THE BEATLES

This is a compilation album which has polarised opinions in PA, I can see.

In my view, all homes should have both this compilation CD and in particular the blue 1967-1970 box. Why ? Because both double CDs are the blueprint for the modern music. To be able to understand the western culture; you need this knowledge. Yes, I know my opinions are controversial. But just have a look around and you may come to the same conclusion. Another reason for the purchase of this and the blue box/double CD is that the music here are mostly superb.

This double CD, the red one, is a collection of the pop stuff from The Beatles. These songs were all pioneering songs. Thankfully, there is no cover songs here. Just their own compositions. That include some songs not released on their albums.

There are some really gems and icons of the western civilisation here (I am again controversial). These are She Loves You, a song debated in many parlaments around the world as a danger to the youths in their respective countries and therefore ought to be banned outright. Yesterday, the most covered song on this planet and a wonderful song. Norwegian Wood with it's sitar. Help which was the title track of a movie that set new standards. Eleanor Rigby with it's serious theme and Yellow Submarine which is a hit in all nursery schools among the 4-5 six years old kids. All these songs are truly wonderful. Add songs like Paperback Writer, A Hard Day's Night, Eight Days A Week, Ticket To Ride, Drive My Car and Michelle to the mix and those are a good reason to purchase this album. The rest of the songs are also very good.

Those alone are the reasons to own this album. Everything properly considered makes this a four star compilation album. Store this double CD together with the Bible, your favorite food recipes, the backup of your harddisk, your insurance details, the pictures of your family, your passport and The Fawlty Towers DVDs.

4 stars

Now here things are starting to get serious. At first glance (or audition), Help not only keeps up with the aesthetics of the previous albums, but also is, in retrospect, still far from any relation with the prog-rock. Both statements couldn't be farthest from the truth.

At this time the suscetibilities of fame were starting to get to The Beatles heads, frustrated with the (bad) quality of the shows to screaming audiences, where they could hardly hear themselves, the busy schedule, the constant harassment from both fans and the press. These all are very clearly stamped in the album's title track (written by John), a song of a person who feels lost, with no direction and, ironically, lonely, pleading for a helping hand.

One can also acknowledge the role that their contact with Bob Dylan (and maybe also drugs) played, along with the stimulus of classical-trained producer George Martin, that instigated them to welcome new sounds and instruments to their repertoire.

And so they did. Of course, there is the never enough mentioned Yesterday, probably their most popular and well-know song, the most re-recorded song in popular music history, covered by hundreds of artists (legend says that this song is ininterruptely played in some version, in some point of the earth). Yesterday features a string quartet in, the earliest example I am aware of in a rock and roll album. If only for this reason, that would deserve the recording and the album a special place in the history of rock and roll and, maybe, music in all forms. Of course, it happens that this is NOT the only reason for the inclusion of Help among the list of the most important and influential albums ever recorded.

There are plenty of novelties that this album has to offer. The clearly Dylan-esque song You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (composed by John and supposedely refered to the band's manager Brian Epstein and his homosexuality) is closed with flutes. There is another Dylan-like John composition, It's Only Love. Both are magnificent. And I Need You, the first contribution of George to this album, features some inovative guitar effects (though they are best heard in a Beatles b-side single, Yes It Is).

But the real tricks of this album are, insterestingly, in more obscure tracks. They are: The Night Before, Tell Me What You See and I've Just Seen a Face, by Paul and You Like Me Too Much, the second George song. The Night Before, Tell Me What You See and You Like Me Too Much might be, though I can't state for sure, the pioneers in the jazz-rock experiment that would blossom late in the sixties. The Night Before, a great song (maybe my favorite from this album), features the famous Fender Rhodes electric piano that would be one of the key elements of fusion in a rocking sound that pretty much antecipates what the Miles Davis band keyboardists would do some years later. (Let's not forget that Miles was introduced to the Beatles by his drummer, Tony Williams, who highly influenced Miles to explore new sounds both as a listener and as a musician.)

You Like Me Too Much opens with a beautiful, jazzy piano line, and follows with some more use of electric piano in the main section of the song. Tell Me What You See features the electric piano in a more evident, but less imaginative fashion. Last but not least, I've Just Seen a Face is a fast country-like song, but what really makes it worth to notice is the guitar introduction that builds in a crescendo in what might be one of the most imaginative guitar works to date in a rock album - let's not forget it's early 1965.

