THE BEATLES
(1968-70 Albums, Archive Stuff and Videos Section)
ALBUM REVIEWS:
VIDEOS:
Year Of Release: 1968
Record rating = 10
Overall rating = 15
The Parody Album. Shows that nobody could beat the Fab Four at any
genre.
Best song (how the heck can I define): oh, well, possibly WHILE MY GUITAR
GENTLY WEEPS.
The Beatles stepped into 1968 not just as the greatest rock band in
the world, but rather like The High Kings And Patriarchs of all rock music
and rock musicians. Their eteranl glory being firmly established, the guys
took the time to relax - a trip to India, an independent record label (the
first but, alas, the least successful precedent), and a double album with
some of their most lightweight music since... well, probably since 1965.
Still - lightweight does not mean insignificant.
This is often called 'the Parody Album' (as well as 'Double Album', since
it's double, and 'White Album', since it's completely white). The Beatles
finally forsake their psychodelic experience and record a great bunch of
songs with such a great variety of styles that I even find it hard to believe,
like most other people. Like on the two previous albums, Paul is the major
star on here - he not only directs and controls the creative and productive
process in general, but also contributes the majority and the maximum variety
of the songs. Don't believe me? See for yourself!
(a) There is the traditional rock'n'roll style, practically totally absent
in 1967. Now it returns, to the glee and joy of more hard-rockin' Beatles
fans, and returns immediately with the opening number - Paul's 'Back In
The U.S.S.R', devoted to the beauties of Ukrainian and Moscow girls which
Paul probably never saw until twenty years later. It is said to be a parody
of contemporary Beach Boys, and maybe it is, but we Russians dig it for
you-know-what reasons! Then there's 'Birthday', a hilarious anthem to anniversaries
with extremely silly lyrics and a dang jolly parody on a drum solo, and
'Why Don't We Do It In The Road' - a little piece of boogie with just two
obscene lines repeated over and over, one of the most controversial songs
in the McCartney catalogue. A good counterpoint to 'Revolution 9', though.
(b) There's some country-western - c'mon, where would a good parody record
be without some country-western? 'Rocky Raccoon', a song dedicated to Paul's
ventures into the saloon and hoedown life, is probably the funniest and
most enthralling singalong on the whole record and a living room favourite.
And who else would come up with such hilarious lyrics as the ones about
poor Rocky and his interactivity with Gideon's Bible?
(c) Of course, no Beatles album can get away without piano pop - yes, this
is the record that features the universally known 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da' (some
call it a parody on ska, but I don't know too much about ska to be presenting
much evidence). Anybody else and the number would be a toss-off - but in
the care of McCartney the song becomes so darn silly, so blatantly poppy
and stupid that it breaks down the scale of cheesiness and streams even
deeper - to a level where banality invokes genius. Another charming ditty
is 'Martha My Dear' which you probably think of as a love song, and you're
right: it's a love song addressed to Paul's dog. (Must be dead and gone
now, poor thing). In my opinion, this song has the best McCartney vocal
on the whole album, and if you wanna ape him, this should be your test
element.
(d) Piano pop is all right, but weren't the Beatles a superior guitar band,
after all? In that case, you're welcome to 'Mother Nature's Son', a gentle,
lazy folkie song where Paul does his best to recreate the atmosphere of
'sitting by a mountain stream/See her waters rise/Listen to the pretty
sound of music/As she flies'.
(e) Finally, just so as to demonstrate you that sissiness is not everything
Paul has in store, he thumps up the heaviest number in the Beatles catalogue
which I thought was inspired by Hendrix but, as Paul himself recollects,
was his try at competing with the Who. 'Helter Skelter' rocks so hard that
you can hear Ringo cry out in the end: 'I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!'
Believe it or not, the song really proves that the Beatles could blow all
competition in that genre away if they really wanted to - the song's main
crunchy riff, emphasized by deafening drumming, Paul's violent screaming
and a thundering, snapping bassline, was heavier than anything else at
the time, Jimi included. Come to think of it, the level of fury and heat
generated by this song wasn't really surpassed until hair metal started
to gain force (of course, hair metal lost in all the other components,
such as originality, melody and inventiveness, but that's another story).
All of these, as I was careful to mention, are Paul's creation, and it's
no wonder: by 1968 Paul has clearly taken over the leadership of the group,
doing most of the arrangement and production work. Still, John's contributions
to the album are not less important, and, while they are fewer, they are
among the most universally beloved songs off the album.
Thus, the bitter 'Glass Onion' debunks the complete psychodelic thingamajig
with the killing lines 'Well here's another clue for you all/The walrus
was Paul' (and don't forget to add to this the cool 'boom-boom-boom' drum
intro and the pseudo-psychedelic violin fiesta at the end). The magnificent
guitar ballads 'Julia' (dedicated to John's mother) and 'Dear Prudence'
(with a catchy riff ripped-off from Townshend's 'Our Love Was', but I don't
really mind) are among the most gentle and romantic songs John has ever
put out - in fact, 'Julia' can't keep the tears away from my eyes, and
the way they build up the tension in 'Dear Prudence' is fascinating: first
just the acoustic, then a quiet bass and drumline come in, then the harmonies,
then a verse with some lead lines thrown in, and finally the song climaxes
in a mighty crescendo with everyone playing at the top of their forces.
The bitter, desperate 'Sexy Sadie' that presages some of John's later work
accounts for his profound disappointment in Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and
there are some more Dylanish lyrics-exercises ('Everybody's Got Something
To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey' - also a quotation from Maharishi
with the monkey thing added on later; 'Cry Baby Cry', with its dark, spoooooky
atmosphere). And how can one forget 'Yer Blues', John's most angry, most
pissed-off statement of his emotional conditions since 'Help'? 'Revolution
9', however, is the only flaw of the album: a lengthy eight-minute bore
which is more Yoko Ono than John Lennon. Collages of sounds ranging from
opera-singing to baby cries, machine guns, traffic noises and a lot of
excited incomprehensible speech, this is more schizophrenia than psychodelia.
I hate it, although there are people that actually love it. It don't
hurt to try, though - maybe you'll love it, too? It might make an impression,
that's for sure; but it's just so pointless and totally incompatible with
the material in general that I can't help but call it the first crack that
Yoko managed to splinter in between the Beatles.
Another interesting thing is that George has four songs on the album
(well, it's a double one, after all), three of them being absolute classics.
The amusing 'Savoy Truffle' is lyrically just a stupid ode to various delicacies,
but musically it's a fine rocker with a gruff, distorted guitar riff and
as much arse-kicking as George could ever muster in one song. The satiric
'Piggies' is mostly interesting for its lyrics and the pig noises at the
end, but 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' with a guest-star in Eric Clapton
whose solo is very well constructed (most certainly not improvised) is
the real highlight on the whole album. That solo is one of the most gorgeous
things on Earth, by gum! Yup, only 'Long Long Long' doesn't really pass
the test, but the problem is mainly that it's too damn quiet - I guess
they wanted to make a good contrast after the roaring 'Helter Skelter',
but if you're too lazy to readjust the volume control, you'll hardly hear
anything at all.
Even Ringo gets a chance to shine, with the silly but catchy countryish
'Don't Pass Me By'. This is a truly democratic album! Even though it is
no longer groundbreaking and it really did not do much of an influence
in 1968, it is nevertheless grand and completely Beatlish. Critics at the
time complained about the album being too long, and there are still many
who believe the album should have been reduced (even George Martin thought
so at the time). But I fully support the other critical side - the one
that says this album's greatness lies primarily in its being so
voluminous. It's like an encyclopaedia of popular music seen through the
prism of the world's greatest pop band ever. This album should be studied
in musical colleges.
I'm so tired of waiting for your ideas
Your worthy comments:
Marco Ursi <zeppelinwho@hotmail.com> (13.06.99)
I'm one of those people who believe this would have served us better as a single album. Too much filler for my tastes. But there are so many great songs I wouldn't be able to keep all of them if I did try to turn it to a single album. 'Yer Blues' kicks ass! My rating-9
Mike DeFabio <defab4@earthlink.net> (18.08.99)
Well, it's... THE WHITE ALBUM! This is just one of those albums you don't really need to say anything about because everybody already knows everything about it, but you should say stuff about it, because it's fun to read about albums you like. I like 'Revolution 9'. I think it's cool. Other than that, I agree pretty much that this, like just about everything the Beatles did, is total genius.
Josh Fitzgerald <breezesf85@email.com> (06.09.99)
This is one HARD album to review! It is one marvelous collection. Definetly
one of the most diverse, if not, THE most diverse album I've heard during
my lifetime. I guess I won't go song by song, but I'll just mention a few
standouts. "Helter Skelter" was never my personal favorite, I
used to think it was all about murder, because of the Charles Manson scandal,but
it was just a about a famous british festival ride. It's okay. George's
songs are very underrated, especially "Long Long Long". "Good
Night" is gorgeous."Yer Blues" is definetly their all time
best blues song (acually, it's pretty much their only blues song). And
"Dear Prudence", "I'm So Tired", "Cry Baby Cry",
and "Julia" are all John at his high point.
As for "Rev. #9", it can get grating in the nerves a while. Especially
during Yoko's little spiel about being naked, but it is acually pretty
interesting at times, but only at times.A great listen, nonetheless. And
it was pretty much their swan song to their friendship, before they started
to hate each other.
My rating-9
Simon Hearn <simon@leehearn.freeserve.co.uk> (07.09.99)
This always should have been a DOUBLE ALBUM. That is part of its appeal. Lots of simple and not so simple melodic songs on one album. If we are honest this album shows that the Beatles were the masters of all musical genres and everyone else are just pretenders.
Mike Hilinski <mhilinsk@tufts.edu> (19.09.99)
hey, no mention of "happiness is a warm gun"? best song on the album!
Glenn Wiener <glennjwiener@hotmail.com> (25.09.99)
I just don't understand all the bias against this recording being overdone because it was a double set. Almost every song in this collection is a winner. Even 'Revolution 9' has some interesting sound effects during its seven plus minute stay. Whether its acoustic, electric, rock, country, or the old time Jazz number 'Honey Pie', this record is the ultimate apple of my eye. Whether its John, Paul, George, or Ringo singing a tune, this is the album I want to take with me to the moon. There are so many great songs on here it is difficult to pick a favorite. 'Back In The USSR', 'Dear Prudence', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Don't Pass Me By', 'Helter Skelter', and 'Savoy Truffle' are among my favorites. Its just a matter of what day or even moment.
Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (13.01.2000)
The bluesy numbers don't do too much for yours truly, but there's enough stylistic experimentation to keep me listening. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" (I won't even tell you what I used to think the lyrics to that were!), "Blackbird" (first REAL song I ever learned on guitar!), and "Martha My Dear" are my personal faves. I think Harrison really had his day here - his songs are all great. Even "Savoy Truffle." I love that. An easy ten.
<BtheW@aol.com> (19.02.2000)
My favorite Beatles album. Like Revolver, this is sort of a 'box
of chocolates' album. You never know what you're gonna get. This is thanks
mainly to McCartney, who seems intent on proving himself in as many musical
genres as possible (and he does). However, you're just flat-out wrong about
him dominating the album. The White Album is the only post-'Revolver'
Beatles album that McCartney DOESN'T dominate. Even if you credit Paul
with 'Birthday' (which both John and Paul claim as a straight collaboration),
the John compositions still outnumber the Paul compositions 13 to 12. My
favorite song on this is probably 'Dear Prudence,' which is just one of
the most touching songs ever - and what a climactic buildup! 'Julia' is
also really touching - especially the haunting middle part. I love 'Glass
Onion,' 'Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey,' and
'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' for their bizarre goofiness. 'Sexy Sadie' and
'Cry Baby Cry' are both absolute classics. 'Yer Blues' is yet another great
moment for that Lennon voice. (Notice how I'm mentioning only John songs
so far? This has to be his best album, barring possibly Plastic Ono
Band.) George finally comes into his own on this album: 'Savoy Truffle'
and 'Piggies' are as inspired as any of the McCartney songs here. But,
of course, McCartney's melodies are generally pretty strong here: 'Martha
My Dear' (great tune; infectious as hell); 'Blackbird' (uncommonly serious
for the cute one), 'I Will' (just a very sweet melody) and 'Mother Nature's
Son' (good rural folk music). Those are my favorites, but there's plenty
of other good songs: 'Long, Long, Long' (haunting and simple); 'I'm So
Tired' (another great vocal from Lennon); 'Revolution 1' (a good blues
number, but I'd rather listen to the fast one). Most of the rest sound
like lesser songs to me: 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' (pretty solid,
but a little dull - great solo by Clapton, though); 'The Continuing Story
Of Bungalow Bill' (a fun quasi-kiddie tune with a morbid edge); 'Honey
Pie' (a good vaudeville outing, but 'When I'm Sixty- Four' was better);
'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' (maddeningly infectious - I hate myself for liking
it); 'Birthday' (one of the best rockers on the album, but depthless);
'Back In The USSR' (good parody ideas, but it really could rock better);
'Revolution 9' (unlike most people, I have nothing against the idea of
a 'sound painting' - and this has some interesting and funny moments -
but it could be better); 'Rocky Raccoon' (another catchy parody, but a
bit annoying); 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road' (another that could rock
better - not bad though); 'Helter Skelter' (yeah, it rocks like hell, but
McCartney is just obnoxious here). That's leaves only three tunes that
I could easily do without: 'Good Night' (actually it's kind of sweet -
but the orchestration pretty much ruins it); 'Don't Pass Me By' (poor old
Ringo just wasn't very good at songwriting - at least not this time); and
'Wild Honey Pie' (McCartney at his most self-indulgent, and a bad sign
of things to come from the pretty Beatle). This was, no doubt, the Beatles'
most underrated album cover. It's perfect in its minimalism.
A nitpicking point: George Martin's request for a single album has for
the most part been misunderstood. He suggested this at the beginning of
the sessions, when the group was showing him some of the songs they had
written. After the album was finished, he (like everybody else) found it
next to impossible to imagine which songs could possibly be left off.
<TDL133@aol.com> (02.04.2000)
The first of my to favorite Beatles albums ( the other being ABBEY ROAD). I like the diverse musical style. Alot of people dont like double albums because of that very reason. I think it works well though as long as the artist in question is adding something usefull and not just a bunch of filler tunes. The guys definately had enough usefull material here. I dont know what you would get rid of to cut it down to a single album! GREAT !! - From "HEALTER SKELTER" to "ROCKY RACOON" and everything in between!!
Philip Maddox <slurmsmckenzie@hotmail.com> (28.06.2000)
This is the one Beatles album I would give a 10 to (although, to be fair, I don't have Revolver). It's a big, sprawling double album with every single type of music you can imagine tossed in. And, with the exception of 'Honey Pie', I love every track on this record. The bluesy rockers are great, the ballads are beautiful ('Blackbird' is my favorite acoustic guitar piece of all time), and I even like the goofy comedy numbers. I know a lot of people hate 'Bungalow Bill', but I love it - it's disjointed, funny, and catchy. The Harrison contributions are great. 'Piggies' is really, really good. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'is nearly perfect. I even like the more "experimental" stuff. 'Wild Honey Pie' is hilarious and memorable (I find myself shouting "Honey Piiiiiieeee!" all the time), and 'Revolution 9' is creepy and much better than most people seem to think. I guess stuff like 'The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet' desensitized me to all of this kinda stuff. It's not the best song on here by a long shot, but I don't skip it. This is a totally great album. I generally think that some Beatles albums are overrated (still good, but overrated nonetheless). This one isn't at all. Like I said, a 10. I need to get a CD of this - my record is completely worn out! It's the most consistant Beatles album, if you ask me, and it's twice as long as most - quite an accomplishment!
Mike Mannheim <mm1701@yahoo.com> (15.07.2000)
This album has some sort of mystique surrounding it. It's mere presence in my CD case seemes to overshadow all the others. Even the cover, plain as it is, looks pretty damn important for some reason. As for the music itself, I like the second half a lot more, it has the better songs: "Birthday," "Yer Blues," "Revolution 1," "Helter Skelter" and "Savoy Truffle" are my five favorites.
Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (31.07.2000)
Even though the album is definitely too long, this basically means on
a Beatles album that there're more classics than usual. The first disc
is a virtual greatest hits package, with Paul cranking out popsters like
"USSR," "Ob La Di" and "Martha My Dear,"
John reaching new heights with the gorgeous "Dear Prudence" and
"Glass Onion," and Ringo.....uh.....drumming. And singing a novelty
song which isn't that good. The second disc is patchier, but still gets
mad props for containing "Birthday," "This Song Has A Long
Novelty Title Which Usually Sucks Except I Wrote An Awesome Riff"
and the original "Revolution," which sounds more like a remake
than the rock version does, but that's probably just because I'm used to
the other version. I've never been too fond of "Helter Skelter,"
however. It rocks, but it rocks at like 2 miles an hour, crawling along
at a snails pace and completely shredding any sort of infectious melody
the song might've had. Ringo's outburst at the end is hilarious, but the
song just sounds ugly and boring to me for the most part.
I didn't mention George's songs yet because they're awesome and continue
my "Harrison rules" theory, and I wanted to wait to say anything
about them. "While My Guitar" is beautiful guitar balladry, as
is "Long Long Long," "Piggies" is funny, and "Savoy
Truffle" has got to be one of the ten coolest songs pressed to vinyl.
I know that this makes me sound incredibly stupid, but it's probably my
favorite song on the album. I'm not saying that the other songs are worse,
I'm just saying that I personally enjoy this cool, slinky horn-pop ditty
more than anything on the other two albums. STOP ACTING LIKE HARRISON WAS
MEDIOCRE, YOU FRIGS. Despite what he did during his solo career, his handful
of songs the Beatles let him record were AWESOME.
