The Beatles - The Beatles 1
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Free Music Notes for The Beatles 1
Free Music Review: The Beatles: #1 then, now, and forever
Hit: 5 Stars
Beatles fans take their love for the Fab Four very seriously, as evidenced by some of the disappointment espoused by some enthusiastic fans over this compilation. I think we can all agree that this is not the ultimate Beatles CD, but - my gosh - you get 27 of the band's most familiar songs crammed on to one single CD. Even if you have all of the essential Beatles CDs already, it's nice to have such a great one-CD collection. I would much rather take this little jewel case out to my car than to try and put together a single disc of my own, and this has better sound than any disc I could make myself on my computer. I'm a big fan but not an expert on the Beatles, so I can't comment on the issue of stereo mastering versus the original mono versions of the earliest hits - to my ears, all of these songs sound great on this CD. I also won't quibble over what tracks got excluded. This is a collection of #1 hits, not a greatest hits collection. These are the songs that hit #1 on the charts of either the UK (Record Retailer) and/or the US (Billboard). Apparently, even such a seemingly straightforward approach to choosing the tracks allows room for debate - it apparently comes down to what your definition of "#1 hit" should really be. In the end, the fact that the three surviving Beatles (now, sadly, only two) authorized this compilation is more than enough for me to accept it with open arms (and ears).It's easy to get lost in the enjoyment of such stellar individual songs, but when you take a step back you realize that this CD affords you some interesting insight into the evolution of the band over the course of eight years. The early songs, while fantastic, are actually not that musically complicated. By the time you get to the tenth track, Yesterday, you begin to get a wonderful sense of how the Beatles began to innovate and push the boundaries of rock and roll. They redefined music in their own image, and in the final five years of their existence they established a legacy no band will ever equal - they became the greatest band the world will ever know. If you want to really see what stereo can mean, there is still no better teacher than Yellow Submarine or the songs from Sgt. Pepper (none of which, rather ironically, are included on this compilation). I still marvel at the amazing variety of music the band released in its later years - All You Need Is Love, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Get Back, Something (the only George Harrison specialty on this CD), Come Together, Let It Be. What can one say about the amazing variety to be heard in such high-quality songs? Just compare the first and last track on this album; Love Me Do and The Long and Winding Road could hardly be more different, yet they are both vintage Beatles classics.
This CD was in a certain sense unnecessary, especially for decades-long Beatles fans, yet look what it accomplished. It immediately jumped to the top of sales charts and inspired yet another grand awakening among the music-listening population of Beatlesmania. Young people had the chance and the means to discover the Beatles on their own; while that experience will never compare to the craziness and excitement of Beatlesmania in its original form, it is still important. Decades after their breakup, the Beatles were #1 once again, and that is just one of many reasons why I love this 27-hit compilation CD.
Free Music Review: A mini-musical appreciation course re: the Beatles
Hit: 5 Stars
I put off buying "The Beatles 1" for several years because I already have all of the Beatles albums (that is to say, I have all of the CDs of the original UK albums, which, as every American my age and older can tell you were not the same albums that were released in the US; for example, the first album I ever owned was "The Beatles Second Album," the songs of which are scattered over three of the CDs. But I digress). As a general rule my preference is to listen to an entire Beatles album rather than a hits collection, especially since my favorite Beatles songs never seem to be hits (e.g., "If I Fell," "I am the Walrus"). However, I have now added this CD to my music library for reasons that are more academic than anything else.What "The Beatles 1" provides is the 27 songs that reached #1 on the Pop Charts; usually this happened on both sides of the pond but sometimes a song would make it to the top just in the UK (e.g., "From Me to You," "Day Tripper") or just in the US (e.g., "Eight Days a Week," "Come Together"). The 27 tracks are arranged chronologically, from 1962's "Love Me Do" to 1970's "Let It Be." Consequently, we have a sense of the evolution of the music of the Beatles, from the original Liverpool sound to the Psychedelic Progressive rock at the end. This appeals to me because I can have the students in my Introduction to Popular Culture class pick up this CD for a unit on music and set up a major paper where they talk about stages in the music of the Beatles based on these 27 tracks. Listening to their most popular songs in chronological order gives you a sense of exactly how much they changed. Hopefully in their papers they will be able to articulate a sense of how the Beatles got from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Eleanor Rigby" and on to "Hey Jude."