And then, of course, you still have Help! and Ticket to Ride, the most classic tracks (along with Yesterday, of course), to enjoy. The remaining four songs, Another Girl, You're Going to Lose that Girl, Act Naturally and Dizzy Miss Lizzy (the last two being the only covers) are not at the same level of the other ten, but not enough to harm the whole experience.

In sum, the experiments both lyrical and musical make this one in fact more of a transition album than a continuity of the early sound. An often overlooked record by admires of the most daring Beatles phase, because the inovations are too subtle to make a radical change in the band's sound. Subtle, but quite significant. Pay close attention to these subtleties and you will be rewarded with the (re)discovery of a wonderful album with a great legacy.

For its contribution to the enrichment of the Beatles sound and rock and roll in general, plus its (still) thin link to the prog-rock world, Help undoubtedly deserves a 4-star rating. Don't miss the oportunity of checking out how the adventure of combining rock and roll, classical music and jazz was first insinuated.

After A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles gave a step back with this Beatles for Sale, returning to cover songs and limiting their own contribution to only eight tracks.

Two of these versions, nevertheless, are quite remarkable ones.The extensive use of Hammond on Mr. Moonlight and its weird solo makes it a quite original song for the time it was recorded. Rock and Roll Music, composed by Chuck Berry, is a superb interpretation, adding power, energy, speed and drama to the original recording. It is a rocker in the vein of covers of other albums such as Please Mr. Postman, Roll over Beethoven or Twist and Shout - only that it is better. MUCH better. A great display of The Beatles power and interpretation skills. Not only the incredible vocals supplied by John, but also the instruments, particularly the rocking piano played by 6 hands: John, Paul and George Martin. Can't find words enough to express my appreciation for this song.

Going back to the start, though, again The Beatles provide a great opening song, courtesy of John. No Reply alternates between calmer and harder sections, with a great chorus in the middle and a very good coda, showcasing the impressive pace in which Lennon and McCartney were maturing as composers. No Reply, by the way, is John's jealous-guy song of the album. I'm a Loser follows with a well known chorus and a faster speed. Baby's In Black is the first slow number, shared by John and Paul, and with its intriguing lyrics - its subtle reference to the love for a widow ("She thinks of him, and so she dresses in black/ And though he'll never come back, she's dressed in black") is easily overlooked by the unattentious hearer.

I'll Follow the Sun is the classic Paul ballad, in the vein of previous Till There Was You and And I Love Her, but this time with a less optmistic subject. A goodbye song with a smater image than they used to provide ("But tomorrow may rain so/ I'll follow sun"). Very good.

Eight Days a Week, perhaps the best known song in this record, is also worth mention for its fade-in start - another original experiment at the time. The song in itself follows the steps of previous Beatles' classics.

Paul provides himself some good rockers with cover medley Kansas City/ Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! and original What You're Doing. From the start, both John and Paul composed rockers and ballads and both composers excelled on both styles. So, the common-place image of a raw-straight forward John and a soft-romantic Paul is for the most part a distorted picture. In fact, Paul was the "official" interpreter of Little Richard songs (like the aforementioned Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! a Long Tall Sally, released in an EP), and also composing powerful songs clearly influenced by that style, while John would take the lead vocals in most of Chuck Berry's songs.

The remainder of the songs in this album are not particularly remarkable. Like the previous one, quality drops sensitively in side B. The songs already mentioned are all highlights, but Rock and Roll Music clearly stands out, although it's a cover. Don't confuse this with any statement of weakness in the original compositions, though, as John and Paul were improving fast for all to see.

Excluding the curiosities of Mr. Moonlight and Eight Days a Week, there are not many tricks in this record, still far from the experimental years and, therefore, far from prog-rock. Though a step back in terms of number of original songs, it's a step forward in terms of the quality of those original songs and overall sound. 3 stars.

A Hard Day's Night is remarkable for at least three facts: it pioneered with George's use of Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, that was so influential; it was the first Beatles album made entirely of original compositions (and the only in their whole catalogue composed exclusively of Lennon-McCartney songs, as George would later make his way as a composer himself); and it was mostly dominated by John, clearly the major force in this album, and the only example of a really imbalance between John and Paul on The Beatles catalogue. It was distinguished also because it was the first soundtrack from a Beatles movie (only side one, actually), but this is more of a curiosity than an achievement.

The album itself contains at least five classic Beatles songs: the faster ones are the title track and Can't Buy Me Love and the slower ones are If I Fell and And I Love Her (both democratically split between John and Paul). The fifth classic is caught in the middle: I Should Have Known Better, sung by John.

