One may question the point of creating a page about The Beatles, and rightfully so. They are so far beyond myself and my opinions that, really, nothing I can say will probably make a dent in what anybody thinks of them. Plus, every possible story, legend, rumor and factoid about the group's ascension to glory and the evolution of their drug use, political views and haircuts have been enumerated ad nauseum in countless forums of discussion. In short, there is nothing I can add, right?

Well, if I may say so, no, that is not correct. You see, virtually every discussion and analysis of The Fab Four includes something along the lines of, "These guys got me into rock music," "I've loved these guys since I was 3," "My parents played nothing but Rubber Soul when I was an infant," etc. I, however, am vastly different. Not only did I not grow up with these guys, I dare say that I hated (at least, I thought I did) them until I was, man, 18 years old. And because of this fact, I can approach this page from the angle of a rather late-coming, but very 'born-again' fan.

You see, one of the great tragedies of this generation is that, in many circles, not only is it not 'hip' to enjoy The Beatles, but in many ways their name has become somewhat of a dirty word. Dated pop crap and all sorts of "yeah yeah yeah" nonsense, you know the drill. And I must say, I was fooled to the extreme, and because of this the very idea of owning any of their albums was nausea-inducing to the extreme.

As I was building up my music collection, though, I started to feel bad about not having anything by the group that was credited by so many with essentially creating modern rock. Plus, I had felt similarly about The Who before giving them a chance, but I had recently discovered that I absolutely adored the group. So, on a Friday night in early February '99, I headed over to the local college-supplies and CD shop with the intention of getting one of their albums (btw, if you're curious, I was a finance and mathematics double at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Now, I was really anxious about this, and wanted to get as far away from their early 'pop crap' as possible, so I picked what I knew to be their last recorded album, Abbey Road. So I took it home with me, put it in ... and actually somewhat enjoyed it. The music was far more mature, rocking, beautiful and creative than I had anticipated; in particular I was intrigued by the mini-suite on side two.

The week passed, the CD was played many more times, and I then decided to add the infamous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely-Hearts Club Band to my collection. I wasn't quite as impressed by it at first, but I was truly taken by the beauty and power of Day in the Life, as well as by the fact that I had heard tons of these songs in other forms elsewhere. In any case, I decided that I needed more, and since Prindle raved so much about The White Album, I figured that would be my next purchase. So about three weeks later, I headed over to the shop, plopped down my clams, took the album home, and was floored. Absolutely friggin' floored. "Wow," I thought, "This is absolutely incredible; so many styles done SO WELL, this is probably their best album." And then I bought Revolver three weeks later ... I listened to that album four times in a row right after buying it, and could have continued this forever if I didn't have work to do right away. Needless to say, by this time, I was completely and totally hooked.

The greatest test, of course, came when I started buying pre-Rubber Soul albums, since I was afraid that all the garbage I had heard about them would come true, but ... nope. There is NO WAY I could call this stuff bad (not to mention that A Hard Day's Night is EASILY one of my favorite records).

Anyways, I've managed to amass pretty much everything they ever did, including the Anthologies and Past Masters. I love it all, and I marvel that my head was stuck in my butt for so long. And, again, don't think for a moment that I have prejudice towards the band - I love their music because I think it is truly awesome, not because everybody tells me to love it. The combination of genius found in John Lennon and Paul McCartney has never been and probably never will be topped, and any band with a genius like George Harrison filling a supporting role ... now that's something special.

And on that note, the reviews are spewed forth ...

PS: It may seem the reviews for some of the albums are a little on the short end, at least in comparison to reviews for other bands I really like and especially given the high grades given the albums. This is largely on purpose. I believe that, were I so inclined, I could give a long, in-depth review of 80% of the songs in their catalogue, digging into all of the reasons I like them so much. Yet I don't, simply because most of these songs are so ingrained in pop culture that there really isn't much point. I'll give in-depth thoughts of some Beatles songs, but many will merely get namechecks, simply because there's a point at which describing why I like a Beatles song ends up being like if I were to describe why I like the color blue.

What do you think of The Beatles?

Josh Fitzgerald (breezesf85@email.com)

What do I think of the Beatles? I think that they're the greatest rock group in history of course. Why not stop here? What more is there to say. There's been nothing truly original in popular music since the Beatles (except maybe rap music). But really, there's nothing more to say.

Lillestrøm Stasjon (lillestrom.stasjon@hysjhysj.net)

The songs I like and hate the most:

From Please Please Me:
Best: There's a place
Worst: Love Me Do (never liked it)

From With the Beatles:
I don't know, I feel like there's no highlights on this one. I will have to chose the single from this period "I want to hold your hand"

And I love "I call your name"

From "A Hard Day's Night":
I'll cry instead (best one on the album)
I should have known better
Things we said today

From "Beatles for sale"
I don't want to spoil thep arty
No reply
(both in close competition with the rest of original material)

From "Help!"
Best:I've just seen a face
Worst: Act naturlly and Dizzy miss Lizzy
Played out: Yesterday

From "Rubber Soul"
one of my favorite albums
Best songs: Drive my car, You won't see me, I'm looking through you,
Wait, Girl, In my life and norwegian wood.
Worst: What goes on

From "Revolver"
(the good one's are better than on Rubber Soul, but too many not so good songs here. Still a masterpiece)
Best songs:
I'm only sleeping
And your bird can sing
Tomorrow never knows
Here, there & everywhere
For noone
Elanor Rigby
Got to get you into my life
Taxman is ok, I don't care too much for the rest of the songs, especially Yellow Submarine.

Don't forget the brilliant B-side on Paperback Writer, Rain. I love it.

Best single: Strawberry fields/Penny Lane

From "Sgt.Pepper"
I think this one is a bit overrated.
Best Song: A day in the life (if I had to pick only one Beatle-song, it would be the one)
Best songs: Getting Better, Good moring Good morning, Lovley Rita
Can't Stand: Mr.Kite, 64 & Within you, without you

From "MMT"
(this album should never have been issiued)
Best song: I am the walrus

From "White Album"
(among the very best, but one can easily cut alot of songs)
I love U.S.S.R., I will, Ob-la-di and Martha

From "Yellow Submarine"
nothing - What tha hell were they thinking.

From "Abbey Road"
Brilliant Album
Best song: Because
Worst: none - Hard to find weaknesses here

From "Let it be"
Top notch - a few skipper's like 909
Best song: across the universe

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

Oh boy, oh boy. Ok deep breaths. Now I'm ready.

The thing is that I don't find myself liking the Beatles quite as much as every other rock critic on the web. Don't get me wrong, I love the band, but they are not my favorite. I do have some problems with them.

Their songs are too short. I am a really big fan of long songs and side-longs. They always seem complete and often perfect. The can be great epics, or pointless but excelllent compsitions. Yes, The Beatles' songs got longer toward the end and there's that thing on the second side of Abbey Road, but look at many of their others. "And Your Bird Can sing" is a great song, but before you can truly get into it it's over, not even two minutes. It doesn't feel incomplete, just like it was a great melody that deserved another couple of minutes. That's one of the reasons I love "I Want You/She's So Heavy" so much. It gives me time to really enjoy the song. Maybe I'm a hypocrite as some of my very favorite Beatles songs ("In My Life," "Elenor Rigby," "For No One") don't even make it to the three minute mark. I'm only saying a few more songs like "I Want You/She's So Heavy" wouldn't have been that bad.

The Beatles penned some excellent lyrics. They are the one of the only bands who can pen sad love lyrics ("For No One") that don't end up sounding completely sappy. However, some of their songs end up entirely stupid. No, not "Octopus's Garden;" what I had in mind was more to the direction of "Baby you Can Drive My Car." No, the lyrics don't ruin the song. But they make "Octopus's Garden" look intelligent.

There seems to be a belief around the earth to the extent of "The Beatles can pen no bad songs." I disagree. It is true that they didn't know the definition of the word filler, but sometimes the songs they wrote, no matter how hard they tried, turned out awful. The first song that comes to mind is "Come Together" off of Abbey Road. I can't really put into words what makes me hate it, but it clearly shows that the Fab Four were not the Flawless Four.

Does the title of "Most Revolutionary Band" belong with them? Undoubtedly. The title of "Most Overrated?" Nope. (Ever hear of The Rolling Stones?) How about the title of "The Greatest?" Maybe. I hesitate to say yes or no because of the comments I made on The Who. While I would not pesonally award them the title, it must be noted that most decent rock critics give them the title, so maybe they are the greatest band of all time.

Thought09@aol.com

I don't know if you have yet, but if not, you MUST get the yellow sub album. Either the new songtrack or the old album, I don't care. Why? 'It's all too much' is absolutely amazing. It's in my top 5 beatles songs easily. George writes this simple little ditty that is acid inspired, but look at what it becomes. Paul's Bass playing rules on this track. Not that his lines are all over the place but it's just awesome. Actually, what am I talking about....I just read an interview w/ george and I guess it's George playing the organ on this one and Paul plays the freakout guitar lines. This is the sweetest, awesomest, most amazing guitar tone and sound the beatles ever released....It doesn't sound like the beatles!!!! It's a Jimi Hendrix/Beatles mix!!! Ringo's drumming is outta this world too. The mix on the new yellow sub cd is prob. better, however the amazing guitar track is lower in the mix and loses some of it's freak out sensation. If at all possible, try to get the unedited 8 min. plus original mono mix version on mp3...I have it and am blown away. The version of 'only a northern song' on the new cd is much better though, since it's in stereo and the fucked up sound effects blow the mind. This tune makes the stuff on MMT seem pennylaneish.

RL (rlnmrm@yahoo.com)

Hi,

One must considered the historical perspective, when analyzing past creations by artists. In this case, material created by the Beatles, which true to art's function in society is to reflect the life and times.

As for the length of their songs, at the time there were time length constraints placed upon the length of songs by radio stations. If a song was to receive airplay it had to be short, averaging two minutes thirty seconds, however stations prefered two minutes.

The Beatles did push this envelope with Hey Jude which ran over five minutes.

Despite all the enevelopes that the Beatles pushed, had it not been them, it would have been someone else.

Personally, all this hype, which is commercially driven is spoiling a good thing. The more their music is repackaged and replayed, the more it destroys its intrinsic value. The songs should stand the test of time on their own, or not stand at all, if the quality is not there.

One only need read the writings of Lennon or hear his interviews to ascertain he'd be totally dismayed by the continuous bombardment of the bands music.

Case in point, during his Peace A Chance effort, upon reading the newspaper, he said:

"Thousands of people up on their feet singing Give Peace A Chance at last night's concert and these bloody newspaper's heads are still in the Beatles."

They had not said a word about the concert, infact they tried to ignore whatever he was doing that didn't match what their manipulated perspective said it should be.

Don't misunderstand, I value what the Beatles did, however as Lennon said, they were just a band that made it very very big.

They profoundly enhanced me as a musician, as when I was learning music I searched for a band that played all genre's and the Beatles did and created some.

As far as who is the greatest of all, that is a relative perspective, and like art, a personal view.

Besides, it remains to be seen what impact my music as well as my other works will have, and rather than compete with what others have done, much can be said for carving one's one niche'.

That is how Elvis was deemed the King of Rock and Roll, Michael Jackson the King of Pop, etc., etc..

In the end who cares (rhetorical question) and it really does not matter in the overall scheme of things.

End of speech!

"Sittinger, Brian D" (brian.d.sittinger@lmco.com) (7/17/01)

If the Beatles are not the greatest, they must be darned close to it! my father, a big Beatles fan, practically owns all their studio albums. So, I have probably heard almost every song of theirs one time or another. For all I know, their set of stinkers has to be among the smallest set on this planet! That should say consistency right there. Their early pop period, though it can become a bit repetitious, is still, well, well-written pop. Not like the stuff today! Then, from Rubber Soul onward, one great album after another, full with freshness in their work.

Regarding Rolling Stones versus Beatles for the greatest rock and roll band of all time, note the following:
(1) Define Rock and Roll (if this really makes much of a difference!)
(2) Name another band (other than the Beatles) in which every member had success as a solo artist (even Ringo!!).

I say no further...

denron (den.ron@verizon.net) (12/3/01)

Well, Stoo  , I'm a 44 yr.old Southern Ca. native girl, who still adores the Beatles, as  if  it were, .........snicker:)........Yesterday,............Only because, we all know darn well, there will simply never be another equal!!!  Stones, you can try, Zep, Yeah we hear ya' baby.......but the real love of all of  our hearts is the "Bloody Beatles" , they were...........in Sir Paul's words........Bloody the FING Best,(Paul's terminology, here folks)  and they were  the most enjoyable time, one could ever hope for in high school eh???!! :) 

Matti Alakulju (matti.alakulju@peterstar.ru) (12/28/01)

What do I think about The Beatles? I think that they were those four guys who thought that having hair one inch longer than your father's is revolutionary. Seriously though, I know that everybody says they are the greatest band that ever lived. All my life I've heard lots of them on every possible radio station. And somehow, none of the songs I've heard has pushed me to buy any album of theirs. Just because they are considered to be the greatest I've bought a couple of compilations. But still, to no effect. And this is exactly my view of The Stones, too.

