adriandenning.co.uk
album reviews

The Beatles



PLEASE PLEASE ME 7 ( 1963, UK pos 1 )
I Saw Her Standing There / Misery / Anna (Go To Him) / Chains / Boys / Ask Me Why / Please Please Me / Love Me Do / P. S. I Love You / Baby It's You / Do You Want To Know A Secret / Taste Of Honey / There's A Place / Twist And Shout

The Beatles? What kind of name is that for a rock n roll group, I ask you? Well, Buddy Holly knows. Yes, it's those fabulous Beatles, four lovable young lads from Liverpool with funny hair and heads that don't quite seem connected to their necks proper. You know the ones..... and here is their fabulous debut LP! Directly available to you from all good record stores! Buy it today, you won't be disappointed!! And, so on. In truth, although once The Beatles hit, they really hit big, right from the start virtually - yet their debut doesn't deviate in terms of structure from the norm of the day. So, you get a couple of hits, a few covers and some filler. The lyrical content of 'I Saw Her Standing Their' which kicks off the record ( in fine fashion ) is very much boy/girl, teenage romance kind of stuff - well worn themes. 'Anna' I guess fits into 'filler' territory, although it's easy to see the appeal the song must have had at the time, more mentions of girls and therefore romantic mystique is created. You know, that Ringo is a damn fine looking guy! 'Chains' is hardly the greatest song ever written or known to man, and there you have the problem. Although 'Please Please Me' backed with it's singles and the other singles The Beatles released at this stage DID shake up the musical world, ( well, England at least - America would follow later ) had they not followed this album, and had the glittering career they certainly did, would anybody be talking about 'Please Please Me' being a landmark LP? It's a thought to ponder. The Ringo sung 'Boys' is again hardly a great song, just standard Rock N Roll stuff, but Ringo does sing this with verve and style, dammit!

'Ask Me Why' is a sweet Fifties style love song with some nice harmonies, and only then are we reaching anything remotely approaching classic Beatles. The title song of course, a wonderful song, plain and simple, with the guitar following the vocal line acting as a kind of fanfare, and then we have the chorus of course - 'Come on, COME ON!'. Yeah, it's pretty good. 'Love Me Do' follows, the groups first hit of course, dig that crazy harmonica! 'P.S. I Love You' is a sweet ballad and a decent song that Paul sings well, 'Baby It's You' another ballad with good vocals but not the stuff of legends, although of course, The Beatles are legends! Well, how the hell did that happen??!! And, so on. 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' and 'There's A Place' are both genuinely good songs, the closing 'Twist And Shout' something for John to get his vocal chords well and truly around.  

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com PLEASE PLEASE ME is a good start, but it is my least fave fab recording-- it's just too simple. 'There's A Place' is very good, and the rest of the CD is competent; however, there's a reason the Beatles didn't become world famous until 1964: they weren't great composers until that year. aledge ae001b6168@blueyonder.co.uk Compliments on your marvellous pages. I only comment on Please Please Me since it never seems to get its just desserts. The crux of PPM is that in its simplistic way it was even more groundbreaking than ANY of the Beatles subsequent recordings or any other fellow rock artists. The proof? Quite simple. Name me a group or an artist prior to them of comparable age who had emerged with an album of such quality principally all self-penned. The question, of course, is rhetorical. You had to be around at the time to appreciate the album's impact. To analyse it without such insight is futile because such analysis is devoid of context. Its rating? Why eleven of course. Nora Smyth hreynolds@optusnet.com.au I think that Ask Me Why Is close to the worst track on the album. The line I love youuuuuwoo woo woo woo , lyrically is a disaster. Baby its You is another vocal horror. I Saw Her Standing There and Twist And Shout are the standouts on this album Tom myrtlebox@msn.com Great Beatles site Adrian. I am also of the belief that PPM gets passed over too quickly when ranking the songs and LP's of these GODS of music. These lads were glisteningly young at this point and didnt have a whole lot of great musical community threads from which to draw. The one point that MUST be mentioned about this recording effort is that it all took place (aside from PPM/LMD)IN ONE SINGLE FREAKIN DAY!!!! (2/11/63 morning, Afternoon, Evening Sessions @AR2). John was battling a throat condition during the recording and was munching on lozenges all day just to maintain some form of voice (witness Anna in the morning warming up and Twist n shout the final number where his voice is definitely gone). The fact that they incorporated 6 covers to flesh out their first LP does force the overall LP ranking down, but it most certainly is ahead of Let it Be (last in my humble opinion) and the majority of the utter tripe in the White album. The songs: I saw her stan! ding there/PPM/Love me do/Misery are fantastic songs. In fact, I would place the first two songs in their overall top 10% lifetime work - but hey, thats just me. Brendan Tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au Actually, this is one of my favourite Beatles albums. Every song has a unique, if not very unconventional melody, it's a very uplifting and vibrant album and, well, it always puts a smile on my face. That is all I really need to say. But, I mean how many times in your life do you hear 'There's a place'? That is such a cool song. John Cox zoz@nrlworld.com It's 1963 guys, the Beatles were just taking the first steps to changing the face of music as we know it. As the Fab Four later said, "Lend me Your Ears And I'll Sing You A song" ... We'll, here they were singing 13 songs songs,(13? Lucky for some ... lucky for all more like) ... that were just a taster for what was still to come ... thank god. These young guys went on to change the world big time, their influence still felt to this day, and I'd suspect will continue to be felt ... forever. So listen to this album with 1963 ears and you'll hear that these 4 young guys from Liverpool were issuing the world with a wake up call. "The Beatles are here and the world of music will never be the same again. It was the start of a "Revolution" So I say wgat a great album, so evokative of the time, Twiggy, mini-skirts, mini-cooper, (mini-mees?) ..."Yeh, yeh, yeh ... groovy baby"

Typical Beatles fan introduction follows, as if this person, even though they live in the 21st century and not the 20th, still believe The Beatles invented everything. The Beatles represent everything good about rock music as a form. They pioneered every music form after 1962 and before, ohh 1976 in some direct or indirect way. The vast majority of their songs are excellent. Their production, care of George Martin, is superb and imaginative. They were extremely original. They were great musicians. Such an introduction from a Beatles fan not familiar with The Shadows, the impact of Buddy Holly or Lonnie Donnergan beggars belief to a sensible, informed person in the 21st century. Rest assured, although, be very alarmed would be a better way to say this, most Beatles fanatics think this way to this very day. Did Kraftwerk even exist? Or would a Beatles fan claim 'Tomorrow Never Knows' invented techno? That's just a small petty thing and I don't want to be petty during this review. Veejay, who originally released this LP in the US used the artwork from a Brittish EP, chopped off The Beatles feet and then reversed the negative. Being a poor label with poor distribution, 'Introducing The Beatles' sold nowt, until Capitol Records got hold of the band under duress. 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', The Beatles 5th UK single became a huge hit for Capitol Records. Veejay released numerous variations of their Beatles material whilst they still could.

I shall not mention a single song from this album during this review, because apparently, it's bad sport to do so. I use that phrase deliberately. John Lennon, huge Elvis and Buddy Holly fan that he was, was in a skiffle group. Paul was a fan of Skiffle and Rock n Roll too and The Beatles invented precisely nothing at this stage in their history. They were around at the right time and at the right stage signed to EMI in the UK. In the US, signed to Veejay, they suffered poor artwork and no distribution. Then, sold loads on the back of their UK success once Brian Epstein got his back into gear. 'Introducing The Beatles' is the same as their UK debut, minus two songs for licensing reasons. It would later reappear under different guises for numerous different reasons. That's it, really. Roy Orbison, Phil Spector and dozens of other US artists I shan't mention were swept away, black artists particularly, once The Beatles hit it big in the US. The artwork is cheap although does proclaim, quite correctly at the time, The Beatles as 'England's NO 1 Vocal Group'. As a postscipt to this review, this is one of the worlds most counterfeited albums. If you have a slightly different version to me, good luck to you.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments hapman cabinessence@freemail.hu i agree with every word of this review. (by the way, between 1962 and 64 Vee-Jay had a vocal group called The 4 Seasons, and they just kicked the shit out of the Beatles in terms of songwriting, production, vocals, everything. of course today they're labeled as a square, unhip group with banal little ditties about love -- unlike the Beatles, who invented EVERYTHING, of course. yeah, some pop history revision would be a nice thing)

One thing? How come The Beatles released fourteen track albums and most American groups of the era eleven or twelve track albums? The Beatles worked hard, it's fair to say. The songs that we know from this early Beatles era is actually only a fraction of the songs they'd written between them. George and even Ringo, in addition to Lennon/McCartney were writing songs, although these songs weren't heard or considered for recordings at this time. Anyway, 'It Won't Be Long' is a Beatle-mania crowd-pleaser, unremarkable musically but fairly remarkable vocally, especially the swoon-some harmony at the end. 'All I've Got To Do' has a nice structure about it, it's a good song that shows practice makes if not perfect, then at least a little better than before. 'All My Loving' appearing three songs in makes up a strong start and the little country guitar break in the middle is delightful. It shows The Beatles beginning to think a little more about their songs, even at this early stage. I mentioned the writing earlier? Well, George did indeed get a song recorded and it appears next. Compared to songs by other groups at the time, The Hollies and what have you, this is damn fine! In fact, it's better than the lesser Lennon/McCartney material, definitely. 'Little Child' makes good use of the harmonica even if it's the worst song on the album so far. Paul's 'Til There Was You' is a lovely lilting Spanish flavoured song, and then we get some covers.

'Please Mister Postman' I guess was an interesting choice, being a girl group song and all, and yes indeed, The Beatles do try to replicate those girl group harmonies, and actually do an ok job. John's double-tracked lead vocal is pretty strong. It seems silly and ludicrous of me to say I've never been very fond of 'Roll Over Beethoven', bearing in mind its author was a huge influence not only on The Beatles, but The Beach Boys of course, as well as numerous others - but no, I don't like the song. The Beatles version of it is hardly transcendental, either - and I'm leaving it at that. 'Hold Me Tight' following two covers, even if at least one of them was good, starts to try your patience. 'You Really Got A Hold On Me' may well be another cover but I absolutely love this. The guitars are less to the fore varying the sound of the album when it needed a little sonic variation. Piano comes in ( played by George Martin apparently ) and the vocals are just fantastic, George and John alternating on lead. 'I Wanna Be Your Man' is a good original Beatles song - a decent energetic Ringo vocal, this time out. 'Devil In Her Heart' is fairly interesting and 'Not A Second Time' benefits from Piano in the mix. The closing cover of 'Money' is slightly bizarre with its jazzy parts and all, but once John lets his vocals loose, you're slightly pinned back to the wall. So, overall? Some of the covers are genuinely interesting, others less so but the album seems more rounded than 'Please Please Me'. They weren't yet writing too many classic songs, but that would come later.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com The Beatles' first high-quality recording. Most of the cover tunes are mediocre; but 'Money' is a hard rocker akin to 'Hey Bulldog'. 'Don't Bother Me' is a fine track-- why did its composer, Harrison, and George Martin put it down? Jeff Whitcher JeffWhitcher@cs.com I agree with your 7 rating. "Meet The Beatles" was a better album for my money. Some great songs here, notably "All My Loving", "It Wont Be Long" and "Money", but too many cover songs to make this a classic. andy seagrove theseagroves@yahoo.com this is the first beatles album i bought. i love it. i still play it. it has the cavern sound about it!

