understand
06 - Wonderful World
07 - Don't Go Out Into The Rain
08 - Dandy
09 - End Of The World
10 - Leaning On A Lamp Post
11 - I'm Henry VIII
12 - I'm Into Something Good
13 - Hold On
14 - Can't You Here My Heart Beat
15 - Listen People
16 - I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving
17 - Silhouettes
18 - A Must To Avoid
19 - No Milk Today
20 - Sea Cruise

Peter Noone – vocals
Derek Leckenby – lead guitar
Keith Hopwood – rhythm guitar
Karl Green – bass
Barry Whitwam – drums

Herman's Hermits were the second-biggest singles act of 1965, right behind The Beatles, so it was appropriate that they finished off the year with their first compilation, which contained seven successful singles, led by the gold-selling number one hits "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am," and including four more Top Ten hits in "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," "Silhouettes," "Wonderful World," and "Just a Little Bit Better." plus the Top 40 hit (number one in the U.K.) that started it off, "I'm into Something Good." The group was more an image than a band, recording cheery covers of old favorites while depending on the good looks of its teenaged frontman. But the music was well-produced by Mickie Most, and it remains entertaining, if sometimes precious. The Hermits had more hits (and released two more volumes of best-ofs), but they never surpassed their first year. ---William Ruhlmann, AllMusic Review

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01. Little Boy Sad (Walker/De-La-Noe) - 2:25
02. Story Of My Life (Bacharach/David) - 2:29
03. My Reservation's Been Confirmed (Silverman/Leckenby/Hopwood) - 2:47
04. Bus Stop (Gouldman) - 2:27
05. For Love (Hopwood/Leckenby/Lisberg) - 2:44
06. Where Were You When I Needed You (Sloan/Barri) - 2:46
07. All The Things I Do For You Baby (Sloan/Barri) - 2:19
08. Leaning On A Lamp Post (Gay) - 2:32
09. Dial My Number (Worth) - 1:53
10. Oo Ee Baby (Dexter/Mullins) - 2:12
11. Je Suis Anglais (Bernet/Jerome) - 2:37
12. Listen People (Gouldman) - 2:27
Bonuses:
13. Kansas City Loving (Leiber/Stoller, 1965) - 2:04
14. A Must To Avoid (Sloan/Barri, 1965) - 1:52
15. The Man With The Cigar (Richard/Kusik, 1965) - 2:30
16. Got A Feeling (Karger/Weisman/Wayne, 1966) - 2:07
17. Hold On (Sloan/Barri, 1966) - 2:04
18. Oh Mr. Porter (Lynch, 1967) - 1:25
19. The Future Mrs. 'Awkins (Lynch, 1967) - 2:20
20. Two Lovely Black Eyes (Lynch, 1967) - 2:17
21. My Old Dutch (Lynch, 1967) - 2:09

Personnel:
* Keith Hopwood — guitar, vocals
* Karl Green — guitar, vocals
* Alan Wrigley — bass, vocals
* Steve Titterington — drums
* Peter Noone — lead vocals

The original U.S. release of this album is a superb collection of Peter Noone performances that differs dramatically from the U.K. counterpart that goes by the same name. "This Door Swings Both Ways" went Top 15 in the States during July of 1966, but it was overshadowed by four other hits Noone and company had that year (they had a total of six Top 30 tracks in 1966, equaling the number they had in 1965!). The beauty that Both Sides of Herman's Hermits displays goes beyond the familiar tunes; it is in both the sound and the packaging. "My Reservation's Been Confirmed" is a surprisingly different old-style rocker with barroom piano and a driving near-fuzz guitar. The artwork is by Frank Frizetta, but you can bet it is the legendary cover artist for Creepy and Eerie magazines, Frank Frazetta, making the project a collector's item indeed. This album is Noone's opportunity to let his personality shine through the adventurous and diverse material, some of it, oddly, an array of songs written by Kenny Lynch, along with the obligatory Graham Gouldman cover and even a tune by Herman's Hermit Derek Lackenby, among others. "My Old Dutch" sounds like it was recorded in a pub an hour before closing time, while "L'Autre Jour," sung mostly in French, is outstanding and quite different from what fans heard this group do on the radio. The cover of "Bus Stop," though, is the album's highlight, better than the hit version by the Hollies -- you can hear the words distinctly, and the solo vocal is so much more appealing than the thick chorus of Graham Nash's ensemble. The cover art features the band performing for Lyndon Johnson, Nikita Krushchev, Fidel Castro, the Beatles, Barbara Streisand, and other notables. This album is Sgt. Pepper's in reverse, a collection of 11 short pop tunes, all very much under three minutes, and it works as a document of Mickey Most and Noone having fun in the middle of all the fame. It's the sleeper in the collection of a Top 40 band, the other side of Herman's Hermits being, of course, their (read Peter Noone's) remarkable sense of humor. It's on the cover and in the grooves: the statement the Monkees wish they could have made. ---Joe Viglione, AllMusic Review

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01. Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter (Peacock) - 2:44
02. No Milk Today (Gouldman) - 2:53
03. End Of The World (Kent/Dee) - 2:55
04. This Door Swings Both Ways (Thomas/Levitt) - 2:05
05. Just A Little Bit Better (Young) - 2:51
06. I'm Henry The VIII, I Am (Murray/Weston) - 1:48
07. There's A Kind Of Hush All Over The World (Stephens/Reed) - 2:33
08. Silhouettes (Slay/Crewe) - 1:57
09. I'm Into Something Good (Goffin/King) - 2:32
10. Can't You Hear My Heartbeat (Carter/Lewis) - 2:14
11. Dandy (Davies) - 1:57
12. (What A) Wonderful World (Cooke/Alpert/Adler) - 1:58
13. Hold On (Sloan/Barri) - 2:04
14. Listen People (Gouldman) - 2:29
15. Leaning On A Lamp Post (Gay) - 2:33
16. A Must To Avoid (Sloan/Barri) - 1:53