  My tastes in music start somewhere in the late sixties and I have millions (well, almost) of albums of every long haired freak who ever happened to grab a guitar in the early seventies. But there is no way I can get the big deal about these two bands who are supposed to be the best (and I'm 36 now!). To me their songs seem to be just too simple and too short and too much song-oriented. I wish they had even tried to show some chops as musicians. Even you smart critics must confess that none of the guys in these groups was an incredible musician. I mean, like Hendrix or Clapton or Page or Zappa.

g1bass (g1bass@joimail.com) (6/27/04)

After reading some of the comments on this webpage I find it interesting that some of the most negative comments are about songs where the Beatles dig back into their musical roots, as in several of Paul's compositions Honey Pie and and When I'm 64. Whilst it may be very cool to deconstruct Beatle tunes, without looking at their collective musical influences, aside from American influenced R&B; it should be noted that skiffle and the Music Hall influences particularly of post WW2 Northern England, and the melodic influence of the Irish in Liverpool, were tremendously influential while the Beatles were growing up. These cultural icons have influenced tunes including Bungalow Bill, a song about Jim Corbett a Brit in India, who served the Indian government by killing man eaters, and by establishing Indias first  National Park. I think its very important when deconstructing this music to have some idea of the culture that spawned these songs and not be so quick to judgement about their validity. just my humble opinion.

hello (wg_elementary@prodigy.net) (8/24/04)

A Day In the Life best ever --?, you are correct.

free as a bird is the only one that can make my jaw drop, though :) One of the most less heard appeal of the beatles is the intense comfort knowing all 4 are there whether heard or not

where would penny lane & hello goodbye be without vocal peppering of JL

My fav  & why ? Baby You're a Rich Man or I Am The Walrus(video) because within those songs you can hear the beatles going from best thing ever & being promoted/morphing into pure light*

*from the final scene of a classic star trek episdode

That's my rant & I will pester you no more !

Nickrj@aol.com (9/20/04)

Hey John. It's me again! Since I last spoke to you I've been getting a lot of old stuff rather than 80's pop that had controlled most of my life. I'd like to talk about the Beatles and really they need no introduction. I've boughten all of their albums in the past year and I really love pretty much all of their 66-70 stuff. Here are my album ratings and best song in parentesiths Please Please Me 7(10) (I Saw Her Standing There)

With The Beatles 8(12) (Money(That's What I Want))

A Hard Day's Night 9(13) (And I Love Her)

Beatles For Sale 7(11) (Eight Days A Week)

Help! 8(12) (Ticket To Ride)

Rubber Soul 9(14) (Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown))

Revolver 9(15) (Tommorrow Never Knows)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 10(15) (A Day In The Life)

Magical Mystery Tour 9(15) (Magical Mystery Tour)

The Beatles (White Album) 10(15) (Rocky Raccoon)

Let It Be 9(13) (Let It Be)

Abbey Road 10(15) (Something)

Past Masters Vol 1 9(15) (She Loves You)

Past Masters Vol 2 10(15) (Hey Jude)

DAVID VICKERS (daveandjoyce@rogers.com) (1/17/05)

Hey, my name's Dave and I only very briefly skimmed over all the stuff you/others had to touch upon for the Beatles' albums.  I have been a big Beatles' fan since I was about 9ish ("number 9, number 9"), and now I'm 26, so that says a lot about the group by itself, I think.  The last few years I haven't been listening to them even a fraction of what I used to, and largely it is because I have been listening to other great artists around that time.

  Even though I do not listen to the Beatles much anymore, I think that my appreciation has deepened and aged tremendously after the fact.  Learning more about their influences and their times does in fact give them the timeless effect - and not necessarily listening to them day after day and deliberately placing them on that pedestal.  The White Album is my favorite, for example - but call it crappy or a work of genius, it obviously has made such a social impact (we all know of one particular individual who is in jail for life and still believes messages are present when you play the album backwards).  And what about those "lesser" Beatle albums - right at the beginning of the 60's - that rose to create what everybody knew as "Beatlemania".  My favorite influence, though, has to be the Beatle's influence on the Beach Boys.  To me, Brian Wilson's genius surpasses that of any of the Beatles, but has its roots deep into what the Beatles were doing.  His album Pet Sounds deserves much acclaim even in the same breath as any of the Top Fab albums, but that is a lengthy argument for another time. 

  Anyways, if you feel like discussing more about the Beatles with me, that would be cool.  I'm glad I got to share some thoughts here. 

  Dave

Mark Flanagan (mark@pelletizer.com) (2/23/05)

You made a dent in what I thought of The Beatles. Didn't know them well and was curious after seeing Paul at the Super Bowl.

I wanted some history. Thanks for your effort!

tea (drago.maksimovic@public.srce.hr) (03/26/05)

Here's the thing- I'm seventeen and I love The Beatles. I live in a country with low music standards. I've discovered The Beatles when I was fourteen. I have 26 albums. They have great music, but the thing is: when I listen to their music, and I felt crappy that day, I just don't feel that crappy anymore. Because they tell me that everything is going to be just fine.

Notartan@aol.com (06/11/2005)

Hello,

  Today (aired May 31, 2005) on Jeopardy the final clue was about a 1965 Beatles hit that came to be composed  due to their chauffeur.  I didn't guess the correct hit, although I should have since I was a teenager rocking to The Beatles in the 1960s.  The Jeopardy champion wrote the title down as "Baby You Can Drive My Car" as her answer and was elevated to $18K but a challenger wrote down, "Drive My Car."  The Jeopardy officials credited him also w/the correct answer and he got $20K and became the new champion.

  That is what brought me to your website.  I read some of each of other peoples comments including yours.  It's hard to tell who the authors are of their messages, but I presumed to think most were guys.  I, on the other hand, am a 56 y/o woman living out in the West but grew up in the Midwest.

  One thing for sure, we needed their music to help soothe our loss of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  My Dad did not want me to watch The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.  My Mother eventually talked my Dad into allowing me to watch.  I was there in front of our black & white TV set soaking it up!  By far, I liked their earlier hits especially:

  She Loves You, Love Me Do, I Saw Her Standing There, Ticket To Ride, She's Got The Devil in Her heart, All My Loving, Till There Was You, I Want to Hold Her Hand, You Really Got A Hold on Me, Roll Over Beethoven, No Reply, and a few others.

  All my girlfriends liked them, too.  We had lots to talk about.  What I find more interesting now than at that time, was how far more males did not like The Beatles.  It did not seem to matter what age the males were, whether teens or adults, they did not like them.

Once upon a time, I had their first three albums. An apt fire claimed them years later,  and the magazines I had with their pictures plastered across the front, were long gone, too.  As far as their newer songs, I only like:

Hey Jude, Revolution, Let It Be and to some degree, Help and Yesterday.  Also, I Love USSR

  Finally, I want to comment about another person's critique.  This person stated that "girls/women always leave" and "The Beatles songs depicted that w/o being sappy."  Well, that is life.  People come and go in each other's lives.  It's not always the women who walk away first, either.  The important thing is to be kind to each other and kind to yourself.  Recognize that change will occur whether you desire it or not.  Nothing stays the same forever and if it did, how stagnant that would be.

  Thank you for your wonderful website and allowing people to post their comments.
"Chris Ann"

ArelisTr@aol.com (04/25/06)

Truly!  They are THE greatest band of all time.  I am much like you, in the born-again aspect of my relation to the Beatles.  I had the seem "I hate the Beatles thing," as well as the Stones (not anymore though!) and the Who (no more either, no thanks to Mark Prindle!), but Revolver changed all that.  A truly great band, the truly great band.

Nick DuShane (ndushane@gmail.com) (06/07/07)

When it comes to the Beatles, there is no simple answer. The way I see it, people love to hate them, but they also have no convincing way of discrediting them either.

The most common argument I get in this day and age is that their music or the Beatles are too old. Which is absolute bull shit.  When you think about it the Beatles ant that old and neither is the concept of rock and roll. when compared to how long music itself has been with us. (Keep in mind that the word "Roll" no longer exists in the world of contemporary music. Of course the the definition of the word Rock & Roll in its self is really a matter of opinion. Some think it died with the fifty's) The most important thing to remember when judging any piece of art is to understand what and who the target audience was intended for. in the case of the Beatles its quite simple: Everyone. Throughout there career they evolved and expanded to fit the minds of the great pop weary audience.

Because of this, and due to the complete and total exposure of the band because of the radio and repackaged products over the past 50 years, its impossible to simply like or dislike this group. the main problem with this is the fact that I can never put on a Beatles album at a party and not have some one run for the doors and someone else sing along with all the songs.

Now having said all that. my personal feelings about the Beatles is probably as complex as the music industry its self. there are times where I love them, and other were I come close to hating them.

You see my family did not raise me on the Beatles, hell they barley raised me on any music at all. for most of my childhood I simply followed what my sisters listened to. (Which wasn't much) And my experience was very much like yours.

And after a short time going through their best stuff IE: Rubber Soul through Abbey Road. and then after a much longer period accumulated nearly all their other works (except for the Anthology 1, 2, and 3 and Yellow Submarine)  I have come to the opinion that while the Beatles are still over rated or rather overplayed, their without a doubt one the few bands that are worthy of the title "greatest band" and coming form me that Is a complement.

Patrick Dermody (pdermody@twcny.rr.com) (12/13/07)

We all know that lennon and McCartney are unbelievably great songwriters and they are unlimited when it comes to style.  I guess their only weakness is that they never had as great of a live reputation as say, the who.  But this is understandable.  When they did tour, they were as good as anybody because before the psychedelic age, live renditions of songs didn't go much farther than their studio rendition.  I bet if the beatles toured at the end of the 60s, they would have been a great live band.  But I guess it would be best if they had just one flaw.  Then they wouldn't be so gosh darn perfect.

MiKatz123@aol.com (04/29/08)

i like the  stones zappa eno laurie anderson patti smith mozart lou reed the who bill monroe lead belly the smiths talking heads roxy music ian dury pj harvey clash woody guthrie van morrison yoko ono king crimson nick cave beethoven bowie gang of four dead kennedys the band dylan they might be giants costello beefheart and so many ive yet to discover my fave the beatles.

---

Please Please Me - 1963 Capitol
8 (11)

Best song: I Saw Her Standing There or Please Please Me

Really freaking good, considering both that it was the group's debut and that this was made in 1963. It's obviously not up to the standards of their later masterpieces, but it's still a very solid recording, with most of the songs lying somewhere between good and great (even by today's standards).

One thing that I've come to realize over the years is that, when judging a very early 60's pop album, the first question I ask about its quality is one that doesn't automatically pop up in later years. That question is this: How embarrassed would I be to play this in the company of others? The answer here, thankfully, is not very much, as there are only three (out of 14) tracks here that I find indisputably subpar (so much for the notion of very early Beatles as stupid flacid pop). One of them is a cover of an old ultra-generic 50's-style rocker entitled Boys. Now, mind you, my problem is not with Ringo's singing - he actually suits the song pretty well, and almost makes it enjoyable. The problem is those stupid "bop shoo-wop" backing vocals. Needless to say, those are enough to make me skip the track. In any case, the second is one of Lennon's own songs, the sloppy, very cliched Ask Me Why. I'd say that it's one of, oh, 5 original tunes in the entirety of the canon of the Fab Four that I simply cannot stand (of course, considering that they released 140 or 150 original songs throughout their career, that's a pretty good number). And finally, the third one (though I don't exactly loathe it) is the George-sung Do You Want to Know a Secret?. I'm not sure what it is, but it just comes off as extremely clumsy. I don't mind Harrison's singing, but once the chorus rolls through once, it's hard to figure out what the point is of the rest.

But man, the rest of the album is great! I Saw Her Standing There is a FANTASTIC way to kick off the album - it's a great rocker, with the wonderful harmonies that would soon become a trademark. Misery is one of the catchiest ditties I've ever come across, as are Love Me Do and PS I Love You. Also, after you come out of the Boys/Ask me Why swamp, we're greeted with the GREAT title track, with a simply amazing melody (man, these guys had talent even when they were 'simple rockers') and great harmonies to go with nice playing (it should also be noted that, for some reason, Ringo does not play on this track). Oh, and I simply mustn't forget the amazing There's a Place, whose slightly melancholy melody and mature lyrics shows a depth that the pop world had not yet encountered.

