"Hatful of Hollow" is a compilation album by the English rock band The Smiths, released on November 02, 1984, by Rough Trade Records. The album features a mix of tracks from BBC Radio 1 sessions, their first single "Hand in Glove" (which was re-recorded for their debut album), as well as two new singles and their B-sides. Initially, Hatful of Hollow was not released in the United States, with Sire Records opting instead to release Louder Than Bombs in 1987, which combined tracks from Hatful of Hollow and the UK compilation The World Won't Listen, along with additional material not found on either.
The album achieved significant success in the UK, reaching No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and remaining on the chart for 46 weeks. In 2000, Q magazine ranked it No. 44 on their list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever."
The album’s cover has seen some variations over the years. The current sleeve, used for the CD issue, features a cropped photograph of an unknown man, Fabrice Colette, taken by photographer Gilles Decroix. The original cover, which was used for the initial vinyl release, included a tattoo of a Jean Cocteau drawing on Colette's left shoulder, which Colette had commissioned in June 1983 as a tribute to the French artist. This photograph appeared in a special edition of the French newspaper Libération from July 1983. The original sleeve also featured a large sky-blue frame with the album's title, Hatful of Hollow, and "The Smiths" written in bold letters above and below the image. However, from 1987 onwards, the cover was cropped to focus on Colette’s face, with the text superimposed on the image. The original sleeve design was reinstated for the 2011 vinyl re-issue.
