The Beatles - The Beatles 1
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Free Music Notes for The Beatles 1
Free Music Review: Superb Introduction to the Greatest Band of All Time
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been a Beatles fan since before I was in grade school. I grew up listening to my dad's Capitol LP's and my first cassette tape was The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits which was released in the early 80's. This CD is an excellent compilation of all their number one hits from the US and UK. It shows the change in style of the Beatles music from 1962 to 1970 from being a "simple" rock band to creating some of the most innovative, not to mention memorable, music to come out of the 60's. The CD starts out with "Love Me Do", "From Me To You" and "She Loves You". These three tracks are presented in their original mono mix while the rest of the album is in stereo. I especially like that "From Me To You" is in mono because the stereo version had the hard pan of vocals on one side with bass, rhythm and drums on the other. In mono everything is centered. From the beginning and up to "Help" the tracks on here are mostly on the lighter side. Paul's "Yesterday" starts to show a more serious side to the band and from there you can really see their music change from songs like the happy and fun "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to music about prostitutes, "Day Tripper", and loneliness, "Eleanor Rigby". While some may complain that their favorites are not on here (there isn't a single track from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) that's not the point of this collection. This CD is a compilation of their number one singles and should be viewed as such.
Now, I bought this album for less than ten bucks and before the new remastered CD's were released. I had most of these songs on older CD's so my purchase was to get a taste of what the remastered one's would sound like. Well, I wasn't dissapointed because the quality of these versions is clearly superior to the ones from 1987 and are on par with the new remasters as well. Now that the remasters are out I would recommend this collection for the casual Beatle fan or somebody that's never heard (Oh, how I envy you) this wonderful music from, IMO, the greatest band of all time.
Free Music Review: BUSKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Buskers can survive entirely on a repertoire of songs by The Beatles and be assured that they will never starve. In fact, my introduction to the winsome `Eight Days A Week' was via a three piece street act outside Central Market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The simple chords, the catchy melody, the beguiling innocence of youthful romance, all conveyed through two guitars, a tambourine and a two-part harmony. I stood there charmed by the refrain, "Hold me, love me, hold me, love me, ain't got nothing but love, girl, eight days a week" and willingly parted with my dollar. I thought if more buskers would croon The Beatles, the city streets would be a much better place. But I realise, of course, the Fab Four did not write songs just for three-chord musicians.The Beatles are a study in market positioning. They introduced themselves as happy popsmiths, creating instantly accessible hand-clapping numbers like `Love Me Do' and `I Want to Hold Your Hand', and got as many number ones as they can in a short time.
After the easy pop hits, The Beatles began to churn out more complex rock songs `Hey Jude', `Get Back' and `Come Together'. Since they have gotten everybody's attention, it was no wonder their number ones just kept coming, even with songs as eccentric as `Yellow Submarine', `Eleanor Rigby' and `Paperback Writer'. Which brings us to the point of this album, which is a collection of all the number ones ever scored in either UK or USA. Unfortunately, this means that it misses out on some more eccentric but also more wonderful songs; yes, nothing from Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - considered their magnum opus - made it to this compilation. But that didn't stop it from becoming number one in 33 countries within a month of its release. Though it does not have the integrity and conceptual unity of one of The Beatles later albums, it is nevertheless a winning formula for a good ol' time. This album will make buskers of the whole world yet.
Free Music Review: A Great Introduction for Those New to the Fab Four
Hit: 5 Stars
27 #1 Singles. World Records Shattered. Studio Albums. Conspiracies. Supposed Hidden Satanic Messages. Yelling at Reporters. Music Videos. Record Burnings. Jesus. Royalties. Drugs. Movies. Screaming fans. Apple Corps. The most famous band of all time.Yes, welcome to the Beatles. Starting out officially in 1962, the group of four kids from Liverpool, England (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, & Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey) would storm across the Atlantic and change music forever. And in this album, any new listeners are provided with 1 CD of powerful music that merely scratches the surface of who the Beatles were.