Yes, there are problems with "The Beatles 1" from this perspective as well. We are talking about a collection that has nothing from the group's greatest album, "Sgt. Pepper." Beyond that there is only one track written by George Harrison; the rest are by John Lennon & Paul McCartney. At least Ringo gets to sing a song ("Yellow Submarine"). But it is a lot easier to say, hey, these are the songs that made #1 on the charts and provide a quantitative rationale for the track selections rather than doing a qualitative approach and eventually offending everyone. Yes, the "red" and "blue" albums provide this same chronological approach, but that would be twice the number of songs at about four times the cost, and either consideration would be a deal breaker for students. Yes, I could put together 27 tracks that would provide a better sense of the evolution of the Beatles' music, but what we have here all nice and pre-packaged for us is pretty good for providing a mini-lesson in rock 'n' roll music appreciation.
Final Note: The accompanying booklet does not provide the lyrics for these songs. Instead, what you will find are pages devoted to each song with some of the jacket covers for each single from around. Also provided are information about when and where the song was recorded as well as the chart history in the UK and US.
Free Music Review: You'll Never Please Everyone
Hit: 5 Stars
I was a fan of The Beatles beginning in about 1966, and though I had heard much of their earlier music, I was influenced by my parents to be listening more to country at the time, so I wasn't exposed to their earlier music very much until years later. Listening to "One" and putting myself into 1962, and considering the type of music popular at the time, I can see something of the effect The Beatles had on popular music then, to now, and into the future.This CD has 27 songs that were #1 in either The United Kingdom or the United States. As pointed out by others, these songs include some of The Beatles best songs, but not all of their best songs. These songs were popular, not necessarily musically great. However, being popular means that those of us over the age of 40 probably remember nearly every single song, if not all. If you are below the age of 40, I would still be willing to bet that you've heard many of them, likely some of them covered by a newer person or group.
For those of you looking for a primer for The Beatles, this CD is it. It covers the two periods from 1962 to 1966 and 1967 to 1970. For those of you who do not know why The Beatles career is broken up into those two periods, I'll explain. Generally most of the music The Beatles made from 1962 to 1966 was relatively simple, three guitars and drums, with occasional visits by other instruments from time to time. In mid to late 1966 The Beatles began to be very experimental, adding other instruments, trying various technical effects, adding orchestras, and generally trying to grow their music.
Up until now the only way to get a good cross section of Beatles music has been to buy 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 at pretty high prices. Now you can listen to a slice of music from both eras cost-effectively. Once you've heard "One" you can decide whether you want more Beatles music.
You can argue that long-time Beatles fans will be disappointed for various reasons. Maybe. I have a lot of Beatles music and still bought this CD because it presents a particular aspect of The Beatles on one CD. There are other times when I'm in the mood to play "Abbey Road" or "Revolver" or whatever, but then those albums are appropriate to my mood. This CD gives me another option to listen to a great group.
I am always distressed by sound quality arguments. I admit that I am working with a simple, $400 stereo, which isn't nearly what some of the audiophiles have. On my stereo this CD sounds fine. I suspect that most of us are casual listeners that just want to hear good music. The sound quality of this CD is fine for that type of listening. For everyone else, better go spend the money to find the vinyl versions. I admit, they are better, but they are prohibitively expensive and increasingly difficult to find.
These songs are great. I recommend this album as a good starting point for a new listener. Once you've heard these you can decide which Beatles you like the best and buy albums from that era. I do recommend that if you are new to The Beatles that you buy albums. "One" is a narrow range of selections. The Beatles did so much more and had so much more talent and ability than these songs show.
Free Music Review: Can't go wrong with it...
Hit: 5 Stars
"The Beatles 1" is a solid choice for anyone seeking a basic, entry-level introduction to the Beatles' impressive body of work. You get all of the songs which, 30 years later, are still staples of popular culture and radio with sound quality that's better than any other major Beatles release so far. How can you go wrong with any CD that includes "She loves you," "I wanna hold your hand," "A hard day's night," "Ticket to Ride," "Help," "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "Hey Jude," and "Something" on it? (Not to mention countless others...every track is good.) For the newcomer, this disc gives all the important points: the singing, playing, and pop ingenuity and creativity that made the Beatles the most popular, influential, and important group of all time.However, what this disc lacks, and what makes it inferior to the priceier Red and Blue Albums, is a look at the broader scope of the Beatles' work, and not just their singles. Throughout their career, the Beatles remembered the importance of hit singles. A solid hit was always the group's passport into the future, but a great deal of their "meatier" work was reserved for the 13 excellent albums they released. One of the things that "1" lacks is a lot of John Lennon's classic album tracks that have become staples of the group's legend: in later years, Paul was the one who wrote more of the singles, while most of Lennon's work appeared on albums or B-sides because it was less commercial. Thus, we don't get "In My Life," "I Am the Walrus," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," or "Revolution." All of these certainly belong in the group's greatest hits. Coversely, we miss Paul's rock moments, as we only see his pop here. Where is "Sgt. Pepper" or "Back in the USSR"? By simply focusing on the singles, we miss some essential Bealtes moments.