After being unavaliable for years, you can buy this now as part of Capitols 'Vol 1' Beatles box-set, which at £30 for four albums, is a nice Beatles bargain. You know, it's kind of weird reviewing The Beatles a 2nd time around, especially without any kind of context. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be an American Beatles fan in the sixties/seventies. Growing up with these altered Capitol issued LPs. Not only altered in terms of tracklisting, either. Whatever Capitol did with the mastering they've applied a hideous form of stereo seperation to the songs. I don't remember there being a problem with 'With The Beatles'. There's a clue for you straight away, 'Meet The Beatles' does indeed take approximately half of 'With The Beatles', filling the disc out with a couple of singles and miscellaneous other tunes. The album irritates me for some reason. This could in part be down to the fact i'm not used to hearing the songs in this order. I'm sure that's part of it. Yet, the album just seems so poorly thrown together. It moves from one chugging Little Richard/Chuck Berry derivative to another, with a couple of Paul penned efforts for light relief. 'Til There Was You' sticks out like a sore thumb on this collection, 'All My Loving' is genuinely great though, The Beatles starting to think more intelligently about the way they were using their guitars.

I never reviewed 'Past Masters Vol 1' did I? Ha, i'm reviewing the Capitol LPs instead! So, I can write briefly about US Beatle breakthrough 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'. From what I can gather, American musicians of the era weren't blown away by the song as much as the audiences reactions to the group. It must have felt like having the rug pulled from under your feet, everything you've been working towards turned upside down. Groups like The Beach Boys survived, injecting a renewed sense of urgency and excitement into their music. Basically, The Beatles did ( American ) rock n roll badly in one sense, but inadvertantly, created something different in the process. The Beatles music wasn't as 'clean' sounding, they must have sounded energetic, exotic and excitingly dirty. Interestingly, when Brian Epstein first touted the group to EMI ( before going to Decca, then eventually signing to EMI ) they were rejected, because EMI apparently already had 'too many bands of that type' on their books. Was it not clear The Beatles were 'different'? Perhaps it wasn't obvious, who knows? Ah, i'll stop being mischeivous, the boys did well. 'Meet The Beatles' doesn't hold up brilliantly, although has plenty of energy and does contain a couple of important early Beatle hits.

Share Your Views?

Only five Beatles compositions feature on this short eleven track Capitol Records Beatles album. Now available as part of Capitols Beatle box-sets, at the time, twenty seven minutes of Beatles material predictably rocketed to the top of the US charts despite the flaky and varied nature of the material contained herein. Sources for this album are as follows. Side one has five of six remaining tracks from their second UK LP. Also included are a b-side, 'Thank You Girl' , the single 'She Loves You' b/w 'I'll Get You', 'You Can't Do That' from 'A Hard Day's Night' and two new songs, 'Long Tall Sally' and 'I Call Your Name' which had then yet to see a UK release. Interesting note check the opening guitar notes of 'Roll Over Beethoven', the first ten seconds or so. Compare them to the Chuck Berry original. On 'Thank You Girl' a another recording take clearly enters in around the 1:38 mark, check the change in echo. So what? Well, contrary to popular belief, The Beatles weren't perfect. Their apparent total lack of concern over the shoddy produce their American fans had to put up with demonstrates this, although John apparently at least voiced some disapproval. Oh, Is it just me or is 'I'll Get You' slightly creepy substandard beat music fare? Why is it nearly all of the worst Beatles songs at this time found their way onto this LP, 'She Loves You' being of course the obvious exception? Even saying this, the Capital stereo mix for 'She Loves You' is rather weird and all over the place, clearly bordering on fake stereo, anyway. 'Money' sounds terrible here, like it was recorded in a cave with ten dozen towels covering the speakers.

I enjoy 'I Call Your Name' quite a bit for the ringing guitar sound George manages. 'Long Tall Sally' is a fine studio example of the kind of sound The Beatles would get in their earlier 'Cavern Club Days'. All in all though, this is one of the weaker Capitol Beatles albums. Still worth tracking down as part of 'Capitol Albums Vol 1', though. £30 odd quid? Bargain, even if it's only a 6/10.

Share Your Views?

The Beatles used Rickenbacker guitars both in the film and through the recording sessions. Roger McGuinn took notice and went out and purchased a shiny new Rickenbacker guitar! So, you could in fact claim this 'Hard Days Night' record was the most influential record of all-time! You could, but you'd be insane to do so - but then, some people like to credit The Beatles for everything. I think Roger McGuinn and The Byrds most likely, it can be safely said, took the sound of The Rickenbacker somewhere else altogether, but sure, the chiming tones of that guitar is noticeable all over this album, not least through the opening semi-classic title song. I actually believe the film was far more influential than the record, by the way. The Beatles had such a strong image, were so successful that it made other groups start to wonder about their own image and dress-wear. Anyways, second song 'I Should Have Known Better' sung by John, has always been a favourite of mine. I love the harmonica sound here, and the melody and vocals are both super strong. The instrumental break positively chimes and shines thanks to the guitar sound, and there you have it. 'If I Fell' features gorgeous harmony vocals by John and Paul, a real classic composition written by the group themselves, of course, as all of the songs here were. That in itself was influential, come to think of it.

A pretty consistent album this, though some of the songs are just good, rather than great. 'I'm Happy Just To Dance With You' falls into that category. Enjoyable, but no all time world beating masterpiece. The guitars sound nice all through the ballad 'And I Love Her', Paul very much to the fore with the vocal. 'Tell Me Why' brings back memories of the earlier Beatles style as displayed on their first two records.....  'A Hard Day's Night' is more an varied album than either of it's predecessors however, and 'Can't Buy Me Love' is a stone cold classic, wonderful from beginning to end and it's only 2m:14s long! Now, here's a tip all you budding songwriters! Pop songs should preferably be less than three minutes long. It seems with every passing year, the average length of a charting single gets longer. In twenty years time, will every single be eight minutes long? Come on, this is getting ridiculous! But, back to the matter in hand. 'Any Time At All' is a fine song with good John vocals, 'I'll Cry Instead' slightly less fine, but still perfectly enjoyable with it's little charming guitar parts amid a shuffling rhythm. 'Things We Said Today' sounds crystal clear and beautifully recorded. The closing trio of songs let the side down, but overall, this album is good interesting listening.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com This album s between an 8 and a 9. The title track is shagadelic, baby. The whole disc is party time, excellent. Jeff Whitcher JeffWhitcher@cs.com I would put this album at 9 1/2. This album plays like a greatest hits fer cryin' out loud. A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, Cant Buy Me Love, I'll Be Back, And I Love Her, You Can't Do That...name one band in 1964 who had that many SOLID original compositions on one album. I would maybe give the old United Artists Soundtrack "A Hard Day''s Night" album an 8 1/2 but this British release is darn near perfection. The only track I would consider filler is "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You". By the way, love this site. Great job! aleksander aleksander1983@hotmail.com I Really like this album it features so mutch enjoyable music. notable songs: A hardays night the title trac, Would I known better etc . I give this album 8 or 9 out of 10. Gabrielle one_sweet_dream@pepperland.zzn.com This is definitely a 9, if not more. Almost all the songs are stellar quality, and can you believe that the whole album was written by Paul and John? How many other albums of the time can boast that sort of songwriting ability? the only fillers are "I'll Cry Instead" and "When I Get Home," but it's all right, when you have such fantastic songs to make up the rest of the album. craig braelow cbraelow@yahoo.com one of the greatest albums of all time ...again people wont admit too it .BUT the title song kicks ass 1964 who played better rockroll back than.people talk about pepper white revolver yes they were great. but when im blue ill put on hard days night and even help those were the beatles first for albums .i know help came latter but it still sounds great Brendan Tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au Just about the last three songs, YOu can't do that adn I'll be back are rightly revered amongst Fab fans. YOu can't do that is SO infectious and John delivers a wonderful vocal. I'll be back has such a haunting, mysterious, unusual melody, how-come they couldn't write melodies like that for the Sgt. Pepper album? However, most people disregard When I get home. While not quite as god as the other two, it's a fine track in my opinion. I suppose John's trying too hard to sound emotional and it doesn't quite work. The only way the lyrics could work were if it were abotu just getting out of jail. "I've got no business being here with you this way... I've got a whole lot of things to tell her, when I get home" but musically it's alright. It has a nice cha cha cha beat and really catchy chorus. I liek it mroe than I like "Tell me why", which, IMO, is a bit routine. nicholas nicholasfrood@hotmail.co.uk A hard days night is imho the greatest pure pop album ever recorded, every song is catchy as expected with the beatles and when i first heard it i loved every song and still do.By the way john wrote 10 of the 13 songs on this album, the only ones paul wrote were 'and i love her' 'cant buy me love' and 'things we said today' john wrote the rest.George sang 'im happy just to dance with you' because john was apparently too embarrest to sing it. 9 and a half out of 10 gazza garyhess44@hotmail.com The first album i ever fell in love with . Its just incredible how these songs just have so much love in them - in every sense . "and i love her" is almost spooky its so serene , "any time at all" "you cant do that" see john voice burning with icy fire ."ill cry instead" is a bit drab but hardly disastrous . The 2 hits are classics in anyones book , the harmonies awesome , the guitar sounds edgy and subtle . John was pretty much running the band at this time at the height of beatlemania and it remains the best of the bands early albums . An absolute joy to listen to .

For the third Capitol Beatles LP, we find two songs from the Long Tall Sally EP, the German version of 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' collected with many ( but not all ) of the songs from the British 'Hard Days Night' LP. The film was released through UA, who had the rights therefore to issue the soundtrack album. Capitol still managed however to issued all of the Hard Days night songs, eight of which appear here. We'll discuss the non 'Hard Days Night' tunes first of all, because they are the ones more people are less likely to be familiar with. Well, at the time, 'Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand' was unreleased in the UK, because EMI had more sense than Capitol. Why do I want to hear 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' in German, sung with english accents? I don't, it's an utter waste of time. As per usual with these American Beatles albums, the tracklisting is completely random, making little sense and coming across as a mere handful of songs, rather than any kind of artistic statement. The album is also only twenty four minutes long. Makes you wonder, was it The Beach Boys fault some of their early albums were also a bit like this, or Capitol's? The Beach Boys were certainly prolific enough to have released 14 track albums year in, year out. Anyway, the two songs from the 'Long Tall Sally' EP are both covers. 'Slow Down' is played in typical early Beatles style, begins with a long instrumental intro before John gets going with the vocals. Harmless rock'n'roll, that's all. 'Matchbox' is more fun, purely because Ringo sings it. Again, this is a typical rock'n'roll structure derived from the blues.

Highlights from the 'Hard Days Night' tunes include the ever lovely 'If I Fell', featuring as it does some of the best harmony vocal work from The Beatles upto this point in time. 'Tell Me Why' is a two-minute blast of fun, sung by John primarily. 'And I Love Her' is a typical McCartney slice of sweetness and George sings 'I'm Happy Just To Dance With You', adding another flavour to the LP. That's about it really, this isn't the worst of the Capitol albums, but it still pales next to the albums that were being released in the UK.

Share Your Views?

The Beatles were tired from touring non-stop for two years. The Beatles were rushed into the studios inbetween touring to make a new LP in time for the Christmas season of 1964. Perhaps one result of this tiredness is the fact that only eight of the fourteen songs here were penned by The Beatles. Now this would be fine, but for the fact after 'A Hard Days Night' there was, or at least should have been.... no going back. That entirely self penned effort was a clear step forwards for the group and 'Beatles For Sale' is usually regarded as a temporary step backwards - an album including too many old style Beatles Rock N Roll covers and a general lack of sparkle. If you're familiar with the album art, none of the guys look happy. The front-sleeve isn't a stark image of artistic seriousness aka 'With The Beatles' rather a glance into the mind of a group who simply didn't want to pose, couldn't raise much of a smile and weren't particularly happy given the huge success they'd enjoyed. They still put together a fine one-two-three opening sequence after which 'Beatles For Sale' swings from highs to lows to mediocre inbetweens.