But then, to my ears, this one would have only another highlight in Things We Said Today, by Paul. Not that the others are absolutely let-downs. None of them are actually bad, but as the album goes, it kind of tires me, particular in side 2 (starting with track 8 on CD). Taken separately, another songs might stand out as second-class hits, like I'm Happy Just to Dance with You (sung by George, written by John), I'll Be Back and Tell Me Why (both by John). Probably the reason for that is John's lead singing (the exceptions are only 4 songs, already stated above), which accounts for diminishing one of the great appeals of Beatles albums: its diversity. Not that John's singing and writing are bad. They just don't make it for a Beatles album, which is supposed to be much more than that. That said, for my taste, this one is probably the weakest of all The Beatles albums. Not bad, but a bit tiring, and being the first phase of The Beatles the one I least appreciate, this is their album that I least listen to as well. In fact, I listened to it after several years only because of the 2009 remastered edition. Therefore, the rating here is more faithful to my actual overall opinion than the previous two, which are rounded down to suit a prog-rock website. Not this one: 2 stars is what I give it in all contexts.

This one is, to my taste, the best of early and more naive Beatles' records. It rock more often and harder than the previous one. This is the case of It Won't Be Long, and absolutely exciting music that catches you by the ear from the very start. Very few people won't feel the energy and vibes this song transmit.

The album follows in great fashion with the ballads All I've Got to Do and All My Loving, the first one a slower by John, the second a faster by Paul. It continues with the very first George Harrison composition, quite naive but a pretty enjoyable tune. Rumour has it that he wrote while sick in a hotel bed, that's maybe the reason of the cranky and lonely message (though in a light way, obvious). Little Child is a faster number with John's harmonica, not one of my favorites, but decent. Till There Was You is another slower ballad, with a nice hawaiian-style guitar solo.

Many more rockers follow with cover songs Please Mr. Postman (faster and harder - and better - than the better-known Carpenters version) and Chuck Berry's Roll over Beethoven, a great version sung by George. The pace is kept fast with an excellent Lennon-McCartney original, Hold Me Tight, sung by Paul, with an explicit reference to sex, long before the Stones or The Who were even composing, let alone recording. Of course it is a "light" reference ("making love to only you", says the lyrics), but still it goes to refute the idea that The Beatles were merely a naive, well-behaved band that couldn't go any further than claiming that "I Want to Hold Your Hand". (They were clever, though, and saved their more audacious songs to the records, issuing singles - the most popular vehicle for promoting music at the time - with lighter lyrics more palatable to the conservative ears and minds of early sixties Britain.)

The following is the slower soul-like You Really Got a Hold on Me, another excellent cover version sung by John. I Wanna Be Your Man, a Lennon-McCartney original sung by Ringo (and later covered by the Rolling Stones) follows. It's not a particularly good song, but has the distinction of featuring Hammond piano, I don't know if this was the first time it happened on a pop album (probably not), but still uncommon at the time.

Devil in Her Heart is a good cover song, followed by the last Lennon-McCartney original, Not a Second a Time, good tune screamed by John, and, for the sake of curiosity a typical jealous-guy theme song so particular of him. Almost every album of The Beatles would feature a John composition around the theme of jealousy. He was himself a jealous guy and admitted it latter in his solo 1971 album, Imagine, with a very well know song with that confession in the title.

The closing song doesn't work that well to me. Money was to emulate the artifice of Twist and Shout - a screaming cover song. Not quite memorable, though word has it that was quite popular in the Cavern Club times.

In sum, apart from very few weaker moments, this one does very good as an introduction and summary for The Beatles' early sound. If you were to acquire only ONE Beatles record from this early period, I would strongly recommend this one. Like we'll see later, though, I do not count Help and Rubber Soul as a part of this early sound. So you would be sparing yourself from only three records, actually.

Tough to point out highlights in such a well-balanced album, but if I was requested to do so, I would mention the first three tracks (It Won't Be Long, All I've Got to Do, All My Loving), plus Hold Me Tight and You Really Got a Hold on Me (the only cover among the highlights, what testifies for the growing maturity and sharpness of the Lennon-McCartney partnership).

A 3-star record in its own merit, only because this is a prog-rock website. In the context of rock and roll regardless of genre, or even popular music in general, this one would easily deserve 4 stars.

