Them feat. Van Morrison - The "Angry" Young Them! (Remastered) (1965/2020) [Hi-Res]

The debut album by the group, also known as The Angry Young Them, and half its tracks make it a dead-on rival to the Stones' debut album, writes Bruce Eder for AllMusic. This reissue features the album's original British configuration ("Just a Little Bit," "I Gave My Love a Diamond," "Bright Lights, Big City," and "My Little Baby" are here; "One Two Brown Eyes" and "Here Comes the Night" are absent).

Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career. The original five member band consisted of Morrison, Alan Henderson, Ronnie Millings, Billy Harrison and Eric Wrixon. The group was marketed in the United States as part of the British Invasion.

"Decca's willingness to release a full-length Them album was conditioned upon the breakthrough success of the band's third single, "Here Comes the Night." It was not, however, the practice in Britain at the time to put hit singles on albums, so this 14-track LP does not include that song. It does, however, contain six songs written by lead vocalist Van Morrison, including the immortal "Gloria" and "Mystic Eyes," which became a chart single in the U.S., plus some well-played R&B covers. Because of an annotation on the back of the LP, this album is sometimes referred to as The Angry Young Them, although its official title is Them." (William Ruhlmann, AMG)

Van Morrison, vocals, harmonica, tenor saxophone
Peter Bardens, keyboards, organ
Billy Harrison, guitar
Alan Henderson, bass
John McAuley, drums, piano, harmonica

Digitally remastered