Personnel:
- Peter Noone (Herman) - lead vocals
- Keith Hopwood - guitar, vocals
- Derek Leckenby - lead guitar
- Barry Whitman - drums
- Karl Green - bass, vocals
- Alan Wrigley - guitar, vocals
- Steve Titterington – drums

When it first appeared on CD around 1987, this 16-song compilation was easy to justify, as there are no other domestic compilations of the group's work and imported CDs were difficult to come by. And it isn't bad, as far as it goes -- encompassing all of the significant American chart singles and their most recognizable songs. This disc is probably the most easily available Herman's Hermits CD that there is, and it could be the place to start and finish with the group as far as any awareness of their popularity goes. Over the years, however, EMI in England has issued far more generous and better-sounding collections of the group's work, with the result that Their Greatest Hits is no longer competitive on that level, nor is it remotely the place to get the fullest account of the group's range, which went considerably beyond AM radio hits. EMI's The Very Best of Herman's Hermits offers more songs (and better sound) at a lower price, and any of the Repertoire Records reissues of their albums, though the hits aren't all represented, will give the listener a fuller account of the group's full capabilities, which were highly underrated. ---Bruce Eder, AllMusic Review

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1 	There's A Kind Of Hush All Over The World 	2:32
2 	East-West 	2:57
3 	You Won't Be Leaving 	2:15
4 	Saturday's Child 	2:35
5 	If You're Thinkin' What I'm Thinkin' 	2:23
6 	No Milk Today 	2:56
7 	Little Miss Sorrow, Child Of Tomorrow 	2:30
8 	Gaslight Street 	2:26
9 	Rattler 	3:11
10 	Dandy 	1:58
11 	Jezebel 	3:18
+
12 	This Door Swings Both Ways 	
13 	What Is Wrong, What Is Right 	
14 	I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving 	
15 	Marcel's 	
16 	I Gotta Dream On 	
17 	Don't Try To Hurt Me 	
18 	Bidin' My Time 	
19 	The George And The Dragon 	
20 	Wild Love 	
21 	Gotta Get Away 	
22 	Make Me Happy

Karl Green - Bass, Vocals
Keith Hopwood - Guitar
Derek Leckenby - Guitar, Vocals
Peter Noone - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Barry Whitwam – Drums

The general impression is that Herman's Hermits were a singles band, but this 11-song LP (issued in England by EMI-Columbia and in America on MGM Records) shows the group to be rather more substantial than that -- not only does it show off elements of their sound that never made it onto their singles, but such attributes as their own songwriting, for which they seldom received any regard. There's a Kind of a Hush All Over the World reached number 11 in the United States and made the British Top Ten in the early months of 1967, and that was not entirely on the strength of the hits that were included. "No Milk Today," "Dandy," and "East West" were selling points, to be sure, along with the title cut, but the other tracks also proved very appealing -- "Little Miss Sorrow, Child of Tomorrow" and "Rattler," both authored by Bruce Woodley of the Seekers, show off a folkier side of the group (and it's a pity they didn't explore it further), while the ethereal "Gaslite Street," an original by guitarists Derek Leckenby and Keith Hopwood, is pretty and memorable enough to stand alongside anything here, and "Jezebel" is a hard-rocking number totally out of character for this group, with an edge to Peter Noone's singing and the playing that's very close to garage punk of the period in spirit, and includes a dash of flamenco-style guitar, a beat lifted from Henry Mancini's "Theme from Peter Gunn," and modulations right out of the Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown standard "Temptation." All of these elements, in the singing, composition, and performance, show off a group that was not only greater than its reputation, but also more than the obvious sum of its parts -- though they're usually associated with the British Invasion, the spirit of There's a Kind of a Hush (All Over the World) is equally close to that of the Monkees circa 1967, and closer to them than to anything the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and others were doing in 1967. Indeed, one highlight of this album is the version of "Saturday's Child," a David Gates-authored song that had been popularized by the Monkees in late 1966; it's not only nicely sung but has an arrangement very different from that of the Monkees, featuring a lean, string-orchestra accompaniment that is similar to some of the string work on the Graham Gouldman Thing LP by Graham Gouldman, which was co-produced around the same time by Herman's Hermits' Peter Noone. [The 2001 reissue from Repertoire Records features state-of-the-art sound (which does wonders in bringing out the craftsmanship behind these songs) and adds 11 numbers to the original's 11 tracks: four single A- and B-sides, some odd EP and LP cuts, and a pair of tracks off the U.S. Hold On! album. Some of it is too cute and sweet for words, but other tracks are surprisingly good -- Keith Hopwood's "Marcel's," which has a solid beat and an aggressive guitar sound; the breezy "(I Gotta) Dream On" and "Make Me Happy"; Hopwood's "Don't Try to Hurt Me"; a tight and very effective rock adaptation of George Gershwin's "Biding My Time"; and the hard-rocking "Wild Love" and "Gotta Get Away," which all deserved exhumation and a new chance to find an audience.] ---Bruce Eder, AllMusic Review

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