Anyways, there are also six covers on here, but even those are really nice. Everybody knows about their great rendition of The Isley Brothers' Twist and Shout, as well as about the fact that John's voice gave out after the first take (one of the very first Beatles legends). Anyways, Anna is a beautiful ballad, Chains is bouncy and funny, A Taste of Honey is a great showcase for Paul's singing, and even the somewhat generic Baby it's You comes across well. In other words, you shouldn't let the presence of other's material deter you from getting this album - with the exception of Boys, all are good.

On a side note, there are two other things that I'd like to make special mention of here. One is the playing abilities of the guys. You see, I had always been under the impression that, at least in the early days, the guys could only barely play their instruments, and that it was because of that that they had to rely on their voices so much (I think I got them confused with The Monkees). Well, I would like to declare here that the playing, while certainly somewhat primitive, is nowhere near bad; on the very first track, it becomes apparent that Paul is extremely talented, and both George and Ringo do their stuff just fine, thank you.

The second thing is the lyrics. Yes, they're all about romantic love, in some way or another, and sometimes the cliches are almost unbearable, but I have found that they only bother me if I really, really go out of my way to notice them. Besides, some of them are really clever; do you honestly expect me to believe that you don't get a chuckle out of the line, "My heart went boom"?

So, overall, good stuff. I wouldn't get it early, and I certainly wouldn't get it before A Hard Day's Night, but it's still a very worthwhile addition to any record collection. And remember, it only got better from here ...

Send me your thoughts

Pedro Andino (pedroandino@msn.com) (06/23/07)

in 1963 there were no rock and roll albums made in the singles market and these guys did an album full of great pop songs and it was hardly revolutionary but it was great. ELVIS PRESLEY! the girls screamed but no one screamed louder than these guys. back when you here them live it was impossible! the screaming was everywhere like you were at a stupid backstreet boys concert but the boys played anyway. the cheap amplifiers were no match for the screaming girls!. my mother thinks john was the cute guy and she was right. I liked this album of pop songs more than any other debut but I got to ask you this as a fan of your site. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO REVIEW ELTON JOHN?!.

David Andino (davidandino83@msn.com) (08/28/08)

I agree with pedro. the debut album is a pop masterpiece. it was not a bubblegum record like the monkees!. I heard of the beatles while papa was playing them all the time. he had rubber soul, revolver, I got him sgt.pepper, the white album, abbey road and the anthology the second volume of the series and this marked the start of the later beatles sound. I got abbey road and man it was good but back on topic on the debut. I heard of twist and shout, please please me, do you want to know a secret and love me do but I never heard of the others so I must get the album before some jerk may have it. and I got more beatle news for you. capitol records has 2 box swets of the brititsh albums like beatles '65 and all that plus classic albums live the one show in orlando, florida has a beatle marathon. go see it I know you have not been to a live show this great since shea stadium. 10. never come close. and by the way when are you gonna be done with the who rewrites? you must review the only band that matters: the clash.

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

The track that Ringo doesn't play on is not the title track, it's Love Me Do.

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With The Beatles - 1963 Capitol
9 (12)

Best song: All My Loving or Not A Second Time

Send me your thoughts

Josh Fitzgerald (breezesf85@email.com)

Not as bad as I thought it to be for oh so many years. I always need to remind myself that it was recorded in 1963, then I realize how innovative this was. Listening to this in the year 2000, it may sound a little corny, but remember- 1963! "It Won't Be Long" is fantastic, as is "Not A Second Time" and even "Don't Bother Me" (soooooo underrated!). What you said about "I Wanna Be Your Man" being written for the Stones is odd proof that Lennon/McCartney were songwriting geniuses enough to write a Stones song! The highlight of "Please Mister Postman" for me would not be the lead vocals, but instead, the backing vocals. I think they sound really awesome. And what about "You Really Got A Hold On Me?" It sounds so ominous (then again, the original Smokey Robinson song was pretty spooky,also). It has a really good melody though. "All I've Got To Do" and "Roll Over Beethoven" are the last good songs for me. The rest don't do too much for my taste, but then again, it's my taste. Yours might be different. Anyway, it's a really decent pop album (remember- 1963!!), and the perfect way to start your Beatles collection. I haven't heard Please Please Me yet, so this is my first of their albums.

TheeRubberCow@aol.com (12/28/01)

not too much to argue with here, just wanted to say that I wouldn't be as hard on lryics like "close your eyes and I'll kiss you...."   Of course, if these kind of rhymes were written today they would be obviously cliched, but you have to remember that these type of couplets were not cliched at that point since they had not been used.  Not that it should make them sound better, just more understandable.

Aprentice (nikus80@hotmail.com) (12/15/03)

I've read in a McCartney interview (or it was in a Martin interview? nevermind (the bollocks)) that they wrote I wanna be your man and then gave it to the Stones, but that doesn't means they wrote it FOR the Stones. The funny thing, Stones' I Wanna Be Your Man became a hit, and it isn't nowhere as great as the rest of the songs on this album.

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

I Wanna Be Your Man was busked into shape during a meeting with the Stones - when they arrived they just had the hook, within fifteen minutes they'd worked up the rest of the melody and what few words there are.  This inspired the Stones to start writing their own material.  (And their version, surely, is better).
Hold Me Tight was a leftover from those rushed first-album sessions, hence the feeble excuse for a lyric and the rather off-key/over-enthusiastic vocals.
Thanks for bigging-up Not A Second Time, by the way.

Huw Powell (one@humanthoughts.org) (03/13/09)

No, you're not the only one who hears this song as a potentially "heavy" number.

I used to play it with my guitar teacher at the open mic nights he hosted, and over the "main" riff I would jut come crashing in with heavy, distorted chords over the 3 main notes (I - IV - III - IV). I may have once or twice accidentally broken in to a nasty solo section in the middle, too.

The song has great bones to build on

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A Hard Day's Night - 1964 Capitol
9 (14)

Best song: I dunno ... ok, I'll say Things We Said Today

If I ever had a gun to my head on the subect, I would probably say this is the greatest "pure pop" album of all time. It's another album of early 60's poppy guitar rock, and there's little on the album that would qualify as "rock" in any definition based in post-'65 music. Furthermore, there's pretty much no genre experimentation on the album, and doesn't possess much in the way of innovative qualities. Yet the album is amazing, making its claim to greatness simply from containing one amazing pop song after another. Anybody who has any doubts about whether it's worth it to get into the band's early work simply must give this a listen; one listen could wipe all those doubts away. Not only did this album wipe away all of those doubts, I also credit it with making me understand what exactly a "hook" is. The album is absolutely overflowing with hooks, the kind that are so strong and so well-written that every instinct of good taste and enjoyment makes me focus all of my attention on the songs here.

There are 13 songs, and in a bold step forward for the band, not a single one is a cover. Even more impressive is that 10 of them were written by John, thus allowing him to stake a firm claim at the time as the best songwriter of the day. I'm not especially thrilled with When I Get Home, but the other nine are amazing. It's very hard for me to choose a favorite among them, honestly. Sometimes I'm most fascinated by the ballads, And I Fell or the closing I'll be Back (featuring a different middle eight each time through!). Sometimes I'm most fascinated by the opening title track, a rock-solid classic in every second (starting with opening *CLANG* guitar chord) and every note. Sometimes it's with the George-sung track, I'm So Happy Just to Dance with You' sometimes it's I (or rather, IIIIIIIIIIIIIII) Should Have Known Better; and sometimes it's any one of the others. Any one of these songs, barring When I Get Home, could have been one of the two or three best songs on the last two albums, and that says something.

Yet for all the greatness in these tracks, I think I like the three Paul songs better. The first half of the album is highlighted by a lovely ballad in And I Love Her, and neither this and the twenty-hooks-a-minute splendor of Can't Buy Me Love sag for even a second. My favorite, though, is the GORGEOUS Things We Said Today, one of the best downbeat, up-tempo pop ballads I can imagine. Heck, I might even call it THE best song I've ever heard in that specific category.

Aside from song quality, I want to address the claim that this is a monotnous album, and should be looked down upon because of it. I don't think it's monotonous at all. Yes, the songs are all obviously rooted in early 60's pop, but they each have their own quirks and individual moods. For two examples, Anytime At All starts off sounding like it will be an angry song (even if it turns out happy), and I'll Cry Instead shoots out the lyrics at a very brisk pace. And don't forget the moods of the various acoustic ballads. I know there are a lot of people who try to claim that the band didn't find its genius until Rubber Soul, but even disregarding songwriting quality, this album showed their genius didn't spring up overnight.

Anyways, this album is denied a perfect score because a.) When I Get Home is somewhat dumb, b.) the album is only a hair over 30 minutes long, and c.) I enjoy Rubber Soul slightly more than this album, but I feel RS is only a 14 as well. REGARDLESS, however, you need this album. PERIOD. Get it today.

Send me your thoughts

No1Yanks23@aol.com

This gets a 9 (15)! Man this is the best pure pop album ever! Every song is a classic, even the stupid "When I get Home" is catchy. They play every song besides that one on the radio all the time and I cant get enough. The two famous ballads "And I Love Her" and "If I fell" are the Beatles at their best. I'm not even gonna describe every song cause they are all so damn catchy. This is also the first album with all Lennon/McCartney originals. 10 of them are written by Lennon too. No one was writing this fast back then. Especially not this quality!

Trfesok@aol.com (02/12/05)

By far, the best of the band's first four albums. Mainly because it's the first to contain all Beatles originals. It might be pop music, but for 1964, it was extremely complex. (Beatles songs, even at that point, would use at least six chords, in contrast to the usual 3 or 4).   I might also pick "Things I Said Today" as a favorite -- that minor key progression that Paul uses stands in unusual contrast to the happy lyrics. Even my 8-year-old ears perked up over that when this song was on the Beatles cartoon show!

  Bob

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

It's worth noting that the opening chord of the title track, whilst usually said to be a G major eleventh suspended fourth, has been analysed by some Beatlologist and found to be more complex than that.  I don't have the book to hand but I'm fairly certain it contains about eleven notes spread across two guitars and a piano - with a cymbal crash from Ringo, buried in the mix, making it just a little bit harder to identify them all!
By the way, I love When I Get Home (for one thing, any song with the word "trivialities" in it gets my vote!)

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Beatles For Sale - 1964 Capitol
9 (13)

Best song: No Reply or I'm A Loser

Send me your thoughts

Trfesok@aol.com (1/16/06)

Sorry, I really can't agree with the 9. The same rating as the previous two, and better than the next one? Too many covers, and the originals, I don't think are really as good as the ones on the last album or the nex.  The somewhat darker tone of the album is a bit disturbing as well. Still, it is the Beatles, which makes it a more than listenablre album, to stay the least. But not uppermost among their releases, to be sure.

David Andino (davidandino83@msn.com) (10/13/07)

underrated release by the four tops. uh........... hey guys I was just joking about the four tops the black group and also when are you going to review............. VAN HAILSTORM?!!!!!!!!!! did the tour and beating all the limp dick bands and rappers like 50 cent and fall out boy. boy I am not one for commercial bullshit.! 12. 

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

Baby's In Black is apparently about the girl "pining for" her old boyfriend who is dead - "though he'll never come back/she's dressed in black", and the much-maligned "only a whim" line indicating that delayed-grieving has suddenly set in...which makes the narrator sound rather cruel and self-centred

By the way, am I the only person who likes Mr Moonlight?  And is somewhat bothered by the uncorrected error in Rock 'n Roll Music, when John gets his tongue in a twist at the last minute?

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

You Like Me Too Much is notable for being the first song (of the rock era) about a couple who are no longer "in love" but can't quite bring themselves to separate.  Oh, and by the way, I love You're Going To Lose That Girl (c'mon, lyrically and melodically it's way better than It Won't Be Long).

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Help! - 1965 Capitol
8 (12)

Best song: Help!

Send me your thoughts

Federico Fernández (fedefer@fibertel.com.ar) (5/14/03)

Yes John, I can see your point, and after all an 8 is accurate but... Is this really REALLY equal to Please Please Me?. Is it REALLY inferior to Beatles For Sale or With The Beatles with all those fillerish covers? I don't think so. Yes, I admit that most of the songs ("You're Going To Lose That Girl", "It's Only Love", "Tell Me What You See", "Another Girl", "I Need You" and "You Like Me To Much") are not superb Beatles classics and can be a little underdeveloped, but they are not any worse than the originals on the last albums, and certainly BETTER that all those ridiculous covers like "Mr. Moonlight", "Words Of Love" or "Honey Don't", to name a few from the previous album. And "silly" songs like "The Night Before" and "I've Just Seen Your Face" are brillant Paul melodies that deverve the "classic" status, I think. And the classics are the classics; can you find a better trinity than "Help!", "Ticket To Ride" and "Yesterday" in previous albums? (and you'd have to add "You've Got To HIde Your Love Away"). Yeah, maybe on A Hard Day's Night but that is that: neither Please Please Me or With The Beatles or For Sale reached this heighs. I'll admit that "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" and "Act Naturally" are perfunctory stuff that showed the Beatles needed to drop the cover thing, but apart from that I can't see where's the "stagnation", It's just another early Beatles album with the same mesaure of great classics and lesser tunes as always... plus, here there are more originals and for me they showcase no less inspiration than previous things. And I dig the bucholic, relaxed and acoustic feel of the album in contrast to the older electric-guitar based stuff.