As for "Revolution 9," sure, it's little more than a throwaway
collage, and it's obviously not the work of a genius so much as the product
of drugs and being married to a Japanese conceptual artist. But I myself
think that how fun it is to discuss and argue and bicker about the song
makes its existence worthwhile in itself. The Beatles canon would be less
fun to talk about without it! It's a stupid argument, but it works!!!!!!
To tie up my previous three paragraphs of rambling incoherence, this is
a great, revolutionairy album in spite of its numerous flaws, largely because
every one of those vices is met with at least six or seven virtues. Plus,
it's easily the most fun and diverse the Beatles ever got. 10/10
Paul Pasquerella <pjpasq@yahoo.com> (02.08.2000)
White Album composition breakdown:
Back in the USSR - Paul Dear Prudence - John Glass Onion - John Obladi
Oblada - Paul Wild Honey Pie - Paul Bungalow Bill - John Guitar Weeps -
George Happiness is A Warm Gun - John Martha My Dear - Paul I'm So Tired
- John Blackbird - Paul Piggies - George Rocky Raccoon - Paul Don't Pass
Me By - Ringo Do It In the Road - Paul I Will - Paul Julia - John Birthday
- John & Paul Yer Blues - John Mother Nature's Son - Paul Me and My
Monkey - John Sexy Sadie - John Helter Skelter - Paul Long Long Long -
George Revolution 1 - John Honey Pie - Paul Savoy Truffle - George Cry
Baby Cry - John Revolution 9 - John (aided by Yoko) Good Night - John
Tally:
Ringo - 1 John & Paul - 1 George - 4 Paul - 11 John - 13
Your White LP review states that Paul "contributes the majority
and the maximum variety of the songs." Majority? Not from the above
tally. As to maximum variety, it is indeed John who offers the greatest
range in styles, from the hard rock of "Yer Blues" to the gentleness
of "Julia" via the pseudo-swing of "Revolution 1,"
the Hollywood schmaltz of "Good Night" (wisely given to Ringo
to croon) and the sound montage of "Revolution 9:" a left-field
item on a pop record, but a style well-known in contemporary classical
circles in the late sixties via the compositions of avant-garde twistos
like Luciano Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Not to imply that Paul is
just standing still, mind you.
As far as the "origins" of heavy metal, the band that has the
best claim to this would probably be the Kinks, with their late 1964 hit
"You Really Got Me" and Dave Davies' overheated guitar solo.
Although Lennon, were he alive today, would probably just say "Bollocks"
and point to his band's live version of "Money" from 1963 released
on ANTHOLOGY VOL. I as the starting point. Naturally.
Just wanted to clear up a few things.
P.S. The only real clunkers on the White Album, to me anyway, are
"Birthday," which I tolerate as an amusing homage/parody of the
fifties rock 'n' roll they all loved, and "Savoy Truffle," which
I now replace with "Not Guilty" from ANTHOLOGY 3 when
I make a tape of the White Album for friends. Too bad they didn't
put "Not Guilty" on the record in the first place, but given
that the song is essentially a laundry list of George's grievances toward
Paul and possibly John, it's understandable - but that's also what makes
it so appropriate. "Revolution 9" - sorry, I love it, as only
the Beatles could ever force suburban Moms everywhere to listen to something
usually the province of anti-establishment bohemians - at least in the
days before you could de-program it out of your CD player.
Mike VonBehren <bocephus1@socket.net> (23.08.2000)
("Rocky Raccoon":) this song is the most basic fuckin song in the universe
Bryan Bals <mariner211219@yahoo.com> (18.10.2000)
I'm sorry, but I cannot give this album a 10. Pretty ironic that it is called the Beatles when in actuality it was merely each Beatle recording his songs without the other's input. The classic Lennon/McCartney connection simply does not exist here. Certainly, this is one of if not the most diverse albums of all time, but that leads to problems as well. When one experiments, there are going to be failures. I personally cannot sit through 7+ minutes of nothing in Revolution 9. And why did they slow down 'Revolution' into 'Revolution 1' anyways? So, although this album had many good songs('While My Guitar Gently Weeps' would definitely rank in my top 5 Beatle songs), it also had many bad songs as well. I'd give it a 9.
<RAW7580@aol.com> (21.11.2000)
The White Album is the single greatest album ever created as
far as I am concerned! The fact that it is a double album, and the songs
vary from each other is what makes it pure genius. (For example, a hard
hitting loud song like 'Helter Skelter' being followed by a beautiful soft
song , 'Long Long Long') It is just amazing! I don't think we will ever
see anything like this ever again. I am twenty years of age, and I listen
too a lot of music (Rock, Hip-Hop, Techno, Pop, you name it) Nothing has
what this album has, or any album the Beatles made post Rubber Soul.
'Revolution 9' is just part of the ride. I listen to albums all the way
through, I don't skip through the tracks, and to say it should have been
a single album is insane. I give it a 10!
Oh yea to the guy before me, they made 'Revolution 1' first (get it 1)
they made the faster version for the singel, thought it was too slow. That
is what is so great now you have two versions, don't complain, be greatful
that the Beatles were so damn smart, and creative geniuses!
Jeff Blehar <jdb3@jhu.edu> (20.11.2000)
What a fascinating paradox: the greatest Beatles album (and therefore
quite possibly the greatest rock album ever made) is the one where there
are more than a few songs which are just sheerly BAD. Note to wiseguys
and contrarians: I refuse to believe anyone can defend "Wild Honey
Pie" as a great song or anything more than a completely self-indulgent
experiment. And while the others that I'm not fond of on this album
are certainly up for debate - "Bungalow Bill," "Helter Skelter"
and the repulsive "Piggies" are all pants by my Beatlestandards
- no one will argue that this album is totally, almost ridiculously diffuse.
What makes it seem so strong - rather, what MAKES it so strong, because
seeming and being are the same thing here - is not merely the songs themselves
(why even cover them? My favorites? "Dear Prudence,"
"Revolution 1" and "Happiness Is A Warm Gun": Lennon
returns from la-la land with a vengeance), but the ORDERING. I'm
going to come right out and say it now: The Beatles is the most brilliantly
sequenced album in rock history. Never before and never after has
a piece of work so lacking in any sense of unity covered its own weaknesses
by mere presentation of the music. I've tried to rearrange this album
ten thousand different ways, and I can't - the ordering and pacing is PERFECT.
So many wonderful little touches spring out at you: the hidden logic (1
Harrisong per side, 1 Ringotune per disc, no more than 2 Lennon or McCartney
songs in a row). The "animal sequence" of "Blackbird,"
"Piggies," and "Rocky Raccoon." The stark contrast
between "Helter Skelter" and Harrison's beautiful "Long
Long Long" (this is, I think, his best song on the album). The
jump cut from "Bungalow Bill" to ("EH UP!") "While
My Guitar Gently Weeps." The way "Cry Baby Cry" tails
off into that little "can you take me back where I came from?"
thing which haunts me in my dreams.
Running with that, the entire juxtaposition of that whole "childhood
dream suite" at the end of the record blows me awaaaaaaay. Yeah,
that's what I see it as, a dream. "Cry Baby Cry," well
that's a nursery rhyme, the kind of thing a mother sings to her baby as
she's rocking him to sleep...but it's so inexplicably ominous, like there's
some sort of horror lurking in the shadows behind the happy Duchess Of
Kircaldy and her duke (I hear it in the piano and in the slightly dissonant
way the verses resolve themselves before moving on). Immediately
as you "go to sleep" you have the little "can you take me
back" link, which is a direct segue to childhood. And then:
the nightmare. I see "Revolution 9" (which I happen to
adore) as a HARROWING plunge into a nightmarish abyss of childhood dreams
- think about all those "ma ma, da da, ga ga" noises Lennon
& Ono are making, the random sounds of TVs and radios that fly in and
out of the picture the way a small child picks up on all sorts of aural
input without being able to sort and filter it, the sound of crackling
flames and screams...god it can scare the living shit out of me if I'm
listening in a darkened room, and THAT'S WHY IT'S SO GREAT. Music
which can discomfit you, put you in a heightened emotional state.
After it all, then they send in Ringo to reassure you that it's alright,
sssh, stop crying, go back to sleep. Anyway, I'm sure you don't see
it that way, but I think it's brilliant stuff, and the placement of these
tracks is what makes them so wonderful - can you think of any other context
in which "Revolution 9" and "Good Night" would have
worked so well on this album? And they weren't conceived with each
other in mind, they just happened to fall into place so serendipitously.
Some other brief notes: "Revolution 1" was the original, and
the single version was the remake. Frankly I despise the single version
(tho' I can't QUITE pinpoint why - give me time), especially in light of
this groovy slow version, which just mops up the floor with the other one!
Shoo-bee-doo-wop is RIGHT, baby. Not much else to say, or rather
SO much else to say that there's no point in going into it. But the
short summary: an album with real flaws is nevertheless the finest thing
The Beatles ever did, due mostly to a) a preponderance of awesome tracks,
and b) the most sympathetic song ordering I've ever seen. One day
I'll TEACH that class on this album you mentioned, George, given half a
chance. 10/10 (15/15).
<MSDK84@email.msn.com> (27.11.2000)
I agree with you completely pretty much on this album. This album was most likely the blueprint for Todd Rundgren's amazing solo career. 'Revolution #9' is kinda groovy but I don't usually listen to it, so I am in the middle ground because I don't really hate it nor do am I in love with it. 'Long, Long, Long' is beautiful but should have been mixed louder. I don't really care too much for BB and that like but they're okay. Like you, I say that to cut-down this epic encylopedia of rock music would be foolish and that the volume contributes to the greatness. With this album the Beatles tried to come down from their ivory tower of grand experimentation and re-enter the world as a common rock'n'roll combo, something they could never do in my opinion. Unfourantely you can hear the band falling apart and you can tell it won't be much longer for them. I only wish I hadn't been born 16 years after their breakup.
Thomas McKeown <t.mckeown@cns.norfolk.sch.uk> (08.12.2000)
This album seems to be the one that people who think that revisionism
for its own sake is cool praise at the expence of Sgnt. Pepper's...
Luckily, you recognise Sgnt. Pepper's as the masterpiece it truelly
is, and, though I cannot agree with your rating for this album, I can see
where you're comming from - this album is a love or hate album (in as much
as you can 'hate' any record by the Fab Four), simply because the very
things that make it so attractive to some people will make others cringe
ie. the novelty element, the lightweightness of it all, the sheer diversity.
To me, if you've got some good ideas, and want to create a double album,
develope the individual ideas, don't try to get more of them! In other
words, the Beatles, working as an effective band, should have developed
the songs on here to make them more interesting and better structured and,
perhaps most importantly, longer. As it is, there are just too many songs
on here, and they can't all be winneres, which indeed they're not.
And the novelty element gets to me sometimes - all this 'ironic posturing'
artists feel compelled to do is just a way of covering up your own lack
of ideas. 'Back in the U.S.S.R.', for instance, is just a neat way of ripping
off the Beach Boys whilst still supposedly maintaning artistic credability.
'Glass Onion' is basically an inadequately short song that recycles old
lyrical ideas, once more underneath the banner of 'irony'. These are just
two examples of the FAKENESS that afflicts this album. There are other
songs on here that I don't like, but foremost, in my mind, is not 'Revolution
#9', but 'Helter Skelter'. The song has no melody, and just grinds along
in a caustic manner that hurts my ears. People use this song as evidence
that Paul could rock too, but to me it suggests just the opposite (not
that I'm saying that he couldn't rock, but just that he doesn't do it very
well on here). Rev.#9, in fact, has a rather hypnotic repeating pattern
that I like very much.
However, I agree very much with your choice of best song - George does
the best overall on this album - he's my favourite Beatle in fact (I'm
not that familiar with his solo output).
Year Of Release: 1969
Record rating = 5
Overall rating = 10
A soundtrack, but parts of it are great. Only parts, though.
Best song: HEY BULLDOG
This is actually a soundtrack - from the well-known cartoon (see the
movie review below), and it suffers. It suffers because there are only
four new songs here, moreover, at least half of them were outtakes from
preceding works ('Only A Northern Song' is a Pepper outtake, and
'Hey Bulldog' was first recorded in the beginning of 1968 at the 'Lady
Madonna' sessions). Furthermore, not all of the songs strike me as being
masterpieces: George's 'Only A Northern Song' and 'It's All Too Much',
for instance, share the flaw of being aimlessly overlong - their psychedelic
atmosphere was slightly dated even for 1968, and there was absolutely no
reasons to extend them to such long running times with 'groovy' jams at
the end. That said, the melodies are very nice, especially the one in 'It's
All Too Much' that's just as catchy as anything George ever wrote. But,
in all honesty, the coda, with the band chanting 'too much, too much, too
much' as if they were reprising that unhappy Elvis tune, is really, really
overlong. It almost seems as if they were painfully trying to stretch and
stretch and stretch the songs so as to fill up an entire side - a trick
that the Beatles rarely allowed themselves. Meanwhile, Paul's 'All Together
Now' is almost universally despised because of its utter childishness -
and yes, it does resemble a nursery rhyme with its lyrics, but you can't
deny the 'stupid' magic of the melody! Count it like another 'Ob-La-Di
Ob-La-Da': sancta simplicitas, if you know what I mean.
Still, the only real stand-out, and the true reason to own this record,
is John's 'Hey Bulldog' - some more schizophrenic lyrics, but set to a
terrific riff (the Beatles were not as notorious for riffing as The Stones
and The Who, so every original and highly memorable Beatles riff, like
the one on here or on 'Day Tripper', is a real event), and it has the guys
barking at each other in the end! Very cool. 'What did you say?' 'I said
woof'. 'D'ya know any more?' 'Whoa-wah AAAAHH!...' If ever somebody would
have the idea of putting it as a B-side to 'I Am The Walrus', this would
have made the greatest Psychedelic Single of the epoch. Unfortunately,
in the movie it used to accompany a really stupid scene of the band being
chased by blue meanie bulldogs or something and has even been subsequently
cut out in the video version (I've only seen the entire sequence once,
so I can't really remember why it struck me as being very stupid and not
really fitting the movie's atmosphere, but I do remember that feeling).
The rest, however, is not as interesting. Two tracks are reprised from
earlier albums (the title track is, of course, from Revolver and
'All You Need Is Love' is, of course, from Magical Mystery Tour;
this last selection, however, is justified by the fact that by 1969 the
LP Magical Mystery Tour was yet non-existent, so this song was only
available on single). They're both phenomenal songs, of course, but why
have a second edition of 'em?
As for Side B, it all consists of George Martin's instrumental orchestration
and so has little to do with The Beatles; 'Yellow Submarine In Pepperland'
that closes the album is a wonderful orchestrated version of the original
that goes to show how deep the potential of such a seemingly feeble and
childish tune is, but all the other compositions are not based on the Beatles'
music at all. I must admit, though, that I actually enjoy these versions
(especially the terrifying 'March Of The Meanies' and the depressing 'Pepperland
Laid Waste'), but I also must admit this is no Beatles music. But don't
be quick to dismiss it; after all, don't we usually consider George Martin
as the 'fifth Beatle'? He might not be a genius of the same stature as
Lennon or McCartney, or even Harrison, but he's a solid composer in his
own rights, and don't you go telling me that the melodies of 'March Of
The Meanies' or 'Pepperland' aren't just as catchy as anything Beatlish
on this record.
So if you're willing to endure the orchestration and the Martin compositions,
get this album. It will still be worthwhile. And, of course, be sure not
to miss the cartoon itself. One of the best, most exciting and hilarious
pieces of animation in the whole wide world, no doubt about that.
Oh, and one more thing: the long-time plans of a new overhyped re-release
of this album that would eventually include some new previously-unheard-of
Beatles song have finally come true, and I must warn you: if you really
want this record, SEEK OUT THE ORIGINAL. The new rerelease is nothing but
a straightforward collection of tunes from the cartoon, with nothing that
can't be found on other records. No bonuses, nothing. Logical resolution:
I'd rather have my Yellow Submarine with its George Martin instrumental
side that never really spoils the general atmosphere, than have pointless
reduplications of Beatles songs on other albums. After all, if I really
want to have a trustworthy soundtrack, I can always make myself an audio
tape and be happy with it (actually, I'd already done that in the past).
This is just another in a series of shameless plans to rob Beatles fans
of their money. Shame on you, Capitol Records!
All together now! Mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
Matt Zindroski <zindroski@earthlink.net> (19.08.99)
The Yellow Submarine album. Yes, it probably is the worst Beatle album. Four original songs? Bleach. Although, the soundtrack is not as bad as it is made out to be, it just really has nothing to do with the Beatles. But, If you have low enough expectations, it isn't that bad. It's just made of their leftovers, George Martin's score, and repeated Beatle songs. 'Only A Northern Song' is in my opinion, better on the Anthology 2 (hell, it should have been on Sgt Pepper as a 2nd George Song). The version on the Anthology sounds more like a song (no annoying glass noises), and is in full stereo, instead of this no center crap. Hey, did you all know that John Lennon liked 'All together now'? It sounds like a McCartney song John would hate, but he dug because it's based on the skiffle music that was so popular when they were lads. Mindless? yes. Fun? yeah. 'Hey Bulldog' is probably the most overlooked classic Beatle song (cause it got stuck here on this album). 'Twas the last song they recorded before their trip to India, with a great John Lennon guitar solo, and some interesting dialogue at the end. For everone who hates Yoko Ono, she was at the 'Hey Bulldog' sessions too. 'It's all too much', was recorded in 1967, so that's the reason it sounds out of date. I don't think they would actually consider recording something like this after The Beatles. It's a good song, not super great. I really like the orchestrated parts, really weird stuff. And George's guitar sound is the best. If you don't like long songs though, you probably won't think much of it. The other 2 Beatle songs were on other albums you should buy before this. The two highlights of the soundtrack section are 'Pepperland', and 'Yellow Submarine in Pepperland' (Probably one of the best classical adaptations of Beatle song. I love hearing 'Yellow Submarine' played by an orchestra). I give this a 4 (one point for original Beatle songs), and a pat on the back for the previously mentioned George Martin orchestrations. One last warning: the liner notes are really dumb. You know your album isn't good when the liner notes arn't for the same album. These happen to describe The Beatles.
Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (28.08.99)
Actually, there's a promotional film of "Lady Madonna" which
shows the Beatles "plaing" that hit - problem is, they're actually
doing "Hey Bulldog"! John is singing instead of Paul, and the
words don't match his mouth! Oh, those crazy Brits...
In all honesty, I really, really like Harrison's two songs on here. They
are perhaps the most trippy, drugged out tunes by any band - including
the early Pink Floyd! And "All Together Now" is fun in a singalong
way. The only reason this album is weak is because those, and the indeniably
awesome "Hey Bulldog," are the only new songs that are written
by Beatles. But they're damn good!
<BtheW@aol.com> (19.02.2000)
Another Beatles album that isn't really a Beatles album. If you're willing to overlook the fact that half of this album is by The George Martin Orchestra and just judge it track by track, it's really not bad. The best song? I think most people agree that it's 'Hey! Bulldog.' Good, funky riff on a solid pop song. I also think that just because 'Yellow Submarine' was on a previous album doesn't mean it doesn't count as one of the songs on this one. It's one of the best children's songs ever written. 'All Together Now' is a lesser song, but perhaps even more fun. I was in love with both of these songs when I was six, and still am. 'It's All Too Much' is one George's best melodies, but it does become a bit 'too much' with that long coda - pretty trippy stuff going on, though. 'Only A Northern Song' suffers only because there's just way too many sound effects cluttering it up. Otherwise, it's pretty cool. 'All You Need Is Love' is one of those songs that never did much for me, even though I can't really think of a good reason why. It's kind of dull, but I like a lot of the details. The George Martin tracks are generally an interspersing of soundtracky abstractions and tuneful melodies. Most of this stuff works better as part of the movie, but it's a lot better than his work on the U.S. vinyl copies of A Hard Day's Night and Help! The melody for 'Pepperland' is perhaps the most memorable of these pieces. Perhaps you've heard The Yellow Submarine Songtrack by this time, which you were referring to. As it turns out, the idea of long-lost songs was either a false rumor or a misunderstanding (a friend of mine had also heard it this way). The 'lost songs' in question are really just the familiarly-known Beatles tunes included in the movie, but not on the original album. All of these are on the Songtrack, but not the George Martin stuff. They've also been given new stereo mixes, and are astounding in their clarity.
Jeff Blehar <jdb3@jhu.edu> (20.11.2000)
Well it's a total mess, and I could never ever recommend it to anyone. Though I secretly hope that Beatlefans will buy it of their own accord, so they'll get to hear "Hey Bulldog" and "It's All Too Much," and I won't have to feel guilty about recommending a disc which otherwise has no right to exist. Those two songs are really great, especially "Bulldog." I used to praise "It's All Too Much" to the high skies, but upon further reflection it's got two major strikes against it: ridiculously bad, self-indulgent production (George Martin had most definitely left the building while this one was being done) and overlong running time. This is another example of the increasing self-indulgence in The Beatles' recording methods, which was beginning to noticeably affect some of their songs for the worse: if "Too Much" had been edited more thoughtfully (they cut out an entire verse which, to my knowledge, remains available only in the movie and on bootlegs), it would have been MUCH stronger. Give me the missing verse over 2 minutes of John, George and Paul singing "TUBA!" anyday. Much the same comment goes for "Helter Skelter" on The Beatles and "I Want You" on Abbey Road. For the latter I understand that part of the point was to make it long and unrelenting, but they still could have hacked a minute or so off and made the point just fine. Anyway, you got those two songs and two more which are outtakes-that-should-have-been ("All Together Now": NO! NONO! and "Only A Northern Song" which is *interesting* but not much more) plus two you already have and a side full of instrumentals: how can I give this more than a 3/10? Oh. I can't.
<Thought09@aol.com> (05.12.2000)
Yes, this is not worthy of being a top rate beatles album, but if you
are even slightly into the beatles I would suggest getting it. This is
really just another beatles e.p. like MMT was in Britain and for being
just an ep, it's quite good. 'All Together Now' is my least fav of the
four, but is still great fun. 'Hey Bulldog' is awesome. Simple as that.
My Brother doesn't like the Beatles at all, but when he heard 'Bulldog'
playing one day he commented that he really liked it. Now this brings us
to George's two songs:
They're fuckin' awesome!!!! Granted, you'd have to be a fan of the MMT
era sound to really like these tracks, but if so, get ready for two of
the most tripped out beatles songs to ever blow your mind. First off, 'Only
a Northern Song' is right up there with benefit of mr. kite and blue jay
way as one of the creepiest, weirdest sounding beatles songs. If you like
dark, strange psychedelia aka the Doors and early floyd then you'll dig
this track. I THINK ALL OF THE WEIRD SOUND EFFECTS ARE GREAT! Plus, you've
got to love George's cynical lyrics of basically being a slave to the music
publishers, northern songs. This tune was written and recorded around the
same time as the early pepper tunes and if released then, IMO would've
been an even bigger shock to the beatles fans at the time then strawberry
fields was when it was released. If mean, hell, the lyrics make a point
of this, kinda like "this ain't the same ol' I wanna hold yer hand
stuff boys & girls" The version of it on the newly remixed yellow
sub songtrack is the best - wonderful stereo sound, unlike the original
mix......and then comes 'it's all too much'.....
This song is easily in my top 10 beatles songs of all time and it doesn't
even sound like the beatles!! The guitar track (which I heard was played
by Paul, believe it or not) features a hendrixian tone unheard on any other
beatles track and is simply wonderful. The whole thing, the mantra like
organ track, ringo's superb drumming, the great bassline, even the handclaps
& yelps are utterly stupendous, blowing the mind. Yeah, George's lyrics
are your typical 'acid is love' stuff, but it works. I mean, that's what
this song is.....IMO, this song is the ultimate summer of love anthem (and
it didn't even come out 'till '69) not the darker airplane singles or the
way too hippy-dippy 'all you need is love'. Also, for me, it doesn't drag
on too long at all. In fact, I prefer the original eight minute long unedited
mix. You are transported onto this lsd rainbow of love that goes on and
on and on and, in fact, I wish never ended. The mix on the newly remixed
yellow sub is cleaner w/ perhaps a better arrangement of instruments and
louder drums, but the blow yer mind guitar track which really makes the
song what it is, is toned down and lower in the mix.
Anyway, if you don't think the album is worth getting, just consider it
an e.p. w/ an lp price and get it. NOW!!!!!
Year Of Release: 1969
Record rating = 10
Overall rating = 15
One of the most satisfying products ever, brimming with musical ideas
and pure delight.
Best song: once again, I just don't know. A very even album.
The group's swan song, and it's probably the most fantastic swan song
ever recorded. It was indeed a miracle: for a few days (weeks), as if by
special consideration, all the quarrels, hatred and bullshit were thrown
out and all four did some tight and real co-operative work. Why? Because
everybody knew this was the last time.
Despite this, nothing in the world could suffice to make Lennon and McCartney
not only make a record together, but write songs together as well. So some
of the tracks are definite Lennon, while some are definite McCartney. The
record in general produces a very strange feeling - it sounds almost years
more mature and aged than the previous album, and when I first heard it
I couldn't help wondering: 'THIS is the Beatles?' In the end I only
believed that this was the Beatles because no other band alive at
the time, not even the Stones, would be able to come up with such an incredible
album.
Anyway, this is the last place where you're going to see John working as
a Beatles unit - while McCartney carried his style onto his ensuing solo
albums, John underwent a major songwriting revolution right after cutting
the album. Thus, "Come Together" is probably his last great psychedelic
anthem - yet in among the 'groovy' lyrics and the call to 'come together'
the seeds of sarcasm and irony are sown - come on now, isn't the song actually
a ridiculization of hippies in an almost Zappa-esque style? Not to mention
the 'shoot' whisper that introduces each verse - an ominous choice, really.
But nothing could be more bitter and angry than "I Want You"
- the longest Beatles song ever recorded (this one, and not "Hey Jude"!,
as many people believe), with a great vocals/guitar interplay (parodying
Page/Plant?) and a fantastic dark riff emphasized by special synthesized
effects (like the wind blowing) towards the end of the song that goes on
and on forever until it unexpectedly cuts off as if there was just no more
place on the vinyl.
The typical McCartney numbers are no slouch either, particularly "Maxwell's
Silver Hammer", a stupidly hilarious take on black humour with a melody
as simple and as catchy as only Paul could have composed. But "Oh
Darling" is hardly worse - rumour has it that John was pretty much
pissed off at Paul for not letting him sing it. He might be right, too,
because the emotionally hot, loaded atmosphere of the song really called
for a Lennon treatment - but the ambitions were so high that Paul just
couldn't allow himself the compromise and preferred to bark all the lyrics
himself. Fortunately, it was not 1993 and his voice was in top form, so
it works out just fine.
Side B is pretty much completely occupied with the long suite of short,
half-baked tunes, every single one of which is a small gem. Some of them
are Lennon's, some Paul's, but Paul's was the general concept, and it works:
the funny moments are wonderfully interwoven with the sentimental ones,
the Mystery Tour-like nonsense ("She Came In...", "Sun
King") is starring close to generic rock'n'roll stuff ("Polythene
Pam", "The End"), and to crown it all, after a lengthy pause
(during which the unexperienced LP listener was supposed to unsuspectingly
switch off the turntable, especially since the track was not in the listing)
we have a political statement (oh yeah?) in "Her Majesty".
Oh, I almost forgot: this album is so much unique because it features Ringo's
best moment ("Octopus's Garden" - a very naive childish tune
but set to a great melody with wonderful guitars and amusing synthesizer
effects), and George gave "Something" and "Here Comes The
Sun" - beautiful ballads which are probably his best creations as
well (nothing surprising about it, especially since he was already nearing
his All Things Must Pass period).
Overall, there is not even a single second on the album which I wouldn't
like. Perfection from beginning to end. Then again - few would disagree
with this anyway. And the funniest thing is that the Beatles were really
always willing to progress - even on their collective deathbed.
They could have settled on finishing and polishing the Let It Be
album, for instance (see below); instead, they started from scrap and pushed
rock music even further in one last, desperate move. Of course I don't
mean the use of synthesizers (synthesizers were already used before them
by the Byrds and even the Monkees - the only thing in which the latter
managed to surpass their prototypes): what I really mean is that they managed
to put together an emotional masterpiece. It is quite possible that
out of all Beatles albums, this one's the one that really hits your senses
as no other does - sadness, anger, joy, childish ridiculousness, melancholy,
and awe are all mixed in this terrific package as never before. If The
Beatles was their encyclopaedia of pop genres, then Abbey Road
is their encyclopaedia of human feelings, which is of course a far more
outstanding musical conquest. Buy this album today, and if you don't enjoy
it, you're simply not human - there was definitely some bureaucratic error
in your personal karma.
Come together and mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
Rich Bunnell <cbunnell@ix.netcom.com> (29.07.99)
By far my favorite Beatles release--those who call it over-produced or silly or anything like that are just wrong. No wait, that's not wrong, it's just an opinion....but how could anyone truly have that opinion?!?! It's different than mine!!!!...sorry. "Come Together" is great of course even though "Something" gets all of the praise because it's Harrison, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is an unbelievably cool dirge, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is slight and funny, and the entire second half, especially starting with the "Golden Slumbers" segment, is perfection. Maybe not as down-to-the-roots as past Beatles albums and actually quite silly by the time Paul's pop symphony kicks in, but musically this is the boys at their best. Even when the material doesn't necessarily jump out, the harmonies are so beautiful ("Because") that it's still an excellent listen!
José Humberto Mesquita Filho <humberto@fcm.unicamp.br> (01.10.99)
What else can be said about this gem? Abbey Road rivals The
White Album as my favourite Beatles album, the former being more concise,
the latter being more diverse. I guess Abbey Road has a slight advantage
over the white one, but both of them are perfect tens. Harrison is in top
form, Lennon and McCartney do their usual (which is outstanding) and even
the only Ringo song on this one is awesome. And who said that their playing
is no good? Of course they're not rock virtuosos like The Who or Led Zeppelin,
but the sound is tight, nervous, frenetic, ass-kicking. This band rocks,
and we all know that, based on their rooftop performance earlier in '69.
John's singing is sincere, Ringo plays with strenght and precision, George's
guitarwork is accurate, and Paul's bass playing is what we call a classic.
He invented his own way of playing it. Excellent bunch of songs, "Here
Comes the Sun" being my favourite, but there's more, much much more.
"Oh! Darling" is brilliant, presenting Paul screaming at the
top of his lungs; "I Want You" makes me swing alone in my room,
and their suite on side two blows me away everytime. Love those mad lyrics:
"Step on the gas and wipe that tear away", "Sunday's on
the phone to monday", "yes you can say she was a-certainly built..
YEAH YEAH YEAH". Producer George Martin told them: think like Mozart,
or Bach. And they did. And did it with gusto. The Beatles were gifted -
the greatest musicians of this agonizing century. It's very easy to get
hooked to this album: my girlfriend never heard a single track of Abbey
Road before, and now it's one of her favourite CDs (yeah, she got her
own copy). And she's not a rock and roll fan (at least, not like me). This
album is just too good to be true.
Abbey Road isn't excellent rock music. It's excellent music, period.
Mike Prill <Mprill2414@aol.com> (22.12.99)
I just wanna give a shout out to the Beatles for making the greatest Beatles album, and, in my humble opinion, the greatest ROCK AND ROLL album ever. I was not much of a Beatles fan until i heard this record, then i was sold. I found myself caught up in Beatle mania and bought all their albums and i just love them now. Who says young people aren't still diggin' the Fab 4? The Beatles live forever.
<KEROUAC615@aol.com> (24.12.99)
I think that Abbey Road exemplifies what the Beatles were as a band in the late years. I think it's probably their best album! Let It Be was such an unhappy record and it shows in the music even though there are some great tracks. I think at this stage in there careers the individuality really shows. There was probably little collaboration between John and Paul during this time, but I think they learned to just to play their songs to one another and ask for advice from each other. I love the Beatles and their music will last forever.
Ryan Mulligan <pxpres@idt.net> (25.12.99)
IMO, the best Beatles album by far. The quick tunes on side b are all great and even Ringo's song is tolerable this time. 'Something' is by far my favorite on the album(maybe cause i like Harrison the most). I've never understood all the praise for Rubber Soul or Revolver. I'd give Rubber Soul an 8...it just sounds like catchy pop tunes to me and I'm not crazy about the "serious" songs('Norwegian Wood', 'Nowhere Man'). As for Revolver, 'Yellow Submarine' is a joke and 'Good Day Sunshine' is only a tad better....it all comes together nicely so i'd give that one a 9. The only Beatles LP worthy of a 10, imo, is Abbey Road. Way too much filler on The Beatles(The White Album) and Sgt. Pepper is just plain overated(not to say it's not great, it is, but not as great as people say). I can't call Abbey Road as good as Blonde On Blonde, but this is a GREAT album, and i'm not even that big of a Beatles fan....I like Dylan and those 4 guys whose best album was their first(??)....later
Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (13.01.2000)
Overrated. This will sound incredibly stupid, but I can only give this album a nine. Why? Well, songs like "I Want You," which sucks, and "Sun King," which I've always felt didn't work in the otherwise nicely flowing second side suite, are numbers that I just don't enjoy, and, as much as I love it, "Come Together" really isn't one of my favourites. The good songs on here are Harrison's two, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," and the majority of that side two suite. Good stuff. If only they could have edited out the two cruddy songs, this could have been a masterpiece. Still good, though.
<BtheW@aol.com> (19.02.2000)
The slickest production on any Beatles album. I think that's the biggest
reason it's so popular. I think this album, like 'Sgt. Pepper' is better
than the sum of its parts. In other words, there are several tracks that
don't quite do it for me. My favorite moment is probably the 'Mean Mr.
Mustard/Polythene Pam' bit, two of the best rockers on the album, and both
very funny. I also like 'Because' quite a lot - hauntingly beautiful, like
a lot of Lennon's stuff during this period. The best McCartney moment would
have to be 'You Never Give Me Your Money,' which is not only a really strong
song to begin with, but also adds to it several clever little medley ideas,
some of which rock pretty well. I absolutely adore 'Octopus's Garden' -
a children's song that easily compares with 'Yellow Submarine' in its sweetness
and clever arrangement. I also really enjoy hearing 'Here Comes The Sun,'
which might be the best straight pop song on the album. 'Come Together'
is also pretty damned cool. 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' is downright
monolithic - and I don't get bored with the long coda! 'The End' is tremendous
fun - particularly when they start trading off guitar solos. 'Sun King'
is nice and relaxing, but sounds almost like a repeat of 'Because.' Then
there's the rest: 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' (okay, it's catchy and clever
- another one that I hate myself for enjoying); 'Something' (another one
of those that's well-crafted, but I never feel like listening to it - great
bass, though); 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window' (I don't know
why, but this one just doesn't get me); 'Carry That Weight' (another one
that just doesn't get me, even with its reprise of 'You Never Give Me Your
Money'); 'Her Majesty' (strictly a ditty, and merely average even on those
terms); 'Oh! Darling' (a passable blues tune, with a rather obnoxious vocal
from Paul). Then there's 'Golden Slumbers,' one of my least favorite Beatles
tracks. Could anything be more overwraught? McCartney sounds simply ridiculous
on the chorus. Overall, though, the medley is pretty slick, and the album
is, as people say, very slick. (I slipped on it the other day.)
The album cover: simple and perfect. One of the best ever. The Beatles
look sooo coooool on that cover, don't they?