Still, those three songs that open? Wonderful stuff, classic Beatles songs all from an often unregarded Beatles record, an overlooked record. Few of the original Beatles songs here are as familiar to the general public at large as any of the songs from surrounding albums. 'No Reply' sounds like a stronger song from 'With The Beatles', 'I'm A Loser' displays a country influence in the guitar picking. 'I'm A Loser' has a fresh sound and wonderful lyrics throughout. 'Baby's In Black' is a weird semi-lilting song with strained sounding vocals perhaps reflecting the pressure these songs were recorded under. 'Baby's In Black' has a guitar solo that sounds all over the place, and not in a good way. Still, it triumphs despite these problems, because the song itself is just that strong. 'Rock And Roll Music' I could have happily lived without, a trip down memory lane for the group. Hey, let's pretend that its 1962 all over again..... no thanks. They play the song well, it's a good performance but does give off the 'whiff' of something played literally hundreds of times and ran through 'just once more' for the sake of recording. Pauls 'I'll Follow The Sun' was written pre 'Please Please Me', a very early song dug out of the archive of songs Lennon/McCartney had built up. They needed material for their new record, may as well throw some of those old songs on there? Well, okay. It's a nice song! Acoustic guitar, sweet vocals although lyrically is less sweet with such lines as "And now the time has come, and so my love, I must go / And though I lose a friend, in the end you will know, oh" hardly the stuff of flowers and moonlit romances.

The mid section of 'Beatles For Sale' sags and suffers, so thank god for the true pop classic that is 'Eight Days A Week'. The title of the song was inspired by a something Ringo said describing their hectic work schedule. After this album highpoint a couple of unremarkable covers arrive before 'Every Little Thing' proves itself to be a true underrated Beatles gem, a fabulous song led by Paul and mixing in cool clear guitar lines with catchy vocals. Following this, an average John song, an average Paul song and an average Carl Perkins cover wrap up 'Beatles For Sale'. Shame about 'Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby' in particular, apart from the sound and style of the lead guitar - everything else is very tired and old sounding. 'Beatles For Sale' itself has enough moments sprinkled throughout for anyone to enjoy and The Beatles recovered anyway, of course.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com I give this an 8. There´s only one song I don't like-- 'Mr. Moonlight'. hugues o.hugues@wanadoo.fr I agree with almost all the review, except for "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" which I like a lot and is my fave song of the album with "No Reply". I would have also added the excellent sound of the band, especially George Harrison on guitar, and also their excellent vocal form. And doesn't the cover of Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love" announce the Byrds in some way? Concerning the rating, well, why not a 7, but then "Please Please Me" should get a 6... DLF ousetunes@aol.com Beatles for Sale is the product of four absolutely shattered lads. It sounds tired in places; where it doesn't is a credit to the Beatles themselves because they were on an itinerary that would actually kill any of today's 'stars'. They'd reached unprecendented heights in 1963 with debut offering Please Please Me and later, With The Beatles. They'd then made it in the USA in February 1964, titled Their First American Tour (not true), then returned to film A Hard Day's Night, finish the songs that would appear mainly on side 2 of that album and as well as more touring, had a date to keep with an album for the Christmas market. That album was Beatles For Sale and the accompanying single was I Feel Fine, not even included on the album! Other contenders for a single release were No Replyy, Eight Days A Week and the wonderful I'm A Loser. All would have made number one anyway. So, it's hardly surprising that the album lacks quality in a number of plac! es. It contains the worst recording of their entire career - Mr Moonlight, and some pretty average renditions of Cavern favourites Honey Don't and Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby. At least you sense George enjoyed these recordings exercising his finest Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry fingerpicking styles. Sure, there a some strong tracks. I'm A Loser is class all the way, Baby's In Black points to the more thought provoking material they would write the following year and even a cover of Buddy Holly's Words of Love comes across well. That's many thanks to the superb sound of George's Gretsch guitar. Also, George plays a great solo on the under-rated I Don't Want To Spoil The Party (a Smiths title if ever there was one!). Rock And Roll Music works due to Lennon's super vocal and Paul's I'll Follow The Sun is his 1964 moment of idylic bliss, later put to good effect on Mother Nature's Son in 1968. But songs like What You're Doing and Every Little Thing sound like rush w! ork or even unfinished to me. I'm not detracting my h! eroes th ough as this was a temporary and forgivable lapse in quality. They were knackered and didn't even have time to rehearse by now. Beatles For Sale then is best considered a stop gap, it leads from the wonderful Hard Day's Night towards Help! and with its deeper moments - Lennon's lyrics on I'm A Loser, Macca's on What Your're Doing and Baby's In Black, gives an insight into what was to come with Rubber Soul. Maybe the real truth is in the album's title. Maybe John, Paul, George and Ringo really wished that The Beatles as a product was for sale at this point! (7 out of ten) Brendan Tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au The covers on this album are always dissed except Words of love which gets all the glory as covers are concerned. The only cover I don't like is Words of love, it is so dready and dreadfully sung. Mr.Moonlight, on the other hand, is so exuberant and mysterious, it's my favourite of the covers and my 2nd favoruite song on the album. I think the best song on the album is I don't want to spoil the party. Even though this album is regarded as 'crap' compared to Revolver, They couldn't have written a melody as mysterious or as unusual as Party on Revolver, so they resorted to tehcnical tricks. Mystifying but not as much skill is required. Party is also quite an energetic song. My third favoruite song is Ringo singing Honey Don't, he utilises his personality well. My other favourite songs are Every little thing, rater Gene Pitneyesque, and I'll follow the sun. A couple of the 'covers' are a bit routine, Words of love I mentioned, Kansas City is also a bit routine, compare it to Pa! ul's amazing versionof Long Tall Sally. That's Rock n Roll. nicholas nicholasfrood@hotmail.co.uk every little thing was johns song not pauls. John wrote all the originals for this appart from ill follow the sun and what your doing.7s about right. sebastian hey nichols, eight days a week and every little thing were written mostly by paul. And babys and black´s was co-written. if you dont believe me, read the comments from paul anda john about that songs in this page: http://www.geocities.com/~beatleboy1/

For The Beatles sixth American LP release, Capitol decide to take side one of the original 'Beatles For Sale' LP more or less intact. They drop 'Eight Days a Week', 'Words of Love', 'Every Little Thing', 'I Don't Want to Spoil the Party', 'What You're Doing', and 'Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey'. With the exception of 'Eight Days A Week', there's no big loss there. Only seven Beatles originals this time out, the LP rounded off with two Carl Perkins covers, Chuck Berry's 'Rock And Roll Music' and 'Mr Moonlight', which stupidly managed to survive Capitol Records culling of the original UK LP releases. We also, more happily, get both sides of the European stand-alone single 'I Feel Fine' b/w 'She's A Woman', two songs recorded a good couple of months after the main 'Beatles For Sale' sessions and boy, doesn't it show? 'She's A Woman' might be termed these days as 'typical b-side material' yet spookily manages to sound like Monkees material of a year or two later. Not the best produced of Beatles material, it must be said, but charming enough. 'I Feel Fine' though has to rank as one of the greatest Beatles singles ever. The intro is very distinctive, the same pattern continues through the verses. For the chorus, we get some harmony and a twist in the melodies. Quite a clever construction, all round.

The songs excerpted from 'Beatles For Sale' include the Stu Sutcliffe tribute 'Baby's In Black', a superior Lennon number. McCartney isn't to be outdone with his charming 'I'll Follow The Sun'. The two Carl Perkins covers are perfunctory at best however and tellingly, 'I'll Be Back', taken from 'A Hard Day's Night' pretty much manages to be the best song on the entire LP, 'I Feel Fine' excepted. Not one to really cherish this album then unless you were around at the time and have nostalgic, sentimental attachments. By the way, it was released in 1964 and by the time 1965 did swing round, The Beatles were busy changing themselves. Not that Capitol's 'Beatles VI' managed to demonstrate this very well, but that's another story and shall be told another time.

Share Your Views?

'Help' the film just wasn't as cool, sexy or coherent as the 'Hard Days Night' movie so it seems to me this album has gotten a bad rap from some fans because of this. Whatever, I really cannot comprehend it myself, because to me, 'Help' is just as good an album, if not slightly better. It gets the same grade because I'm a coward, and because this isn't quite deserving of a better grade than I've already given it. John was already starting to dig Dylan here, as shown by the likes of the charmingly ramshackle 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away'. Before that, we have the title song, just as enjoyable as the title song from 'A Hard Days Night' for me, although second time around of course, historically speaking, it wouldn't have made as much impact. Oh, and before I forget. 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away'. I really dig those 'Hey!' parts. I just wanted to say that. 'I Need You' is no masterpiece song but does benefit from growing technology - recording studios were advancing all the time, something The Beatles were very aware of. 'I Need You' hardly stretches production techniques however - it's a very simple song, but it just sounds nice. 'Another Girl' is yet another simple song, and by now you're crying out for another Beatles classic to prevent this album from slipping away. Thankfully, 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl', if not quite a classic is at least HUGELY charming and enjoyable, with some fine Beatles harmonies and playful vocals all round. And then? Well, a REAL Beatles classic, and classic song, full stop. 'Ticket To Ride', the best pop song The Beatles had written at this stage. So there!

The second half of the albums kicks off with the Ringo sung country number 'Act Naturally' which seems so out of place, it becomes comical. 'It's Only Love' has some haunting guitar sounds and a beautiful John vocal. 'You Like Me Too Much' re-introduces Piano into a Beatles album and works as a very nice unassumingly  enjoyable track. 'Tell Me What You See' is a less enjoyable song and ranks as filler I suppose, but then 'I've Just Seen A Face' is a wonderfully great Simon And Garfunkel rip-off! Or maybe it invented Simon And Garfunkel? I get the history confused sometimes. If it did invent Simon And Garfunkel ( it sounds a hell of a lot like them ) hats off to those Beatles lads! If not, hats off to them anyway, it's a super fun song. 'Dizzie Miss Lizzie' is one of those Rock N Roll John vocal scorchers, seemingly included for the hell of it, but then we also have 'Yesterday', which I'm not going to actually describe, because that would seem quite frankly a stupid thing to do.   

