I've got Odessey and Oracle. Great, great freaking album, maybe my favorite of the '60s (except I've never been able to like "Changes"). Their singles collection is also an A+ disc. Definitely about Pet Sounds, but that's not my favorite BB album anyway (that'd be Summer Days, Friends, or Wild Honey, depending on my mood). The Zombies are definitely up there with the best.
My top five is never in any way a stable thing. I don't think I'd be able to make a list of my top five artists, because it changes every few weeks. Ask the same question in a month and you'll get five completely different artists; that's just how my brain goes (my favorite artists are the ones I'm listening to the most at any given moment).
The Hollies' early albums are pretty much all OOP in the U.S. and are going for at least $30-40 on amazon.com (for a 29-minute album!), so I've downloaded most of them and have assembled a pretty decent collection. I own Butterfly and The Hollies' Greatest Hits (which is essential for the non-album tracks alone), which I think are the only original Hollies records available domestically (there are also hits packages and some bastardized U.S. albums, but not the originals). It's a real shame; they could make decent money from packaging them in twofers like the Beach Boys' catalogue, but I guess not enough cash to justify doing it. Still a shame that you can't get them.
You ought to try to find
Hollies, their 1965 self-titled album. Great, great album tracks like "Very Last Day," "So Lonely," "You Must Believe Me," and a ridiculous cover of "Mickey's Monkey" where they sound exactly like The Who (the drummer is insane...truly Moon-like). I also recommend, if you've got a lot of cash to blow, the recent boxed set
The Long Road Home.
Their best album was probably
Evolution or
For Certain Because..., though.
Butterfly has some good cuts ("Would You Believe" for one).
Okay, okay, I promise it'll be all baseball from now on. No need to ban me!