<TDL133@aol.com> (02.04.2000)
There isnt much i could add that hasnt been said in you're review or comments from others.The word has been used before , but I will use it again-PERFECTION!. ABSOLUTE PERFECTION !
Fredrik Tydal <f_tydal@hotmail.com> (14.04.2000)
Absolutely essential to any record collection. It's so great that I almost can't comment on it at all. It has George's best songs, Ringo's best song and some of the Beatles' very finest efforts. "Come Together", obviously a nod to Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me", is great of course. But what most people don't know is that Chuck's song itself was seemingly inspired by Big Bill Broonzy's "Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down". "Because" was a song I didn't notice much until it was used during the closing credits in American Beauty (the movie, not the Dead album). The only thing that bothers me about the album is the closing "Her Majesty". As I understand it, it was put on the album by mistake and was kept since Paul liked it. But I think it spoils the epic grandeur of the second side a bit... Ah, well - you can just turn it off after "The End".
Philip Maddox <slurmsmckenzie@hotmail.com> (28.06.2000)
I don't think this is nearly as strong as The White Album, but
it's still really good. To start out, this album has a couple of songs
that don't do much for me - 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' is kinda lame, if
you ask me. The lyrics aren't as funny as they're often made out to be,
and the song just sounds like another music-hall Paul piece. 'Oh! Darling'
is ok, but it doesn't strike me as hard as the other love songs on here.
Like 'Something', for instance. That's a great song. As is the other Harrison
contribution, 'Here Comes the Sun', which is one of the best Beatle songs.
'I Want You' is too long - the riff is pretty good, but it lasts too long
and is too repetitive to hold my attention for 7 minutes. It still ain't
bad, of course. In fact, that's not only a "pretty good" riff,
it's a great riff. But it's still too long. 'Come Together' is great, in
spite of being overplayed. then there's the side 2 suite, which is great,
especially the part from 'Golden Slumbers' to the end - beautiful music.
Still, I don't think the album is as good as its reputation. Of course,
it's all pretty good at the worst. I'd either give it a high, high, high
8 or a low, low, low 9. It's still a highly recommended album that everyone
should have. I don't listen to it a whole lot, though, 'cuz when I wanna
hear the Beatles, 9 times out of 10 I go for the White Album. But
that's more of a high praise for that album than an insult aimed at this
one.
And 'Octopus's Garden' is pretty cute, too.
Mike Mannheim <mm1701@yahoo.com> (15.07.2000)
This is the best Beatles album, and the best record in my entire collection. George contributes the two best songs, especially "Something" which is my favorite Beatles song of all time.
paul.w4tson <paul.w4tson@ntlworld.com> (14.09.2000)
I am disgusted with your dismissal of side B of this album. Yes they are some great dinky tunes, but brilliantly put together in a montage, one that has not been bettered since (!!!!!!!!!! Humanity turns out to be a couple thousand degrees more mysterious than I thought previously - G. S.)
Nick Karn <glassmoondt@yahoo.com> (16.10.2000)
I find it really odd that everyone who puts down this album always does so for the exact same songs. Everyone calls "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" a dippy, childish novelty tune that's stupid beyond words or whatever, they say "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" goes on for way, way too long despite a good riff, and the medley is a tasteless way for the band to go out and is the nadir of all Beatles music. My opinion? I'll buy into the hype that this is the greatest rock album of all time - it may be my favorite now, or at least VERY close in my top 3. As excellent as Sgt Pepper may be, that album isn't all that cohesive with a few less than stellar songs, and plus it's sound is sort of stuck in the psychedelic era. Every song here just leaves some huge impression, whether it's the sheer beauty of "Here Comes The Sun" (my personal favorite), the ending medley, which flows almost like a towering progressive suite, the powerful and heated "Oh! Darling", the breathtaking "Something", the heavenly harmonies of "Because", the bizarre multi-part "You Never Give Me Your Money", and of course those fun novelty tunes that everyone complains about ("Maxwell", "Octopus's Garden"). This is an unsurpassed masterpiece in melody and creativity - a 15 without even giving it a second thought.
Jeff Blehar <jdb3@jhu.edu> (20.11.2000)
Slicker than a greased watermelon, but that's no criticism, just a description!
And in point of fact, it doesn't totally apply; while "Come Together"
is actually exudes oil in all of its snakey suppleness, "I Want You"
is an undeniably raw slab of Lennon's feral desire. And I won't piss
all over it either, but truthfully it's at least one minute too long.
Not three minutes too long - I don't mind that long ending section, as
the endless repetition is meant to hammer home John's sickening, addictive
need for Yoko - but by the time that white-noise Moog has come in, I've
lost a lot of patience with the piece. It doesn't BUILD, it just
kinda plods along until someone cuts it dead, and if plodding is the whole
point, then give me a little less of it, thanksgoodbye.
Anyway, other than that the only weak track is "Maxwell's Silver Hammer,"
which deserves to diediedie not because of its melody (which I like) or
its lyrics (which I emphatically DISlike, but let that go), but because
of the way McCartney shredded the last remaining threads of goodwill the
band had towards each other by making them run through endless takes and
remakes of the song, all the while insisting that it had #1 written all
over it. Bastard.
And here's George, with not one, but two utter classics! "Something"
and "Here Comes The Sun" are special not only because they're
so darn luvverly and catchy, but also because they're two of the only Harrison
tunes in the Beatles' canon that lack his usual bitterness and reticence.
The wiseguy in me wants to say that McCartney's been trying to catch up
to the middle eight of "Something" for the last 30 years.
But he shouldn't feel embarrassed, because he's our man behind that thingamajig
on Side 2, the Long Medley.
Who's going to knock the medley? Not I. Sure, "Sun King"
is lame on its own, but it finds a nice warm cozy home in between "Mean
Mr. Mustard" and "You Never Give Me Your Money." As
for "Money," well that could be my favorite Beatles song of all
time, and certainly my favorite on the album (I'll include its reprise
in "Carry That Weight" as well): there it is, RIGHT THERE, in
3 1/2 minutes, the entire musical history of The Beatles, wrapped up into
one heartbreaking piece of joy, loss, and valediction. It's enough
to make me rescind the death warrant I'd like to put out on Paul for curdling
any group camaraderie with "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" - here he's
saying goodbye to the group, and if he's not 100% sincere then I'm not
a pretentious college student and these tears aren't real.
<MSDK84@email.msn.com> (27.11.2000)
The group's best and last album. There aren't really any weak spots except that I feel "Her Majesty" ruins the climax to their epic-length suite, and their entire career somewhat. This was one of the first rock albums to use moog synthesizers, George uses them and applies them much better than on Electronic Sound. By the White Album it was obvious that George was becoming just as good as a songwriter as Lennon and McCartney. As on the previous CD, he writes some of the best songs. Side one is great, its only real down spot is 'Oh Darling!', at least I think so. I absolutely the "pop symphony" or "big medley" or whatever you may choose to call it, I think it is the best song they ever did. This album's influence on prog-rock is very obvious too, at the time the genre was just beginning and the rock-symphonies, synths and such of this album helped to shape the early prog-rock bands. Anyway, to all the other readers and such of this page, your Beatle's collection is not complete without this album. This truly is the Beatle's swansong.
Year Of Release: 1970
Record rating = 9
Overall rating = 14
Unfortunately, they lost interest in it halfway through. But that's
the only flaw.
Best song: LET IT BE
The rating is a bit lower than for most of the previous 'mature-period'
albums. But that's only because of the fact that this is a very raw album.
The sessions actually took place in the beginning of 1969, before the Abbey
Road sessions, and culminated in the famous concert on the roof; however,
due to total dissension of the members lusting for each other's blood the
results were shelved and resuscitated only a year later - by Phil 'wall-of-sound'
Spector. Therefore, it is not really a Beatles product - it lacks the traditional
McCartney/George Martin production and has a lot of 'alien' embellishments,
like Phil's orchestration of 'The Long And Winding Road' that pissed off
McCartney (I don't know what are their current relations with Phil) and
still pisses off fans, although nowadays they can finally be relieved by
picking up a copy of Anthology-III that restores the original version.
Still, in all other senses it is the Beatles.
Some of the tracks are live, from the 'roof concert'. They do their last
famous rocker, 'Get Back', and do it well, although the single version
is far superior. Come to think of it, this version of 'Get Back' is probably
a studio take, not a live one, since in the film, where they do two versions
of the song on the roof, well, these versions do not seem to exactly match
the one of the album. Only the famous Lennon remark that 'we've passed
the audition' is taken from the 'roof'. The one tune that comes directly
from the roof is 'One After 909' - a rocker from their earliest period,
strange enough, revived for this album. While it's quite cool, I admit
that the original, recently dug out and placed on Anthology I, is
somewhat less generic and discovers the potential of this number in a far
more obvious way. Another rough number is 'I've Got A Feeling' - a fantastic
duet between Paul and John and a highlight of the record. Everybody who's
heard it can easily understand that it's really two separate songs: John's
funny 'everybody had a hard time...' never belonged here in the first place.
What a brilliant decision it was to combine both songs, set the two vocal
melodies to a single rhythm pattern, and let it all come to a giddy climax
where Paul and John both sing their lines at the same time
- as if you were playing two different tapes on the same tape recorder.
And they did this live! Amazing guys! Finally, there's the live
version of 'Dig A Pony', to my opinion, the most boring track on the album,
because it's very slow and not very catchy - I frankly get a bit bored
witnessing it crawl at this snail pace in its clumsiness; but it's decent
still, and lyrically it's another hilarious word-game that completely fits
in the Lennon tradition.
The other tunes are all studio outtakes, some of which are first-rate.
The title track is a timeless classic, of course, and one of Macca's 'golden
dozen' tunes that no live show of his can get away without. My favourite
part, though, is the brilliant Harrison solo - in my opinion, its soaring
majesty fully compensates for George's passing on the reins to Clapton
on 'While My Guitar': make sure that you're listening to the album version,
though, not the single version on Past Masters or the version captured
in the movie. But in any case, do not let the brilliance of 'Let It Be'
overshadow the other stuff, like, for instance, 'Across The Universe' -
John's last 'psychologic & introspective & psychedelic' anthem,
which he himself for some reason disliked; or the above-mentioned beautiful
ballad 'The Long And Winding Road' - possibly 'spoiled' by Phil's orchestration,
but then again, probably not.
A couple shorter tracks have been also included, just to reproduce the
free-style jamming atmosphere: 'Dig It' - a brief extract from an overlong
jam which you can see in the movie, and 'Maggie Mae' - an even briefer
country-western tidbit with undecipherable lyrics. Oh, and the opening
track ('Two Of Us') is also countryish, although the lyrics are far from
country ('Two of us burning matches/Lifting latches/On our way home').
The most amusing story, though, is related to one of the two Harrison contributions,
'I Me Mine': while the song, with its pleading, high-energy gospelish atmosphere
(very suitable for All Things Must Pass, in fact) was undeniably
great, it was also much too short, so Phil without further thinking dubbed
the only existent verse twice and put it on record that way. What a simple
way to deal with such a complex problem, eh?
And one should not overlook the second George contribution, 'For You Blue':
it's a must for everybody who's ever asked himself the question if the
Beatles could play generic blues. It's true that they almost never dabbled
in the blues for blues' sake, but this is one of the few examples. Personally,
I think that John's (yes, it is John) outstanding slide part proves that
the guys could have blown any other bluesman in existence off the planet.
Gee, the Beatles could have gone on to become an impressive blues band!
What a bummer.
The host here, once again, is Paul, with most of the really important songs
belonging to him. However, he wouldn't remain in this position for much
longer - for reasons you all know. And, in all, the album has a very interesting
feel: never mind all the Spector embellishments, it still sounds as raw
as a piece of freshly bought meat (pardon me for the bloody reference).
All the fade-ins and fade-outs, bits of dialogue in the studio and on the
roof, false starts ('Dig A Pony'), guitar tunings ('Get Back') - this was
the closest to a 'Beatles-at-work' album before all these Anthologies
started pouring out. For a person who's addicted to the well-polished sound
of nearly all existent Beatles recordings, this can be a serious blow -
but I assure you that it's very easy to get used to.
I've got a feeling I'm not alone on this planet! Mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
Mats Fjäll <mats.fjall@telia.com> (19.10.99)
I think this is a very underrestemated album, I mean how could anybody say an album with songs like 'Let It be','Get Back', 'I've Got A Feeling', 'Across the Universe' is bad!?!? Of course there is a few weak moments: 'For You Blue', 'Dig It' and 'Maggie May'. But on the other hand there's 'The Long And Winding Road', 'I Me Mine' and 'Dig A Pony'(Great Intro!!!) So it is worth alot better credit than given by the so called "experts" around the music world!
Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (13.01.2000)
A seven. Too much bluesy stuff for my tastes. I am enamoured with the ballads, though - "Across The Universe," "Let It Be," and especially the amazing "Long And Winding Road" are great examples of Beatles at their peak. But songs like "I've Got A Feeling" and "Dig It" are pretty lame. And the fact that some of the songs are just brief throwaways doesn't help. Oh well. I still like it a lot.
Michel Franzen <crazytimes25@yahoo.com> (13.01.2000)
"I Me Mine': while the song, with its pleading, high-energy gospelish
atmosphere (very suitable for All Things Must Pass, in fact) was
undeniably great, it was also much too short, so Phil without further thinking
dubbed the only existent verse twice and put it on record that way. What
a simple way to deal with such a complex problem, eh?"
Phil Spector did the exact same thing to the Stones' song "I Don't
Know Why" from Metamorphasis. He turned that fragment into
a whole song by repeating the the guitar solo and second verse, that's
why the second verse fades out at the end of the song. Pretty cool song,
too.
<BtheW@aol.com> (19.02.2000)
The end result of the somewhat disappointing 'Get Back' sessions. This
is the only Beatles album where the end result is LESS than the sum of
its parts. There are several strong songs here, but the overall atmosphere
is totally bummed out. The recording quality sounds inferior to virtually
all of their other albums, too, perhaps because it was recorded at Apple
instead of Abbey Road. My favorite song on this is probably 'I Dig A Pony,'
which is the only really ballsy Lennon tune here - great riff, cryptic
lyrics, cool harmony, etc. Close on its heals is 'Two Of Us,' which is
one of my very favorite McCartney songs. It's a very happy tune, and makes
me want to go out and take a drive. Okay, I'm back. Other good moments
include 'I Me Mine' (a strong Harrison number that sways one moment and
rocks the next); 'One After 909' (a rollicking trip into the past for the
still-fab four; love that keyboard by Billy Preston); and 'For You Blue'
(a catchy blues jam). There's at least one song that's virtually ruined
by Phil Spector's overly lush orchestration, 'Across The Universe,' which
otherwise would be a really good moment on this album. 'Let It Be' is one
of those songs that's perfectly crafted, and at the same time doesn't grab
me (that is a great solo by George, though). 'I've Got A Feeling' also
doesn't quite grab me - McCartney's a bit obnoxious here. 'Get Back' is
kind of overrated - it doesn't really rock that well (and the edited job
here doesn't help - but another great job by Billy!). 'Dig It' and 'Maggie
Mae' are both pretty much irrelevant, but harmless. Then there's 'The Long
And Winding Road.' Okay, let me start by saying that I recognize that this
song, like all of the other Beatles' hits, is well-crafted and tuneful.
And now I'll get to the bad news. The lyrics are hopelessly sentimental.
The rhythm just plods along with no variation whatsoever. The other Beatles
sound (and in the movie, look) totally bored out of their skulls. And as
if this wasn't enough, Phil Spector slops on the biggest bunch of syrupy
goo I've heard this side of Mantovani. To sum it up, 'The Long And Winding
Road' is my LEAST favorite Beatles song. You may now proceed to flame me,
Beatle people.
Technical point #1: This 'version' of 'Get Back' is actually an alternate
mix of the version on the single (and Past Masters). The rooftop
version appears only on Anthology 3.
Technical point #2: 'Let It Be' is also a different mix, but not a different
version from the one on the single (and Past Masters).
Technical point #3: 'Across The Universe,' surprisingly enough, is not
a separate version, but a drastically different mix than the one on Past
Masters. Also, it was recorded during the 'Lady Madonna' sessions.
Technical point #4: While most of these tracks were recorded before Abbey
Road, the Phil Spector orchestrations, the lead vocal on 'For You Blue,'
and all of 'I Me Mine' were recorded in early 1970. The guitar solo on
'Let It Be' dates from the Abbey Road sessions.
Frank Stalone <canadians_do_it_doggy_style@yahoo.com> (13.06.2000)
Let It Be was ruined by Phil Spector and his damned Wall of Sound- take 'Two of Us', 'I've Got a Feeling', 'Dig a Pony', 'I Me Mine', 'Let It Be', and the 50s covers from Anthology 3, replace Spector's butchered versions and the throwaways ('Dig It', 'Maggie Mae'), and you have one kick ass rock 'n' roll album.
Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (25.06.2000)
There's no such thing as an underrated Beatles album, and this is no
exception. Where are the bad reviews of this one that everyone's talking
about? Wilson & Alroy, yeah, sure, but their rating is relative to
other Beatles albums, and pretty much everybody else holds up this album
in a positive light. The lesser-known rockish stuff like "For You
Blue," "I Me Mine" and "Dig A Pony" is infectious,
and the hits are pretty dandy too. I still don't find enough of a substantial
difference between this version of "Get Back" and the Past
Masters one for me to get too upset, and the title track and "The
Long And Winding Road" are absolutely wonderful ballads. Screw all
of you with your trendy I'm-so-indie "Phil Spector is Satan!!!"
crap, his orchestrations really add to the power of the songs. Wall of
sound? Where? I hear some strings in the background, yeah, but I can hear
the melodies just fine.