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com The first truly eclectic album by the Beatles. An 8 or 9. Aaron glenn@mitchell.fsnet.co.uk No way 8 no way 9 try 10 yes you may think I’m crazy but come on this is so amazing all the way through well if you skip 'Act Naturally' god that gives me a head pain. but the great thing is you can skip it so there’s no harm done 'I need you’ amazing there’s no point in telling all the best but my god this album is one of the best but I think perhaps the best yes you herd the best. Brendan Tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au Disagree. To me the best song on the whole album was 'I need you'. The melody is very touching and it has such a weird guitar effect/arrangement. Hey! You've got to hide your love away is also a stand-out. Acutally, thsi si my 2nd or 3rd favourite Bealtes album. Harrison is the star for me, writing two excellent songs and the album is full of unusual guitar tones and acutally Ringo adds some interesting rhtyhms. Like Please Please Me, this album has such an uninhibited feel and it really moves. I also like the Piano. Hey! I'll list my favourite songs, 1. I need you, 2. You like me too much, 3. Hey! You've ... 4. Yesterday, 5. Tell me what you see, 6. It's only love [one of the most fantastic heart-break ballads I've ever heard Sam oxalicman@hotmail.com I expected so much from this album, because I've heard all their albums but this one. The thing is I heard their most four popular tracks of this album ( Help!, You've got.., Ticket to ride and Yesterday), and I thought this album would be more creative because of the evolution of the Beatles in that time (see Rubber Soul, Revolver and Beatles for sale). And let me tell you : -The night before is lousy - I need you is also lousy, Another girl is so-so,You're gonna lose that girl,I think, is the worst song The Beatles ever did and worst John Lennon compo, Act Naturally is a bit funny : Ringo's style, It's only love is not ok, You like me too much is boring, Tell me what you see is not rocking at all, I've just seen a face, nice guitar intro (yesterday's style) but the country song that follows 'til the end is very old and out of style even for its time, and finally Dizzy miss Lizzy is a poor amercian remake that the Beatles always do with american songs ( They are only good ! to write songs, not to copy rights of others). Though I liked the four most-popular tracks, I think this album is a rip-off. But John Lennon quote it as a good rock album. Maybe because it has Ticket to ride which is innovative for its time. In my opinion, Rubber Soul onwards are must-buy albums. I give a 5 for Help! cause they wrote songs to fill the album for the self-titled movie. John Cox zoz@ntlworld.com I'm a bit of a Beatles fan, but I'm ashamed to admit that until today I'd never actually listened to the "Help!" album per-se. I've seen the film of course (many times), bought the T-shirt etc, but I've never actually listened to the "H!" LP. So I wasn't quite prepared for the treat I had in store as I put on my new CD for the first time today. (A Russian import Mini-LP-CD ... a faithful reproduction of the original 12" vinyl. The CD sleeve is done just like the 1965 album cover. The CD itself is done like a little mini 33&1/3 rpm disc with the Yellow Parlophone label et-al ... really cool). Well, what can I say about "HELP!"... simply brilliant ... Side-1 has seven tracks from the film including "Help!", "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" and "Ticket To Ride" which are nothing if not classics. I've always thought that Ringo's drumming on TTR is just awesome or should I say Fab!!!. Listening to the 3 tracks "The Night Before", "I Need You" and "Another Girl" bring! s to mind the name The Monkees. Easy to see where the America's so called answer to the Beatles got their sound from. Side-2: Of the 7 tracks included here I'd only ever heard "Yesterday" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy". Of the 5 I'd never heard "Act Naturally" sung by Ringo is probably a little weak, but hey, it's still great fun. And Ringo himself seems to be having a ball signing the song. It brought a smile to my face. Then when I heard "I've Just Seen A Face" for the first time, Simon and Garfunkel immediately sprang to mind. The whole song sounds like a prototype-S&G. Simon's "The Boxer-(Li,la,Li)" released 3 or 4 years after "Help!" could indeed be called a rip-off of IJSAF. But hey, The Boxer is such a great song in it's own right let's just say that Paul-S borrowed a little bit from Paul-M when he was composing his classic song. As for IJSAF itself, well it's is a great little track, upbeat and easy on the ears. Indeed the whole album leaves you feeling upbeat and! with a smile on your face. I love it. Yes, it's taken me 42 y! ears to get around to listening to the album complete, but it was well worth the wait. I might even need to revise my top 5 Beatles album list now. Help! might just get into my Top-5 hit parade ... It's a great little album. I can't understand why reviewers downgrade this LP somewhat. Ears still ringing to the strains of Revolver and AR I guess. But for sheer, simple enjoyment, Help! has got to be a 10 for me ... (PS: Revolver's an 11+/10 by the way) PPS: I've never actually listened to Rubber Soul either, (unbelievable I know). I've heard all the tracks elsewhere, but never the album itself. I guess I'll need to rectify that soon. I suspect as with "HELP!" that I'm in for another little treat ... (Big smile of anticipation) GAZZA Help can only really be compared to a "hard days night" in which it fails to match visually and musically - however this was no surprise regarding the kind of schedule these guys were working to. Quality control had to suffer a bit . Help has some awful moments , ringos execrable "act naturally" , georges songwriting isnt quite happening yet and "dizzy miss lizzy" despite a committed lennon vocal has a weedy backing track . But its johns songs that keep the album afloat , the title track , "youve got to hide yr love away" are fascinating cries from the heart while the fame maelstrom gathered force."ticket to ride" is probably the beatles 1st psychedelic record and one of their best singles, "youre gonna lose that girl" features the bands best harmonies on the album while "its only love" and "tell me what you see" are charming and catchy but daft lyrically . Pauls bag is a bit patchier "yesterday" an obvious classic but the rest of his material sounds a bit too ob! vious - "another girl" does benefit from a strong vocal backing from lennon though. and yes "ive just seen a face" evokes simon and garfunkel before theyd even made it - but simon and mccartney always had a lot in common with their use of folk guitar tunings and catchy melodies. Help is far from a disaster musically but it isnt a patch on the great album that "rubber soul" is or their previous soundtrack "a hard days night" . 7/10 feels about right .

Written and recorded in just over a month, 'Rubber Soul' saw The Beatles in a state of transition. Newly honoured in the summer of 65 each band member was now an M.B.E. ( even Ringo! ) and this record continued to incorporate the influence of Bob Dylan as well as the burgeoning Folk Rock movement. The difference between this and 'Help' released earlier the same year isn't in fact obvious musically apart from a certain 'relaxed' nature to some of the melodic and fluid bass lines. George also displays a continuing improvement in the inventiveness of his playing - not least on the Sitar led 'Norwegian Wood'. 'Drive My Car' is a relatively straightforward pop/rock opener and following the intriguing 'Norwegian Wood' - 'You Won't See Me'  works as a showcase for Paul's new mellow bass sound. A fairly strong opening to the record then, but compositionally things take a further step forward with 'Nowhere Man'. John sounds wonderful, the lyrics are wonderful, the guitar folk rock and the bass fluid and melodic. The harmonies work well and the whole thing works together, creating something of a minor masterpiece. Whilst the overall sound and feel of the album is cohesive, 'Think For Yourself', 'What Goes On', 'I'm Looking Through You' and the closing 'Run For Your Life' don't feel like major compositions to me. They sound perfectly fine, they sound like 'Rubber Soul' and work within the LP's framework, but any one of these four songs taken away and judged individually would lose power. 'Michelle' is typical McCartney! Its quite lovely and "these are words that go together well" raises a smile! You do get the feeling that opposed to the lyrically more thoughtful John, that McCartney does exactly that with his lyric writing, put words down that just go together well. The songs for this album were written quickly with 'Girl' only added and completed at the end of the sessions. Together with the equally emotionally devastating and beautiful 'In My Life' 'Girl' represents Johns peak for this album. He's on wonderful vocal form throughout, actually. George comes up trumps with the catchy Byrds influenced 'If I Needed Someone' which together with 'In My Life' bolsters the end of the record. The sequencing is astute actually, weaker songs are placed between album highlights and perhaps the least essential track 'Run For Your Life' placed at the end where it can't do too much harm. Its just a fun song at the end of the day. I dig the little guitar interludes between the verses and following the chorus parts.

After having said all of this, most songs here do have at least something to recommend about them. Whilst 'Rubber Soul' is important historically pushing The Beach Boys, The Beatles themselves and countless others into a more considered album making approach - it isn't obviously a work of mind blowing genius in itself. It was well-timed, well put together and is very easy to listen to all the way through thanks to clever sequencing. The original U.S. version had a different running order incorporating some 'Help' highlights and 'Nowhere Man' was issued as a single only. This re-enforced 'Rubber Soul' as an important album work and started a shift away from singles towards albums as the important musical form. For that alone, 'Rubber Soul' deserves respect.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Danz235@aol.com Want to know why I think Rubber Soul deserves a ten, easily? Because the fabbies are so MATURE on this album that it will shock you. No more generic, straight forward love songs. Oh no no, not with old Robbie Zimmerman runnin round penning psychotic, mindblowing lyrics that actually think. "Norwegian Wood"? What happens in that song? Does that dude burn that prude chick's house down? Or does he just light a fire to keep warm? Ambiguity, its a beautiful thing in music. Nowhere man is John's first psycho anthem, (The Walrus being the peak of that stage.) In My Life really gets to me, to. Yeah, there are like 1 or 2 weak tracks, but this is the 1st absolutley essential album. And essential dont equal 8, man. Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com Another 10 by the fabs. Even 'Run For Your Life' is quite worth listening to-- it presents interesting non-harmonic tones. Jeff Whitcher JeffWhitcher@cs.com A ten hands down. This album inspired Pet Sounds and established the integrity of the rock and roll album. Joseph Leiper Joseph.Leiper@Level3.com I agree with our host. Although historically very important re its influence (although Dylan had released "Bringing It All Back Home" 8 months earlier, REALLY freaking out his fans) and pivoted the Beatles into their masterpiece studio years, the record just isn't strong enough end-to-end to rank a 10. "Think For Yourself" is weak; "Michelle" almost excruciating to my ears. "What Goes On?" was the best Ringo could do for himself, and "Girl" is rather drippy. The recording's hurried pace is best exemplified by "Wait," a Help! sessions reject duded up with tambourine. That said, "Nowhere Man" defies textual description; it nearly makes me cry it's so good. Perhaps the most humane, downright friendliest pop song ever recorded...with Lennon's indelible edge. "I'm Looking Through You", "Norwegian Wood", and "The Word" are wonderful as well, while "If I Needed Someone" is George's first great song. Just as important, I think, is the production--e.g. stereo separation of the instruments. "Drive My Car" is mind-blowing through headphones; the bass line is one of Paul's finest. So, it's a great album but, like "Abbey Road", isn't sustained beginning to end. Any album worthy of a 10 must be brilliant throughout. aleksander aleksander1983@hotmail.com This is a truely wonderful album. I really like to listen to it It`s featuring a lot of enjoyable songs. notable: baby you can drive my care,Norwegian wood,nowhere man , , I`m looking through you,If I needed someone. It is hard to rank this album but it``s just exelent Reidar Samuelsen the music expert him self If you read this you will might have any comment to add to mine. Gabrielle one_sweet_dream@pepperland.zzn.com what is this 8 nonsense? Rubber Soul is a 10 all the way! Good lord! Donald McGovern doonce@midsouth.rr.com In December 1965, when Rubber Soul was released, I was just 16 years old. To me, then, the Beatles were the best of the best and Rubber Soul was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. I didn't realize it at the time, but with the release of that piece of vinyl, the Beatles, along with pop/rock, music changed for all time. I'll soon be 54 years old and I am still amazed at the diversity of musical styles on the album. I'm not sure it rates a 10 because of the rockabilly tune "What Goes On." Sometimes I think their need to have Ringo sing on every album was a bit, well, silly. While I consider Ringo to be a marvelous drummer, perhaps one of the most underrated of all time, he ain't a singer. It's been almost 40 years since Rubber Soul was released and it, like all Beatles'albums, is as fresh and powerful as it was in 1965. I rate it 9 3/4. Mark eightmi1eshigh@aol.com You CANNOT be serious giving the best Beatles album an 8 out of 10. Over the years, Rubber Soul has grown in stature, and for one good reason... its by far the most superior Beatles album ever written. Yes, Revolver is a fine album and is basically almost joined at Rubber Souls hip, and yes Sgt Pepper is regarding by many as The Beatles finest.. But, as many of your reviewers say, and as the World is begining to realise.. Rubber Soul is the second greatest album of all time!!! (After Pet Sounds). Aaron glenn@mitchell.fsnet.co.uk After lookin at so many reviews on the net giving it 5 stars and tens i was like no way then i went to my trusty site www.adriandenning.co.uk and "Norwegian Wood" well thats over rated best song's have to be 'Girl' geineus along with 'Michelle' wow and 'run for your life' and harrisons tracks infact its a very good album but it does not quite click id give 8.5 mena luckymena@aol.com rubber soul is soo a 10! this album, if not better, is as good as revolver, sgt. pepper, the white album and abbey road! i mean, norweign wood is a masterpiece...one of the greatest contributions that lennon put in lennon/mccartney songs. this album is a 10 in my opinion. definatly a more mature sound matt byrd matthewbyrd@hotmail.com Rubber Soul is where the Beatles begin to change there sound! Good job boys! But the catch is...... well, it makes for some grand listening (norwegian wood, in my life, michelle) but most of it does little for me. Abbey Road is grand as with Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, and The Beatles... but this one seems to be the overrated one. I say that because it is SO important for music it deserves a 10 on the greatness scale.... but 7 on the listening scale. bassplayeredd eddie123zeppelin@hotmail.com i think 8 is too low for Rubber Soul. It really shows how far the Beatles had come in the last Year. It's definatley an album you have to get into and is an album to listen to on your own rather than friends. 9.5/10 annndyseagrove theseagroves@yahoo.com I think its important to remember that america was being fed different versions of albums than the rest of us. certainly until revolver they had a lot of "best ofs" with the "hit songs" included. that would make you more critical of the early albums reviewed here, and maybe more critical of the later albums because they dont contain the ten "hit" songs required of a beatles album! Garry garry.fay@tiscali.co.uk Excellent site but have to disagree with the rating for Rubber Soul. The title and cover alone make it an 8 ignoring the music inside. Drive My Car stands alongsdie Back In the USSR as the greatest opening track of all time. The Word and Wait are great in their simplicity and In MY Car just makes the hairs stand up on your arm. It also has George Harrison first truely great song. True it wouldn't have suffered without What Goes On but thats why it isn't a 10! Al Brooks kerry_prez@yahoo.com 'Rubber Soul' wasn't their best album all-round, but it was their most consistent, even 'What Goes On' is a fine specimen of a Country song allowing that there isn't too much room for growth in Country. I like all the songs on Rubber Soul, even 'Run For Your Life', which is very well performed. 'Revolver', the Beatles' other masterpiece, had some very weak moments, for instance though 'Yellow Submarine' may be the cleverest childrens' song ever written, it is nevertheless nothing more than a childrens' song. Another example: 'Eleanor Rigby' is a novelty track as well, despite the very well-played violins, 'Eleanor Rigby's melody & harmonic development are nothing at all, just a background for the poetic lyrics. And although I personally like 'Dr. Robert' for its beat, it doesn't reach the heights of the other eleven or so top-notch numbers on the album. josh gaudreault josh_gaudreault@hotmail.com It makes me really sad when people bag on the Beatles. If you aren't a fan, get lost! I love this album and am listening to it as I type. This album was in fact over worked, and this is because the Beatles wanted it to sound different from anything else before it. It worked and they created a true masterpiece that actually does flow quite well, despite what some may think. Not as good as REVOLVER, and I do prefer HELP! over it, but still a great album. Gazza garyhess44@hotmail.com This is where the beatles really started to grow . Its the only time in their career that they matched the chops of the motown players/writers musically and songwise . Rubber soul indeed...Listen for example to maccas thickening of the texture of georges "think for yourself" with fuzzbass, or his deeply grooving basslines and chunky pianos on "the word" and" drive my car" for evidence.Elsewhere the burgeoning folk scene is evoked too showing the beatles kept an eye on the musical times as well as creating them . Their isnt really a bad track here , run for your life is rather cool in my eyes and only ringos rather forced sounding country track is of a lower quality. Note as well that the bands harmonies are at their best here too . Also paul finally bacame johns equal as a songwriter here , johns 3 significant tracks (in my life,norwegian wood and nowhere man) all matched by pauls (drive my car,looking through you , michelle) After the uninspired "help" soundtr! ack this was the fab 4 heading off on a path that created that edifice "the 60s" Al Brooks Midwest as of 2008 this is my favorite because i like it all the way through, while Revolver, my second favorite Fab s disc, i dont like all the way through. this is as good as any album ever made, right up there with 200 Motels and Were Only In It For The Money. But im not current on what's great, my listening to a great deal of artists ended in 1974.