I get the feel that you expect more from the Beatles by this point, like if they had already made a lot better and deeper than here, like if you were hoping for a Rubber Soul before its times... that's why you are left underwhelmed. ¡Of course this is not Rubber Soul! But it actually shows some evolution from previous stuff (Better lyrics, string arrangements, low key and subtle shades) Its not a drawback or a letdown; it is the logical transition from the typical early Beatles sound of Beatles For Sale to the big step of Rubber Soul.

Raghavan RANGANATHAN (S3046624@student.rmit.edu.au) (6/15/03)

hey John
I absolutely agree that Help! is overrated. In my opinion it is the closest the beatles came to being more or less like any other band of that time, in the sense that the 3 singles( help, ticket to ride, yesterday) are hands down better than all the other songs. " stagnation" is right, of course...It really seems like they didnt invest too much effort in creating the other songs...
PS: the bizzare sound on " I need you" is george fiddling around with his wah-wah or volume tone pedal...

Trfesok@aol.com (1/16/06)

No, I really can't agree with the "stagnation" charge at all. Sure, the two covers are filler, but there are only two. The originals, for the most part, are big improvements over the last album. The basic bass/two electric guitars/drums setup is starting to give way to more acoustics ("I've Just Seen a Face" -- what a great tune), keyboards and even orchestration ("Yesterday" is really the first time a classical influence shows up in pop, as opposed to strings that have a  corny MOR sound ,such as The Beach Boys "A Surfer Moon"). Some of John's lyrics are maturing. So, what we have, to my ears, is a major rebound from the last album. In retrospect, it can  be seen that the group was in transition, heading for more diversity, but this is still a strong album.

ArelisTr@aol.com (04/25/06)

I disagree completely!!!!  I'm new by-the-way, and I must say I throughly enjoy your record reviews. Back to Help!, I feel that this album is second only to A Hard Day's Night (pre- Rubber Soul).  The Beatles did change the world with Soul, but they started trying with Help!.  The only songs not as classic as the others are "It's Only Love", "Act Naturaly", and "Dizzie Miss Lizzie."  "Love" just bores me; "Act" isn't all that bad, at least it's fun; but "Dizzie" is only second to "Mr. Moonlight" as the worst Beatle song ever. 

  P.S. "You Like Me Too Much" is only second to the title track as best song (IMO), with "Yesterday" and "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" finishing the "best" quartet.

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

You Like Me Too Much is notable for being the first song (of the rock era) about a couple who are no longer "in love" but can't quite bring themselves to separate. Oh, and by the way, I love You're Going To Lose That Girl (c'mon, lyrically and melodically it's way better than It Won't Be Long).

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Rubber Soul - 1965 Capitol
9 (14)

Best song: In My Life

Send me your thoughts

Kerry & Kayoko Canfield (k2canf@SpiritOne.com)

I read in what I think was a Playboy magazine interview of John that he'd "always hated 'Run For Your Life'." Too bad it's the closer--i.e., the last sound in your ears after the recording ends. I myself find it hard to listen to the song and try to take the disc off before it plays.

Alexander Aigner (aigner_alexander@yahoo.de) (1/08/04)

Hello there,

I just read all your beatles-reviews and I have one little remark regarding the lyrics to "Run For Your Life".

you wrote: "I don't know if John was just having a really, really bad day, but seeing as how weed was helping him to write lines about killing women, I think it was probably a good thing for all concerned that he started sucking down acid after this album."

I don't think weed or any other drug is to blame for those lyrics, because (maybe you know that already)lennon actually lifted that verse from the elvis-song "Baby, Let's Play House" --> "Now listen to me, baby Try to understand. I'd rather see you dead, little girl, Than to be with another man."

http://www.geocities.com/penneylayne/songs/runforyourlife.txt "I always hated 'Run For Your Life'," John said about Rubber Soul's closing track. He openly acknowledged that he lifted two lines from Arthur Gunther's "Baby Let's Play House", an early hit for Elvis Presley during his time recording for the Sun label in the mid-fifties.

or http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1248.html

Written by Lennon, this was the first song recorded for Rubber Soul, and the last on the album because it was one of the songs he liked the least. Lennon had said that it was one of those songs he just "knocked off just for the sake of writing a song." Lennon got the idea of the first line from an Elvis Presley song from 1955 titled, "Baby, Let's Play House," with Lennon referring to this as an old Presley song, but it's origin dates back to 1954, when it was written in Nashville by Arthur Gunter. It was recorded on October 12, 1965.

cheers from vienna
alexander

Trfesok@aol.com (02/12/05)

Well, the Beatles didn't get to India until after Magical Mystery Tour, so that wasn't it. Not that it matters. This is where the Beatles truly hit their stride. "What Goes On" is really the only clunker (did they speed up the tape on purpose with those goofy backing vocals?). "Wait" is actually a Help! outtake, but it fits in perfectly. The first of their four true classics.

  Bob

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

They hadn't been to India yet!  The "Indian" scenes in Help weren't filmed there (can't remember where, though).

What Goes On - This is notable both for its unusual phrasing (a ten bar verse, then a twelve bar chorus that isn't a blues), and its pre-history.  Based on a song fragment John had been toying with since 1963, the verses (written in '65) were co-written by Paul and Ringo (who contribued to the lyric).

Wait and Norwegian Wood are (genuine) John and Paul co-writes (Paul modified the tune during the minor-key sections of NorWood, whilst Wait was evolved phrase-by-phrase just like their earlier songs).  Paul may have contribued to the music of In My Life, but we're not sure.

Girl - the "sigh" is a masturbatory gasp-for-breath, surely! (Bear in mind the "tit tit tit" backing vocals)

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!!***Revolver - 1966 Capitol***!!
10 (15)

Best song: I CAN ONLY PICK ONE??!! ... well, my brother loves And Your Bird Can Sing

Send me your thoughts

George Starostin (gstarst@yahoo.com)

... Oh, and BTW, that was a terrific review of Revolver there on the site. One minor nibble - I think Harrison DOES have a penchant for acute political/social critique, so 'Taxman' is not really an oddity. Just remember 'Piggies', for instance. And in his solo work, he does have that bug... though sometimes it makes up for horrible results (ever heard 'Cockamamie Business'? YUCK!)

Jamie Anthony (janoy@lineone.net)

Yeah, revolver is a great album. And I'm even one of those guys who doesn't like overrating the beatles. But revolver....probably the best "pop" album I've ever heard in my life. But I felt you kinda down-played "Doctor Robert" - it's a song about a Doctor in the sixties that John knew who used to prescribe LSD to his patients. Maybe you knew that. You must love the chorus bit though - "well well well you're fee-ee-eeling fine", or the bit that goes "You're a KNEW better man, he help YOU to understand, he does everything he can, Doc Robert". Well I do anyway. Tomorrow Never Knows is probably my favourite. Or maybe "I Want To Tell You". yeah, I felt like that when I was a teenager, too. Think I still do know. Love the song, though. Love the album. Straight 10. or 15. or whatever.

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

Since the author of this site has gone ahead and said every single decent thing possible to be said about this album, I will not repeat the words he wrote in his excellent review by praising every song on here. Instead I will list the few things that I dislike about the undeniably classic release. Normally I would write these things in my complaints area, but I really don't think that will be necessary.

So let me start my complaining with track three, "Love You To." I really don't like this one a whole lot. The sitar is really stupid and I find the actual tune of the song to be really forgettable. Since I usually don't skip tracks when I listen to albums, I sit through it. But I'm really happy when it is over.

"Good Day Sunshine" is a little too happy for my taste; I much prefer the more down and depressing numbers on the album. It is not a truly bad song, but I am also happy when this one reaches its end.

As I mentioned in my intro paragraph one of the things I really dislike about the beatles is that many of their songs are too short. "And Your Bird Can Sing" is a perfect example of this. No, no, no, the sing is hardly bad. It is one of the best on the album. But I still believe that another few minutes couldn't have hurt in the least.

Those are my problems with the album. In the end it does not really matter as this really is a great classic. While it is certainly not my pick for favorite album, it IS is good choice, better than many othrs that I have seen. I may be the Beatle's best or it may not be. I don't know. Call this your favorite, I can respect that. We all have our own opinions and the author of this site has stated his.

Best Song: "Elenor Rigby" and "For No One"

Rating: My Scale: ***** John McFerrin's Scale: 10? Please don't hate me if I think that this album only deserves a high very high 14.

"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha@ig.com.br) (2/26/03)

I believe that this album should be called "Machine-Gun", because it's exactly what it feels to me: A lot of great songs and great ideas being shot at me at an insane rate, leaving me really dizzy, wondering what the hell just happened. I don't know, but these songs, great as they might be, don't stick together. And I'm in for cohesive albums. So I can't give this album a 15, but no problem in giving it a 14.

I mean, the songs themselves are almost all great. Except Good Day Sunshine. No matter what, I cannot enjoy this song the least. That unrhythmical chorus and that badly crafted melody only make me genuinely wish the guys had something better to do with these 2 minutes. It's not even a *happy* song. It's *Cheesey*, with a capital C. All that "happiness" sounds so fake and industrial that it makes me depressed, no matter how happy I am at the moment. And know what's more? He talks about his feet burning as they touch the ground... And he gets *happy* with that?! I HATE it when this happens! Argh. This song is so sick it makes Doctor Robert sound like the guys' masterpiece. Not that I don't like Doctor Robert, it entertains me a lot. I dig George's singing, for some reason.

Yeah, enough ranting on Good Day Sunshine. I'm not even angry at Paul, because he wrote For No One and Eleanor Rigby, and I really, really like these two. There's Here, There And Everywhere, that I wouldn't call filler, no matter how much alcohol I may ingest. Got To Get You Into My Life is here, too. Now this is a happy song. But it kinda makes me wonder... Good Day Sunshing, For No One, Eleanor Rigby, Got To Get You Into My Life... Was Paul trying to use the *least* number of band members possible when making these songs? I mean, Paul and George don't do anything in any of these tracks IIRC, and Ringo only plays for real in 2 of them! What the hell?

Whatever. I dig Paul's and George's songs here a lot. Taxman and I Want To Tell You, I adore these songs. The former rocks, and the lyrics are cool. The latter is... so true. I can relate to such a situation perfectly. And that guitar line and those piano arrangements are really, really neat, and oh, those harmonies. And Love You To? What a unique song! Of course, we also have I'm Only Sleeping, which I adore, She Said She Said, which I also adore, And Your Bird Can Sing (is this a Paul or a John song?) which I also adore, and Tomorrow Never Knows, which I... you can guess. What a twisted song, this one. The best in the album IMO, but only by a byte.

Anyway, "Machine-Gun", hell yeah. But still, I embrace this album with passion. Good Day Sunshine doesn't hurt the rating the least. After all, it's *one* song among *thirteen* excellent others. But I still can't award it the big 15 for the 'cohesion' factor. I haven't given Dark Side Of The Moon a 15 for nothing.

Langas de los Langas (putolangas@hotmail.com) (7/21/05)

Very nice Revolver review; I completely agree with you, this is my favourite Beatles album, and I've loved them since I started listening to music.

Just one or two comments: my best choice for this album is, with no doubt, 'Eleanor Rigby', the cleverest and most tragic lyrics Paul ever wrote, and with that absolutely GORGEUS arrange for strings, courtesy of Sir George 'the-fifth-Beatle' Martin; and, em... are you sure she was a nun? I think she was just an old, single, lonely woman, what here in Spain we call 'solterona' (sure you have a word for that, too). But anyway...

My favourite moment of the album is that TERRIFIC guitar solo in 'Taxman' (which was actually recorded by McCartney!!! who ever said the man could only play the bass?) although the horn solo in 'For no one' also makes me quiver. And, yes, I also would rate 'Doctor Robert' as the worst song in the album (not that it's bad, but...)

And an advice: if you are really interested in how they recorded 'Tomorrow never knows' (or any other Beatles song), I can only recommend you to acquire the wonderful book 'Revolution in the head', by Ian MacDonald, a review of EVERY SINGLE BEATLES' SONG with details such as who-wrote-what, who-played-what, what-does-it-mean, how-on-freaking-earth-did-they-manage-to-make-it-sound-like-that!!! and so on. Very interesting, I'm telling you; ideal to read while you actually listen to the songs, and find new details you had never noticed before.

