The Beatles - The Beatles 1
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Free Music Notes for The Beatles 1
Free Music Review: Back to (Far from) Square '1'
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, let's get the cynicism out of the way first: no, these aren't the greatest Beatles songs ever. They're pretty arbitrary, actually, in the mad way that only record company executives and the whims of the plebian masses can be. But, damnit: it's pretty difficult to be cynical about The Beatles in the first place. The Beatles are experiencing a huge resurgence in popularity, after all these years. Could be due to the anniversary of John Lennon's death, could be due to this CD, could be due to the generally lousy state of rock these days (Radiohead, of course, notwithstanding) ... in the end, it really doesn't matter. The Beatles have created the most lasting works of art in the 20th Century... some of the stuff on this album will live as long as, or outlive, The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Ulysses, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Sopranos or Les Desmoiselles D'avignon. Maybe. Wait and see.
Don't think for a second, for those of you coming late to the party, that this is the only Beatles album you need. But if you go out right now and buy `1', `Sgt. Pepper', the white album and `Abbey Road', you'll at least have a pretty headstart. ("What, no `Rubber Soul'/`Revolver'? Heretic!" Aw, give a guy a break. Been listening to these guys for exactly seven months.)
Represented on this album are pop benchmarks like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "A Hard Day's Night" and "Love Me Do". I do realise that, for most teens getting into The Beatles today, these'll be the hard-selling point of the CD. (They were for me.) But... c'mon, guys and girls... I promise, by track 7, "I Feel Fine", they've become a "serious" guitar band. (I still maintain that "She Loves You" is one of the darkest songs they ever created --- a pissed-off slap across the face to an idiotic best friend disguised as a pop song.)
Some more standouts:
"Help!" - The body of this song about an independent man realising that he needs companionship is almost irrelevant --- from the first seconds and the urgent and irresistible "Help!/ I need somebody!/Help!" --- you're stuck here. And you're not getting out.
"Yesterday" - Recently picked by Rolling Stone as the best pop song of all time. It was inspired by a dream of Paul's, and the soft, mournful strings certainly belie its origins. If you've ever regretted anything, and thought about times in your life that were simpler than the present, you will love this song. I do, and I HATE ballads.
"Hello, Goodbye" - Proving that a little psychedelic echo effect goes a long way, this track has a wonderfully unearthly feel --- never mind the amazing lyrics and the perfect drumming in this track about the black-and-white differences that result in nasty breakups.
"Lady Madonna" - Now... hmm. This was my first exposure to this jazzy tune about a poverty-stricken mother with far too many children. My first opinion? This song should be classified as a dangerous weapon. It's. Just. Weird. Paul's voice sounds at once clearer and more distorted than it ever has, and in the background we have a speakeasy piano, jazz club trumpets and horns, the hard rocking guitars, the clapping... it's a weird, catchy, up-tempo song about poverty (and very possibly prostitution). I even find it hard to MOVE when this song plays. Call it Kid A by The Beatles. I LOVE this one. (And the title's subtle jab at Christianity doesn't hurt one bit.)
"Hey Jude" - Kind of a mature remake of "She Loves You", this is a speech to a young man who's moping his way through life and treating his girlfriend like dirt. It starts with Paul in a frank voice... with each verse, a new instrument is added, and the song starts to drive towards the frantic, loud, absolutely-rocking victory-of-love climax. One of the most satisfying rock songs ever.
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" - Y'know, I'd have never thought I'd like The Beatles doing country. Go figure. John sings about the press torturing him and Yoko Ono on a European vacation. The very cool, tongue-in-cheek chorus has John `praying': "Christ, you know it ain't easy/You know how hard it can be/The way things are going, they're gonna crucify me". I laughed pretty hard at that, considering John's infamously misconstrued Jesus statement.
"Come Together" - Yeah, you've heard it from me before. One of the greatest hard rock songs, best written songs ever, yada, yada, yada...
"Let It Be" - It may have been their most disappointing album, but MAN, is this ever a great single (of the same name). Paul's mellow voice over this song about living life peacefully, and always keeping hope within reach. (See what I mean about this stuff being hard to be cynical about?) It feels like a hymn, especially with the pipe organs smack-dab in the middle, but it doesn't come off as remotely preachy --- just inspiring.