Both the first overtly psychedelic album and the first perfect album The Beatles made. You can poke a finger at the sleeve and pick a winner every time. The genius is everywhere now, from George's fine and influential ( The Jam anyone? ) 'Taxman' right through to 'Tomorrow Never Knows' which sounds like the dawn of tomorrow even today. We have 'Eleanor Rigby' with its appropriate and dramatic string section which works to enhance the beauty of Paul's original composition. 'I'm Only Sleeping' follows from the likes of 'Girl' and 'The Word' on 'Rubber Soul', but the production touches are a leap forward from those songs. Hazy is the word, the music really matches the feel of the lyrics. Following the Sitar moments in 'Norwegian Wood' George builds an entire song around the instrument with 'Love You To'. Now this. This! One of Georges finest moments for me. The sound of the drums with the sitar combined and the way the vocals are stretched at the end of each section - just wonderful! The whole thing is daring, brave, experimental yet comes across as perfectly natural and grin inducing. The move into the next song 'Here There And Everywhere' is a great transition and this is such a lovely song. The cooing of the harmonies, the beauty of the melodies and vocals, the way the bass gently beats - rising and rising 'Pet Sounds' style, a wonderful song. Following THIS of course is 'Yellow Submarine'! A children's song on the face of it but given more production tricks and effects than almost any song here apart from 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. For me, and this may sound bizarre, 'Yellow Submarine' points the way forward towards 'Sgt Pepper'. The uses of samples ( samples! ), voices etc, the big, fat and joyously happy bass line. Its nothing serious as an actual composition of course but the production and performance are simply joyous.

Two songs appear in the middle of 'Revolver' both throwaway guitar songs on the face of it, written quickly by John. They sit either side of 'Good Day Sunshine' which is another fine song possibly pointing the way towards 'Sgt Pepper' production wise. The bass and the tone of the song. Its a happy song! The mixture of 'light' and 'dark' compositions here mixed throughout the record is a great mix of songs. Johns 'She Said She Said' which appears on the album immediately before 'Good Day Sunshine' features the line 'I know what its like to be dead'. The lyrics are great but the best thing about the song apart from that and Ringo's great sounding drums is the guitars. The guitars! The interweaving duelling guitar effect here is just such a great sound. Its an effect repeated on 'And Your Bird Can Sing' which is one of the most joyous and fantastic things in music. Another throwaway guitar song on the face of it. John wrote it quickly, it was recorded quickly.....why does it sound so damn great? Its the guitars! Those guitars! That happy happy guitar sound! Have I made my point? Lets just say I love 'And Your Bird Can Sing' and leave it at that. The final third section of the album really just continues the genius of everything that's gone before. We have the beautifully sad 'For No One', another quality George song with the wonderful sounding 'I Want To Tell You'. Now, that's a fantastic song! You've got to love it really, the vocals, the guitar and the superlative rhythm section. Paul and Ringo seem really in tune with each other throughout the album as a whole, actually. The brass led 'Got To Get You Into My Life' and especially 'Dr Robert' are the most straightforward songs of the album. The brass does work well on 'Got To Get You Into My Life' however and whilst its a pretty simple song, its also a good song - it works. The title shouted out in the chorus always raises a smile in our house. 'Dr Robert' is probably the nearest 'Revolver' comes to a weak track but its saved by the 'well well well, you're feeling fine' vocal section which is psychedelic, and pretty damn great actually.

After all of that we have 'Tomorrow Never Knows' with its dense wall of noise built from samples and tape loops. Nobody knew what they were doing, it was pure experimentation but John had an idea in his head and out comes this. Many groups even today try to repeat the sound and feel of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and they can't do it. Even with computers and samplers they can't do it! How the hell The Beatles did it is a thing we'll never quite know. It seems almost superhuman that such a thing could exist in 1966. But, there you go. It closes the album in fine style, whatever the methods behind it. 'Revolver' is hailed by many as The Beatles masterwork. It's as close to perfection as music gets.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com A 10; all the same, McCartney's tracks on REVOLVER are probably overrated: 'Good Day Sunshine' is good, but is it so fine that a fan magazine should have named after it? No. 'For No One' is also good; nevertheless, it is not as elegant as it has been described as being. Yet Lennon's songs here are all top-notch. Kpn86@aol.com GOOD MAN, Revolver is amazing , and i bet you dont get a lot of 16yr olds saying that now do ya. well done......... The beatles all the way Jonathan Richard Roseveare jrr1@ukc.ac.uk 10/10 Definitely. This will always be in the top 10 albums ever. It is just wonderful, better quality than Sgt Pepper and more cohesive than Abbey Road. IT just rolls off so well. I think the reviews you've written are probably the most accurate I've ever seen (i.e i agree with you) on the web. Now review Prince, Rolling Stones and Steve Wonder. A huge task but an enjoyable one nevertheless!! aleksander aleksander1983@hotmail.com This album is really one of the best album Beatels ever released. almost every song is listenable and loveable. Most songs are really calm and you feel som calm inside you then you listen to it. And I will also say this album feature som of the most adwansed music beatels ever released . the songs are made in many diffrent styles from Pskedelic rock to Classic music really seldom with that musicall diffrence on on singel album but This is it on this album. I love it a lot I would give it a straigt 10 Reidar Samuelsen reidar.samuelsen@lillestrom.vgs.no Hello, again, mr Denning. I agree with you totally. But how can a person who claims to be taken seriously (I take you will?) claim that "Revolver" falls shortly compared to "The Stone Roses"?!? That flimsy record (see my lengthy comments elsewhere) is not even a poor demo of this fantastic evergreen psychedelic (with all its "green circles" as vivid now as when they first arrived in August 1966.) Don't you agree? Well - tell me, mr Denning, have you ever been at a pub on Friday night approaching closing time and with entire second side of "Revolver" playing loudly in the background? Then and only then will you have had the sheer relevance of what The Beatles were actually concocting in Abbey Road during the spring of 1966 made clear to you. They were miles ahead of anybody - and please, don't go into the stupid argument of who came first. I know that the Byrds had already recorded "Eight Miles High" at the time the Beatles went into the studio, but this is no competition. "R! evolver" - its musical expression, the ensemble playin where everybody put in a hundred percent and created synergy, its lyrical scope - is simply stunning. (And yes that goes for "Good Day Sunshine". CAn anybody come up with a better example of musical, pop optimism? Sheer joy of living. See ya Gabrielle one_sweet_dream@pepperland.zzn.com A glorious, shining, brilliant, awe-inspiring 10! Hatch hatchking@hotmail.com agree totally. easily 10! tomorrow never knows the high point for me. I think it would be much better off without yellow submarine though! bass player edd eddie123zeppelin@hotmail.com This is easily one of their finest albums not sure it's the best though. Paul is brilliant on this album as is John although i'm fed up with everyone saying John is better than Paul! man the fred ymtrading@europe.com Oh, come on! How can you give an album that has got Yellow Submarine on it a 10!?!? All you Beatles fans must realize that this was a great group, but by no means does any of their albums deserve a 10! 10 means that every song is great, and there simply is no such Beatles album. I can name you at least 2 songs on every Beatles album that are just so-so or downright crap. Nevertheless, one of the better groups in my music universe! (FYI the king and best artist of the 20th century in my humble opinion is BOB MARLEY, closely followed by BOB DYLAN) Ricardo nunez101@hotmail.com I totally agree with you, Revolver is the best Beatles album. It's impossible to sit down and listen to just one track, you just gotta have the whole thing. My favorites are Dr. Robert & Tomorrow Never Knows. Janee Jane_Weatherfield@yahoo.com I remember when I was maybe six or seven and didn't know anything about music my dad said to me "Revolver was when The Beatles became great. Everything before that was just kids stuff." To this day, that is the only review I need of this album. It basically says everything. But, your's is alright too. john, county kildare john.j.doyle@nuim.ie 10/10. absolutely flawless. sounds more like something from 2066, than 1966. mc cartney critics should listen to this album a little closer. if they still don't like him, then they can piss off. BobB tunesandflix@wi.rr.com Say what you will, Revolver is the Beatles' most perfect piece of work, and it holds up the best overall. I don't understand how ANYONE could say McCartney's compositions on here aren't his best...c'mon !! "Eleanor Rigby" (sad, haunting and powerful), "Here There and Everywhere" (his BEST love song ever except for maybe "Hey Jude"), "Good Day Sunshine" (perfect lightweight pop without getting 'icky-poo' and fluffy like his later stuff), "For No One" (the most PERFECT and heart-wrenching description of a breakup when one person still loves the other), and "Got to Get You Into My Life" (perfect Stax-inspired soul). Lennon's work is almost as outstanding here --"She Said She Said" sounds like a colorful, kaleidiscopic LSD trip, the golden, triple-dubbed guitars of "And Your Bird Can Sing" still send shivers down my spine when the track first kicks in, and "Tomorrow Never Knows" is just magnificent, innovative and well ahead of its time. Harrison comes into his own, too, wit! h "Taxman", which is acerbic, biting, witty...and it ROCKS like a mother ! Yes, there is "Yellow Submarine" --no Beatles album is entirely perfect -- but, all in all, Revolver is an exemplary pop album, the Beatles' closest-to-perfect album, and a definite 10. allan gibson gibby1701@aol.com Definitely a 9.5! Would be a 10 if yellow submarine wasn't there!What made The Beatles the greatest band of all time was the way their music evolved.Listen to love me do, then to tomorrow never knows!Every track a classic (except yellow submarine)! But if there is one song to sum up this album it's tomorrow never knows. 40 years on i am still wondering how the hell they did that!This was the song that was the bridge between the early Beatles and the late Beatles. Graham deechristopholous@yahoo.co.uk This record would NEVER be rated as highly as it is, if it wasn't by The Beatles. They had their moments, but most of this is just filler, pastiches and childrens songs. Nothing here touches the soul, in the same way Nick Drake, Dennis Wilson, Gene Clark...all those guys did. There are lots of other pop records made in 1966 that are as good as this- but this is constantly rammed down peoples throats as the be all and end all of pop music. Sgt Peppers is better, but still just overblown bubblegum music. Gazza garyhess44@hotmail.com This is a bit overrated for me. Reasons ? 1) Yellow submarine - Youd have to look hard to find a more annoying track 2) I want to tell you is dreary and the piano goes out of tune in places 3) how can someone so supposedly cosmic and spiritual as george on "love you to" banging on about how a lifetime cant be bought etc etc find time to moan about the sodding taxman ?Hypocrisy or what ? 4) here there and everywhere is chintzy and cloying , the backing vocals overpowering the track . Paul does it better live . The rest of the record is faultless - john supplied 3 classics in im only sleeping,she said and tomorrow never knows, paul finally his equal here with 3 equally remarkable songs in eleanor rigby,for no one and got to get you into my life (even though ringo struggles stiffly with the rhythm of the track) Paul went on to dominate the beatles for the rest of their career , but the eclectic tracklisting here still remains surprising 40 years on . Pepper was the ! stronger more focused record for me though with more sonic surprises and better tunes. Solipsist3 solipsist3@hotmail.com Revolver is undoubtedly a great album, but it is far from the Beatles' best. "Sgt Pepper", "Abbey Road" and "The White Album" are all much better. There are some great songs here, like "Taxman" and "Eleanor Rigby", but many of the others such as "Dr Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" lose a lot of their appeal after you've heard them a couple of times. I would only give this an 8 or 9. John Cox zoz@nrlworld.com What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't be said before? Not a lot, except that it's off-the-scale rating wise. But if I had to pin it down on the 10-scale then it's easily an 11+. Hey, it blew the "Pepper" psychedelic submarine out of the water even before it was launched and that's no mean album itself. In fact there should be an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary which should read ... REVOLVER - the greatest Beatles album ever, one of the the top 5 greatest recordings of all time ... by any artist ... bar none!!! Stephen stephendfall@yahoo.co.uk Not bad for a bunch of Monkees imitators, but it would be a far greater album without Yellow Submarine. They couldn't resist their naff novelty tracks, could they? This is why there's no truly perfect Beatles album in the 1966Š1969 period: Sgt Pepper is let down by When I'm 64; The White Album is let down by Birthday and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da; Abbey Road is let down by Maxwell's Silver Hammer These songs may have worked at the time, but they have dated very badly indeed. lee auty Bolton An album that never ages. And the only beatles album that i can play from start to finish and never grow bored with. When the Beatles released Rubber soul, the critics declared that the group had peaked artistically and predicted a slow decline ahead. Then, one year later , they released this one fingered salute to the music industry. The Beatles ceased being lovable mop tops and became legends in the making. Way to go guys! Love everytrack on this album. It is gloriously anarchic, diverse and evergreen. "Yellow submarine" may be a kiddies song but i find its inclusion on the album as quite amusing and very tongue in cheek. Especially as it is quickly followed by the manic "She said She said.." Paul pens 3 world class ballads. George emerges as a third and unique composer in the group, while Lennon's music just evolves at an aweinspiring pace. The album culminates in a one chord song sung down a megaphone in "Tommorrow never knows". 10/10