Cheers from Madrid. Keep on with your good work!

Sergei (swamprock@mail.ru) (04/10/07)

Yes, I absolutely agree with your opinion about "Revolver". Let all those who thinks differently go in ASS! Will difficultly be defined with a choice of the best track, it can be and Love You To (I really love this melody and "elastic" sitar's sound!), and magnificent And Your Bird Can Sing, and For No One (nobody could express SO grief about the lost love!). A masterpiece, the best of the best's best.
PS: "Revolver" in due time became for me the present revelation, I too consider this disk as best at The Beatles. It enters into mytfavourite albums (with Crimson's " In The Court... ", " Strange Days " by The Doors and Van Morrison's " Astral Weeks ").

Kolby Kramer (gkkramer@gmail.com) (05/03/07)

Hey John,   As you may recall, I e-mailed you telling you about giving Revolver a try, since I used to hate the band entirely (especially Ringo Starr, being a fellow drummer).  Well, I got that among other albums by the band (Sgt Pepper's, The White Album, and Abbey Road) as well, and I've allowed some time to actually listen through and digest them, with the exception of The White Album.  My thoughts about the group have changed significantly!  I never understood the praise that was washed over the band until I listened to their later material (since I still pretty much feel the same about their early stuff).  Revolver is by far my favorite out of their catalogue of later works (I love "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Your Bird Can Sing"!!!), and I have no ill feelings towards any of the other albums I've heard from their later years.  I still need some time to digest The White Album, but Revolver is definitely a classic along with Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's.  Thanks for your review, which prompted me to give the band a second chance; it was definitely worth it.

PS: I still hate Ringo as much now as I did before.  It's a drummer thing, I suppose.

Trfesok@aol.com (04/29/08)

My absolute favorite Beatles album, as well, deserving of all the detail and praise you give it here. Although the three songwriters are all of on different tangents (and I would argue that they actually start losing a "group" sound here), it still seems that the band members are still all on the same page. "Love You To" and "I Want to Tell You" lack a little bit in the melody department. And "Yellow Submarine" is a kiddie number, but it is excellently produced. These are very minor complaints, because as you said, every song is a gem.   Two random special moments: Paul's highly sophisticated lyric on "For No One" (already beyond stuff like "Michelle"); the terrific lead guitar parts on "And Your Bird Can Sing". That also is a strong candidate for favorite song, although, I agree, how can you pick?   Sandwich the "Paperback Writer/"Rain" single (also from these sessions) in between the original Side 1 and Side 2 to add to the already mind-blowing experience.

  My first memory of experiencing anything from this album is rather bizarre. On the old Saturday morning Beatles cartoon show, they would have a "sing along" segment, where they'd show the lyrics of stuff like "She Loves You" accompanied by goofy cartoon images of the band so you could, of course, sing along. Well, one week, they did "Eleanor Rigby", accompanied instead by stark, colorized photos of stuff like old people, tenements, graveyards, etc. What were they thinking?! Seeing this, along with lyrics like "Eleanor Rigby/died in a church/and was buried along with her name./Nobody came." , was quite frightening to my little nine-year old mind!   After wondering  today if I just imagined this, I found that this thing is actually now posted on YouTube. The cartoon producers evidently didn't catch on that the Beatles were no longer doing just simple kid music.  Even today, the song makes me feel a bit uncomfortable...

  Oh, and a P. S. to Kolby Kramer:  listen to the drumming on "Rain". That might change your mind about Ringo. Amazing.

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

She Said She Said is also notable for its very-carefully-concealed shift into waltz-time during the middle-eight.

I'm Only Sleeping and And Your Bird Can Sing are probably about acid.  Doctor Robert is about a drug dealer (and I dig those funky vocal `harmonies'!) and Got To Get You Into My Life is about Paul's belated discovery of acid.

Tomorrow Never Knows - John isn't singing through a vocoder: it's a Leslie cabinet (the vocoder probably wasn't invented yet).  Many of the tape loops are sped-up or slowed-down sitar and tamboura parts (there's no live Indian instrumentation on the track!)

---

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - 1967 Capitol
9 (15)

Best song: A Day In The Life

Send me your thoughts

Awake600@aol.com

Well I'm not one of those that wants to spew venom on this album, but I will admit to being very anti-hyped about it - in the original incarnation of my site, I actually gave it an 8, and I actually didn't like "A Day In The Life" that much! While I will say it's not overrated in terms of historical importance and the unprecented changes it caused around that time, a few of these songs so much to be desired that the maximum I could ever give this one is a 13. "She's Leaving Home" is way too sappy for my tastes, "Within You Without You" is`a dirge that really bores the hell out of me (it's still really hard for me to remember it), "When I'm Sixty Four" is fun, but a little too schmaltzy and certainly not anything great, and "Good Morning Good Morning" seems too gimmicky and also pales in comparison to the other massive statemements on here. All these songs are way behind the standards of Revolver and Rubber Soul (which I totally agree with your 15 and 14 respective ratings on) in terms of melody, which was the aspect where the Fab Four could REALLY not be beaten. "Fixing A Hole", meanwhile, is good but too interchangable with "Getting Better".

Nevertheless, even with those four kinda weak songs and the one just 'good' one, I can still give this album a fantastic rating (9/13) because the other songs are classic! Despite my initial reaction to it, "A Day In The Life" is beyond spectacular, and could very well be the greatest single song they ever did - what amazing creativity and drama there, while the first four tracks (including the short opening title cut) is one of the best stretches on any album ever made - the lightweight, but phenomenal, pop of "With A Little Help From My Friends", the surreal, psychedelic masterpiece "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", and the infectious as anything ever written "Getting Better" are hard to be topped. The engaging, twisted carnival atmosphere of "For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" and the corny in a great way "Lovely Rita" also work extremely well.

Vaughn (2mosrite@home.com)

On the topic of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...       I have had conflicting feelings concerning this work since the first day I listened to it.  While it was a goldmine of interesting concepts that doubtless shaped my perception of music, as I grew older I turned away from SP, embracing the more apparent harmonic genius of The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night and Rubber Soul.

    Listening to SP again today, I find that I had overlooked this album's greatest aspect-- its significance as a feat of sound engineering.  Reading a recent interview with George Martin in Bass Player, I was made aware of the tone-shaping equipment with which he was equipped to record Paul's bass.  Paul ran his flatwound-strung Rickenbacker 4001 (same setup as Roger Waters used on Piper...) into an Altech tube compressor.  Martin would then "EQ" the signal with none other than a bass and a treble control provided by the console!  According to George Martin, Paul spent many late nights in studio two recording and rerecording his parts until his fingers could work no more.  He played a working bass line on each song, and then composed a new, better bass part to replace the simple one.  The brilliance of McCartney is in the transition from those root-notes to the elegant lines we hear on the final mix of SP. Honestly, even though my emotional attachment to the album is low (as opposed to Rubber Soul, Let It Be, Magical Mystery Tour), Paul McCartney's musicianship on this album made me want to study music.

TheeRubberCow@aol.com (12/28/01)

I guess I would consider it a concept album (and for this reason only) because even though there aren't anymore recurring themes in lyrics or music besides the reprise, it just seems to flow from track to track more than almost any other album I know, kind of like it is one 45 minute composition.  An analogy would be that I would consider Dark Side of the Moon a concept album even if there were no repeated lyrics or "Breathe" reprises in "Time" and "Any Color You Like."

"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha@ig.com.br) (2/26/03)

Okay, I'm gonna comment on the silly topic of "concept album or not." I don't think it is. A Concept Album has an ideology, it wants to tell a story or talk about one theme, as a whole. Dark Side Of The Moon is a concept album because it's more or less like an essay about life and insanity. If you look, even the instrumentals follow this theme (The Great Gig In The Sky, about death). The Wall, Tommy, Quadrophenia, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway are all concept albums because each of them tells us a *story*, thus having a common theme. Sgt. Pepper's, though, doesn't tell us a story, either revolves around a common theme. Each song has a different theme, a different concept, and none of them have any common theme. I mean, When I'm 64, for example, has nothing to do with She's Leaving Home, or Good Morning Good Morning or any other song. The reprise of the title track only exists to make us think of the album as a "live performance", but this is no concept. If it was, every live album should be a concept album...

What intrigues me, though, is that following this line of reason, The Who Sell Out shouldn't be a concept album, either. As Sgt. Pepper flows like a "live performance", Sell Out flows like a "radio broadcast", and I don't consider this a 'concept'. The tracks don't revolve around a common theme, and only the commercials do have a common theme, but I see no significance on this. So, I don't think The Who Sell Out is a 'concept album', as everyone dubs it. There is an 'idea', a 'concept', but not in the strict sense of the word, if you know what I mean.

But enough of rambling, I don't really think this album is perfect or anything close to that. I don't care if it's groundbreaking, music-wise or production-wise. Most of the songs are great, but there isn't a big *strength* on it. Of course, A Day In The Life is a complete masterpiece, and it alone makes me sure to give the album at least a 14. But I don't think it goes over that. I dig She's Leaving Home, With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Lovely Rita, and most of the other songs. But there's nothing really spectacular in the album as a whole. It's the Beatles, yes it is, but this is hardly enough reason for me to give it a 15. Still, excellent album.

Aprentice (nikus80@hotmail.com) (12/15/03)

I'm listening to Sgt. Peppers again and I've noticed what it is the thing that made me dislike all the songs a little (thus putting this lower than AR, White album, Revolver, MMT, and Rubber Soul). personal. Some songs change in a weird way that I cannot describe, but my ear notices it. Most beatles songs change from part to part in a perfect way (even on the song to song changes of abbey road), but here they don't. it clicks in my head, it happens to me with the verse to chorus change of LSD and Fixing a Hole, many parts of She's Leaving Home, some parts of Mr Kite, even on A Day in the life (in the "I went to a dream" to "aaaaaaah" change, although both parts rule too much). My favourites songs on this album are exactly the ones that don't suffer from this: Title track, Getting Better, Within You Without You, When I'm 64, Lovely Rita. although A day in the life suffers from it, and I'm not a fan of the "musical orgasm", the main melody, the paul melody, and the "aaaaaaaaah" melody kick SO MUCH ASS that I just can't not like the song. It's weird, because most people don't seem to notice it. I guess I am the wrong, but I can't help it. I've grown to like the songs anyway, I don't hate them, but those changes still click on me a little. Give me Abbey Road any day of the week.

P.S.: Mr. Kite has a superb experiment which is to cut tapes and paste them in a random order. It's great!

Trfesok@aol.com (02/23/05)

What made this album such a phenomenon is that it perfectly matched  advanced experimentation in production with accessible, catchy songwriting. Not too many could pull off both is such a brilliant way. I also enjoy the last album more for a number of reasons -- some of these numbers, taken out of the album's context, actually sound more dated, even though it came later.("When I'm 64", "WYWY") And the songs are slightly tilted more to McCartney, which would become more problematic later. Still, based on its peaks ("A Day in the Life", especially, I agree), you could make the argument for this as their best.

James Hunter (jhmusicman12@hotmail.com) (01/09/06)

um. . . Pet Sounds is monotonous?  I hate you rotten kids. . . and your little dog, too!

. . . sorry.  Pet sounds has me brainwarped and now I must comment when someone says something even remotely negative.  Anyways, I got Sgt. Pepper's long before I got the other Beatles' albums, so Sgt. Pepper's feels a lot different than the others to me (then again all the Beatles albums feel different from each other in that aspect)  My favorite album for a long time before I started developing my CD collection.  Sgt. Pepper's is my second-favorite Beatles album. (The White album is numero-uno.)  but it's still a flippin' flantastic album.  And Pet Sounds is not monotonous!

Patrick Dermody (pdermody@twcny.rr.com) (12/27/07)

Greatest album of all time? Might as well be.  But it isn't even my favorite beatles album (like you, I prefer Revolver to this).  But thats not to say Sgt. Pepper is extremely innovative, not just because of the production values, but because of how this set the model for many other art rock albums to comes.  Not to mention that these are some of the best melodies I've heard. 