Today it isn't quite evident why The Beatles sound was so inovative and revolutionary. To fully acknowledge that, one has to look back at what was produced in the US and UK at late 50s and early 60s. By that time, rock and roll was most of the time blues-based, danceable songs, with touches of country music.

With the Beatles, it all changed. Not only in the looks or the atitude, not to mention the numbers (popularity, concerts attendance, sales, contracts). The sound changed as well.

This is not to say that the Beatles were the only band to do the kind of sound you find in this album. The characteristic early Beatles records accounted for a music know as "merseybeat" or "merseyside" (reference to the Mersey River that crosses Liverpool). It was an absolutely original and unique sound that mixed early rock and roll, rythm and blues, soul music, doo wop and skiffle. Liverpool benefited from its port status, so new sounds from across the Atlantic landed there earlier. Combined with the monopoly and strict control BBC exerted over the radio waves, Liverpool became some kind of a green house where this new sound developed quietly. It's therefore not surprising, either, that record companies were reluctant to invest in this new kind of sound. When The Beatles, rejected from Decca, signed up with EMI, the merseybeat finally reached the public ears, and rapidly fell in their taste.

The originality of merseybeat becomes even more evident when you compare The Beatles' records to the bands outside Liverpool - like the Rolling Stones - whose sound still relied strongly (and actually almost solely, in my opinion) in rythm and blues. This is to demonstrate how absolutely new this sound was, and why The Beatles were revolutionary from the very start.

Please Please Me is the sum up this early Beatles sound. Though not that appealing today, and pale in comparison to the band's ever-growing achivements in the following albums and years, it has this historical importance. This is not to say that it doesn't have its charm, as well. There are the lovely cover ballads "Anna" and "Baby It's You", both sung by John, the rockers "I Saw Her Standing There" (Paul's lead-singing) and "Please Please Me", this last one a kind of sinthesis of early merseybeat Beatles' sound. Plus, obviously, the screamed "Twist and Shout", a live favorite up until The Beatles quit touring and still a very well-known and appreciated song among both fans and occasional listeners (not quite to my taste, though, to be honest).

If only for its historical importance to rock and roll, it would certainly deserve a 4-star rating. It's not historically important to prog, though, and really not a must among non-Beatles fans. Therefore, 2 stars is a fair rating considering the context of this website.

You know Lennon writes his emotions then condenses them to a single emotive phrase if possible. HELP! is the perfect writing lesson here: Won't you please help me, help me, help ME All throughout the album John, George and Ringo are signing Down Songs for example JOHN 'I think i'm gonna be sad' "I can see them laugh at me" "help me if you can I'm feeling down" GEORGE "you don't realize how much I need you" "I'm lonely as can be" "cuz I could'nt really stand it I'd admit that I was wrong" RINGO "then you'll plainly see...the biggest fool that ever hit the big time" but PAUL, here we go...

The guy is totally out in left field. Happy As Can Be. And besides, I Ain't no FOOL and I don't take what I don't want for I have got.....(John says "yeah, yeah, you'll lose that girl and I'll have her by morning" or how about Paul's new vision "I've just seen a face I can't forget the time or place" 'but as it is I'll dream of her tonight la la la" BUT!!! When Paul is singing "falling, yes I am falling" he's really FALLING Hard and he does'nt know it Then Paul wakes up one day alone. The Greatest Beatle song is Selected By Lennon To Help Paul With His Immature Approach To Songwriting And there it is, "Yesterday" Paul CRASHES to earth and becomes like the rest of his bandmates, sober . Now John says Finally Some Real Emotion-- LOSS!!! hello its awesome Mr. McCartney doesn't even Have a clue as to why. " I don't know she would'nt say" excuse me mate but I just heard James Paul say "I Don't know" Lennon says that'll do just fine Of Course I grew up with the Shredded Capitol version of HELP! and it's soundtrack What a bunck of REAL IDIOTS to mess with one of the greatest setups (musically) of all-time From "Tell Me What You See" to "I've Just Seen A Face" to "Yesterday"

Heck, I thought Rubber Soul Started with "I've Just Seen A Face" Love To All yoko too

Why don't we do it on the roof

Rock's most poignant moment. For me the Beatles came to an end on a cold January day on the roof of a London building. The Beatles took some of the best material they ever recorded and walked to the roof of Apple, plugged in, and began jamming full volume to the streets below. It was an emotional and fitting end to the '60s greatest rock band. There was never any need for the "Abbey Road" album.