Even though this isn't a concept album as such it remains the very first concept album in popular public consciousness. The idea of a fictional band wasn't fully carried through - the beatles name graces the cover and some straight forward pop songs make up the bulk of the recording. The albums reputation goes before it of course. Anything described by a whole load of people as the greatest album ever made is going to have a tough time winning over certain sceptics. It actually took me a good while to realise what this album has to offer the listener. The fact that the summer of love followed in its wake doesn't help because this isn't actually an obviously psychedelic record. Trying to listen to the album for what its not instead of what it actually is may leave you slightly disappointed, which would be a shame. We have a collection of good songs here, pretty much all of them - even Georges 'Within You Without You' is a good song. Yes, even that! Has anybody noticed the melody in that thing? The unusual Indian sitar instrumentation can't ultimately disguise the fact that its packed full of melodic fragments. And yeah, its pretty trippy :) It flows into 'When I'm Sixty Four' of course and that transition is a thing of pure genius. No other word for it. A complete contrast - a stupidly happy bass line, an English music hall feel and a little part that threatens to go outwards and outwards but just holds back.

The two 'Sgt Pepper' songs that 'bookend' this record are actually two of the least interesting things here. Almost a Cavern style throwback as if to remind you who exactly you are listening to. As if you even needed reminding. 'With A Little Help From My Friends' is both a damn fine song and possibly Ringos finest ever Beatles vocal. 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' is mischievous but does contain a couple of good musical moments along the way. It's by no means my favourite Beatles song, it seems a little repetitive to me, but so it goes. The guitar riff that opens 'Getting Better' sets the tone for a straightforward pop/rock song. McCartney is most noticeable with the extremely melodic bass lines that push the song forwards. The handclaps are attention to detail. Nothing is missed for what is essentially a simple song. 'Fixing A Hole' benefits from McCartney's melodic bass lines, and the harmonies. The harmonies! Perfectly and subtly placed but always in exactly the right places. 'She's Leaving Home' is beautiful, 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite' has a great Lennon vocal and 'A Day In The Life' amongst other things boasts a great Lennon vocal. Yeah, it sounds like the end of the world with the noise and the strings and everything else. The kitchen sink. Good stuff though, and a more than impressive production. 'Lovely Rita' i've saved til last because for some reason its my favourite of the whole album. McCartney's vocal apes Lennon, the bass rises and falls, the lyrics are a storytelling humorous delight, and then these wonderful harmonies come in. It makes me smile, and so does 'Sgt Peppers' as a whole.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND is very good and very overrated. A reviewer in 1967 called it "busy, hip and cluttered". John Lennon himself thought SGT. PEPPER "over-produced", and he was right. Lennon was also correct in his calling the song 'Goodmorning Goodmorning' (despite its interesting rhythms) "a piece of garbage". I like this album, but the only track I'm not tired of is 'Getting Better'. Trevor Evans-Young Paradoxx75@msn.com Sgt. Pepper outranks revolver just a bit, and the reason why is the actuall songs. "when i'm sixty four" is the "yellow submirine" type song of this album, and it's alot better too! not only is it funny, it is also timeless and tells a better story. every song, as you said, one here is amazing. but every song is not just amazing, they are ALL classics, unlike revolver where "doctor robert" a'int no classic. all i am saying, is they are both 10's, but sgt. pepper is better. i'll shut up now Gary Michael Hewalked@aol.com 1--Majorly disagree. This is easily the most overrated album of all time. It is clumsy, lyrically thin, and downright annoying: the opening title track serves as a pathetic excuse for calling this a concept album; the music of "With a Little Help From My Friends" is a transparent rip-off of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" (and Ringo Starr has no voice here); "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is complete garble sung horrendously by Lennon; "Getting Better" is annoyingly smug and lyrically absurd; "Fixing a Hole" doesn't even merit discussion; "She's Leaving Home" has pleasant string use, but it's completely innocuous and dreadfully slow; "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" has more throwaway lyrics, it repeats the same three circus chords throughout and it adds pointless tape-speeding sounds in the end to try to save it; "Within You, Without You" is a pure sitar-laden nightmare that just drags; "When I'm 64" is just the embarassment of a lifetime (instead of incorporating 1920s sounds into rock, the Beatles here just rehash the 1920s. If you want to hear a good 1920s song, try the original 1927 "My Blue Heaven"); "Lovely Rita" and "Good Morning, Good Morning" are just dorky and the former also adds tape-speeding sounds to try to give it a hopeless boost; the reprise is pointless, and "A Day in the Life" is more of the same, but more pretentious (especially with the annoying, pointless instrumental breaks). The "secret" at the end of the album sums it all up: garble and tape-speed sound effects. The Beatles brainwashed a generation with this piece of trash, and the sound effects in this album show that when a band like this has no musical creativity, they (and their producer) will try anything to compensate for it. Mike Harrison fughedaboudit455@yahoo.com Right place, right time....that's a big reason why so many rock music fans and critics alike adore this album. There isn't a reason NOT to, because it is witty, charming, and inventive. Of course, the Beatles themselves had a curious chemical combo of charm, talent, and inventiveness that could make teenage girls, college students and Maharishis alike fall into line! They were THAT good, with every genre. But the overall impact of this album isn't as significant for me as it is with RUBBER SOUL and REVOLVER. I think McCartney's the reason why....his whimsical influence is all over the place, and as a result, the songs just don't have impact and are a bit vacuous lyrically. I thought RUBBER SOUL was a far more important album lyrically, and REVOLVER still sounds fresh compared to this because it was their first real attempt at studio experimentation donnaessex abeach23@CenturyTel.net By constantly being bashed as the most overrated album, Pepper has become the most UNDERrated album. (Save the overrated for Revolver). Great album, every bit of it. aleksander aleksander1983@hotmail.com I am going to tell yah that i really enjoy this album . The album is featuring so many creativ inspiring songs . I spesially like The title track and Lucy in the sky of diamonds , Getting better , I am fixing a hole, she`s leaving home, The benefit of Mr. Kite, Lovely rita and A day in the life this is the song who stands out for me at the movment I can`t rank the album but I would say it`s pretty great. eddie theoldwivstail@hotmail.com This album is superb of course, but all the beatles did was pour their ideas into a pot and pulled the best ones out and used them. As john lennon said "none of my songs were anything to do with the sgt pepper concept". I have to say the song for me here is "a day in the life", which itself is just two ideas fused together. Very emmotive though.- The beatles will never die out im only 16 myself and i know many others my age who are entranced by them chris taylor chrisabbeyroad@yahoo.co.uk peppers is a truly definitive album but within without you lets it down i feel Gabrielle one_sweet_dream@pepperland.zzn.com Definitely a 10. It rocks and it's groundbreaking and revolutionary. you can see how much the Beatles have changed since "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Fantastic album!! bass player edd eddie123zeppelin@hotmail.com Although it is often slammed as overrated it still remains my favourite beatles album. It has great variation and listen out for some of Paul's bass. The album is 22 years older than i am but still reaches me musically and lyrically. I can't imagine anyone writing the same about todays pop and rock. Mark Evans markphilipevans@hotmail.com Extremely overrated. Just because Sgt. Pepper has huge historical importance does not mean it is a great album. In truth there is nothing great about this except 'A Day in the Life' and 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. McCartney contributes three good songs in 'Getting Better', 'Fixing a Hole' and 'She's Loving Home' but he also writes his worst ever song 'When I'm 64'. If 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' had been included this could have been a true classic. But as it is Sgt. Pepper is only a quite good album and vastly inferior to both Revolver and The White Album. andy seagrove theseagroves@yahoo.com within you without you is the best and most relevent song in the summer of love. a day in the life is the only other decent song on this album........i am a beatles fan but i reckon this album is the most overrated album of all time! Emil aeikl@hotmail.com Is it just me who find this record hugely overrated? Okay, so it was revolutionary and all that, but today it seems massively dated. The concept fall apart after the second song only to come branching in right at the end, and there's a lack of good, catchy melodies compared to other Beatles records. The song gets buried in effects wich soon grow boring, and songs such as Good Morning, Good Morning and Fixing A Hole is sub-par. A Day In The Life get's ruined by two overlong orchestra sections, and I can't help but feel this is image over substance. My expectations were enourmus for this record, and I'm hugely dissapointed. Sure it's good, but it's certainly not the best album ever, as some claim. Elliot Sleazychicken@gmail.com I think that the majority of people who run across sgt. peppers never realize what this album did for music today. First and formost this album is one of the most perfect pop albums ever. The fact that their arrangments are unique and that their recording techniques were groundbreaking at the time shows that there was tremendous work done here. THough it may have not had been a complete concept album, don't boo hoo it for that, though some of the lyrics may be lacking for some, take a notice what they really mean deep down. For instance songs like "fixing a hole" "she's leaving home" and "within you and without you" capture what was happening during the sixties. This album forever changed recorded music, because it represents total freedom to artists, there are no boundaries for this album Andrew Enloe dead_norwegian_blue@hotmail.com I have to agree with the 9. Great album, don't get me wrong. I just feel that several tracks get the "stuffed full of little effects and tweaks so you have to go to the next song" treatment. The title track is quite nice, as is "With a Little Help." I think "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a perfect song. Nothing bad about it. "Getting Better" is good too. "Fixing a Hole" is one of Paul's best songs, mostly because of George Harrison's genius. "Mr. Kite" is excellent as well, especially the caliope solo with all the bleeps and bloops. "When I'm Sixty-Four" is excellent, especially the clarinet dueling with McCartney's vocal. And what can ya' say about "A Day in the Life?" Great stuff. The other songs are letdowns. "She's Leaving Home" is traditional sappy, stupid drivel from McCartney and is saved from almost certain "skip to the next track" syndrome by John's excellent backing vocals. "Within You Without You" is mearly OK. Nice production, stupid ! song. "Lovely Rita" has far too many obnoxious sound effects. "Good Morning Good Morning" has the same problem. For a better version of this song check out the raw Anthology version. I guess Sgt. Pepper is pretty good in the social significance category, with it being the first concept album and all. However, I find that Revolver and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds are more cohesive units than this. After the first two songs, there's nothing to tell you that you're listening to a album with a theme. Who knows, If the Beach Boys' Smile (a real concept album, for all you sixteen-year-old kids. They weren't all about T-birds and girls) had been released on time, this might be a catestrophic failure, riddled with overproduction and inconsistencies. Or it might not. Still a great album, but seriously flawed from my perspective. Actually, I give it an 8. andy seagrove theseagroves@yahoo.com within you without you is the best track on the album!a day in the life is good, a little help from my friends was