BEATLES FOR SALE

The Beatles' fourth album is a relatively uneven piece of work. After the fairly good 'A Hard Day's Night', it seems like the Beatles regressed a step or two, resulting in an album that has more in common with their first two works than anything else. All the same, there are a few great Beatles songs here, and the band's skill with vocal harmonies was really coming onto its own.

The big song on 'Beatles For Sale' that most will have already heard is 'Eight Days A Week', with which the band scored a hit. It is far from being my favourite Beatles track, but it is upbeat, melodic, and concise; all things I associate with the former half of the band's career. In terms of highlights to this album, 'I'm A Loser' is a very nice, brooding tune that exudes a sincere feeling to it. While the album doesn't generally feel like the band was moving forward, 'I'll Follow The Sun' is a lilting Paul-driven acoustic that sounds like it could fit the next couple of albums the band would release. Besides that, 'Beatles For Sale' is a fairly rocky venture, with inconsistency being the word to describe both the songwriting, and production. It feels as if the album was recorded in several different places, at different times. Even the style floats between the old American-style R&B and a more distinctive pop sound for the band. Naturally, the more modern sounding tracks are far superior to the rather formulaic and shallow rock n' roll material, a style that The Beatles had already exploited to death. Drawing the comparison with earlier Beatles albums, there are also covers here, with the Chuck Berry track 'Rock n' Roll Music' being the most memorable.

The most impressive thing about The Beatles on this album are their vocal harmonies, which have improved greatly in the few years since they started out. Here, the vocals are lush and make the melodies much more vibrant. There aren't many frills to this album, but while simple, it is very pleasant in parts, although it lacks consistency and cohesiveness as an album. Some excellent Beatles tunes here, but it feels more like a b-sides compilation than a legitimate album.

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