Oh, and "We Can Work it Out", "Penny Lane", "Day Tripper" and "Ticket to Ride" also, incidentally, rock.
Well, finally: these are just some of my favorites, and there are some weak songs on the CD, for sure --- it's a mix tape, not a bona-fide work-of-art Beatles Album --- but if you can find a CD out there somewhere that is packed with 1 hour, 18 minutes and 55 seconds of as much power, emotion, inventiveness, history and plain old great rock music, may they speak now or forever hold their peace.
Yeah. That's what I thought.
`Course it certainly wouldn't have hurt for AppleCorps to have thrown "I Am the Walrus" and "Helter Skelter" on here --- but, hey, that's just me.
Free Music Review: Huh?
Hit: 5 Stars
Where to even begin. Hmm..."No. These are not talented musicians."
The entire world differs with you. Including almost every single musician you can name.
"Beethoven and Mozart were talented musicians."
They were talented composers. Tchaikovsky was a talented composer AND a godlike musician. See the difference? The Beatles were talented composers and talented musicians. They also incorporated a lot of other music, such as the Indian Sitar and the African Box Drum.
"These four British punks were barely able to play their instruments and could not write songs for the pitiful lives of them."
First, of all, they are the #1 band in the world according to the VH1 poll of MUSICIANS as well as the #1 band in the world according to the poll of LISTENERS. Their #1's attest to how well they can write songs. Music is meant to move and inspire the listeners; it is meant to convey an emotion, to describe a memory, to inspire and to relate. The Beatles have inspired and influenced more people on the face of this planet then all classical composers combined. The Beatles are lauded by not only critics, but fans and fellow musicians.
"Stop saying it's good music just because everyone else is."
Kind of you to tell us how to think. Sig Heil, Mein Fuhrer!
Stop saying their music is bad because you like to be a contrarian.
"You know they're sloppy artists."
Please clarify your definition of sloppy artists. As I recall, Beethoven bathed only once a year and Mozart was renowned for his terrible dining habits.
"Listen to classical if you want good "classic" music."
Classical and Classic Rock are two different genres of music. If you mean "ancient" when you say "classic", then listen to african tribal drum music.
"Hector Berlioz would rip these four poofy-haired blokes a new one if he were still alive. That was a talented composer."
If Hector Berlioz was alive today, he'd be spewing out crap and be called OASIS or JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. Or do you not believe that the Romantic movement is closing akin to modern pop rock?
"This is junk, just like everything else to come out of the '70s. Nixon should've arrested them and sent them to Vietnam to be shot so they could stop making atrocious 'music.'"
First, the last Beatles studio session that included all four band members took place on August 20, 1969.
Second, the Beatles were British citizens. Nixon would have no say in sending Her Majesties subjects to war in Vietnam.
"Good thing most of them are dead now, but I wish people would stop re-releasing their music or having the members write new music. They couldn't write in their prime; what makes anyone think that an old decrepit walking corpse is going to do any good?"
Really? They couldn't write? Even their rehashed, reboxed, regurgitated songs make it to #1 around the world. So why would you say they couldn't write when young people continue to buy 30 year old songs? Sounds like staying power and a true "classic" to me. Great songwriting survives the test of time.
"Give me all the negative votes you want. In fact, why don't you email me your death threats at beatlessuck@yourmother.com. Hail Satan, and to the depths of Hades with these dogs."
I can see how surprisingly honest and forthright you are. If you truly feel such conviction, then you should publish your e-mail address.
Satan and Hades have no connection with each other, btw. And in Hades, there was only one dog, not dogs. Cerberus had 3 heads.
BTW - Classical Music is the same thing as today's Britney Spears.
"Media creations for the sole purpose of inoculating the minds of ignorant youths, who obviously still haven't grown up."