immortalised by joe cocker. but otherwise I think this was a crap album! Hapman cabinessence@freemail.hu It's a bit funny how people still rave about one of the weakest pop albums ever released, after almost 40 years. To tell the truth, there are only 2 (yes, TWO) stand-out tracks on this record, out of 13 (She's Leaving Home and ADITL - they're not very original, clearly stolen from PS/SMiLE era Brian Wilson, but still quite pleasant), all the others are nothing more than pale imitations of REALLY groundbreaking and amazing productions of the era (yes, Pet Sounds, yes, Freak Out). Lennon and McCartney are often praised as genius songwriters, but I don't think they were more talented than, say, those guys from Herman's Hermits. I mean, you smoke a lot of dope and bring in a 40 piece orchestra to the studio and then you automatically become a genius? No, you don't. You have to write great songs too, pal. And these guys had totally forgotten to write good songs after about 1965. Ignore this overrated crap, and go and buy Odessey and Oracle or Younger Then Yesterday if you want to! hear the real sound and magic of 1967. Garry garry.fay@tiscali.co.uk Just have to disagree with the e-mail comment on She's Leaving Home. Maccer could get ssappy when he got it wrong but when he got it right boy did he get it right. I am jus amazed how a man inn his early twenties can sum up the feelings of parents in this situation. In my mind it's one of the most under rated tracks in the Beatles catalogue badger badger@gregory1972.fsnet.co.uk In response to Hapman-you really do write alot of crap-man. A Day in the life,stolen from BWilson?from where exactly?unoriginal? care to name a song in this vein/structure/style that predates it in pop/rock? the orchestral climax could be said to be influenced by McCartney's admiration for Cage/Berio/etc sure, but this was one of The Beatles great strengths-reflecting what was going on at the time and absorbing it into their own work. If you wanna hear somebody stealing someone-else's work-listen to Chuck Berry and then to BWilson's early singles. (and I'm not knocking BWilson, I love his stuff.) ''you smoke a lot of dope and bring in a 40 piece orchestra to the studio and then you automatically become a genius?'' no,as you said,you don't and this was proved by the hundreds of acts that tried to emulate this album but instead produced overblown, pretentious dross with none of The Beatles taste or style that culminated in the horrors of Prog Rock. ADITL is! without doubt one of the most innovative and powerful songs/performances from any group(as BWilson would I'm sure agree)and the performances are sublime-McCartney's melodic bass lines and ''I'd love to turn you on'' counter-melody, Lennon's awesome voice and playful lyrics,Martin's production-try producing this song or album on a 4-track! As for She's Leaving Home-McCartney certainly did not steal this beautiful song (he's not Noel Gallagher after all) from Wilson-you can hear Pet Sound's influence in it's sound, sure, but the melody is all his (again,Wilson was ''blown away'' by this song when Paul played it to him prior to release). Sgt Pepper has gone out of favour for a while because it was routinely voted the best album of all time for years (''this is our Sgt Pepper''was the natural way of saying,''this is a great album'' by pop/rock acts, such was it's influence) so people turned to Revolver or The White album as ''the best Beatles album''. It's packed w! ith great songs-(Lucy in the Sky is another wonderfully imagin! ative ex ample)musical innovation and superb performances and as a whole package, the songs work so well together. It's melodic, innovative,fun and colourful. I'm sure that, over the years, it's star will rise again. Sergeant Pepper captured the zeitgeist of it's time perfectly and it still radiates today-just give it a listen.9/10 McKee Sloan lvlckee@yahoo.com (This was my first Beatles album ever, so...you might wanna read this knowing I'll be a little biased.) I was 14, and coming home from my girlfriends house when I first heard this album. 'Within You and Without You' came on, and it instantly got me hooked on the Beatles, and now I'm so knowledgable about 'em, I scare myself. On the way home that night, I bought the album, and listened to it a good 4 or 5 times before I went to sleep, start to finish. This is my favorite Beatle album, put quite simply. While a good deal of you believe it's over-rated (and it is, don't get me wrong), it is unarguably the most influential Beatles album, and in saying that, the most influential album ever, period. Influential to everything music, and to a lot not. It has no number 1 hit on it (dammit for Strawberry, eh?), but does have some of the Beatles best known songs on it. That's just about all I've got to say about that. Louis LouisGatsby@yahoo.com Relax and listen to this album for what it is. I always assumed it was overrated until I actually heard it. It is a masterpiece of melody and atmosphere. 'When I'm 64' is a touching and tuneful throwback that never fails to make me smile. The lyric is eloquent and simple but often the best poetry is. 'She's leaving home' is superbly constructed and will captivate you upon first listen. 'A day in the life' is quite simply the greatest closer to an album I've ever heard. The rest is charming, catchy and uplifting. Personally, I'd rank it below 'Songs in the key of life of life' and 'Revolver', but not far. It's one of the best albums ever made for good reason. Listen to it with an open mind and a love of music and you'll return to it again and again. Enjoy. BobB tunesandflix@wi.rr.com A brilliant album, for sure, and the most influential from a production standpoint, but NOT their best songwriting-wise. "Being from the Benefit of Mr. Kite", "Within You, Without You" and "When I'm 64" really do slow down the pace of the album -- it's top-notch quality from the beginning up to that point, then you have those three duds in a row, and then things pick up again with the cheeky "Lovely Rita". Of course, the mind-blowing, monumental closer "A Day in the Life" gives the album a feeling of being more transforming and majestic than, in reality, it actually is. So...production and influence-wise, a definite 10. Song-wise, an 8. Paul Wilde _Picnic@yahoo.com Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band could have been up with The Beatles best albums but there are too many oridinary songs on it. If you mix this album with the best of Magical Mystery Tour, you get a great album.he title tune is great, the second tune sounds inferior to Joe Cocker's later version, the third song is good but Magical Mystery Tour contains some even better psychedelia, Getting Better could have been by many lesser bands from the 60s or 70s, Fixing A Hole and She's Leaving Home are ordinary, Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! is interesting, Within You Without You is ordinary, When I'm Sixty-Four is one of those Beatles songs that people who don't really like music say they love- techncially good, of course, but only in a whimsical Noel Coward type of way, Good Morning Good Morning is mood setting, A Day In The Life is a great song. Sam oxalicman@hotmail.com I appreciate Sgt.Pepper for one thing : its the true evidence to disillusion people who think Beatles were only mop tops and making sissy music too. It all figurates on the cover of the album, the loud guitar on Sgt.Pepper and Reprise. But for people who wants to search more the real essence of avant-garde psychedelic music from the Beatles, then Revolver is their first psychedelic album (and its 1966. Not many records were psychedelic in 1966). But for me, Sgt.Pepper is a good introducing album for people who vaguely knows The Beatles and want to hear what they have done in rock music. Its like a highlight album (by the cover, its explosively lightful) and I dont think its overated. I would even give a 9.5 . My favorite album is none. I like to pick a lot of songs I like from them. My favorite two songs are Everybody's got something... and Rain. lee cross lee85@tiscali.co.uk Sgt.pepper was an over rated beatles album in my opinion. when i first heard it i was blown away because as it is for most young beatles fans this was the first beatles album i had ever really listened to.The shine went off it when i listened to revolver. the opening track and a day in the life are the only truely brilliant pieces of work here,everything else is just over produced and over hyped!! saying that it is still a fine album and if any other band had made it i would probably rave about it but because its the beatles we all know they can do much better than this!! If i was rating this albums i wpould have given it a 7!! gazza garyhess44@hotmail.com Its still a great album all these years on , and i prefer it to revolver (which is a tad overrated) The sound is very much of its time with production techniques the beatles pioneered but the songs stand up brilliantly on their own . Within you without you is an amazing track (listen out for the plucked violins entering half way through) a day in the life is an incredible achievement (check out lennons voice) getting better and good morning are innovative and poptastic and even ringo has a decent song to sing for a change ... I could go on and on about how admirable this record is (the guitar solo on fixing a hole , the tracking of the voices on shes leaving home) but really its success is in how a clutch of very different songs are sequenced to sound like a seamless whole . Its still worthy of the title classic - oh and it sounds so much better on the original vinyl but thats another story... John Cox zoz@ntlworld.com Ok, forget all the hype you've ever heard about this album, eg that it's the greatest piece of 12 inch vinyl ever made. Of course it's not. It isn't even the best of the Beatles? In my opinion Hendrix's "Are You Experienced", "Axis: Bold as Love" and "Electric Ladyland" are in fact better all round albums. No doubt other readers can site other records which they'd rate better than Pepper. And they'd probably be right. John Cox zoz@ntlworld.com An addendum to my first "Pepper" review above ... I suggested that the LP is a bit overrated in so much as its claim to being the greatest album ever ... but let me add that I still think "SP" is a wonderful 40 minutes of good to great tracks. Christ, it's got "Lucy in the Sky" and "A day in the Life" on it for god's sake. But overall, as an ensemble piece, I'd have to give it a not quite perfect 9 to 9.5/10. True, its musical influence does indeed merit a 10/10, and yes, the album cover has to warrant an 11+/10. But musically it has its failings, it's not quite the concept album it pretends to be for instance. And unlike say "Rubber Soul", "Revolver" or "The White Album-(Revelution 9 not included)" I find I've got to be in the right mood to listen to "Pepper" all the way thru without skipping tracks. But that aside, it still is a great album, definetly in the top 10-20 of all time ... (and always will be) ... My favourite tracks, in order are, "Lucy in the Sky", "A Day in t! he Life", "Lovely Rita" and "Pepper (Reprise)" - all 10/10. As for the other 9 songs, well, I rate them ranging from a respectable 8 ("Within You Without You") to an almost perfect 9.5 ("She's Leaving Home") ... So, although I do think it's a great record containing 4 classic and 9 good to very good songs, it's those nine less than perfect tracks which prevent me from giving "Pepperland" the full-monty 10/10. In summary then, although I think it's one of the better albums ever made it's definetly not the absolute No 1 of all time. Around number 10-15 in my book ... PS: but hey, don't forget, it did in part give rise to the awesome "Yellow Submarine" (the movie), which has got to be worth a psychedelic 11+/10 ... so "All together Now ... Sgt Pepper ... it's certainly a thrill!" John peacebird1986@gmail.com I love this album! It is almost perfect. The thing that prevents me from giving it a ten is, I'm sorry to say, THERE IS TOO MUCH MCCARTNEY! I love Paul, saw him in concert recently, but this is his baby, hardly a group effort in some areas. George Harrison hated Sgt. Pepper, he says he didn't have hardly anything to do. Paul played guitar on the Fixing A Hole, and Sgt. Pep 1 & 2. Overall, I think the most revolutionary thing on this album is Ringo's drumming. Especially his mallet fills on A Day In The Life. They're not mind blowing, but they were original. Most drummers just kept a beat, Ringo began improvising. MARK GIBSON wow..what a masterpiece......Where do I start ???? Simply an album of pure genius..bar none. So much better than anything around today. Every single band or solo musician worth their salt wants to make an album like this.....and its been around for forty years.....say no more.... Will Petersfield Sgt Pepper often tops polls in the 'Greatest Albums' parade but why? The production is tinny, the mix thin, some of the instruments are out of tune. Yes the concept and songs are fabulous but for me its a case of what could have been rather than what it was. 7/10

