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Album Details  :  The Beatles    29 Albums     Reviews: 

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The Beatles
Allmusic Biography : So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that its difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century. Moreover, they were among the few artists of any discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did and the most popular at what they did. Relentlessly imaginative and experimental, the Beatles grabbed hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next six years, always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity but never losing their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience. Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day, decades after their breakup in 1970. Its hard to convey the scope of the Beatles achievements in a mere paragraph or two. They synthesized all that was good about early rock & roll, and changed it into something original and even more exciting. They established the prototype for the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed its own material. As composers, their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none, and key to the evolution of rock from its blues/R&B-based; forms into a style that was far more eclectic, but equally visceral. As singers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock; the groups harmonies were intricate and exhilarating. As performers, they were (at least until touring had ground them down) exciting and photogenic; when they retreated into the studio, they were instrumental in pioneering advanced techniques and multi-layered arrangements. They were also the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence, launching a British Invasion that made rock truly an international phenomenon. More than any other top group, the Beatles success was very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Their phenomenal cohesion was due in large degree to most of the group having known each other and played together in Liverpool for about five years before they began to have hit records. Guitarist and teenage rebel John Lennon got hooked on rock & roll in the mid-50s, and formed a band, the Quarrymen, at his high school. Around mid-1957, the Quarrymen were joined by another guitarist, Paul McCartney, nearly two years Lennons junior. A bit later they were joined by another guitarist, George Harrison, a friend of McCartney. The Quarrymen would change lineups constantly in the late 50s, eventually reducing to the core trio of guitarists, whod proven themselves to be the best musicians and most personally compatible individuals within the band. The Quarrymen changed their name to the Silver Beatles in 1960, quickly dropping the "Silver" to become just the Beatles. Lennons art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass, but finding a permanent drummer was a vexing problem until Pete Best joined in the summer of 1960. He successfully auditioned for the combo just before they left for a several-month stint in Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg was the Beatles baptism by fire. Playing grueling sessions for hours on end in one of the most notorious red-light districts in the world, the group was forced to expand its repertoire, tighten up its chops, and invest its show with enough manic energy to keep the rowdy crowds satisfied. When they returned to Liverpool at the end of 1960, the band -- formerly also-rans on the exploding Liverpudlian "beat" scene -- were suddenly the most exciting act on the local circuit. They consolidated their following in 1961 with constant gigging in the Merseyside area, most often at the legendary Cavern Club, the incubator of the Merseybeat sound. They also returned for engagements in Hamburg during 1961, although Sutcliffe dropped out of the band that year to concentrate on his art school studies there. McCartney took over on bass, Harrison settled in as lead guitarist, and Lennon had rhythm guitar; everyone sang. In mid-1961, the Beatles (minus Sutcliffe) made their first recordings in Germany, as a backup group to a British rock guitarist/singer based in Hamburg, Tony Sheridan. The Beatles hadnt fully developed at this point, and these recordings -- many of which (including a couple of Sheridan-less tracks) were issued only after the bands rise to fame -- found their talents in a most embryonic state. The Hamburg stint was also notable for gaining the Beatles sophisticated, artistic fans such as Sutcliffes girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, who influenced all of them (except Best) to restyle their quiffs into the moptops that gave the musicians their most distinctive visual trademark. (Tragically, Sutcliffe would die of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962). Near the end of 1961, the Beatles exploding local popularity caught the attention of local record store manager Brian Epstein, who was soon managing the band as well. He used his contacts to swiftly acquire a January 1, 1962, audition at Decca Records that has been heavily bootlegged (some tracks were officially released in 1995). After weeks of deliberation, Decca turned them down as did several other British labels. Epsteins perseverance was finally rewarded with an audition for producer George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary; Martin signed the Beatles in mid-1962. By this time, Epstein was assiduously grooming his charges for national