The Beatles were media creations? In what way? Like The Monkees? Or Milli Vanilli? So someone thought up the idea of The Beatles, poured millions into promoting them, not caring if they knew how to play music or not? So Johnny and the Moondogs never existed? Or their years of touring before they were famous? Bottles of beer thrown at them in German clubs and riots were figments of the world's imagination? Or do all media creations suffer for years in obscurity before hitting the big time? Wow, I'd never want to be a media creation then. Doesn't seem like there's much profit or fame going that route.
Btw, you need to take some English classes. Or do you regularly skip school?
"Media creations for the sole purpose of inoculating the minds of ignorant youths, who obviously still haven't grown up."
Let's break this down shall we?
Let's replace "Media Creations" with "The Beatles were media creations, which exist..."
So The Beatles are media creations who's purpose is to innoculate the minds of ignorant youth. So do you know what innoculate means? To immunize, inoculate or vaccinate. So The Beatles were created to immunize the minds of ignorant youth. Since the youth were ignorant, then the Beatles' purpose is to immunize them against ignorance. So The Beatles were created to enlighten all youth and to guard them from ignorance. In which case, you never got vaccinized and must be an ignorant youth.
Good day to you.
Free Music Review: The finest Beatles complitation!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Or so I'm told...Yes I'm of the new generation of Beatles fans,I've always liked a few of their song "I wanna Hold your hand", "Twist and Shout"(which sadly is not on hear...),"Let it Be","Lucy in the Sky with dimonds(not on here either of course)",Yellow Submarine,Ellanore Rigby,and a couple others...Anyways I never really know who sang many of the songs I'd heard and later I had found out they were from the Beatles chances are even if you're a little kid or a teen like me then you've prolly heard at least one of their songs now...This album has made me a dedicated Beatles fan although it doesn't include much of their best work which is because were'nt #1 hits,however all these songs are quite good!!!Here's moi reveiw:1. Love me Do: I don't know how to describe this very catchy pop song,its just very good definetely better then any *NSYNC song!!!
2. From me to You: This is of course another great pop song so cute and catchy hehe!
3. She Loves You: I love all the old Beatles music because it was so upbeat and happy this is such a good song!!!
4. I wanna Hold you Hand: The first song I ever heard from the Beatles,it has a great beat and nice lyrics its also really ctachy!!!
5. Can't buy me Love: I like this song,but its not my favorite from their early days...
6. Hard Days Night: I love this song its just got this really good beat,and its pretty darn catchy as well!!!
7. I feel fine: I the guitar instrumentaion in this one,yet again not one of my fav's from the early days,but still a gem!!!
8. Eight Days a Week: Ahhh I love this song!!! One of my fav's from them so so catchy!!!
9. It took me a few listen's to get used to this song,but not it.! Not as catchy as the other stuff that this CD starts on,but still good!!!
10. I *Love* this song so very much the lyrics think are quite good,and I like the guitars as well!!!
11. Yestarday: The first really slow ballad on this CD,its so sweet and slow the instrumentation is exquiset!!!This is a very good song as well!!
12. Day Tripper: This song is getting back to the more rockish roots,but not one of my fav's...Still really good though.!
13. We can work it out: I like these lyrics to this song,very true when you listen to them...Good song!
14. Paperback writer: A good rocker,the starting sounds so funky! I really like this song a fast,fun,and good rockin song!!!
15. Yellow Submarine: I've always liked this sing,its a very cute silly songs,it makes me wonder if they were high when this was written?prolly...But I love this song its a classic!
16. Eleanor Rigby: I can hardly begin to describe this gem,the instrumentation,the lyrics,and the sad melody this is one of my all time favorite Betales Songs,its made me cry slightly its just so good...
17. Penny Lane: This song as took a while to grow on me,it just didn't stick with me at first,but now I find myself singing it!!! So its a good song,but not one of the Beatles best...
18. All you need is Love: This is a good song its a little bit weird,but that's okay I love weird stuff!!!Its a great song!