Well, of course 'Strawberry Fields Forever' is brilliant, but i'm getting ahead of myself. I always get the feeling, even just listening to the first six songs here, that 'Magical Mystery Tour' was very much a Paul idea, and that John thought it a monumentally silly project. When the TV movie was premiered Boxing day, 1967 - the world at large mostly sided with John, critics eager to get their teeth into The Beatles following four years of unparalleled success for the group. Brian Epstein had departed, but that has little to do with the actual record. The actual 'Magical Mystery Tour' record was a six song, double 7" single. An EP, if you will. Capitol records had the idea of adding five Sgt Pepper era single tracks to the six 'Magical Mystery Tour' songs, and voila! Another Beatles album is born to sell to the eager masses! Sorry if that sounds cynical or anything, and besides, all of this is history now, and has nothing to do really with the actual music contained herein, so let's get started with that. The opening title song is a poor mans 'Sgt Pepper' but it's still pretty good, all told. 'The Fool On The Hill' is an interesting little song with some lovely Flute passages. It's nicely mellow and Paul writes some more than intriguing lyrics here. 'Flying' is a semi-instrumental ( it does have some vocal parts! ) and very psychedelic, although also very b-side material. If this had been planned as an album, it's highly unlikely something as unsubstantial as this would have been considered for inclusion. George writes 'Blue Jay Way' and it's a semi-wonder. The best song on the album so far, to my mind. Very stoned sounding, very psychedelic, very all over the place, but enjoyably so!! The 'please don't be long' vocal parts are just a joy that send shivers all over me.

'Your Mother Should Know' is a typically nice Paul McCartney song, no disparagement to Paul intended. 'I Am The Walrus' was indication to certain critics that this psychedelic lark had gone too far. A ridiculous, if utterly brilliant piece of wordplay after which point, 'Magical Mystery Tour' ends. Except that it doesn't, we get five 'Sgt Pepper' era songs. 'Hello Goodbye' is full of great production and remains a decent song to this day. 'Strawberry Fields Forever' actually made John rather unhappy. He never could nail it as brilliantly as his imagination soared and, well, imagined. 'Penny Lane' was released together with 'Strawberry Fields' as a single and got the main of the airplay. It's hardly as great, although the production in it's own way, is equally as accomplished. 'Baby You're A Rich Man' is stupendously silly but lots of fun. And then 'All You Need Is Love'. Broadcast to 600 million worldwide as part of a BBC TV special, it makes me proud even though I wasn't alive at the time. Each country had something like a five minute segment to fill to represent the nature and character of their particular country. We chose ( I'm from England, in case you didn't realise ) to broadcast a live performance ( actually taped earlier in the studio ) of a brand new Beatles song. Everybody was listening as the most famous band in the world blow a small camp-fire sing-a-long into the most wonderful sounding song, practically ever. It isn't quite as good as all that underneath the surface, but yeah, nice stuff. Great sentiments, of course.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com 'Blue Jay Way' is so boring to my ears that it cures any insomnia. There are other weak tracks; yet only on the double-disc compilation ' 67- ' 70 can you also get 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. This album is worth it just for 'Strawberry Fields'. Spartacus spartacus6775@yahoo.com i thought this album was great. this is actually one of the only Beatles albums that will actually be heard in my car. the sheer experimentation was a success. Chris Hegland sho_nuff101@hotmail.com Nice review! I love the "b-side" feel of this whole album. I'm with you, Blue Jay way is one of the stand-outs--the fuzzy shine in the vocals of the chorus makes me tingle. Paul Wilde _Picnic@yahoo.com This album is the most over-looked of The Beatles post 1964 albums and I don't know why as it contains many of their best known songs. Some say that it doesn't have the flow of a concept album - what they mean is that it has too many hits for their liking. Blue Jay Way, one of George Harrison's songs, is possibly the most under-rated Beatles song on their major albums. This is more psychedelic than the often ordinary Sergeant Pepper- the best thing about that album was the opening and closing songs and the artwork. Kevin helpmepsychicbob@hotmail.com 'Magical Mystery Tour' is my favourite Beatles album. It doesn't matter how the songs got on it, if it has 'Strawberry Fields', 'I Am The Walrus' AND 'Hello Goodbye', it rocks! And I love 'Blue Jay Way' too, even though people keep trying to convince me that it's the worst Beatles' song ever. GAZZA garyhess44@hotmail.com More a patchwork release for USA with magical mystery tour and some pepper era singles tacked on . After pepper the beatles music became looser , the band writing more in the studio rather than bringing tightly focussed material with them - often resulting in mediocre songs (blue jay way and your mother would know!!) Strawberry fields and penny lane are without reproach , they are perfect but only 2 other tracks match that peak here .Whats really interesting is what LSD did for john and paul , with john it brought forth a dark surreal element and with paul a nature loving loner element . The songs that best reveal this are "fool on the hill" one of pauls most perfect songs and "i am the walrus" which pushed forward the boundaries of what rock can do . The fade and the drop out with radio scan before "sitting in an english garden" are just amazing . lennons voice so harsh here its actually distorting the mike while he rails against the hypocrisy of british life . The other beatles singles present here are in my opinion their weakest (along with lady madonna) Paul was just getting a bit too much control for my liking (or perhaps johns interest was waning) However a trip to india later and the band were well and truly back on track.

Spoilt with a double album helping of Beatles! The production tricks of 1967 are gone completely. Well, 'Revolution 9' is a studio experiment. It's interesting actually, though often marked down as the worst thing The Beatles ever did. I don't mind it. It adds atmosphere and links well into 'Goodnight' which is an appropriate and rather sweet lullaby ending. 'Back In The USSR' kicks things off and it's immediately apparent from this rock n roll number that the production is much more 'live'. It's a wonderful song this actually, featuring a great little Beach Boys inspired feel in the chorus. 'Dear Prudence' seems slightly scary. I'm not at all sure why but it's addictive, whatever it is. 'Glass Onion' is almost a typical 'White Album' track. It doesn't obviously seem to be ABOUT anything, but it's played well and with imagination. You can actually read all sorts of things into the lyrics if you wish, which I quite like. 'Ob La Di, Ob La Da' is a lot of fun, even though it is simplistic. I love the bass sound! The first half of this album continues in an alternating faster/slower vein. We have lovely Paul ballads with effective folk style guitar picking! We have the strange but alluring 'Bungalow Bill' and the plainly ridiculous 'Why Don't We Do It The Road?'. It's funny though. I think maybe a lot of this material was stuff they had around, messed around with, and it wasn't presented from on high as a masterpiece. Funnily enough, the cumulative effect creates a masterpiece.

John's 'I'm So Tired' is a highlight. What a wonderful lyric and feel! He really DOES seem tired, then pissed off at everyone bugging him. I love songs that really match a musical and lyrical feel together and send that emotion out to the listener. A few up-tempo rock numbers open the third vinyl side of 'The White Album' - 'Yer Blues' and 'Helter Skelter' are plain exhilarating. They sweep you up in a sense of fun and make you want to shout and sing a long. Further highlights include 'Sexy Sadie' which features such a good John vocal that it truly is life-affirming. George's 'Long Long Long' is truly transcendent and one of his finest moments. 'Revolution' is a great pop song played in a rock style. 'Cry Baby Cry' from the pen of John has a slightly lazy feel about it, but it makes for addictive listening. What more can you say? 'Piggies' appearing earlier on the album isn't much cop, but 'The White Album' is more than the sum of its parts. Not all of its parts make perfect sense, but then there is just so much here. 'Don't Pass Me By'? You know, the Ringo song? It's such a simple song, but the bass lines and whole execution sounds so truly ludicrous that it works as a piece of entertainment. 'The White Album' is entertainment, well, more than that actually. A collection of songs ranging from the good to the great to the genius - it's an album to live in.

Share Your Views?

Readers Comments Alan Brooks albrookscentury21@yahoo.com The Beatles 'WHITE ALBUM' is a good way to get a pop rock education, as it contains so many genres. As with Frank Zappa's 200 MOTELS, also a double disc, there are many weak songs; yet even the lesser numbers are listenable. RobEvKolar@aol.com I kind of agree with your rating. I think it deserves a 10. I think that The White Album surpasses Revolver which you gave a 10! There are some pretty silly songs on Revolver like "Doctor Robert" and the McCartney songs besides "Rigby" aren't exactly his best. The White Album epitamizes each Beatle as an artist and songwriter. The White Album will be The Beatles record that will truly stand the test of time and still sound contemporary for many years to come. Every song is brilliant in a completely unique way. hugues o.hugues@wanadoo.fr The album is cool, but it's not a masterpiece - too much shallow music here, especially from McCartney. I'm of those who think it should have been a great simple album (but, it would have made a lack of balance between John and Paul, since everything by John is good here, except "Bungalow Bill", "Revolution 9" and "Good Night"). annie anniedahlkemp@yahoo.com truly a wonderful work of each single beatle on his own. you can tell who wrote which song just by the style and way it moves. this is by FAR my favorite beatles album. and dear prudence is anything but scary. it is an out of this world song, with touching lyrics. i belive i like the first disc a little more, but they are both wonderful works. sweet sweet sweet album. 10 10 10 10 10 10 10. Reidar Samuelsen reidar.samuelsen@lillestrom.vgs.no Agree or disagree with what, actually? This record is one of the best records ever - and it's the best double album in the history of rock, outstripping "Blonde..." and "Freak out" by miles and miles and miles. Why? Because it never stays the same. You can