---

Magical Mystery Tour - 1967 Capitol
9 (15)

Best song: I Am The Walrus

Send me your thoughts

Lillestrøm Stasjon (lillestrom.stasjon@hysjhysj.net)

First of all I'd have to thank you for terrific in-dept analysis of the albums. With myself having gotton to know the beatles-material in a way very simular to yours. Being 25 now, and been a great fan since I was 10, but I have to disagree with you when you speak sow armly of MMT. I think you are being unfair to Sgt.Pepper by comparing it to MMT. With Pepper being the result of a recording process from beginning to end, MMT is the complete opposite with greater parts of the material being compiled just to put together a soundtrack. I've always looked at MMT as a compilation. When rewieving MMT, I think it's only fair to at least leave out "Strawberry fields", "Penny Lane", keeping in mind that the double-A-sided-masterpiece-of-a-single-is pre-Pepper, andt herefore not made this album. The same goes for "All you need is love", being a project having nothing to do with MMT. And with "Baby you're a rich man" being the B-side on that single, I feel that they should be left out, too. You're now down to a 7 track album. One of these is an instrumental track (Flying), and two other are among their weaker work in my opinion (Your mother should know & Blue Jay Way). Now the single "Hello goodbye/I am the walrus" is released about the same time as the MMT-album. At this point, you have two tracks only being available on MMT, that are worth releasing. They are "MMT" and "Fool on the Hill" and they should have made these two a single. I think the album and the movie is a terrible idea to begin with, and MMT ruins the streak of great albums. "Yellow Submarine" ofcourse being an even worse example of that.

(author's note): This comment does have a point - MMT is as close to a 'bastard' Beatles album as exists today (and wasn't it an American release anyways? Wouldn't surprise me a bit). But, and I definitely stand by this, judging from the actual song selection, this 'compilation' deserves NOTHING less than a 15.

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

Well if you've been following my reviews, which I doubt anyone is, you can read in a previously written Abbey Road review that at that time Abbey Road was the only Beatles album I owned, but I planned to change it. So I got Magical Mystery Tour. Now I personally like this one better than Abbey Road. The songs seem better formed. Take "Something" and hold it up against "The Fool on the Hill." I'd take "The Fool on the Hill." "Something" is not bad at all, but most of the tracks on MMT beat it, and plenty of the other tracks on Abbey Road. Don't think I'm bashing Abbey Road, I'm just saying that MMT is better.

The first thing one notices about MMT is that it has been SOAKED in drugs. If there is anyone out there who thinks "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "Flying" were written clean and sober, I'd have me a good hearty laugh. But still, all the songs on here are great. "Penny Lane" and "All You Need is Love" are classics. Hell, they're all classics! The title track (best Beatles title track?) is also superb.

BEST TRACK: "I Am The Walrus" is a rather sick random hilarious druggy collection of words. Or maybe they aren't random; maybe there is a deep meaning behind all of it, but I'm too lazy to look. However, I like sick random hilarious druggy collections of words. The music is great too.

COMPLAINTS: Sometimes it seems a little TOO druggy....

RATING: My Scale: ***** John Mcferrin's Scale: 9(14)

No1Yanks23@aol.com

hi im matt reyes, and ive read many of your comments from georges website, i love hearing your thoughts as well as Nick Karns, Ben Greenstein, Rich Brunell, etc. About your review of Magical Mystery Tour, it's great. I agree its a 15, its a weak 15 though. Best songs are Strawberry Fields (best beatles song ever IMO), Fool on the Hill and I am the Walrus...once again great job on the page...cant wait to see your Metallica section!

Kerry & Kayoko Canfield (k2canf@SpiritOne.com)

Although I grew up in a musical household, with a father who played standup bass, and although I was doubtless subliminally aware of the importance of bass to beat music in general (having listened to rock radio from the time when "rock" still included "roll"), it was "Penny Lane" that really made me take notice of the bass itself for the first time. Since I was "raised on" classical music (and played piano at an early age), it amazed me to hear a bass line of which JS Bach himself could conceivably have been proud accompanying a pop song! Of course, then I started picking up on all the other amazing things Paul was doing with the instrument. Why, for instance, does he confine a what should be a low part to high notes on "Rain" and "Paperback Writer"? Rhetorical question, of course--it simply tickled me to hear it, since in no way does it make either of those songs fail to rock. Decades later, now (after picking up on myriad bass players' contributions--love your appreciation of the Who's John Entwhistle, btw), I'm playing bass myself.

TheeRubberCow@aol.com (12/28/01)

I believe that the flute sound in "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a mellotron.  But what a strange album!  The only conplaints from me are that it seems with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's they were taking just the right amount of drugs to make something comlpetely refreshing and inspiring, but with this it sounds like they may have been soaking in a little to much, which makes for great songs like "Strawberry.." and "Flying" but I think it's in the sound and production that gives me a feeling of being a little too tripped out, but that could also be Martin's fault, or possibly the extra-sunny cover art.

Ashley Bergman (ashleythewriter@hotmail.com) (7/30/02)

A little history on "I am the Walrus" which you may know, but it didn't seem like you did in your review.. John wrote this song to tantalize the critics who spent too much time analyzing his songs, and trying to discern what the songs actually meant when in truth a lot of the time what John said was what he meant: no hidden meaning... He was getting sick of it all, you see... It's been recorded that when he finished writing the lyrics to this one, he turned to a friend and said "Let the fuckers try to figure that one out"... Anyway, thought you'd be interested...

"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha@ig.com.br) (2/26/03)

I wonder what's the point of Lillestrøm discussing this album, song by song, without actually considering their quality. It's not a compilation, this album, since none of these tracks appeared in any other album before. The A side was the soundtrack EP, the side B are a couple of singles, and this makes no compilation. Even if it was, it's nothing short of excellent.

For some reason, I'm more inclined to give this a 15 than I am on Sgt Pepper. The album is more consistent, and each song is, at least, great. The A side singles on side B are all, um, perfect (Penny Lane! I LOVE Penny Lane!), the "less known" songs (Your Mother Should Know, Baby You're A Rich Man, Blue Jay Way) are all great, and not to count Fool On The Hill, the title track, and, of course, I Am The Walrus. Thus, I can enjoy this album start to finish, without any kind of complaint. Even Flying is great, in its own right.

Nathan Schulz (isrpgmaker@hotmail.com) (8/07/04)

I think this album is stronger than Pepper because of slightly more complex orchestration, and the title track is better (Not to mention it has no irritating reprise).  This album also feels more eastern and decadent.  In addition, its not as lightweight as Pepper, providing less light pop numbers.

  Best Song: I Am the Walrus

9 (15)

Nathan Schulz

Trfesok@aol.com (02/23/05)

This was really the only time that the Beatles did a sidestep in their evolution, which is why I think it tends to get slammed a little bit. But if it had been released as a double album with ...Pepper... , it would have been hailed as another masterpiece. It is very much a piece with the last one, what's everybody's  problem? "Your Mother Should Know" is a bit of a retread of "When I'm 64". And "Blue Jay Way" is a bit draggy, although you can tell that George's Indian work influences the droning sound it has. But that's about it -- everything else is terrific. I personally think that the Beatles passed their peak after this, as the group lost cohesion.

  As for the movie -- well, the Beatles enormous talent in music did NOT extend to film. It's basically an amateurish, druggy mess. But some of the performance sequences are pretty cool, especially "I Am the Walrus".

MATTHEW CONSTANTINE (11/22/08)

Blue Jay Way is, in part, about LSD-induced insomnia (like I'm So Tired the following year!) I Am The Walrus - for the best theory of what this song is about, see Ian McDonals's Beatle book.

Baby You're A Rich Man - an underrated gem, I think - dig the sarcasm in the lyrics, the sped-up keyboard masquerading as an Indian oboe, and that "you're a rich fag Jew" bit in the fade-out!

Personally, though, no-one can convince me that Hello Goodbye and All You Need Is Love are not complete and utter crap.

---

The Beatles - 1968 Capitol
9 (15)

Best song: Probably While My Guitar Gently Weeps, but maybe not

Send me your thoughts

Lillestrøm Stasjon (lillestrom.stasjon@hysjhysj.net)

You pretty much wrap it up here. However I think it's fascinating to imagine White as a stellar single album. I never like the idea of changing such a classic, but for just a moment, let's see how it would look if I got to pick the songs.

1. Back in the U.S.S.R. (great opening)
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-la-di Ob-la-da (just coming up witht itle....)
5. While my guitar gently weeps
6. Happiness is a warm gun
7. I Will

1. Martha my dear (love the piano-intro and the jazzy horns on this one)
2. I'm so tired
3. Blackbird
4. Cry baby cry
5. Mother nature's son
6. Sexy Sadie
7. Revolution (7" edit, it simply rocks)

At this point feel bad about having to leave out Julia, Savoy Truffle, Birthday or maybe Rocky Raccoon. My single White Album is already big, keep in mind that playing time is the most importantf actor regarding the pressing quality or how loud the pressing gets. Physical space equals headroom on vinyl, but since the original B-side contains ninef ull-length-songs, I let this issiue pass. Another problem is the nearly untouched A-side, which is great, but it leaves a rather strange B-side. I feel that the rougher rock songs are weaker than the ballads, if I may call themt hat. This leads to a lot of slow songs on my Side-B. But I chose to stick with the best compositions, and end with a rocker in Revolution.

Awake600@aol.com

A while back, I borrowed the second disc of this one out of the library (which was separate from the first that wasn't present), and while I was floored by the trio of opening songs, the last half of it sort of underwhelmed me. Since then, though, I acquired the whole album (plus a few more Beatles albums to boot), and I have to say this comes extremely close to the quality of Abbey Road (so it would be another 15 for me, easily), which just may be my favorite album ever at this point, I don't even know anymore. Prindle's idea that more Beatles is better Beatles works for me, and it almost makes it their best album. It's gotta be the most diverse album I've ever heard by a longshot, and there's also no better album where the songs flow so well into each other, which makes even the stuff I'd call subpar, an extremely small amount that this is, integral to this flow. It almost has to be a challenge to most to be able to pick 40-47 minutes of the best material in a hypothetical 'single album' situation and not feeling guilty about leaving off certain other songs. But just for fun, I'll play here.

I'd leave most of the acoustic material on, just because they're some of the most extremely gorgeous stuff they (particularly John) ever wrote. "Dear Prudence", "Blackbird", "Julia", and "Mother Nature's Son" are the first locks. The remaining of the trio that starts off disc two, "Birthday" and "Yer Blues", as well as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", I'd also leave on. Maybe "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Martha My Dear", "Piggies" and "Helter Skelter" too, since they're among the best attempts at diversity and I love them to death. And to be faithful to the original opening and closing, I'd also leave on "Back In The U.S.S.R." and "Good Night" (though the latter, while it has grown on me a heck of a lot lately, isn't at this moment a favorite). There, that's 14 songs that'll still fit on one record, right? I hope.... if there's still room, I'd add the single version of "Revolution". The problem is, though, this selection would be at the expense of the original album flow, where it seems like each song is naturally designed to follow/precede its' surrondings, and overall diversity.

No1Yanks23@aol.com

i think this is a perfect score. Theres only about 13 minutes of filler (wild honey pie, why dont we do it..., honey pie, rev. 9) The rest is pure gold. Make it into one album? Ok thats 14 songs lets see:

1. Back in the Ussr
2. Dear Prudence
3. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
5. Sexy Sadie
6. Blackbird
7. Happiness is a Warm Gun

1. Julia
2. Revolution (single version)
3. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
4. Birthday
5. I'm So Tired
6. I Will
7. Hey Jude

Yeah I know, I kind of cheated here. I included 2 singles but they were recorded during the white album sessions, I was gonna actually put on Lady Madonna but its not from the sessions.

TheeRubberCow@aol.com (12/28/01)

That is correct.  "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey" are definately not filler.  They were always my favorite from this one, even as a kid, and listening to it now, they seem like the songs that I would appreciate more now.  I guess I was a strange kid.  But would you consider the structure of "Happiness" to be slightly progressive in nature?  Or would it just be a medley/suite?  Anyways, it think each one of it's parts are unique and interesting and it feels complete when it's done.

"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha@ig.com.br) (2/26/03)

Probably this one follows even more the "Machine-Gun" thing I've talked about on Revolver, but for some reason, I appreciate this one more. Because I feel there is a common thread holding the songs together, and they flow well. And, of course, there are a *lot* of them, and virtually all of them are excellent. Very varied, very tasty, this album. Very few tracks that I could consider "weak" (Everyone's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey, maybe). I don't even mind The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill, even though it's a bit too long. And I don't mind Revolution 9, either, even though THAT one should be shorter. 5 or 6 minutes is enough, I think. Rating? Can't decide. Give it a 15, whatever.

Rick Wolfe (rickwolfe8@cox.net) (5/31/03)

I respect the review thoroughly, and thanks for giving Me and My Monkey its well-deserved praise. But does anybody ever stop and think about Helter Skelter? Helter Skelter is the hardest song of the sixties and the first step in heavy metal. If I were to make The Beatles a single album, it would look something like this:

1. Back in the USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
5. Rocky Raccoon
6. Don't Pass Me By
7. Blackbird
8. Glass Onion
8. Birthday
9. Yer Blues
10. Everybody's got smoehting to hide
11. Sexy Sadie
12. Helter Skelter
13. Revolution 1
14. Cry Baby Cry
15. JULIA!! Yeah!!