19. Hello,Goodbye: I like this song quite a bit its lyrics are a little bit funny...But there are better songs by them...Prolly wondering how many times I'm gonna say that,but anyways...hehe
20. Lady Madonna: I like this song the pian and drums sound great together,the lyrics are pretty good and more up-beat and catchy..The horns sound great!!!This a a bit of a dancy ditty song get up and grab a partner!!!hehe
21. Hey Jude: I love this song,even with 4minutes of nananana's,I thought Oh My FREAKO GOSH 4mins of that god that is so manoutnious!!!But you really don't get sick of them you just wanna sing along with them...This song is really catchy and quite good,one of my definete fav's!
22. Get Back: Okay I don't really like this song much at all,as much as it hurts me to say that I just don't like it much...The instumentation is pretty good,but the vocals I really can't stand...
23. The Ballad of John and Yoko: This I don't know how it could have a number one song,I'm sorry,but I don't like this song...Maybe if I listen to it enough it will stick with me,but so far it hasn't...
24. Something: George wrote this little ditty,its quite good I was impressed when I found out he wrote it!!!Its sweet and slow...I love the instruments..
25. Come Together: Ahhhh this song is quite refreshing,its so weird and funky no one does it like John!!!I like the vocals,and the instruments very much!
26. Let it Be: A great song by Mcartney,very melodic made me cry so many times and I don't know why...
27. The Long and Winding road: This is an okay ballad,but not one of my fav's...
All in all if you're just discovering the Beatles this is a great album to open the door to them!!!But you should get their other albums,because they have a bazillion other great songs on their full albums!!!
Free Music Review: Honestly, Was This Collection Really Necessary?
Hit: 5 Stars
Before I start, I would like to state the only reason I am giving this cd a five star rating is that it's because it is quite possibly the finest rock and pop music ever written. However, if I were to judge this cd on quauntity rather than quality, this would be a one star cd.
"The Beatles 1" is a collection of all 20 of their American singles as well as seven that went to number one in Britain. While it's no lie that these songs are classics, but really, exactly how many times does this stuff have to be rereleased before everyone is tired of The Beatles?
The burning question is, why don't The Beatles have their own boxed set? I mean, seriously, they are the most important band that ever existed, and yet they haven't gottent their own seven or even eight disc best of with all their hits and the classics that weren't. That's a sin. It would probably take years to put together, but for The Beatles, it would be worth it. I actually came up with my own track lisitng for it. If I actually had all the cds, I'd probably make it on iTunes. Here it is:
Disc 1:
1)I Want To Hold Your Hand
2)She Loves You
3)Please Please Me
4)I Saw Her Standing There
5)My Bonnie
6)From Me To You
7)Twist And Shout
8)Can't Buy Me Love
9)All My Loving
10) Do You Want To Know A Secret
11) Thank You Girl
12) There's A Place
13) Love Me Do
14) P.S. I Love You
15) A Hard Day's Night
16) Ain't She Sweet
17) I Should Have Known Better
18) And I Love Her
19) I'll Cry Instead
20) If I Fell
21) Matchbox
22) Slow Down
23) I Feel Fine
24) She's A Woman
25) Eight Days A Week
26) I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
27) Ticket To Ride
Disc 2:
1)Help
2)Yesterday
3)Drive My Car
4)Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
5)You Won't See Me
6)Michelle
7)In My Life
8)Day Tripper
9)Nowhere Man
10) Paperback Writer
11) Yellow Submarine
12) Eleanor Rigby
13) Got To Get You Into My Life
14) Good Day Sunshine
15) For No One
16) Tomorrow Never Knows
17) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
18) With A Little Help From My Friends
19) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
20) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
21) A Day In The Life
22) Penny Lane
23) Strawberry Fields Forever
24) All You Need Is Love
25) I Am The Walrus
26) Lady Madonna
Disc 3:
1)Hey Jude
2)Revolution
3)Back In The U.S.S.R.