And I really have to give mad props to my favorite Beatles ballad of all
time (second favorite song behind "I Am The Walrus"), "Across
The Universe." The song literally almost brings me to tears with how
absolutely gorgeous it is-- never before or since have I heard such a perfect
melody in my LIFE. This is largely due to the fact that it was stuck in
my head for no reason during a particularly emotional part of my camp session
last week (it's cheesy, but if you wanna know, just ask), and in a good
way. I can't say any more about how much I love this song. I can't believe
Bowie and Fiona Apple would stoop so low as to cover it, and with such
wretched versions (though, for the record, Fiona's version fit fairly well
with the scene in "Pleasantville" it was featured in, but it
doesn't stand very well on its own). Final rating for the album is eight.
Abbey Road was a better swan song and should've rightfully been
released after, but since Abbey Road is the greatest album of all
time it's sort of hard to compare.
<MchlPiz@aol.com> (09.10.2000)
Everytime I read the opinions on this album no matter what web site or whatever book one name always deservedly comes up and that is the great Phil Spector. I find it rather "LAUGHABLE" that Beatle fans could have the arrogance to put this great musical genious down! When he was given the "Get Back" tapes, the Beatles and or John, asked Phil to do something which he had never done before and that was to make a complete "Album" from start to finish. You folks out there should remember that when Phil Spector worked on the Let It Be album he was a producer who made some of the greatist Rock and Roll "singles" the world had ever known but really not any albums. This "weakness" or simply a lack of experience does I admit come out a bit on the Let It Be album as it does not sound like a perfectly cohesive work, but neither were the Beatles a cohesive band when they originaly recorded these songs, and by the time Phil got the tapes the band was... well, you know the story. Phil Spector saved 'Across The Universe' at least if you want to accept the opinion of John Lennon. Spector's production also preserved the Beatles in every groove of the album, and as every Beatles person knows he made the song 'Let It Be' better by pushing Paul and George Martin out of the way so that the Beatles and particulary George Harrison could breathe. Which brings me to the biggest problem of the "Get Back" sessions and the Let it Be album namely that Paul McCartney is running the show here and the other Beatles quite simply did not like it! I mean that is so obvious! Add to it that John and George had no real "hits" here and the whole thing just becomes a McCartney ego ran misery. Phil Spector took all of this "misery" along with some fairly average Beatles songs and made an album which for the most part stands up to the rest of the Beatles work which by the year 2000 the whole wide world knows is no small acheivement! As for "The Long And Winding Road" drama, Paul McCartney had no problem with the song after it hit # 1, nor did he seem to have a problem when he picked up his Grammy award for best motion picture soundtrack, did he? Why he did the song again and many other Beatle classics with George Martin on cough, cough, ahem Broadstreet is way beyond me. Phil Spector gave "The Long And Winding Road" an etheral almost "distant" feel, one in which the Beatles were there and yet also at the same time not so quite there and to me at least that was a very effective and fitting way to say goodbye.
Jeff Blehar <jdb3@jhu.edu> (20.11.2000)
I for one enjoy this one quite a bit more than Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band, but that's probably due to the overrated/underrated
factor and the fact that I'll take good ol' roots rock over mellotrony
psychedelic cloud-floating whimsy from my Beatles any day. I can't
deny that it's far too short and far too fillery, though - no two ways
about it, both "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" are stupid,
useless jam/singalongs masquerading as Beatles tracks. And then there's
the nefarious Spector influence - a formerly genius producer somehow loses
all sense of how to orchestrate an album and destroys everything he lays
his hands on. Wait! It's not true! I insist that "The
Long And Winding Road" is horrendous, unbearably so with all the harps
and strings and angelic choruses, and "Across The Universe" is
little better (especially now that we have the Beatles Anthology 2
version to compare it with), but "I Me Mine" ROCKS with those
horror-show strings and brass, and "Let It Be" is a vast improvement
over the single version. Now here's an example where you can
actually A/B a Spector track with a George Martin track and see how it's
improved. The single version (working from an identical master tape)
buries the brass and favors a weaker, more twangy solo. Spector goes
all out with the horns, though, and Harrison's guitar solo MURDERS the
old one - no competition. The one song where I think you can actually
say that Phil Spector did a better job than George Martin.
Controversial tracks aside, everything else is soooo good. "Two
Of Us" is another one I get all nostalgic about - it's John &
Paul! On their way home! (yeah, Paul says it's about Linda,
but who're you gonna believe? Him or me?). I like "Dig
A Pony" because it's so clumsy; the riff galumphs up and down and
back and forth, and for a live performance it's really very strong.
Why Spector edited out the opening and closing "all I want is--"
parts is beyond me, though. "The One After 909" is a riot,
skiffle revisited through the lens of bluesrock, and "I've Got A Feeling"
is the best song on the album. Everything comes together here: the
last 50/50 Lennon/McCartney collaboration, suitably univeralist lyrics
("everybody had a good year"...), an EXTREMELY powerful McCartney
vocal, and that nice ending part where both sections are overlaid.
Oh yeah, and it's a live recording. Hey, those Beatles COULD play
their instruments! They just needed to practice in misery for months!
I'll give Let It Be an 8/10 (that's on the relative "Beatles
vs. their own albums" scale, mind you), which is perhaps a little
more than it deserves. But this is a much better way to say goodbye
than everyone makes it out to be.
<MSDK84@email.msn.com> (27.11.2000)
I don't really consider this album as good as the ones before it but since this was mainly a mix of unrelated leftovers it isn't fair to compare it. The title track is beautiful, Paul says it was written about the ghost of his mother visiting him in the night and giving him advice. He now says the same thing about Linda. 'All Across the Universe' is without a doubt John's best contribution. 'The Long And Winding Road' is amazing and I don't really mind the strings-section too much. You see, in 1969 the Beatles had tons and tons and tons of unreleased reject songs locked away in their catalouge and Phil had to take all of that and create a solid LP of it. Quite a task! 'I Me Mine' was written about Paul's selfishness in the studio and how it frustrated George. If you saw the film, Paul would get very upset and take the instruments away from the other Beatle's because he felt them incapable (especially George and Ringo) of playing. This album serves as a decent coda to the band's career but Abbey Road is definetly their swansong.
Year Of Release: 1988
Record rating = 9
Overall rating = 14
Everything you're missing on LP's. A very wise album.
Best song: impossible to determine.
The Past Masters albums are actually collections, and maybe it
would be more just to put them in the collections section. However, these
are not 'greatest hits' collections, but actually 'rarities' collections
- songs from singles, EPs, alternate and rare versions, in other words,
everything never included on original LPs. In this way, I deem it right
to count them as original albums, especially since their obvious (and generous)
purpose is to constitute a perfect CD-'coda' to the originals; and the
songs included were not selected on a subjective basis, so I'm perfectly
justified.
The first volume deals mostly with single material from 1962-1965, plus
a 4-song EP Long Tall Sally consisting mostly of covers plus one
good John original, 'I Call Your Name'. The singles are gorgeous - 'From
Me To You', 'She Loves You', 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' are all shattering
and groundbreaking; in fact, it is exactly these songs that constituted
the Beatles' fame in the early Sixties rather than the brilliant, but still
inferior LP material. I don't suppose it is especially necessary to introduce
you to these songs - every teenager with a little bit of self-respect is
supposed to know them by heart. I might point, though, that one mustn't
dismiss their B-sides, ever: 'Thank You Girl', for instance, shocked me
when I first heard it, with its thunderous beat and almost wild harmonica
playing - it is certainly far less restricted and, in fact, far more experimental
than its famous A-side 'From Me To You', though the melody is weaker. 'I'll
Get You', in my opinion, defines the perfect unadulterated pop number:
how can one forget these 'oh yeah oh yeah'? And finally, 'This Boy' is
a true forgotten gem, a song unjustly overshadowed by the inferior 'I Want
To Hold Your Hand'. The latter is a classic, of course, and has something
of a cult status in that it was the song that laid America to their feet;
but am I really alone in saying that its melody is far more simplistic
and even 'pedestrian' as compared to the wonderful doo-wop of 'This Boy',
with John's energetic, shrill screaming in the bridge and these wonderful
four notes after each chant of 'this boy' in the coda? A classic, indeed.
Since this is a collection, you can witness the gradual progression and
maturing of the band - through these earlier singles to the more intricate
instrumentation and production on the Long Tall Sally songs, especially
'Slow Down' (somehow that repetitive piano riff sounds just marvelous to
me). Of course, the title track of that EP is a McCartney fan favourite:
God bless John for convincing Paul to let it rip on that track! Ever tried
playing it back to back with the Little Richard original? See how much
better it sounds? No, of course I don't mean Paul sings better than Little
Richard (that would be heresy or simply slander), but these silly horns
and uninteresting rhythm guitars can't be beat by the 1964-mark fury that
the Beatles unleash on this record. And, of course, both Lennon's original
'I Call Your Name' and Ringo's trusty rendition of Carl Perkins' 'Matchbox'
are highly recommendable as well.
Then we have the famous 'I Feel Fine' single, with the first registered
use of feedback and a dog barking in the background at the very end of
the song - a thing unheard of in 1964! Curiously, though, there was a long
period during which I hated the song - hated it with a completely
unexplainable hatred. Hated it, I mean, until I suddenly stopped and asked
myself what in the world could cause anybody to so seriously dislike a
Beatles' song. I found no arguments, relistened to the song again and discovered
I had absolutely nothing against it. Maybe my gripes were with the lyrics
- you know, that 'baby says she's mine you know/she tells me all the time
you know/she said so/I'm in love with her and I feel fine' does exceed
the limits of stupidity, and that's at a time when John's next move would
be to successfully ape Dylan on 'I'm A Loser'. The melody is great, though.
And there's also the B-side to this stuff, Paul's 'She's A Woman', a song
that predicts disco almost ten years before its time (yeah, I'm serious!
Even if Jeff Beck did manage to turn it into reggae...) Finally, the first
part of this collection ends with a favourite of mine - 'I'm Down', a generic
McCartney rocker used to supplant his concert cover trademark - 'Long Tall
Sally'.
Among the more rare tracks are: 'Bad Boy', a John-sung rocking cover recorded
specially for the American bastard release Beatles VI; and versions
of 'She Loves You' and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' recorded in German -
the guys' Hamburg legacy, perhaps? Anyway, their pronunciation seems decent,
so they must have passed quite a bit of time in Germany (which they had).
Oh, that stupid practice of recording songs in different languages for
the national markets...
Indeed, I think that if you're not too sure of your attitude towards the
early Beatles, this collection will do fine, and don't bother getting that
1962-66 album. This singles' collection is very representative
of that epoch, and its advantage is that if you decide to get all the original
LP's afterwards, you'll still need to keep it because it has no overlaps.
A must, a must for everybody's collection.
Bad boy! Still haven't commented? Mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
<BtheW@aol.com> (21.02.2000)
The only legitimate way to make a Beatles compilation - this and volume
two. The only factor that it suffers from (other than the usual handful
of weaker tracks) is the lack of cohesion, though it holds together better
than the second volume.
My favorite? 'Bad Boy.' If any of these Stones, Kinks or Yardbirds fans
ever claim that these bands rocked better than the Beatles during the early
British Invasion years, just play them 'Bad Boy.' It simply kicks ass.
(And, by the way, I really do think those other bands could rock, too.)
There are several other tracks that stand out really well: 'She Loves You'
(perhaps the quintessential early Beatles track in terms of clever hooks);
'I Want To Hold Your Hand' (fewer hooks, but a little rockier); 'I'm Down'
(one of their best early rockers - and the harmonies are really humorous);
'I Call Your Name' (a good, tough Lennon outing); 'I Feel Fine' (a quasi-jazz
number that does everything right); 'Slow Down' (another great Lennon vocal);
and 'Long Tall Sally' (great vocal from McCartney; great solo from Harrison).
Then there's 'Yes It Is' and 'This Boy.' I say them in this order because
I like the first one a little more. They both have excellent harmonies
and killer Lennon vocal solos, and 'Yes It Is' should rightfully be seen
as sort of a rehash of 'This Boy,' but there are two differences that are
worth pointing out. First, the harmonies on 'Yes It Is' are a little trickier.
It's not too hard to sing along with any of the parts on 'This Boy,' but
try to follow George's part on 'Yes It Is.' It's not that easy. But this
is a pretty trivial point. What's more important is that 'This Boy' draws
a lot of attention to its use of the relative minor. For those who don't
know much music theory, but know a little guitar or piano, the verses to
'This Boy' start off with a D major and follow it with a B minor, which
is the relative minor in the key of D. Relative minors are a hallmark of
fifties music. In fact, one of the most profound effects the Beatles had
on popular music was the virtual abandonment of relative minors in their
chord progressions. Nowadays, if you want to write a nostalgic song, you
use relative minors. It plops the song right smack dab into the fifties.
Anyway, this is getting long-winded, so let me just go on to what I consider
the lesser material: 'From Me To You' (catchy stuff, but it doesn't compare
with the other early hits); 'She's A Woman' (good vocal from McCartney,
but way overrated); 'I'll Get You' (another catchy tune that just isn't
that great); 'Thank You Girl' (this one hasn't dated too well, but it's
infectious); and 'Matchbox' (perhaps the weakest vocal performance by any
Beatle; the double (triple? quadruple?) tracking is really a mess. In addition
to these, there are three tracks that are for hardcore fans only: a shakier
rendition of 'Love Me Do,' and two of their biggest hits, but in German,
'Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand' and 'Sie Liebt Dich.' I guess it's different
for people who understand German, but it just sounds really odd to me to
hear Lennon and McCartney sing these.
Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (09.07.2000)
An eight. This IS the Beatles, and this album is completely filled with great songs, but they go a bit too heavy on the rockabilly covers, which are usually hit and miss, for my taste. Paul tears through "Long Tall Sally," but "Slow Down" is given a limp treatment (in my opinion, the Jam released the definitive version of that song on their debut) and the others aren't that great either. But the rest of the stuff? Man, all I have to do is throw out some song titles. "I Want To Hold Your Hand." "She Loves You." "I Feel Fine." "Thank You Girl." "She's A Woman." "From Me To You." Oh...pleasure overload!!!!!....wait, that sounded sort of sick. Ignore, move on. This isn't as strong as the second Past Masters volume (duuuuuuh) but there're enough keepers to make this as least a good a buy as any other Beatles album, which is to say a pretty freaking good buy. Sie liebt dich, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Year Of Release: 1988
Record rating = 10
Overall rating = 15
This is some mighty indispensable stuff, too. Buy it today, don't
wait until tomorrow.
Best song: same as above.
The second part of the singles' collection, and it's even more incredible
- we step into their mature period. It opens with the singles from the
1965-66 period, all of which are just as good, if not better, than contemporary
LP material. 'Day Tripper', for instance, has the best Beatles riff ever:
it's no coincidence that out of all the Beatles songs, it was the only
one played by Jimi Hendrix (you can hear a live version on BBC Sessions).
My guess is that it was John's intentional attempt at going ahead and trying
to create a 'rock anthem': after all, the band's strength never lied in
their riffage. This is a powerful and convincing exception, and one of
the cases where a Beatles B-side obviously overshadows its A-side. Not
that 'We Can Work It Out' is bad, of course, with its wonderous shuffling,
optimistic verses contrasted with John's pessimistic wailing in the stuttering,
curiously decelerating bridge; it's simply incomparable to the power and
excitement of 'Day Tripper'.
And how could one forget 'Paperback Writer', Paul's charming, ironic tribute
to this class of people, with great lyrics and intricate backing vocals?
Again, though, the single is maybe even more notorious for its B-side,
'Rain', which paves the ground to John's classic psychedelic tracks, with
lazy, acid-drenched vocals, some of them recorded backwards, Eastern-sounding
distorted guitars, and powerful drumming that bashes the very life out
of you: and the refrain 'Rain, I don't mind' is the first mantra in the
Beatles' history, right? I guess so. 'Rain', in fact, was that main herald
of Revolver and the artsy-psychedelic revolution to come; the music
community must have experienced a real kind of shudder from hearing
it.
However, it's still the 1968-1969 material (the 1967 singles are not included
because they're on Magical Mystery Tour) that attracts most of the
attention. Some of these songs, indeed, are the Fab Four's most notorious
creations of the period, like Paul's famous piano rocker 'Lady Madonna'
which marked the transition from the surrealism of 1967 to a 'returning-to-roots'
in 1968, with its boggie-woogie piano chords and brass section. And, of
course, there's (also Paul's) 'Hey Jude' with the most famous coda in the
world (and by the way, it's not about Jews, it's about John's son
Julian). Funny how I know some people who complain about the coda's monotonousness
and lengthiness - if it's too lengthy for you, just turn it off. It's supposed
to be some kind of a unifying, grandiose, sweeping anthem that crushes
everything in its way, perhaps the ultimate statement of optimism and hope,
and in a somewhat less defiant and universalist way than John's 'All You
Need Is Love'. No wonder it was the Beatles' best-selling single of all
times, if I'm not mistaken, of course: you can never tell with such things.
And the flip side to the single contains the original version of 'Revolution'
which may well be the hardest track they ever did (indeed, the main riff
is closer to Cream, hell, closer to Mountain, than to the Beatles!), but
it's also fiery, driving and intoxicating! Not to mention that it's also
politically correct: John does not adlib the 'in' in 'you can count me
out... in', a thing that he did in just a month or so on the version re-recorded
for The Beatles.
Out of 1969, the year of toil and tension, we have some more songs that
are undeniable proof to the fact that the Beatles were always the Beatles
- whether they were at their collective peak or on the verge of breaking.