It's clear what EMI/Apple/Capitol was trying to do here...make a 1-disc, affordable version of the Beatles Greatest Hits. Problem is, the Beatles work is too GOOD and too plentiful to fit on a single disc. They did an admirable job of creating a one-disc set for new fans, but in order to get a proper picture of the band, you need more than just this set. If you're only going to buy one Beatles disc (highly unlikely, and not recommended), buy either the Red or Blue Album, depending on which side of the group you want, Pop ('62-'66) or Rock ('67-'70), respectively. If you just want an idea of their hits before entering into the group's album catalog, this isn't a bad choice. Just beware, this is not a "Beatles: Ultimate Collection."
And finally, for the purists, the only reasons to purchase are: 1) Because you're such a fan you can't NOT, 2) Because of the better sound quality. As has been noted elsewhere, the stereo mixes, and not the original mono ones, are used here.
Nevertheless, this shows a small slice of the Beatles, but a tasty enough one to get some idea of why these guys are still getting played 40 years later. Gear!
Free Music Review: A primer for those born 1980-1990
Hit: 5 Stars
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've probably had it drilled into you by your parents and or grandparents that The Beatles are the greatest band in history, changed the face of music, brilliant, yadayadayada.So what.
They haven't had a really new track since at least twenty years before you were born. How can you possibly relate to them?
Surprisingly, it is possible. There are bands out there right now that have made an entire career out of following one trend or another in the Beatles short career. (Remember: These 20 #1 songs came out over a period of six years. That's about the same career length as Backstreet Boys.)
Here's the closest modern equivalent artists I can think of for these songs. If that act covered this Beatle song, it wouldn't sound too far out of place. If you like the band I mention, chances are you'll like the Beatles track too.
1. Love Me Do
2. From Me to You
- Definite boyband/3-part harmony soft rockers. Closest modern equivalent: 98 degrees, Boys II Men.
3. She Loves You
4. I Want to Hold Your Hand
- Straight ahead guitar driven rockers. CME: The Hives, The Strokes.
5. Can't Buy Me Love
6. A Hard Day's Night
7. I Feel Fine
8. Eight Days a Week
- Back to the boyband harmonies but with a edgier feel. We're in BSB/NSync territory, but with lyrics written by someone who's first language is English.
9. Ticket to Ride
- Pearl Jam on lithium. Upset but not too upset, y'know.
10. Help!
- Same kind of spirit as emo-punkers like Blink 182 or New Found Glory
11. Yesterday
- similar to the lighter softer Smashing Pumpkins, ie Disarm
12. Day Tripper
13. We Can Work It Out
14. Paperback Writer
- Oasis, definitely Oasis
15. Yellow Submarine
16. Eleanor Rigby
- sound effects, bizzarre instrumentation. Sort of a primitive Moby meets Fatboy Slim
17. Penny Lane
18. All You Need Is Love
- Hard to find a modern equivalent. Perhaps Drops of Jupiter by Train, in that both have that same orchestral element.
19. Hello Goodbye
20. Lady Madonna
- back to pure silly but fun pop. Smash Mouth or Sugar Ray could comfortably cover these songs.
21. Hey Jude
- now we're in Celine territory
22. Get Back
23. The Ballad of John & Yoko
- the first could be an uptempo U2 tune, the 2nd a slightly less uptempo U2 tune
24. Something
- mushy but classy. What Alicia Keys might have written 30 years ago.
25. Come Together
- Aerosmith. Old Aerosmith, when they rocked.
26. Let It Be
- same tempo as Coldplay's Yellow.
27. The Long and Winding Road
- just a nice gentle ballad, something Faith Hill could do a nice job on.
Yes, one band covered all these genres. And did them well, which is definitely a big part of why they are so loved. If you didn't like one track by them, there were several other which you could like. You never knew what they'd do next.
So will you like the whole album? Probably not.
Will you find at least one track you love? Well, assuming you listen to more than just gangsta rap, odds are good. Very good.