A portion of the "Let It Be" film may be "for fans" as it shows the lads discussing and rehearsing. Fascinating for me but for non-fans it could be boring. But the conclusion of the film makes this essential to all rock fans. First there are wonderful in-studio performances of the title track, "Long and Winding Road" and "Two us Us". Then there is the chance to see the boys perform live for the first time in years, and the last time in history. They nailed these songs and they had a blast doing it. That's right, contrary to the naysayers, The Beatles are clearly having a hoot jamming together and it shows to the camera. McCartney's vocal on "I've Got a Feeling" is viscerally powerful, it is literally one of rock and roll's greatest moments. Lennon is playful and fun as he blows a line intentionally (I think) in "Don't Let Me Down." Equally stunning is the version of "I Dig a Pony" with great harmonies and solos. Soon the mystified police would be coming up the stairs in their bid to end the public nuisance as the crowd of mostly delighted onlookers watched. The only downside is the lack of a proper spruced up DVD release. It was released on VHS/LD in the 80s but soon went out of print. Any DVD release currently is unofficial, boots of these original releases and pretty poor quality. Sadly, McCartney and Starr are blocking a proper DVD release of some of their finest work, reportedly believing that showing the darker side of the band could damage their image. What an absolutely tragic and stupid decision.

How surviving Beatles and some fans can be so down on the Let It Be project will always be the biggest musical mystery of my life. It gave us some of the band's finest material and gave us the precious, rare chance to see it performed live before the lights went out. It is a FANTASTIC historical visual document and contains essential versions of some of my favorite Beatles classics. Warts and all, Let It Be is real life and it is a masterpiece.

Career perfection

As bands go it doesn't get much better than The Beatles for great music and incredible songwriting. The question is, do you need their box set? For most fans of rock music the answer is Yes. If you already have copies of their best albums that sound fine to you I suppose you could skip this. But for fans stuck with old CDs or vinyl in poor shape, this is the perfect opportunity to get the whole show for a reasonable price.

I'm no audiophile but I know what I like, and to me these new remasters sound pretty damn good. The mix is quite nice and new things pop out here and there that I'd not heard before. The packaging is a joke of course, but 99% of box set packaging is a joke. Just something we have to deal with. Instead of proper jewel cases they come in these lame paper sleeves guaranteed to cause disc wear eventually and wear out pretty fast. The selling points are many however. First, you get everything. All of the proper studio albums are here, along with both parts of the fantastic "Past Masters" collection of rarities. All are lovingly presented in the best possible sound. Next, the booklets are well done. Each album's booklet features great photography, with dates and places for each photo, and come with lengthy historical and recording notes. George Martin's comments one each album are particularly interesting to read. Last, they throw in a bonus DVD with a mini-featurette of each album. The whole thing totals less than one hour, so it is pretty thin really, but nevertheless enjoyable. If you can't afford to purchase the whole set and wish to get a good sampling of the band's career by buying individual CDs, I'd recommend Please Please Me, Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour, and Let It Be-Naked. These are their four best albums and cover each of their stylistic phases well.

If you are a parent or uncle/aunt of teenagers, do them a favor and give them this box set for a birthday or Christmas present. Every kid should have the chance for a Beatles obsession phase and experience the days when music was special.

Important historical collection-part 2

The two-part Past Masters collection is not some lame compilation of tracks from the studio albums. This is an essential set for fans because it includes the many fine Beatles songs that did NOT appear on the albums, along with some rarities and alternate takes. The second volume is much more fun than the first as we get into some really juicy classics here covering the era from Rubber Soul until the band's demise. Included are the outstanding 65-66 singles Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out/Paperback Writer/Rain. The latter, Rain, which came out prior to Revolver, was the first serious taste of the new psychedelics-inspired material the boys were about to drop on their fans. Featuring strange sounds and backwards vocals it was the result of the band's deepening drug experimentations. We get Hey Jude/Revolution/Get Back/Don't Let Me Down. There is the first UK stereo single, the highly autobiographical Ballad of John and Yoko, the awesome Across the Universe, and Let It Be (different mixes). But the biggest reason to own this title is the last song, the best Beatles rarity of all! "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was began during the Pepper sessions in '67 and was not completed until two years later. This playful "lampoon of cabaret crooners" is one of the most hilarious and high-minded tracks they ever did, and I don't mind telling you it was a real favorite of the gang I used to party with back in the day. Without question, if you love the Beatles, you need Past Masters volume 2.