Thus, the tight, brilliantly produced single version of 'Get Back', with
Billy Preston on piano, is far superior to the Let It Be version,
and it features the silly coda that they decided not to put on the LP,
the one about Loretta's mother waiting for her wearing her 'hi-heel shoes
and her low-neck sweater'. And all the other 1969 songs make the game completely
as well, at least for me. 'Don't Let Me Down', for instance, features a
rip-roaring refrain interspersed with surprisingly gentle and heart-warming
lyrics, 'Old Brown Shoe' is a forgotten, but genuine Harrison classic (dig
in that magnificent rhythm!), and the lengthy, repetitive, Dylan-style
'The Ballad Of John And Yoko' is a bit overlong to my tastes but still
quite hilarious. It's a travelogue telling about the famous couple's self-indulgent
and nutty behaviour as idealistic, spaced-out hippies (remember all that
crap, the bed-ins, Bagism, 'give peace a chance', eh?), but it sounds nothing
like the avant-gardist garbage the two were flunking out as a 'duet' at
the time - it's a song, and a solid one at that. The two letdowns are alternate
versions of 'Let It Be' and 'Across The Universe', both of them inferior
to the LP recordings, especially the former because the solo is much less
emotional. But 'inferior' does not mean bad - why not have them on this
superb collection too?
Oh, make it three letdowns: we also have 'You Know My Name (Look Up The
Number)', which is the last groove ever released by The Beatles, but the
least convincing as well - in some parts it reminds me of 'Revolution 9',
although in general it's just a parody on jazz-rock. A boring parody, though.
For the record: Anthology-II features an extended version of this
song, although that's hardly any consolation. On the other hand, this is
a truly unique number in the Beatles' collection, and the one where they
move closer in style to Frank Zappa than on any other record. I don't know
whether that sounds like a good idea to you, but, seeing as I just dig
ol' Frank 'ere, I kin jes' cope weth eet! Anyway, go and buy this album,
don't let me just sit here and bug you. Let the Beatles do the job for
me. There ain't a single weak track on here! And I do mean it - I even
appreciate Harrison's 'Inner Light', yet another in his endless series
of mystical Indian-influenced ravings. It has a solid Indian melody, and
I likes an Indian melody when it's solid. In fact, I thoroughly welcome
any type of Eastern music as long as it's not 'combed' for European ears;
fortunately, George never does that.
We can work it out! Mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
Simon Hearn <simon@leehearn.freeserve.co.uk> (11.09.99)
This album should be given to children when they start school. It is history on disc. No other comment needed. If you have not got it - sell anything you can and buy it. If you have got it - stop reading this and put it on, dummy!
<BtheW@aol.com> (21.02.2000)
Very disjointed due to the gap between 1966 and 1968 (filled by the Magical Mystery Tour album), but song-for-song, hardly anything can touch this one. Picking a favorite is really hard, but being a big Lennon fan, I'll just say 'Rain.' Early psychedelia at its best, with some of Paul's best bass playing on record. Actually, I'd like to pick another song to tie with this one, though, and that would be 'Hey Jude,' which is probably the finest song Paul McCartney ever wrote. The melody is subtle and controlled, and the lyrics are truly inspired. There are several others that could almost topple these, though: 'Old Brown Shoe' (my favorite George Harrison song, at least from his Beatles years - and maybe of all time); 'Revolution' (could they be rocking any better than this? - it really knocks me out); 'Paperback Writer' (clever stuff from Paul; good rocker; nice harmonies); 'You Know My Name' (one of the best novelty records ever; at least three of the four main parts just crack me up: the opening parody of the Righteous Brothers; the part where Lennon imitates the middle-aged Cockney woman; and the part where Lennon imitates Bluto); and 'Don't Let Me Down' (minimalistic verses and a beautiful middle part) Most of the others are quite good, too, but not big favorites: 'Across The Universe' (without the Spectorizations; but a little too sped up); 'Day Tripper' (everything works really well here, but I've grown tired of the big riff over the years); 'Lady Madonna' (they're rockin' here; the song's solid; but I'm not bowled over); 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko' (great bass sound, solid song, but a little one-dimensional); 'Let It Be' (nice piece of craftsmanship, but it doesn't really grab me); 'We Can Work It Out' (good, smart song by Paul with a cool bit in the middle by John, but it's not that great); 'Get Back' (definately overrated in terms of its rocking ratio); and 'The Inner Light' (one of the more awkward-sounding of George's excursions into raga music). But hey - even these lesser tunes are pretty strong stuff. This would be a great starting point for new Beatles fans.
Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (07.05.2000)
I nearly cut myself on all of the hooks in this collection. All bands these days should release their best songs as album-less singles so they could eventually collect them onto one of the best albums of their career. I agree that it gets a bit weaker near the end (am I the only person in the world who LIKES all of the strings and backing vocals on some of the "Let It Be" songs?), but the album just starts out perfect with "Day Tripper" and just doesn't let up. Has a better rocker than "Revolution" ever been made? Ever?
Jan Halvax <JHalvax@groupsystems.com> (22.07.2000)
Jimi Hendrix also played 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely' etc. on his album Hendrix in the West
Mike VonBehren <bocephus1@socket.net> (23.08.2000)
"dont let me down" shows that john can write love songs too
<MSDK84@email.msn.com> (27.11.2000)
A grand collection of the best Beatles' songs never to make it to LP, (some of them did appear on the quickly discontinued Hey Jude LP). My personal favourite on here is 'Rain', I feel it to be a perfect example of excellent pop songwriting and ambitious experimentation. I strongly prefer the version of 'Revolution' on here than the one featured on the White Album. Crank up the guitars, ditch the "shoo-be-doo" and the other doo-wop things. 'Hey Jude' is very pretty and I never considered it overlong. The long coda is great and you hardly notice the 7-minute running time. Definetly one of McCartney's best. All of the stuff from the 65-66 era is great, though I don't really like 'Lady Madonna'. 'The Inner Light' is one of my favourite George-songs. On the other hand I find the inclusion of the slightly different Let It Be tracks unneccassary but I don't mind it at all. The only difference between the LIB version of 'All Across the Universe' and the one on here is the 'wildlife' sound effects and that Yoko sings backup. Surprising there is no high-pitched screeching, huh? Anyway, this CD definetly belongs in the collection of every Beatles fan.
Year Of Release: 1994
Record rating = 6
Overall rating = 11
Sloppy, patchy, sometimes risible, but certainly a lot of fun.
Best song: well, I like TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS
This was the first serious CD cash-in on the part of BBC, and, like
most of the following (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc.), it seems to work perfectly.
This double CD package includes about fifty live recordings made by The
Beatles in 1963-65, and, thank God, there are no alternate versions, like
on the already mentioned Hendrix or Led Zeppelin releases - probably because
The Beatles were much much more frequent guests on Radio One than their
colleague musicians and simply got to play more material (not to mention
that their songs were shorter). That said, the Beatles weren't a
superior live band - there is no denying that, and in that respect, these
BBC recordings can't help but pale in comparison to, say, the fantastic
Led Zeppelin sessions. For one, most of the live cuts of songs from all
of their albums up to Help! (and there's quite a bit of them) are
not very interesting, and at times they become almost boring - especially
on disc 2, where at some point they sing nothing but For Sale and
Help! songs which are all at worst inferior and at best absolutely
similar to the studio recordings. I admit that sometimes it might be interesting
to witness the subtle changes - to see them extend the ending of 'She's
A Woman' with some 'jamming', for instance, or to hear Ringo sing 'Matchbox'
and 'I Wanna Be Your Man' live: fact is, he goes into such a humoristic
rage while pounding on his kit and shouting out the lyrics at the same
time, that he can't stay on key even for one line. Good old Ring! Have
a banana! Catch!
No, but the real attraction of the album is that there's lots of songs
that never made it to original albums - most of them covers, plus one original
- 'I'll Be On My Way', a rather silly pop song wisely given away to some
Mersey band, either Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas or Jerry and The Pacemakers,
I really don't remember who. As for the covers, some of them are very entertaining.
John does a good job in assimilating Chuck Berry's 'Too Much Monkey Business',
for example, while George shows himself a great ape-man as he faithfully
copies the classic introduction to 'Johnny B. Goode'. Paul, on the other
hand, will display for you some more of that unrestricted rock'n'roll howler,
as he bawls out the lyrics to 'Clarabella' and especially 'The Hippie Hippie
Shake'. Lots of covers, surprisingly enough, are done by George, and they're
good: 'Young Blood', for example, or 'Nothin' Shakin' and Carl Perkins'
'Glad All Over' on disc 2. Poor George was probably taking his revanche
on not being allowed to sing much in the studio. Some of the covers, however,
are total bullshit even by inferior standards: the sweety-sugary 'Honeymoon
Song' belongs on a Frankie Avalon record, and the teeny-bopping 'Lonesome
Tears In My Eyes' might have benefited from slick Beatles production, but
live it just sucks.
But, anyway - this is the Beatles! This is the Beatles! The Beatles can't
sing crap! Or, well, maybe they can, but I'll still prefer any Beatles-sung
crap to the best stuff by the Smashing Pumpkins. Yeah. But wait, there's
so many of this stuff here, there's just plain no need to listen to the
crap - ever heard the Beatles play 'Carol'? 'Lucille'? 'Memphis Tennessee'?
'Sweet Little Sixteen'? What about Paul's magnificent Elvis impersonation
on 'That's All Right'? John's soulful rendition of that Motown piece o'
shit (heh heh), 'Soldier Of Love'? 'I Got A Woman'? And that's not all!
Yes, taken individually, all of these songs were done better either in
the original versions ('Lucille', 'I Got A Woman') or played tighter by
the Beatles' colleagues (the Stones' version of 'Carol', for instance,
is so much tighter that... ah, forget it. Who are we comparing anyway).
Maybe the greatest attraction on the album, though, is the dialogs between
the boys and the Radio Man (actually, there might have been several Radio
Men; I checked their names at some time, but I've forgotten, and, frankly
speaking, I don't give a whack). It has John's great line: 'I play guitar,
sometimes I play the fool', or John guessing that 'A Hard Day's Night'
is 'Crinsk Dee Night' in Portuguese, or Paul telling about his musical
tastes, etc. These things add a real domestic touch to the whole album.
Still, regardless of all its virtues, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody
who isn't already fed up on the original LPs. I can't see why anybody should
prefer these live versions to the originals, and as for the elsewhere unavailable
covers - they're all harmless fun, of course, but they sure don't add nothing
to The Beatles' fame. Wilson & Alroy recently supposed that these two
discs could be a good alternative to pulling out your original LP's for
the hundredth time, and I agree - I did find out, in fact, that
during the past two years I've played this stuff more often than any other
Beatles album, just because it was relatively new.
The only major complaint about this stuff, and a thing that can seriously
bug you if you're a rigid formalist, is that, for no reason, the songs
are not arranged chronologically - while certain chunks of material do
seem to be thrown together (perversely, these are the most annoying chunks,
like three or four Beatles For Sale epoch originals), they're, in
fact, all mighty inconsequential. 'Love Me Do' is the last track on the
album, darn! No perspective! And you can't even program the thing unless
you have a 2- or more-CD player, because you'd have to swap discs all of
the time. No perfection in this world, right? Right.
Too much monkey business for you to mail your ideas?
Your worthy comments:
<BtheW@aol.com> (21.02.2000)
Warning to those readers who are ready to buy their first Beatles CD
and are wondering which one to start with: don't buy this CD or any of
the three Anthologies. Go out and buy one of the regular releases.
Then if you like that, buy the other regular releases. If you are still
hungering for more Beatles product, then you've reached the moment when
buying this CD makes sense. It means that you've become a hardcore Beatles
fan. That having been said, this isn't a bad album. Several songs stand
out, but my favorite is 'Some Other Guy,' which rocks ferociously and is
done in front of an audience (unlike most of the other material, which
was done in the BBC studio and is 'live' only because there aren't any
overdubs - at least not very many). Some of these other songs could've
actually improved the first album (maybe even the second), like 'Soldier
Of Love,' 'A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues,' 'The Hippy Hippy Shake,' 'I Got
To Find My Baby,' 'Lucille' (great - and unusual - solo from Harrison on
this one), 'Too Much Monkey Business,' and 'Sweet Little Sixteen.' 'Keep
Your Hands Off My Baby' is another great track, but suffers from some pretty
bad sound quality. Most of the others are certainly listenable ('Memphis,
Tennessee,' 'Ooh! My Soul,' 'I Got A Woman,' 'Nothin' Shakin',' 'Crying,
Waiting, Hoping,' 'Young Blood,' 'Clarabella,' 'That's All Right,' 'Glad
All Over,' 'Carol,' 'I Just Don't Understand,' 'So How Come,' 'The Honeymoon
Song,' 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget,' 'Sure To Fall,' 'Lonesome Tears
In My Eyes,' 'Don't Ever Change,' 'To Know Her Is To Love Her') but overall
the sound quality doesn't match the official stuff. This is mainly because,
since they were recording for the radio instead of for a record, the recording
equipment at the BBC wasn't exactly top-notch. There also seems to be a
tendency to not play very loudly. This is particularly evident on 'I'm
Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry' - just compare the drums to the version on
the Hamburg album; the sound quality might not be there, but the performance
on the Hamburg version is dynamite. 'I'll Be On My Way' is the only 'long
lost' Lennon-McCartney song on here. (They gave it to Billy J. Kramer,
who had put it on the b-side of his version of 'Do You Want To Know A Secret').
It's easy to see why the Beatles didn't consider this song to be a priority.
Of all the 'new' songs, the only one that doesn't come across very well
is 'Johnny B. Goode,' which just sounds lifeless (and this is a song I
like, too).
Among the songs that had already been on their, only two really stand out
as better than the originals: 'Rock And Roll Music' (the band comes in
like gangbusters on this one) and 'Thank You Girl' (a stomping version
done in front of an audience). Also of special note is an early version
of 'Honey Don't' when John was still singing it. The others are all surpassed
by the official versions: 'From Us To You' (a short version used to introduce
a series of holiday specials), 'I Saw Her Standing There' (not a bad live
version; but it sounds better on Anthology 1), 'Long Tall Sally,' 'I Wanna
Be Your Man,' 'I'm A Loser,' 'Roll Over Beethoven,' 'Everybody's Trying
To Be My Baby,' 'Matchbox,' 'You Really Got A Hold On Me,' 'I Feel Fine,'
'Slow Down,' 'All My Loving,' 'Baby, It's You,' 'Dizzy Miss Lizzie,' 'Love
Me Do,' the 'Kansas City' medley, 'Can't Buy Me Love,' 'A Hard Day's Night'
(which hilariously edits in the solo from the record), 'Ticket To Ride,'
'Till There Was You,' 'A Taste Of Honey,' and 'She's A Woman.' Perhaps
the weakest sounding performance is on 'Things We Said Today,' which sounds
a bit out of focus. There are also several other titles ('Beatle Greetings,'
'Riding On A Bus,' 'Sha La La La La!,' 'A Little Rhyme,' 'Dear Wack!,'
'From Fluff To You,' 'Crinsk Dee Night,' 'Have A Banana!,' 'Just A Rumour,'
'1822!,' 'Set Fire To That Lot!,' 'Love These Goon Shows!,' 'Ooh! My Arms')
which are not songs at all, but mostly humorous snatches of spoken words.
(The funniest is 'Sha La La La La!,' where show host Lee Peters introduces
'Baby, It's You' in a James Mason imitation.) Okay, so if you bought this
one, plus the Anthologies, and you want more, go out and buy the
CD single of 'Baby, It's You,' which contains three bonus tracks that cannot
be found on this album: 'I'll Follow The Sun,' 'Devil In Her Heart,' and
'Boys,' all of which are inferior to the official versions.
Year Of Release: 1995
Record rating = 6
Overall rating = 11
A cash-in, interesting for hardcore fans and novelty collectors.
Best song: CRY FOR A SHADOW
First of all: let me tell you I'm not a terrible fan of the Anthologies.
There's no doubt about the fact that the whole enterprise was intended
to milk the numerous fans' pockets, and in that it succeeded admirably
- it just couldn't fail. But I seriously doubt that even the most hardcore
fan could prefer these tracks to the originals. Raw, without overdubs,
with extremely simple guitar and keyboard lines, often stuttering and off-key
vocals, sometimes with cracking noises, sometimes with painfully distorted
sound, these primaeval versions of well-known classics are certainly interesting
if taken as historical documents. But try to pass them for real music?
Hah! Ridiculous.
Now then, the first one of these products is probably the most interesting
in that it contains several early compositions and/or recordings made by
the Fab Four when they weren't Fab yet (in fact, at some times they weren't
even Four). Some people actually consider this a letdown, because all of
these things are obviously inferior to the Beatles' classic material as
we have grown to know it. However, it all depends on the attitude: if you're
really planning to spend quite a bit of your time listening to this Anthologies
stuff as real music, you'd better be off with the third volume. Me, I'm
only willing to accept them as treasurable, but not particularly entertaining
documents, and in this respect, the first volume is inarguably the most
important.
And so, what do we find? There's the first recording John, Paul and George
ever did together, the unlucky single 'That'll Be The Day'/'In Spite Of
All The Danger', with horrible cracking noises and extremely lousy singing.
Even so, while the version of 'That'll Be The Day' doesn't really differ
much from your average fourteen year old teen schoolgroup's sloppy take,
Paul's original already shows the first blossoms of creative energy - my,
don't you think that with a little elaboration and a bit of changed lyrics
they could make it a hit? Next come some poor-audience-quality bootleg
recordings dating from club gigs in the late fifties ("Hallelujah
I Love Her So", "You'll Be Mine" with John (Paul?) making
a parody on Elvis), which are, as Paul confesses it, simply recordings
made on a tape-recorder placed before the singers to satisfy their own
self-indulgent needs. They're unlistenable, for sure, but just imagine
all the hoopla!