4)Dear Prudence
5)Glass Onion
6)Ob - La - Di, Ob - La - Da
7)While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8)Happiness Is A Warm Gun
9)Martha My Dear
10) Blackbird
11) Piggies
12) Rocky Raccoon
13) Don't Pass Me By
14) I Will
15) Julia
16) Birthday
17) Mother Nature's Son
18) Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
19) Helter Skelter
20) Revolution 1
21) Savoy Truffle
22) Cry Baby Cry
23) Revolution 9
24) Good Night
Disc 4:
1)Get Back
2)Don't Let Me Down
3)The Ballad Of John And Yoko
4)Old Brown Shoe
5)Come Together
6)Maxwell's Silver Hammer
7)Oh! Darling
8)Octopus's' Garden
9)Here Comes The Sun
10)You Never Give Me Your Money
11) Sun King
12) Mean Mr. Mustard
13) Polythene Pam
14) She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
15) Golden Slumbers
16) Carry That Weight
17) The End
18) Two Of Us
19) Across The Universe
20) I Me Mine
21) Let It Be
22) I've Got A Feeling
23) For You Blue
24) The Long And Winding Road
25) Free As A Bird
26) Real Love
My advice is to only purchase "The Beatles 1" is if you're a beginning fan. Other than that, this cd is not necessary in the least.
Free Music Review: Beatles "1" is Number One
Hit: 5 Stars
The Beatles "1" CD is an excellent single CD compilation of the number one singles of the Beatles. The enclosed booklet of the singles sleeves from around the world is a remarkable new addition to the Beatles discography and is worth buying just for that. There are picture sleeves from the US, UK, France, Japan, Spain, and other countries. We forget that the Beatles were a global phenomenon. This CD shows their global impact. The CD is number one on 19 charts in 19 different countries, all the countries that have album charts. This is a phenomenal achievement even for the Beatles, who have accomplished so much in their careers. These global sales also show the power of the Beatles as artists. Thirty years after they broke up, they can still dominate the charts. Garth Brooks learned the hard way in 1995 not to release any material that goes up against the Beatles. The Beatles destroyed Garth Brook's CD which never got to number one but stayed at number two. Since then, Brook's career has gone south while the Beatles roll on. You can't hype a bad product. The proof is in the pudding. Once a customer is dissatisfied, that customer cannot be sold again ever. It is a tribute to the Beatles that even with songs that almost everybody already knows and already owns, they can create a buying frenzy and go number one in virtually every country on the planet. Who else can do that? Garth Brooks found out the hard way. But anybody could have told him.
How good is the CD? The sound quality is excellent, especially on the early records. Digital remastering has brought the singles back to life. When I listened to the CD for the first time, it was like hearing the original 45s all over again. All the excitement and euphoria and energy of the original singles was there. I prefer the original Capitol reverb sound of "I Feel Fine" with the metallic-cymbals bleeding and distortion and overload. The "cleaned up" version loses some of the power of the original. "Day Tripper" was fixed up a bit with the right channel "drop out" being restored near the end of the song. In short, the sound quality is excellent.
This is a must-own CD. This CD has one of the greatest songs ever written, "Yesterday", and "Hey Jude", the top single of 1968 and one of the top chart singles of the 1960s. Buy it just for that alone. But you get the "Come Together"/"Something" single, "All You Need is Love", "Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby", and the US Tollie 45 version of "Love Me Do". These are the songs that changed a generation. Does the concept of a number one singles album work? After all, in 1982, Capitol released the Beatles "20" album which contained the 20 no.1 singles in the US. This album only did so-so. This new CD, however, presents a comprehensive look at their number ones both in the US and UK, taking advantage of the CD format which has more space, and which is released at a time when such a retrospective is needed. So the concept is an excellent one and it works. Who can go to the Past Masters albums and then the other albums, etc., to get all the records on the CD? This CD fills a void in the Beatles discography. The Beatles were album artists to be sure, but they were also singles or 45 artists. Every four months the Beatles released a single like clockwork. So singles loom large in the legend of the Beatles. The albums were one dimension; singles were the other. Both aspects present the complete picture. Now we see why the Beatles were so influential. They were album artists and they were singles artists. They had their cake and ate it too. It took genius to realize that, which the Beatles had. It is OK to be album artists, but you need singles too. Musicians of today have forgotten that.
At any rate, this is a remarkable CD. In my opinion, any fan of music should dish out the bucks to own this one. This CD is essential. It is the one to take on a desert island. It is the Mona Lisa of music. It is our generation's Beethoven symphonies. It is a must-own. I highly recommend this CD to anyone who appreciates art.