Critically absent are the some of the greatest songs written by the Beatles, which were on their albums instead of on singles, although the most popular early ("Yesterday") and late ("Hey Jude") Beatles songs are certainly present. The digital remastering is spotless, although it seems as if George Martin has taken steps to get rid of Phil Spector's inlfluence, releasing his sparser and significantly changed version of "Let It Be" rather than Spector's Rockestra version, but is forced to include the infinitely cheezy yet still very fitting conclusion to the carreer of the Beatles: "The Long and Winding Road". These complaints are minor, however, as new fans will snap this easily-transportable 1-CD collection (as opposed to the 4 CD monstrosity that the Red & Blue albums comprise) up and take it everywhere. Don't forget, though, that this is just the beginning of Beatle history. If you purchase and enjoy this, there are many, many more Beatles albums chock full of some of the greatest music written in the 20th century.
So, if you've never heard of them before, or think it's just something your parents get nostalgic over, go ahead and pick it up. You will realize instantly why the title of the album fits the band so well.
Free Music Review: The album that started the "No. 1's" album craze
Hit: 5 Stars
Music: 5 stars; Compilation: 4.5 stars; Economic Value: 5 Stars
It had been quite a while that I had listened to this album, but strolling through my CD collection the other day, I came across it, and I just had to put it in my CD carousel right then and there. As many others here I suspect, I do own all the regular Beatles albums, as well as the Anthology trilogy. So why own this? Several reasons: (1) maximizing the CD content capability, "Beatles 1" (27 tracks; 79 min.) gives an incredible whirlwind tour of rock history. In less than 80 min., you feel like you've taken Rock 101. It's just amazing how many musical forms the Beatles took on in a mere 7 years. (2) I don't think I could've "convinced" my now 16 yr daughter to sample the Beatles if it wasn't for this compilation. (3) The album is thankfully sequenced chronologically, and is a generous serving of Beatles songs. The liner notes and photos are quite nice too. As to the complaints of certain reviewers about this-or-that mono or stereo version of the early songs, it hasn't bothered me before and it doesn't now either. I personally think the sound quality is outstanding. Finally, I can't rate the compilation as such 5 stars, because no Beatles single CD compilation can be perfect, frankly. Yes, "Please Please Me" and "Strawberry Fields" are missing, but if we were to add them, what songs would you take back out? A never-ending argument.
Last but not least, "Beatles 1" is another trendsetter, in that it started the craze of other artists being compiled in similar fashion: after seeing the incredible commercial success of "Bealtes 1", Elvis, Michael Jackson, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees and many others have followed suit with their own "1"/"Ones"/"Number Ones" album (yes, even Destiny's Child). This album came out 30 years after the Beatles broke up in 1970, and the Fab Four still shows the music industry how it's done.
Free Music Review: Wonderful
Hit: 5 Stars
I was listening to One the other day and thinking how I'd rather just listen to the White Album or Revolver. Then I turned on the popular radio station and had an epiphany. ALL of the Beatles music is hundreds of times better than todays popular music. If I were to pretend for a minute that I wasn't a snobby music kid who grew up listening to all of the great Beatles albums, I would probably think this is the absolute best record in the world. And in modern terms, it is a great disc. I'm writing this review based solely on my perspective of these 27 number 1 hits. They're all good, some better than others. But if I was someone who grew up with the Beatles, I'm sure I'd have a different appreciation for this disc. I'm sure there would be so many great memories that are waiting to be revisited when a 60s child throws this in the player. I grew up (I'm still growing up I guess) in the 90s, and The Beatles and fond memories go hand in hand for me, so I'm sure those pleasant thoughts would be augmented greatly for someone who really lived when the Beatles were playing their extraordinary music. (And for anyone else not to familiar with the Beatles, great moments are soon to be had!)
What really makes this a 5 star collection is the memories. It may sound a bit mawkish or hackneyed, but everyone has done or felt or saw something marvelous while listening to the Beatles. Those special feelings can be manifested most easily by this seminal collection. This could really be the soundtrack to so many people's lives. I have to recommend this collection to everyone, because I'd be very sad to learn of anybody missing out on the joyous experience of the Beatles. They will always be the best band. These are all just my humble opinions, but I feel passionately about this music. I honestly think everyone should understand these legendary men and what they did for music. This album is the perfect place to start.