Things start getting good with a couple o' numbers with Tony Sheridan,
like the world-famous "My Bonnie", the band's first officially
released recording ever. Even better, though, are the Lennon-sung "Ain't
She Sweet" and the fabulous instrumental "Cry For A Shadow"
which should be considered one of their best instrumental compositions
(not that they did a lot of them, anyway) and, in fact, the first significant
Beatles' composition of any artistic merit. That stinging guitar riff is
really something, and it's a good thing the composition was not forgotten.
Ripped off from the Shadows, I suppose (as the title suggests), but then
again, the Shadows were a pretty interesting group themselves.
Most interesting, though, this volume presents us with some of the so-called
'Decca tapes' which were presented by Brian Epstein to Decca, but rejected
under the famous pretext that "guitar-based groups are going out of
fashion". These include a great "Searchin'", two Harrison-sung
oldies (my personal favourite is 'Three Cool Cats') and especially Paul's
own 'Like Dreamers Do' which, I guess, could be easily included on Please
Please Me but for some reason wasn't.
The later stuff, however, is for the most part well-known. Live versions
(some of them from the famous Royal Albert Hall gig), a lot of them: fun
but certainly add nothing to the originals. And studio takes: some are
exciting, I'll admit, especially the early version of 'One After 909',
with some banter in the studio (I like the bit where Paul complains about
his bassline, saying stuff like 'I can't play that, it's MURDER!', and
the funny waltz tempo of 'I'll Be Back'. Heard that? John starts singing
the song in that tempo, then growls that he can't do it, and they burst
into a much faster take. (Of course, they were spliced only later, but
still sounds fun). But most are just curios. Some are even unlistenable,
like 'And I Love Her' which sounds as if the tape was chewn. Songs unavailable
before include a great cover of 'Shout' with the band members taking turns
to sing the repeating lines, a 'Leave My Kitten Alone' (great rocker with
John at his best) and a 'Moonlight Bay' (imagine that!) preceded by a comedy
bit which (the comedy bit, not the song) you can also see on video.
Oh wait! I've almost forgotten the 'Free As A Bird' tune which is really
an old John Lennon demo enriched in the studio by Paul, George, and Ringo.
And Jeff Lynne (sigh). The song is fantastic, the production is much too
bombastic. Then again, such a great monster as the Anthology should
probably have a bombastic start. Who knows? But it's interesting how Paul
intertwines his vocals with the deeply mixed Lennon voice. Reminds me of
a "seance in the dark".
I've even managed to get used to the bombastic arrangement, you know. By
the way, if you want to hear a cool 'stripped' version of the tune, consult
Adrian Belew's Belewprints album (which is pretty hard to find anyway)
where he does a touching rendition of the song backed by just a piano.
Just like the program specified.
Free as a bird to mail your ideas, that's what you are
Your worthy comments:
<BtheW@aol.com> (21.02.2000)
I'll start off by saying that I think they should have released a two-CD set instead of the total of eight that we refer to as Live At The BBC and Anthologies 1, 2 and 3. This way, casual listeners who are looking to buy their first Beatles CD won't be disappointed. For the rest of us hardcore fans, they could always release limited edition CDs of all the more, shall we say, 'questionable' material. These CDs wouldn't need to be promoted much and could be labeled with stickers that tell us that it's for collector's only. Anthology 1 is mostly made up of works in progress, live performances, and pre-fame material. Most of this is pretty fascinating for the hardcores, but doesn't hold up next to the 'official' catalogue. There are a few exceptions, however: 'Leave My Kitten Alone' (a sloppy, but powerful rocker with a ballsy Lennon vocal); 'One After 909' (a pretty nifty early version that's much different from the later one); 'Three Cool Cats' and 'The Sheik Of Araby' (two amusing novelty tunes from the Decca audition that are marred only by weak production and Pete Best); and 'Shout' (an exciting version of the Isley Brothers hit, with all four Beatles switching off on lead vocals). 'Searchin'' from the Decca tape is also a pretty solid rendition. And the five performances from the Swedish radio show ('Money'; 'You Really Got A Hold On Me'; 'I Saw Her Standing There'; 'Roll Over Beethoven'; and 'From Me To You') constitute just about the best live recording ever made of the Beatles. There are also at least a few of the unfinished takes that are really pretty cool: the demos of 'No Reply' and 'I'll Be Back'; the false starts of 'One After 909'; and, perhaps to a lesser degree, the false starts of 'Eight Days A Week.' Some of the other live material is fairly strong, even if not as good as the studio versions: the songs from 'Around The Beatles' ('I Wanna Be Your Man'; 'Long Tall Sally'; 'Boys'); the Royal Command Performance material ('She Loves You'; 'Till There Was You'; 'Twist And Shout'), the Morecambe and Wise stuff ('This Boy'; 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'; and the amusing 'Moonlight Bay') and, of course, Ed Sullivan ('All My Loving'). I'll put 'I'll Get You' in a lesser category, since the drums are virtually inaudible. Much of the early material tends to be subpar compared to the EMI releases, but I find 'That'll Be The Day' and 'In Spite Of All The Danger' to be a pretty good moment. It's sort of endearing. Songs like 'Ain't She Sweet,' 'Lend Me Your Comb,' 'Like Dreamers Do,' 'Cry For A Shadow,' 'How Do You Do It,' 'Hello Little Girl,' 'My Bonnie,' and 'Besame Mucho' are generally average-sounding. The three rehearsal tracks from 1960 ('Hallelujah I Love Her So'; 'You'll Be Mine'; 'Cayenne') are pretty much below-average. Then there's the alternate takes of well-known songs ('Please Please Me'; 'No Reply'; 'Can't Buy Me Love'; 'Love Me Do'; 'A Hard Day's Night'; 'Mr. Moonlight'; 'And I Love Her'; the 'Kansas City' medley; 'You Can't Do That'; 'I'll Be Back'; 'Eight Days A Week'), which never match up to the released versions. But the only bona-fide dud of all these songs is the early Harrison composition 'You Know What To Do.' There's also several spoken-word tracks (three by John and two apiece by Paul and Brian Epstein), which serve mainly to sort of explain why the music sounds so 'early'. The best, of course, is the one where the Beatles are with Eric Morecombe and Ernie Wise in a bit of comedy tit for tat. And then there's 'Free As A Bird,' one of the better tracks in this collection, but one that cannot hope to fit into the program. I'll just say that there's things I like about the song (most notably Harrison's slide guitar) and things I don't like (most notably Jeff Lynne's production style), and that generally I think it's a good song. Incidentally, for those out there who want every Beatles track, and haven't noticed yet, the CD single of 'Free As A Bird' has three non-Anthology tracks: an alternate take of 'I Saw Her Standing There,' two incomplete takes of 'This Boy,' and a new mix of 'Christmas Time Is Here Again,' in which its mostly just the song (without the skits), but then at the end, they tag on the last funny bit from the fan club mix.
Year Of Release: 1996
Record rating = 4
Overall rating = 9
Another cash-in, hardly significant from the musical sense.
Best song: THAT MEANS A LOT
Same old line: live recordings and studio edits, from 1965-1966 (disc
1) and on to 1967 (disc 2). The main problem is that I consider this one
much worse than the first volume, primarily because there are only two
previously unavailable songs: "If You've Got Trouble" is a Ringo-sung
childish pop rocker intended for Help! but replaced by "Act
Naturally"... eventually, and "That Means A Lot" is a nice
Macca ballad, shelved for unclear reasons. I like both of the songs, and
I do think they hold up against the officially released contemporary material;
however, two new songs for a 2-CD album? Gimme a break... Plus, we have
"12-Bar Original" - a very strange instrumental jam that would
not seem out of place on a Rolling Stones album. Apparently, the Fab Four
did jam a lot in the studio, but, due to their lack of superior technical
abilities, never included that stuff on their official albums (an impressingly
clever tactics that quite a few not-so-modest bands should have followed).
However, taken as an exception, it's quite intriguing to hear the Beatles
engage in a musical genre they would never disclose during their career.
The rest, however, is only interesting historically. A lot of raw versions
from Revolver and, strange enough, only two takes from Rubber
Soul, both of them equally uninteresting. There's 'Norwegian Wood',
spoiled by an overemphasized sitar arrangement (the standard version cleverly
restricted the use of this instrument), and a pumped-up, more rockin' version
of 'I'm Looking Through You', where the softer/harder sections just do
not merge so seamlessly as, again, they do on the standard version. Revolver
outtakes aren't that good, either: the demo version of 'Got To Get You
Into My Life', with that noodling organ sound and without the horns, makes
me cringe, and 'Tomorrow Never Knows' here sounds like one of those stupid
acid jams by the Jefferson Airplane. However, I would recommend the version
of 'Eleanor Rigby' which is actually nothing but strings: when you hear
them solo, with no singing, you get a very strange feeling that keeps you
on your toes.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
.............
And, for some reason, I quite enjoy listening to the cut of 'And Your Bird
Can Sing' on here. Maybe it's because of the stupid giggling throughout
- the band just sounds as if they were mocking themselves, and it's hilarious.
Some face is left on the live recordings (some from the Hollywood Bowl,
some from their final performance at Candlestick park, I think), although
not much. The live version of 'Yesterday', for instance, is totally unnecessary
(although it did look cool in the video), and sometimes they just keep
fuckin' up, like on 'Help!' where John keeps forgetting the lyrics (as
usual). Oh well, at least the sound quality is better than on the official
Live At The Hollywood Bowl album.
but it all comes to an end on disc 2, since the boys quit touring by then.
It all consists of raw and unadorned Pepper-Mystery Tour takes,
most of them unlistenable. Only a complete geek would like to listen to
an instrumental version of "Within You Without You", or sit through
three versions of "Strawberry Fields", or enjoy a "Hello
Goodbye" with no overdubs. There are some interesting facts, though:
like you know "Only A Northern Song" is really a 1967 outtake
and not made specially for Submarine. And there's a full-length
version of "You Know My Name" which, as you probably know, is
the greatest Beatles song of all time. Enjoy! Frankly, I don't remember
even a single track on that second disc that somehow managed to receive
my attention. To make matters worse, some of the songs are Frankensteins,
several takes seamed together, and some just follow the formula 'basic
track with no overdubs of this and that', like on the stripped down 'I
Am The Walrus' or 'Good Morning Good Morning'. I don't think even rock
historians would be too interested in this stuff.
The opening track, 'Real Love', is cool, though. Yet another collaboration
of John Lennon's ghost with Paul, George, Ringo, and Jeff Lynne, it is
very emotional and could have been a great hit were it released by a living
John. As it is, it wasn't. The production almost ruins it, of course (Jeff
Lynne is about as compatible with John Lennon as George Martin with the
Sex Pistols), but if you see right through the booming drums, you'll witness
the genius. For the record, the soundtrack to Lennon's video biography
(Imagine: John Lennon) includes the original version of this song
in its simple piano arrangement. Check this one out. Oh, and as far as
I know, the song was not performed by Adrian Belew.
That means a lot to me when you mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
Simon Hearn <simon@leehearn.freeserve.co.uk> (11.09.99)
Are you mad?!!!!! This deserves a 9 at least. The best of the anthology
series and some rare gems. The demos of strawberry fields are so enlightening.
'Real love' is highly under rated. 'You've got to hide your love away'
is a superior version. 'Eleanor Rigby' strings are so cool. 'I am the walrus'
without george martin' orchestration is amazing and raw. 'Across the universe'
is how the track should have been issued.
All in all these are rare nuggets in the goldmine that is the beatles music.
I know a lot of the tracks aren't up to the album versions, but I believe
this to be a great, great album.
<BtheW@aol.com> (25.02.2000)
The nice thing about this second installment in the Anthology series is that there's a larger number of tracks that stand up to the Beatles 'official' catalogue. My favorite track? I know it doesn't do anything for you, George, but it's 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' This version is just as tripped out as the common version, and yet totally different. The only thing missing is something to fill in the instrumental break. Other really strong tracks include: 'Across The Universe' (better than either of the official releases); 'Norwegian Wood' (I like this just as much as the other one); take 4 of 'The Fool On The Hill' (virtually as good as the other one, but a little rough around the edges); take 1 of 'I'm Only Sleeping' (no frills, but a good alternative to the other version); take 7 & edit piece of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' (totally mellow); 'Within You Without You' (just the instrumental track); 'Eleanor Rigby' (again, just the instrumental track); and 'Only A Northern Song' (actually, since it doesn't have the overabundance of sound effects, I prefer this to the official one). There's also several tracks that, even though they show definate signs of being works in progress, are still virtually as enjoyable as the official versions: 'And Your Bird Can Sing'; 'I'm Looking Through You'; both the demo sequence and take 1 of 'Strawberry Fields Forever'; and the rehearsal of 'I'm Only Sleeping'. Hell, that's already a lot of good tracks - and there's still others that really aren't bad: the demo of 'The Fool On The Hill'; 'A Day In The Life' (the middle's pretty weak here); takes 1 and 2, plus take 7 of 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite'; 'It's Only Love'; 'Yesterday'; 'Good Morning, Good Morning'; 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' and 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.' All of these pale in comparison to the official versions, but not that much. There are some songs that I'm more disappointed with for various reasons: 'Got To Get You Into My Life'; 'Hello Goodbye'; 'Yes It Is'; 'Penny Lane'; 'You Know My Name'; 'Your Mother Should Know'; 'I'm Down'; 'Lady Madonna'; 'Taxman'; the 'Sgt. Pepper' reprise; and 'I Am The Walrus' (this one should've included a bass guitar, like the bootlegs do, then I'd be just fine with it). But most of these are at least passable. Hell, there's a lot of good tracks on this one. I'm not too impressed with the previously unreleased songs: 'That Means A Lot' (a wall of sound Beatles track? No thanks); 'If You've Got Trouble' (cute, but way below the Beatles' standards); '12-Bar Original' (thoroughly unimpressive blues). Then, of course, there's the live tracks. Actually, I think the Beatles hold up pretty well on the Blackpool Night Out gig ('I Feel Fine,' 'Help!,' 'Yesterday,' and great vocals on 'Ticket To Ride'). The other live stuff ('Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby' from Shea; 'Rock And Roll Music' and 'She's A Woman' from Budokan) are hardly worth mentioning. Which brings us to 'Real Love,' which I think doesn't hold up as well as 'Free As A Bird,' which isn't that great, either. There's some nice touches, but it wasn't exactly the a-side material the Threatles thought it was. And I guess I should mention the CD single of 'Real Love,' because it includes three tracks not found elsewhere: the Hollywood Bowl version of 'Baby's In Black' (which is actually pretty damned strong); an alternate mix of 'Yellow Submarine' (with way too many sound effects); and one of those 'outfakes' where they combine two versions of a song - in this case, 'Here There And Everywhere,' with a single vocal version overlapping the lush harmony version.
Year Of Release: 1996
Record rating = 5
Overall rating = 10
Yet more cash-ins. Get it only when you learn all the rest by heart.
Best song: WHAT'S THE NEW MARY-JANE
And again we're exposed to a flood of 'musical skeletons'. Disc 1 is
pretty much the White Album complete, and it's chock-full of uninteresting,
dull, sloppy versions which would have been brilliant were they not completely
obliterated by their elaborate peers on original releases. Who needs a
quiet acoustic 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'? Interesting... but no keyboards?
No Clapton solos? No George wailings in the background? Who needs it? Not
me. I mean, it's a good start if you're planning to learn how to play this
kind of thing, and it is moving in a different way, but the definitive
version will always be the definitive version. What is the point to listen
to half-finished, raw versions of 'Rocky Raccoon' or 'Happiness Is A Warm
Gun', or listen to an overlong version of 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road?'
Historians are welcome, music fans better beware.
Still, there's some good news, in that there's a bit more previously unreleased
material than on the second volume. George's sad, confessional 'Not Guilty'
is at the least entertaining; it's kinda clumsy and doesn't hold up well,
but it has enough quality to have been later resuscitated for his 1978
album, although it did not do much there. John's 'What's The New Mary-Jane'
is certainly fun and could have been a ten tons better contribution for
the White Album than 'Revolution 9' ever was: a groovy psycho number
that starts out as a nursery rhyme and goes on to become a scary, creepy
sound collage. Finally, inally, Paul's 'Step Inside Love' is a pretty ditty,
chunking off in a mellow tempo before the band goes drooning in a psychodelic
schizophrenia ('Los Paranoias'). But that's about it.
Disc 2 gives us insight into the Let It Be and Abbey Road
sessions, and believe me, you won't be excited. Sure, Phil Spector's 'wall-of-sound'
production is missing, and a lot of people rave about 'The Long And Winding
Road' sounding a lot greater without the orchestral background. Could be.
Could be not. Me, I personally don't feel the need for another version,
I quite enjoy the original. Here, the standouts are 'Come And Get It',
an interesting McCartney product which, as far as I know, was relegated
to Badfinger, and some rock'n'roll jams which you can also see live in
the Let It Be movie. Again, I think it's much more interesting to
see the movie where you can really see the boys take off their load
and engage in some mindless fun, forgetting about their problems. Here,
on the other side, the only thing you notice is the displeasant sloppiness
of these numbers. Come on now, the boys were just banging on their pianos
and wailing out the lyrics to 'Rip It Up' and 'Blue Suede Shoes' that they
probably haven't played for six or seven years already. Why this stuff
ought to have been extracted from bootlegs and offered to the general Beatles'
lover is way beyond me. 'Nuff said.
Other than that, there are also some interesting demo versions of songs
which would later become solo Beatle songs: Paul's 'Junk' and 'Teddy Boy'
were later included on McCartney, and George's 'All Things Must
Pass', sure enough, on All Things Must Pass. If you like 'em, be
sure to get these albums! They're as good as any Beatles disc... well,
here I am - talking of solo Beatles instead of the Anthologies.
Pure chance?