Raghavan RANGANATHAN (S3046624@student.rmit.edu.au) (6/15/03)

This is my fav album by the beatles,.of course, it might seem a bit thin when compared to the arrangements on "Pepper" and all that, but the songs cannot be beat. Well, it is on this album that we will find the fellas at their most natural, relaxed and doing things that they find the most interesting( without caring too much about public or critical perception). Lennon, in my opinion has already started displaying forthcoming tendencies of his solo carrer, "yer blues", "julia" are perfect "Plastic Ono Band" prototypes. Paul just fools around and is the responsible element for the overwhelming diversity...well, i dont know what else to say about it...ok, later

Aprentice (nikus80@hotmail.com) (12/15/03)

Of course, it could have been a great single album, the best beatles album, but if you can make a single album of this and still be happy, you don't love it nearly as much as I do. Simply, there are so many great songs here, and many MOODS, that most people cuts will dissapoint most people.

My favourite songs are:
Helter Skelter
Sexy Sadie
Yer Blues
Glass Onion
Happiness is a warm gun
cry baby cry (I used to play it a lot in the guitar)

  Yes, for some reason I don't like the slow songs that much, but mind you, I love Honey Pie, I love I will, I love Martha My Dear. BUT CAN YOU MAKE A SINGLE ALBUM OUT OF THIS? YOU CAN'T! FORGET IT! And that's why I think Abbey Road isn't THAT much better than this.

Trfesok@aol.com (04/29/08)

I have very mixed feelings about this one. It's not among my favorites, mainly because darker elements are introduced, mostly by Lennon. His songs are mostly sarcastic ("..Bungalow Bill", "Glass Onion" ..Monkey..", the very bitter "Sexy Sadie") or angsty ("Julia", "Yer Blues", "I'm So Tired"). Not that they aren't good songs, but they aren't necessarily fun to listen to. Plus there are a couple of real nightmares in "Revolution 9" (clearly created while under the influence of Yoko) and "Helter Skelter" (whose mood is reinforced for anyone who remembers the Manson murders). I even find "R9" listenable under the right circumstances, but it is really out of place. McCartney's stuff is, of course,  mostly lighter and more whimsical. But the extreme contrast in songwriting makes the record a more difficult listen than a typical Beatles album. Harrison's quartet is winner, with "Long, Long, Long" the weakest. But that's only because of the mix -- it's hard to hear his voice. "Dear Prudence" and "Cry, Baby, Cry" are really lovely, gentle Lennon, quite a shift in mood from the rest of his stuff. Among all of this, there are really only a couple of songs that I can't stand -- "Wild Honey Pie" (really bad singing) and the stupid "Rocky Racoon". I'm not interested in hearing Paul imitate a redneck, no thanks. Still, it's clear in retrospect that the Beatles were on the verge of flying apart at the seams, given the lack of cohesiveness of the album.

Huw Powell (one@humanthoughts.org) (03/13/09)

One passing thought on the white album, that I thought you almost got to and hen didn't write. Yes, it's overwhelming and a bit sprawling, *but*, if you take the idea of paring it down to a single album combined with no one agreeing one which half should survive, logically, what they did was an interesting experiment - let the buyers make their own "single LP" with their own favorite songs from it. Myself, I can never make up my mind, and often listen to it by skipping songs, different ones each time, depending on my mood.

---

Yellow Submarine - 1969 Capitol
6 (9)

Best song: Hey Bulldog

The soundtrack to an infamous movie of the same name, it gets a REALLY low grade for a Beatles album. The biggest problem with it, of course, is that there are only FOUR new Beatles songs on here - the rest are either taken from previous albums (Yellow Submarine, All You Need is Love) or are the product of George Martin. The pure classical stuff from Martin here isn't that bad, actually - it's no Beatles, yeah, but many of the themes are quite fun to listen to. The fully orchestrated Yellow Submarine in Pepperland, for instance, or stuff like Sea of Time and March of the Meanies create all sorts of neat moods and have melodies that I'm perfectly happy to listen to. It can be a bit hard to take a full 17+ minutes of it if you're in a "Beatles mindset," but it's hard to find anything really wrong with it from a musical standpoint. Not groundbreaking at all, but very nice.

What bugs me is that the four originals on here don't exactly wow me into the ground. Only ONE of them is truly up to "Beatles standards" - the "psychedelic riff-rocker" Hey Bulldog. Showing once again that the band COULD write solid riff-rockers if they chose to go that direction, it also contains scary paranoid lyrics from Lennon, augmented by a typically piercing delivery. And of course, who could ever forget the barking and yelling at the end?

But the rest, ehn. Harrison throws in two numbers (Only a Northern Song, It's All Too Much), and neither one strikes me as amongst his better work. Sure, sure, they have the whole psychedelic vibe going on, but they suffer from coming in 1968, when most of the freshness and good ideas of late 60's pyschadelia had been used up. The melodies are good, as usual, but the songs are FAR too long for their own good. And as for All Together Now, the melody is cute in a sort of genial way, but if you felt iffy about Paul's other "childish" songs, you're gonna really hate this one. I don't particularly dislike it, but one can easily see that it's not of his best moments.

All in all, though, the album is a fairly interesting listen, just because of the whole "serious + goofiness" vibe of the whole thing. I actually think the album could have been more interesting with the "real" songs interspersed with the orchestration instead of cleanly seperated, but hey, that's what playlists are for. And hey, at least this is a REAL ALBUM, as opposed to the reissue which is just a compilation.

Send me your thoughts

Trfesok@aol.com (03/06/05)

Well, I did get a used copy of the Songtrack cheaply, and I thought it was worth that much. Granted, it consists mostly of songs from RS to MMT. But it's worth it, I think. For one thing, I can live without Martin's score -- it isn't BEATLES music, per se. The other reason is that the songs have been remixed, evidently to make them more compatible with DVD technology. They all sound great! Most don't sound all that different. But few sound tons better. "Only a Northern Song", in particular, is stunning -- transformed from its boring original mono to beautiful stereo. (and no, it's a remix of the original, not the Anthology 2 take). "It's All Too Much", a MMT outtake, is my favorite of the new songs, though. Much more energetic than "Blue Jay Way" or "Within You, Without You" -- his best song from the 1967 sessions. "All Together Now" is also a MMT reject, more justifiably this time. Pretty stripped down for that period, to say the least. This is the type of silly stuff that definitely predicts Paul's early solo period. Likewise, "Hey, Bulldog" (recorded during the "Lady Madonna" sessions) really foreshadows John's  White Album material. It would have fit in well there. Catchy, and fun wordplay, too. So, if you can get the Songtrack for the cost of an EP, I'd say go for it.

---

Let It Be - 1970 Capitol
9 (14)

Best song: Let It Be

Send me your thoughts

Lillestrøm Stasjon (lillestrom.stasjon@hysjhysj.net)

I will have to agree 100%, Phil Spector did a great job here, but the combination of the live-feel and hiss sound, makes the album colder than George Martin's style on, say Abbey Road. The album is one of their best, the material is probably better than on Abbey Road, and it is the making of it that is it's weakness. If Let it Be had been recorded as a studio album (in Martin-style), it could easly have become the undisputed masterpiece of their career.

Ashley Bergman (ashleythewriter@hotmail.com) (7/30/02)

"well, except maybe Ringo - everybody loves Ringo" -- this is what I say all the time... can you help but love him?

Anyway, correction: "Lennon's I've Got a Pony" I think you mean 'Dig a Pony..." :P OH, but I hear you about "I've Got a Feeling"-- Can't you hear the competition? It's definitely one of my favorite Beatle songs for the reasons you mentioned, and because it's so awesome how they came together to sing both parts... I've never heard the original version of "Long and Winding Road" but I enjoy the strings-- I think they make the song more poignant and effective, and I think "I Me Mine" is a beautifully bitter George song.. perhaps my second favorite Beatle-George song... following "Something"... maybe third, following "Here Comes the Sun"...

Kerry & Kayoko Canfield (k2canf@SpiritOne.com) (10/16/02)

I recently watched a video compilation of various televised performances of the Beatles. Interspersed among them were two filmed performances of a couple of songs from Let It Be ("Two of Us" and possibly "Across the Universe"? Not sure now.). Lennon and McCartney appeared to be playing and singing from two separate rooms! Viewed with knowledge of the history of the band and of what was happening personally among the Fab Four at the time, those two clips were *so* sad. I don't mean disappointing in a critical sense, but literally saddening. I found myself scrambling to efface that feeling by listening to almost anything recorded before then, in the days when the band was more than the simple sum of its parts and actually having a good time.

Gordon Ovenshine (gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu) (08/16/06)

I agree with one reviewer who said Let it Be could have been The Beatles best album with Martin-style studio production, especially if Apple improved song selection and sequencing. The album came out in May 1970.

Here's what it should have been:

Side 1

Get Back
Two of Us
Dig a Pony
Across the Universe
For You Blue
Let it Be

Side 2

Don't Let Me Down
Old Brown Shoe
Long and Winding Road
I've Got a Feeling
Ballad of John and Yoko
Get Back Reprise

Trfesok@aol.com (07/07/07)

A lot of people had trouble with this one because they saw it as a betrayal of the original Get Back concept -- namely, the live-in-the-studio-with-no-overdubs thing. Then, Spector tried to have it both ways, with some numbers still like that, and others with his big production. So, the album is a bit of a jumble. But I think that the only number he wrecks is "The Long and Winding Road". I remember hearing on the radio at age 12, thinking, "There's something wrong with this song." The Anthology 3 version proves that it was pretty sappy song to start with, and then Spector really turns it up to 11 on the schlockometer.  The strings and choir are more appropriate on "Across the Universe".  Definitely an improvement over the original Past Masters mix. " I Me Mine" is really the track that benefits from Spector's dramatic arrangement. I like the alternate guitar solo and the turned up horns in this version of the title track as well. However, I don't like the fact that they didn't perform the tag at the end of this version of "Get Back" -- this one  is not finished! 

  The rest of the material ranges from OK ("I've Got a Feeling" and "One After 909" are fun and sound like they were enjoying themselves ) to throwaways. I find "For You Blue" to be rather dull.    The Anthology 3 version at least has a better piano part. And "I Dig a Pony" -- while the guitar riff is really catchy, John's usually interesting wordplay ("I Am the Walrus" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun", for example) is just sloppy here. "I rolled a stoney?" What's that? These sound like dummy lyrics that John never got around to polishing. Irritating. On the whole, though, despite the occasionally unsettling atmosphere, the top songs show that the Beatles hadn't lost it yet. If it had come out when it was supposed to -- before Abbey Road -- it would probably have been regarded  better. It just can't compare with their real final album.   

---

Abbey Road - 1969 Capitol
9 (15)

Best song: Good question

Send me your thoughts

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

Oh boy. I hate reading reviews that overrate albums, but I also hate writing reviews that contradict those that overrate. Ok, this is the only Beatles album I currently own (I lost a couple of the others I had, stupid me, don't worry I'll buy more soon) and I like it, don't get me wrong. It is a wonderful album and I do love it. However I do not hold the belief that this album is perfect. There are some bad songs on here. For starters, I never liked "Come Together." It drives me nuts. I can't explain it. Another one I never liked was "Oh Darling." It's one of those songs that seems to try a little bit to hard to be great, and misses the mark. As far as the second side goes, most of the songs are pretty even in that level of "Beatles Good" that the majority of people with any musical taste hold above most standards for other music. The only song on the second side that falls short of the "Beatles Good" level and falls into the "Beatles Decent," which is still good by normal standards, is "Mean Mr. Mustard." It's pretty good though. Ok enough complaining. "Octopus's Garden" is EXCELLENT! I'm serious, that is a great song, The Beatles at their best (or Ringo anyway). And "Polythene Pam" is the best on the second side.

BEST TRACK: Oh, definitely "I Want You (She's so Heavy)." Perfect song. That ending jam thingy is awesome! I love it! Of course there is more to the song than that. The main verses and such are excellent, and I love the basslines all throughout the song.

COMPLAINTS: "Come Together" and "Oh Darling"

RATING: My Scale ***** John McFerrin's Scale: A very affectionate 9(13) in fact, even a 9(14) if I'm in a good mood. Think of it as a 9(13.5). Now I feel better.

Kerry & Kayoko Canfield (k2canf@SpiritOne.com)

The dueling guitar solo(s) in this prove absolutely that it does not take a lot of notes to play outrageously rocking guitar. In fact, too many notes get in the way; yes, less really is more! This bit still has more guts than most shamelessly testosterone-fueled guitar solos ever recorded by anyone at all.