success by influencing them to smarten up their appearance, dispensing with their leather jackets and trousers in favor of tailored suits and ties. One more major change was in the offing before the Beatles made their Parlophone debut. In August 1962, drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the group, a controversial decision that has been the cause of much speculation since. There is still no solid consensus as to whether it was because of his solitary, moody nature; the other Beatles jealousy of his popularity with the fans; his musical shortcomings (George Martin had already told Epstein that Best wasnt good enough to drum on recordings); or his refusal to wear his hair in bangs. What seems most likely was that the Beatles simply found his personality incompatible, preferring to enlist Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), a drummer with another popular Merseyside outfit, Rory Storm & the Hurricanes. Starr had been in the Beatles for a few weeks when they recorded their first single, "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You," in September 1962. Both sides of the 45 were Lennon-McCartney originals, and the songwriting team would be credited with most of the groups material throughout the Beatles career. The single, a promising but fairly rudimentary effort, hovered around the lower reaches of the British Top 20. The Beatles phenomenon didnt truly kick in until "Please Please Me," which topped the British charts in early 1963. This was the prototype British Invasion single: an infectious melody, charging guitars, and positively exuberant harmonies. The same traits were evident on their third 45, "From Me to You" (a British number one), and their debut LP, Please Please Me. Although it was mostly recorded in a single day, Please Please Me topped the British charts for an astonishing 30 weeks, establishing the group as the most popular rock & roll act ever seen in the U.K. What the Beatles had done was take the best elements of the rock and pop they loved and make them their own. Since the Quarrymen days, they had been steeped in the classic early rock of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and the Everly Brothers; theyd also kept an ear open to the early-60s sounds of Motown, Phil Spector, and the girl groups. What they added was an unmatched songwriting savvy (inspired by Brill Building teams such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King), a brash guitar-oriented attack, wildly enthusiastic vocals, and the embodiment of the youthful flair of their generation, ready to dispense with postwar austerity and claim a culture of their own. They were also unsurpassed in their eclecticism, willing to borrow from blues, popular standards, gospel, folk, or whatever seemed suitable for their musical vision. Producer George Martin was the perfect foil for the group, refining their ideas without tinkering with their cores; during the last half of their career, he was indispensable for his ability to translate their concepts into arrangements that required complex orchestration, innovative applications of recording technology, and an ever-widening array of instruments. Just as crucially, the Beatles were never ones to stand still and milk formulas. All of their subsequent albums and singles would show remarkable artistic progression (though never at the expense of a damn catchy tune). Even on their second LP, With the Beatles (1963), it was evident that their talents as composers and instrumentalists were expanding furiously, as they devised ever more inventive melodies and harmonies, and boosted the fullness of their arrangements. "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" established the group not just as a popular music act, but as a phenomenon never before seen in the British entertainment business, as each single sold over a million copies in the U.K. After some celebrated national TV appearances, Beatlemania broke out across the British Isles in late 1963, and the group generating screams and hysteria at all of their public appearances, musical or otherwise. Capitol, which had first refusal of the Beatles recordings in the United States, had declined to issue the groups first few singles, which ended up appearing on relatively small American independents. Capitol took up its option on "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which stormed to the top of the U.S. charts within weeks of its release on December 26, 1963. The Beatles television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964 launched Beatlemania (and the entire British Invasion) on an even bigger scale than it had reached in Britain. In the first week of April 1964, the Beatles had the Top Five best-selling singles in the U.S.; they also had the first two slots on the album charts, as well as other entries throughout the Billboard Top 100. No one had ever dominated the market for popular music so heavily; its doubtful that anyone ever will again. The Beatles themselves would continue to reach number one with most of their singles and albums until their 1970 breakup. Hard as it may be to believe today, the Beatles were often dismissed by cultural commentators of the time as nothing more than a fad that would vanish within months as the novelty wore off. The group ensured this wouldnt happen by making A Hard Days Night in early 1964, a cinéma vérité-style motion picture comedy/musical that cemented their image as "the Fab Four": happy-go-lucky, individualistic, cheeky, funny lads with nonstop