Nah. I mean, if you're really objective and if you're Beatles-obsessed,
you would do yourself a much better job to grab the best of the Beatles'
solo albums before even thinking of getting the Anthologies. If
you ask me, indeed, I'll say that all this crazy hype did nothing but ruin
the Beatles' reputation. At least, these archives should not be
marketed under slogans like 'the lost great Beatles' legacy' or something
like that, but with a severe warning to fans that these records are documents,
not new records. As it is, I suppose many an ignorant fan of 'Hey Jude'
and 'Michelle' has shelled out his money for nothing.
On the other hand, I think that, with a little (ok, with a huge) editing,
you could tape off the best of the new material, outtakes and live performances
to make a really good 90-minute tape or a superb 45-minute tape, which
you'll be sure to enjoy just as fine as your average Beatles album. And
don't forget to put 'Cry For A Shadow', 'That Means A Lot' and 'Come And
Get It' on it!
Come and get it! Mail your ideas
Your worthy comments:
<BtheW@aol.com> (04.03.2000)
Once again, this is not for casual music listeners, but for hardcore fans. There are several choice tunes on this one, and I have trouble picking a favorite: 'Because' (an otherworldly a capella mix); 'Not Guilty' (should have been on the White Album!); 'Old Brown Shoe' (a really cool acoustic demo); 'Sexy Sadie' (a slower version); 'Cry Baby Cry' (a strong alternate version); 'Come Together' (a raw and flawed version with a great vocal); 'For You Blue' (an interesting alternate to the common version). I have to admit that I'm a sucker for acoustic demo versions of otherwise electric songs. They tend to strip the song down to its basic elements, so that it has to stand on its own, independent of whatever crutch the arrangement serves as. With this in mind, I'll give a thumbs-up to 'Glass Onion' (the demo version, of course), 'Piggies,' 'All Things Must Pass,' 'Junk,' 'Honey Pie,' and 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' (warts and all). 'Mother Nature's Son' is also nice, but doesn't shed any light on the song's development. In fact, a lot of the others don't, either. I enjoy the early versions of 'Mean Mr. Mustard' and 'Polythene Pam,' but I'm not bowled over by 'I Will,' 'Good Night,' 'Blackbird,' and 'Rocky Raccoon.' Two of George's songs, 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' and 'Something' seem a little dull without their distinctive arrangements. Then there's the alternate versions and mixes that either don't hold up to the 'official' versions, or at least fail to surpass them: 'I've Got A Feeling,' 'Octopus's Garden,' 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road,' 'Glass Onion' (the other version), 'Hey Jude,' 'Oh! Darling,' 'Two Of Us,' 'I Me Mine,' 'I'm So Tired,' 'Helter Skelter,' 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,' 'Dig A Pony,' 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer,' 'Let It Be,' 'Don't Pass Me By,' 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,' and 'The End.' Wow, that's a lot of 'em. Maybe this isn't that great of a release. There's some interesting moments, though: 'Step Inside Love'/'Los Paranoias'; 'Come And Get It' (which sounds almost exactly like the Badfinger version); 'Get Back' (the rooftop version); 'Mailman Bring Me No More Blues' (a very slow treatment); 'What's The New Mary Jane' (an amazingly dumb song combined with some rather interesting avant garde). The 'Rip It Up'/'Shake, Rattle and Roll'/'Blue Suede Shoes' medley is a little too off-the-cuff. 'Teddy Boy' sounds like a joke here - it was better on Paul's first album. 'Ain't She Sweet' is just an excuse to hear the Beatles do a really old tune. 'Julia' seems like a waste of time here - nothing more than a scrap. And, of course, there's 'The Long And Winding Road,' which proves that it's pretty damned dreary even without the lush orchestrations. And then there's 'A Beginning,' which is just a dated-sounding George Martin piece. If you're buying your first Beatles CD, and you don't want to spend money on the double set, go out and get a copy of Revolver.
Year Of Release: 1964
Possibly the best ever Beatle movie, this one is completely unpretentious,
'un-silly' and full of good-time generic British humour. It features the
Beatles on a kind of 'average' day - a trip to some unknown British city
to perform in a local theatre. Richard Lester tried, however, to make this
'average' day look as interesting as possible - and he succeeded, creating
a real masterpiece that is often regarded as the prototypical rock movie.
The hilarious scenes will certainly make you laugh till you're half dead,
especially if you have a penchant for traditional British humour, and the
lip-sync performances are great too. Also, each of the characters (except
probably Paul) are very well shown with emphasis on their peculiar characteristics
(see, for example, Harrison's 'clothes advertisement' scene, or Ringo's
relations with 'Paul's grandfather', or John's constant hooliganry).
This film is Ringo's debut as a movie star - never surpassed at that, so
Ringo fans are particularly welcome here; John displays strong acting abilities
as well. On the other hand, both Paul and George obviously do not know
how to act, and this is probably why Paul does not play any important part
in the film (the same goes for Help!). Sorry, Paul! Unfortunately,
he never ever really learned to act in his entire life - it was never part
of his appeal.
Oh, and of course, the film is in black and white. Disappointed? Hardly
- most of the early Beatles' photos are in black and white, so no need
to get used or adjusted if you hardly stand black and white (I mean, there
are people who do). Also, I warn you that they do not sing
all the time - after all, wouldn't that get boring? And, of course, there
is no real live footage with live audio, but I guess that goes without
saying. And do you think that scene in the plot where Ringo fakes his departure
from the band presages the Beatles' own break-up? I mean, didn't they actually
break up to get to some 'real life', just like he did in the movie...
Mail your ideas
HELP!
Year Of Release: 1965
So this time Dick Lester decided he'd try to go for a real plot in his
next Beatles film. Therefore there's a whole lotta intended humour in this
film, and it does seem funny - in the best traditions of British comedy.
Unfortunately, it doesn't have anything to do with the Beatles. The plot
- about Ringo accidentally acquiring a sacred Indian ring needed for a
ritual human sacrifice and being therefore hunted by some dark Indian cult
- is stupid to the extreme (where did he get the ring? how come he can't
get it off in the beginning and it comes off all by itself in the end?
questions like these arise every five seconds, I assure you), and, while
Ringo, as usual, does a great acting job, the other three are totally blank.
Paul is even duller than he was in Hard Day's Night, and both John
and George don't get even a single chance to shine. The other actors do
look funny, though. Also, the film is in colours, so this may serve as
some sort of consolation. And you'll see how the boys have certainly changed
and let loose their hair since the last year - in the case of Ringo, quite
literally. Elsewhere, they dress in beach outfits for the Bahamas, winter
coats for the Alps, and, in the case of Paul, newspapers for the urinal
(I'm not jokin'!)
It's a good thing this was their second and last try at making a 'traditional'
movie with a professional director. I actually enjoy it - sometimes; but
I shudder at the thought what would their next move in this direction had
been. This one is only saved by the fact that it's a British,
not American, comedy. No offense, but check the differences between Elvis
films and Beatles films and you'll see the crucial difference in quality.
Your worthy comments:
<MSDK84@email.msn.com> (27.11.2000)
A fun movie, a funny mix of some of the biggest things of the decade (The Beatles, James Bond Movies, etc.) Ringo and John are both fine actors, but Mr. McCartney certainly can't add it to his long list of talents. George keeps his reputation as the quiet one because he hardly ever says anything in this. It's a cute, funny movie and it really isn't supposed to make any sense whatsoever so don't overwhelm your brain with such questions.
Year Of Release: 1967
Their first (and last) self-made film. Everybody hated it at the time
it came out, and few enjoy it still, but I don't think it's actually as
bad as it is depicted. The problem is, there's not much humour here, and
when there is humour, it is always the psychodelic kind of humour. So people
who expected another Help! were disappointed. But I'm asking everybody:
what did you expect in 1967? A comedy? A serious film? A thriller? This
is the Beatles enjoying themselves, experimenting, trying out the first
ideas that came into their heads. It isn't supposed to showcase their talents;
it isn't supposed to have any message. It's just fun.
Of course, it's got its own defects. The stupid striptease scene at the
end is absolutely unnecessary, for one thing. Guess they wanted some hooliganry,
but the fact is that this is no psychodelia, and it muddles the concept.
A couple of scenes are rather nasty, like the one where John serves spadefuls
of spaghetti to Aunt Jessica. But there's a lot of great sequences, most
of which are tied to songs: the great 'I Am The Walrus' sequence, Paul
impersonating the Fool on the Hill, changes of cloud-colour in 'Flying',
the closing 'Your Mother Should Know' with the guys dressed in white wearing
roses... all these things are very nice. No meaning. No message. But enjoyable.
So really, I don't get what all the hatred is about. Guess it's accidental.
Go correct this mistake - get a copy of the film and enjoy the guys at
their psychodelic best.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the plot. Well... there isn't any.
Your worthy comments:
mjcarney <mjcarney@netzero.net> (30.06.2000)
Well I was trying to think of a good synonym to capture the spirit of the movie, and the only one I could think of was horrible. Simply put, this is the Beatles' biggest failure. It is boring, long, stupid, and really a waste of one's time. Yet, for some reason I have watched it several times (4 or 5) over the years--trying I guess to get the most out of the 20+ dollars I paid for it. I am, of course, one of those who always has to hear (or in this case see) music and movies etc, that are by my favorite artists that get critically panned (like lennon's experimental albums, lou reed's metal machine music etc). This one is definately one of them, and it is just horrible. Where is the plot? Where are the jokes? Where is the enjoyment in this movie? I understand they were doing almost all the work themselves, which might explain why it is so bad, but even the Beatles should know that they really are just musicians, not directors. This movie, flat out deserves its horrendous reputation. Normally it would be hard to completely pan a Beatles release, but with this it is easy. I don't understand the whole stupid "seemingly almost mean" love story between the crazy bus traveller and Ringo's fake Aunt at all, the wizard scene with the Beatles in the sky is terrible. And to top it off, when it was released originally, Paul said well part of it was because it was shown in black and white and not color. Well I have the color version, and it is just plain awful. Well now there are three cool moments in this movie--which take up all of 10 minutes tops (1/6th of the entire thing). They are the following: #1 The "I Am The Walrus" video is awesome, by far the highlight, and definately the reason why I have kept this movie. #2 The only funny part of the movie is the crazy spaghetti dream scene, which was Lennon's shining moment. It might be a little mean, it is definately weird, it has a cool musical background, but it ends up being quite funny. Finally #3 "The Blue Jay Way" video is really cool, despite being on an average song. However, none of these really make the purchase too necessary, and if did buy it, you will most likely spend a longer time fast-forwarding than watching. I would give it a 3/10 for the 3 bits mentioned above and that seems a little high.
<MSDK84@email.msn.com> (27.11.2000)
Most certainly the product of LSD. This one is meant to make even less sense. My copy of this was recorded off HBO by my mom in the 80s, it's not as bad as everyone says but I doubt I'd pay the $20 the stores are asking for it. Btw, you should really check out a movie called, the Ruttles, made by people from SNL and Monty Python, you'd really enjoy it.
Year Of Release: 1968
It's not even a movie, it's a cartoon. But it's great. The plot is childish
and 'summer-of-love'-ish at the same time. A happy land called Pepperland
is invaded by the Blue Meanies, and naturally there's no one but the Beatles
to arrive on the scene in a Yellow Submarine and expel the nasty intruders
with the power of music and love. The graphics are really inspired (indeed,
as far as I know, this thing produced a revolution in cartoonery), the
plot is a bit dumb but vompensated by lots of good humour, and the soundtrack
consists entirely of Beatle originals plus some orchestration from George
Martin (see the soundtrack album for details). Plus
- the Beatles appear themselves at the very end to wish us all good luck
and sing 'All Together Now'. Jolly.
I highly recommend this cartoon EVEN for adults. Every Beatles fan should
own it, and it might seem groovy even to people who hate The Beatles more
than paying taxes.
Your worthy comments:
Ryan Mulligan <pxpres@idt.net> (10.04.2000)
I love this cartooon. Ringo seems to carry the humor, but that's not
a bad thing. I love the scene where they get gray beards and start singing
"When I'm 64", and the Beatles' songs humor like when John says
the holes remind him of Blackburn, Lancashire, and Paul replies with "oh
boy". Oh yeah, i noticed at one point, the words "The rolling
stones" come out of the back of the submarine, nice touch.
Btw, i heard it's not really the beatles doing the voice-overs...is that
true? it sure sounds like them, but that guy below says the beatles had
nothing to do with the film. I think I noticed Dylan with a painted wig
like in the jacket for his first greatest hits, but that could just be
wishful thinking. that last song is very childish, but it's great for a
cartoon. good flick. later
mjcarney <mjcarney@netzero.net> (30.06.2000)
This is perhaps the most bizarre cartoon ever, yet it is also pretty good. It all circles around the Sgt Pepper's band who get attacked by the Blue Meanies (who are bizzarely drawn, speak very strangely, and yet are the highlight of the movie). Anyway the Meanies freeze them in a bubble and the rest of the people in Pepperland, so a messenger goes and finds the real Beatles to dress like the SPLHCB, some zaniness later, and of course the Beatles save the day. It is mostly a children's movie, but I enjoy it, and I would assume many adults would too. There is actually some really stupid (yet funny) beatleish humour throughout, much like that in A Hard Day's Night and Help!, and the illustrations are terrific, even if a bit strange. Thoroughly enjoyable, only rough points (not really bad, but rough) are that it seems to drag a little bit--maybe because of the added 'Hey Bulldog' bit--but I am not really complaining, and it also seems a bit too "out there" for kids--at least to me, but hey that Teletubbies show is probably more "out there" and millions of parents are letting there two year olds watch that crap--which flat out sickens me. Anyway, the movie is fun, and that being especially shocking since the Beatles had next to no influence in the movie (it ain't even there voices). I would rate this an 8/10.
Year Of Release: 1970
A v-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ry long documentary, released approximately
at the same time with the corresponding LP. It was Paul's idea to get The
Beatles all in a recording studio with cameras, lock them up and film all
that would happen. Actually, all that happened was a lot of swearing and
nervous breakdowns, and that's exacty what you get in the first part, culminating
in the scene where George gets really pissed off at Paul and says something
like 'OK, you can play what you want, and I'll play everything you tell
me. I'll do everything you want'. Still, there is some interesting
footage of the guys working on songs like 'Two Of Us', 'I've Got A Feeling',
'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' and others. Yoko is present, too.
The second part of the film sees the guys return to Apple Studios, where
things seem to cheer up a little, especially with the arrival of Billy
Preston. We see some jams where the boys clearly enjoy themselves, a great
footage of 'For You Blue' and lots of interesting things, including George
and Ringo having fun with the keyboards while playing 'Octopus's Garden'.
Finally, the movie's culmination is certainly the famous roof concert,
filmed in its completeness (I guess). Everybody's happy - until the police
arrives, that is, but even with that they manage to play a great handful
of songs, some of them included on the LP. Really great! If you're really
into Beatles, be sure to grab a copy of this: it'll give you real
insight into the way The Beatles worked, even if the time already wasn't
quite appropriate.
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THE
BEATLES COMPLEAT
Year Of Release: 1982
The first historical documentary covering the complete (compleat?) history of The Beatles. This is the place to start if you're a novice: the text is very well narrated, there's a lot of photos and footage, excerpts from interviews and press-conferences, the soundtrack is very well selected, and there's even enough time for some live numbers in their entirety - 'Twist And Shout' from the Royal Albert Hall, two songs from their first gig in Washington ('I Want To Hold Your Hand', 'From Me To You') and three from Budokan, 1966 ('Yesterday', 'Nowhere Man', 'If I Needed Someone'). Unfortunately, real lovers of the Beatles live will get little from this film; at least, I suppose that just five live tracks is not enough for anybody. Still - as a historical documentary it is near-perfect.
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ON
THE ROAD
Year Of Release: 1990
A short documentary with next to no music: this is The Beatles 'on the road', and that's what you get: excerpts from interviews, press-conferences, lots of footage you don't need because you can get it on Compleat, and some idiotic collations. The funniest thing for me is Paul playing the fool around the camera during a Japanese interview in 1966. Lousy. Avoid if you're not obsessed with the idea of getting every Beatles video there is.
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ANTHOLOGY
Year Of Release: 1996
Well, what can I say? This was intended to replace Compleat on
a higher level: it has six parts instead of one, the story is narrated
by The Beatles themselves, there's lots of live cuts, most of them previously
unavailable, lots of videos and tons of interesting footage. Still, strange
though it may seem, I would recommend you to get Compleat as well.
The reason is: this monster of a movie boasts a horrible production. Nobody
but God could understand the Beatles' story from this horrible mess of
recollections. The usual pattern is: Neil Aspinall says there were 50,000
spectators at Shea Stadium, then in goes Paul and says there were 60,000,
then we have George saying there were really 70,000. So the poor people
who watch it are still left ignorant about the fact how many spectators
there really were. Some important things are missed, e. g., the making
of Yellow Submarine cartoon, etc. Sometimes the chronology is all
mixed up. Sometimes you just can't get what in the hell they are talking
about.
So my advice is - just skip the banter and watch the live performances.
Thanks God, there's a lot of these. Highlights include: footage from the
Ed Sullivan show, two numbers from the Royal Albert Hall (not 'Twist
And Shout'), a great version of 'Hey Jude' from a TV show, studio footage
from the making of the White Album, and lots and lots of others. For this,
if for nothing else, the Anthology is certainly worth the money.
Your worthy comments:
Josh <Breezesf85@cs.com> (14.08.99)
Ummmmmmmm, did you even watch these videos??? There are eight videos,
not six, and plus, In there, they even explain that The Beatles had no
participation in the making of Yellow Submarine. Anyway, you ARE
right about the shea stadium part though. I still love to watch these though.
Really cool!
[Special author note: okay,
I got it. I was wondering... but now I got it. See, I was talking about
the TV broadcast that I have taped, not the actual videos which seem to
really have some additional footage. That's the cause of the misunderstanding.
My critique still stands, though; and anyway, do they take TV watchers
for jerks and video watchers for the real public?]