Stephen B Marseille (sbm82@columbia.edu) (7/21/01)

This is somewhat injudicious of me - to reduce my comments to so brief a thought - but I really question why you should take a point off Abbey Road simply because it is so powerful that you can't listen to it 5 times in a row. That seems to have nothing to do with its rating - or perhaps it does, but in its favor. For example, while I'm not an industrial music fan generally, I see Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral" a masterpiece, an easy 10 (15) in the genre... but it is so gut-wrenching that I couldn't play it twice in a row...

TheeRubberCow@aol.com (12/28/01)

I would have to agree with Steven there, but I also understand your point of view and know exactly what you mean.  There is also a sense of lethargy creeping about on the album, and it's hard to pick out, too.  I sometimes have said that this is my favorite Beatles album, but have questioned that notion, just because of this.  Maybe it really is because of the tensions that were going on at the time, but it seems like such a great album with some kind of muffled energy/anti-energy crying out that they were not enjoying doing this.  I have also noticed this on Pink Floyd's "Animals", another great album that is slightly weighed down by this elusive phenomenon.  Anyone else notice this?

Brian R. Aust (baust@nc.rr.com) (3/25/02)

First off, to respond to TheeRubberCow's comments about a certain "muffled energy/anti-energy" thing going on for this album that conveyed that the Beatles were not enjoying this, well, you're actually factually correct. The Beatles certainly knew that this was their very last album in the making and they knew that what they were hearing develop was a very special, wonderful album in the works.... but they were so completely sick and tired of each other that the negative feelings and animosity from the White Album sessions simply outweighed the good things going on. It's a poorly-kept secret that there were never more than two Beatles working in the studio at any one time, ever, during the making of this album --- usually Paul would start things off, laying down the basic tracks and etc., and John would come in after Paul left and dub in his own vocals and guitar, etc. The album as a whole sounds much, much tighter and "unified" than the group really was -- a very masterfully and carefully crafted illusion.

Even so, for years and years now this album has been at the very near top of my alltime favourite albums lists, and it certainly is my favourite Beatles. The "Big 4 John" songs off of Rubber Soul (Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl, In My Life) may pack a bit more of an emotional punch, but this album really represents the group at their peak. A classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Sure enough, you slap "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" into the middle of a Badfinger or Macca solo album, and it will be nothing more than a mediocre "granny-pleaser" (to quote John) --- but in the *context* of this album, the song takes on a new life all its own. It BELONGS.

BEST TRACK: The suite, especially Mustard-Polythene-Bathroom. Because, Something, Here Comes the Sun, and You Never Give Me Your $$ are all in the running as well. But as we all know, there ARE no weak tracks when it's Abbey Road we're talking about.

WORST TRACK: In a pinch, Sun King. I suppose it does kinda drag.

RANK IN BEATLES DISCOGRAPHY: #1, but it's part of the "Big 4 Albums" (Rubber Soul, Revolver, White Album, Abbey Road). Although Abbey can certainly be ranked the best of the 4, these rankings are irrelevant because one CANNOT do without these 4 albums --- all are purely, truly, unequivocally, absolutely essential in their own way, and no person on earth can be vilified if the Beatles' album they select as their best/favourite is one of these four.)

"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha@ig.com.br) (2/26/03)

The 10 (15) for the Beatles, in my opinion. This is the total opposite of "Chain-Gun", for me. It's cohesive as hell. And I'm not talking only about the 15+ minute suite. Oh, before I go on, I wanted to say that, at least in my mind, since Carry That Weight reprises You Never Give Me Your Money, both it and Sun King are part of the suite.

And, oh yeah, the other tracks rule as well. I love Because (mellow and creepy), Here Comes The Sun (uplifting and gentle), Come Together (corrosive, amusingly corrosive), Something (gorgeous beyond words) and I Want You (simply brainstorming). But what appeals me is how this album is extremelly cohesive and, well, more of an *ALBUM* really, not just a collection of tracks. This is what I like it. Oh, and it's also probably the most emotionally strong of the Beates' records. I like everything about it, there's nothing I can do but award it the big 10.

Nathan Schulz (isrpgmaker@hotmail.com) (4/07/04)

The drumming from "Come Together" is actually played backwards.  Once you know this, it seems obvious because the drum beats are not accented, rather, they increase in volume instead of fading away.

Rob da mailman (RobertoV@webtv.net) (02/12/05)

A funny side note about Frank Sinatra and "Something" - he introduced it one time as his favorite Lennon/McCartney song. He was more than a little surprised to learn later that it was a George Harrison song. George always got a nice little laugh out of that. I agree with you in that this album is definitely the best swan song by any group in musical history.

SolomonsOther@aol.com (06/25/05)

Abbey Road is the Napoleon Bonaparte of the Beatles catalogue. Short, powerful, and kicks your ass all across Europe shortly before he's sent to Alcatraz, then breaks out very briefly for one more fling (Let It Be!!) until he's tossed out again and forced to endure a long history of bad solo releases and stained reputation. Oh, those whacky islanders!!

daniel penner (dzpenner@hotmail.com) (05/03/07)

Agree completely with your 9(15), as all the beatles albums starting from Soul don't deserve any lower. However, I really don't feel what you and (I think at least) George say about Abbey Road being emotionally crushing. For me, it happens to actually be the most stale and "going through the motions" Beatles album of the classic period. Most of the songs just sound finished and tired, but in a lazy way, not an emotional one (Come Together, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Because, The End, Mean Mr. Mustard). The only songs that really move me are You Never Give Me Your Money (COMPLETELY agree on the "step on the gas" moment), Oh Darling!, Golden Slumbers, and Something. Oh and I Want You, which moves me in a 73-74 era King Crimson way (a GOOD thing). Of course its stale feeling doesn't make its melodies any less perfect ("She Came In...", anyone?) ana an easy 15 and ONE OF (Red? Pink Moon?) the greatest swan songs of all time.

Trfesok@aol.com (07/19/07)

The Beatles, amazingly, pulled themselves together -- or looked like they did - for this one. You wouldn't have known at the time that they were falling apart. Far more cohesive than the White Album and Get Back.  The unsettling vibes from those two albums are  pretty much absent.  The closest thing to negative feelings is a sense of sexual desperation both in "Oh, Darling" and "I Want You".  As musicians, the group peaked here -- there's some incredible playing from everybody in the group. I do think that some of the songwriting ("Something", "Maxwell's..", "Octopus' Garden", "Because") isn't quite up to past peaks in some places, but in others ("Here Comes the Sun", "Come Together", the medley),we do get some of the best material the group ever did. "The End" is the perfect, well, end to the album and the band. It's too bad that Let it Be and Plastic Ono Band appeared after this to leave a very sour aftertaste around the group's breakup.

---

Past Masters 1 - 1988 EMI
9 (14)

Best song: She Loves You (but most are great)

Send me your thoughts

Kerry & Kayoko Canfield (k2canf@SpiritOne.com)

Don't know if this is mentioned by anyone elsewhere here. When I was in junior high school, home sick in bed one day listening to the radio, I heard the song "From Me to You." Pleasant tune, but the announcer never said who the performer was. Flash forward a year or two. I heard "From Me to You" by the Beatles, and found out that it was credited to Lennon and McCartney. Wait a minute, I thought--I'm positive that the earlier rendition I'd heard had not been the Beatles; my memory was certainly not flawless, but being a musician myself, I was certain I recalled definite tonal and performance differences. No way to check, though, I never heard that earlier rendition *ever again*, and I never heard from anyone else that they had heard it either. So for years I'd occasionally stumble across that weird little discontinuity in my memory banks, wondering about it. Decades later I was reading the entry on the Beatles in the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, and although I realize Rolling Stone is not universally appreciated as an arbiter of taste--and they definitely don't have all their "facts" straight--I came across the following interesting factoid: There *was* an earlier release of "From Me to You"--by Del Shannon, known by most for his greatest (and really only) hit "Runaway." I tend to accept Rolling Stone's attribution as genuine because I'd read elsewhere that The Fab Four knew Del Shannon personally (I think he himself was from England). Wow! I thought with relief--I had not been audio-hallucinating; I really *did* hear somebody other than the Beatles do this Beatles song on the radio before I ever heard them do it!

Trfesok@aol.com (02/23/2005)

It almost works as an actual Beatles album, rather than a compilation. Personally, I'd rather see these tracks added to the appropriate albums instead. (Most of their singles were recorded at the same sessions as the albums, but released separately in the UK.)  "Matchbox" and "Bad Boy" seem like throwaways, and the German remakes and the single take of "Love Me Do" don't add much new, but that's about it for filler. "Slow Down" (which actually was an American Top 40 single) and "Long Tall Sally" (along with "Twist and Shout", "Money" and "Words of Love") are two of the few covers that rival the Beatles' original material. Although  "I'm Down" is a much better upgrade of the latter.  A great summation of the original sound of the Beatles.

Huw Powell (one@humanthoughts.org) (03/13/09)

It actually *wasn't* normal practice in the early 60s for bands not to put their singles on LPs - the opposite was more true - an LP would feature and try to cash in on a couple of singles.

But, what George Martin wanted to do was give the fans "more for their money" - ie, if you were buying the singles, when you bought an LP, you didn't get a bunch of overlap.

Sadly, this meant that SFF/PL did not end up on Pepper - imagine how much greater Pepper might have been if they did? They were the first songs finished, and the band hadn't released a single in a while, so out they went.

If you think MMT is great, try dropping 4-6 of the singles on it into the middle of Pepper (since CDs allow for 70-odd minute albums...).

---

Past Masters 2 - 1988 EMI
9 (15)

Best song: Paperback Writer

Send me your thoughts

Trfesok@aol.com (03/06/05)

Not nearly as consistent as the first volume, due more than anything else to the group's rapid evolution. I think most people would pick "Hey Jude", rather than "Paperback Writer" as the best song, but I certainly understand your position. Like anything else from the Revolver sessions. It's great. I wonder if anyone else besides Todd Rundgren ever noticed how much "Rain" resembles "She Said, She Said"? (Check out his cover version). But it's another fantastic job -- Ringo does his single best drum performance here. (By the way, since it was on the B-side of "PW", it only got to #23 or something like that). "The Inner Light" is George's best Indian-type song.. really beautiful music and lyrics. The only duds, in my book, come from Lennon. I don't particularly enjoy the rawer stuff he put out in this period, like "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (really bad punning on the chorus, by the way) or "Don't Let Me Down", but that's just my personal preference, I suppose. Plus no one was as really interested in his feelings about Yoko as John thought they would be. And "Across the Universe" is the only Beatles track that could be termed "sloppy". Uncharacteristically poor production -- it's no wonder that they gave it away. However, no Beatles fan can do without everything else here.

Chris Baldwin (chris_baldwinn@hotmail.com) (6/11/2005)

Actually We Can Work it Out wasn't the b-side of Day Tripper, the songs were a double a-side.

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Live At The BBC - 1994 Capitol
7 (11)

Best song: uh ...

Send me your thoughts

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Anthology 1 - 1995 EMI
7 (11)

Anthology 2 - 1996 EMI
7 (11)

Anthology 3 - 1996 EMI
7 (11)

Best songs: ... You don't buy these for the songs, per se ...

Send me your thoughts

TheeRubberCow@aol.com (12/28/01)

What surprises me, since you bring up the price of these discs, is why when they put the Red and blue album on CD they made them two discs and charge $34!  I've even seen them in the mall for over 40, (and I don't live in Calfiornia.)  I know someone who has the Red Album on CD and I put in to see how long it was: half an hour each disc.  They could have put it all on one disc with almost 20 minutes to spare and then try charging $34!  sorry, had to get that out.

Patrick Daniel Squatriti (jehudas_2@hotmail.com) (10/21/03)

Hey man, Patrick here again, writing about your Beatles Anthology review. Just wanting to know what you think of Anth.2's version of "Tomorrow Never Knows". I thought it was the most brilliant thing ever to have recorded when I first heard it. And I probably still do.Ta.

Trfesok@aol.com (02/23/2005)

These are, basically, legal Beatles bootlegs. Some of this stuff has been out on bootlegs for years. Why shouldn't the Beatles make money off of this stuff? The stuff on the first volume isn't going to convert anyone, but it's interesting. It does prove that the Beatles weren't great live (but few early 60's groups were). The early "Can't Buy Me Love" is the most energetic. "Leave My Kitten Alone" is a decent For Sale outtake, although it's too bad that "You Know What to Do" was lost instead of being done up for the album instead. "In Spite of All the Danger" is way over the top as a title for a simple teen doo-wop song, but it's entertaining. And the very first "Love Me Do" illustrates perfectly why Pete Best had to be replaced -- the tempo varies way too much for a two minute song. Still, I agree -- new folks should buy all the proper albums first before getting this.

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