energy. The soundtrack was also a triumph, consisting entirely of Lennon-McCartney tunes, including such standards as the title tune, "And I Love Her," "If I Fell," "Cant Buy Me Love," and "Things We Said Today." George Harrisons resonant 12-string electric guitar leads were hugely influential; the movie helped persuade the Byrds, then folksingers, to plunge all-out into rock & roll, and the Beatles (along with Bob Dylan) would be hugely influential on the folk-rock explosion of 1965. The Beatles success, too, had begun to open the U.S. market for fellow Brits like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks, and inspired young American groups like the Beau Brummels, Lovin Spoonful, and others to mount a challenge of their own with self-penned material that owed a great debt to Lennon-McCartney. Between riotous international tours in 1964 and 1965, the Beatles continued to squeeze out more chart-topping albums and singles. (Until 1967, the groups British albums were often truncated for release in the States; when their catalog was transferred to CD, the albums were released worldwide in their British configurations.) In retrospect, critics have judged Beatles for Sale (late 1964) and Help! (mid-1965) as the bands least impressive efforts. To some degree, thats true. Touring and an insatiable market placed heavy demands upon their songwriting, and some of the originals and covers on these records, while brilliant by many groups standards, were filler in the context of the Beatles best work. But when at the top of their game, the group was continuing to push forward. "I Feel Fine" had feedback and brilliant guitar leads; "Ticket to Ride" showed the band beginning to incorporate the ringing, metallic, circular guitar lines that would be appropriated by bands like the Byrds; "Help!" was their first burst of confessional lyricism; "Yesterday" employed a string quartet. John Lennon in particular was beginning to exhibit a Dylanesque influence in his songwriting on such folky, downbeat numbers as "Im a Loser" and "Youve Got to Hide Your Love Away." And tracks like "I Dont Want to Spoil the Party" and "Ive Just Seen a Face" had a strong country flavor. Although the Beatles second film, Help!, was a much sillier and less sophisticated affair than their first feature, it too was a huge commercial success. By this time, though, the Beatles had nothing to prove in commercial terms; the remaining frontiers were artistic challenges that could only be met in the studio. They rose to the occasion at the end of 1965 with Rubber Soul, one of the classic folk-rock records. Lyrically, Lennon, McCartney, and even Harrison (who was now writing some tunes on his own) were evolving beyond boy-girl scenarios into complex, personal feelings. They were also pushing the limits of studio rock by devising new guitar and bass textures, experimenting with distortion and multi-tracking, and using unconventional (for rock) instruments like the sitar. As much of a progression as Rubber Soul was relative to their previous records, it was but a taster for the boundary-shattering outings of the next few years. The "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single found the group abandoning romantic themes entirely, boosting the bass to previously unknown levels, and fooling around with psychedelic imagery and backward tapes on the B-side. Drugs (psychedelic and otherwise) were fueling their already fertile imaginations, but they felt creatively hindered by their touring obligations. Revolver, released in the summer of 1966, proved what the group could be capable of when allotted months of time in the studio. Hazy hard guitars and thicker vocal arrangements formed the bed of these increasingly imagistic, ambitious lyrics; the groups eclecticism now encompassed everything from singalong novelties ("Yellow Submarine") and string quartet-backed character sketches ("Eleanor Rigby") to Indian-influenced swirls of echo and backward tapes ("Tomorrow Never Knows"). Some would complain that the Beatles had abandoned the earthy rock of their roots for clever mannerism. But Revolver, like virtually all of the groups singles and albums from "She Loves You" on, would be a worldwide chart-topper. For the past couple of years, live performance had become a rote exercise for the group, tired of competing with thousands of screaming fans that drowned out most of their voices and instruments. A 1966 summer worldwide tour was particularly grueling: the groups entourage was physically attacked in the Philippines after a perceived snub of the countrys first lady, and a casual remark by John Lennon about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus Christ was picked up in the States, resulting in the burning of Beatles records in the Bible Belt and demands for a repentant apology. Their final concert of that American tour (in San Francisco on August 29, 1966) would be their last in front of a paying audience, as the group decided to stop playing live in order to concentrate on their studio recordings. This was a radical (indeed, unprecedented) step in 1966, and the media was rife with speculation that the act was breaking up, especially after all four spent late 1966 engaged in separate personal and artistic pursuits. The appearance of the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" single in February 1967 squelched these concerns. Frequently cited as the strongest double A-side ever, the Beatles were now pushing forward into unabashedly psychedelic territory in their use of orchestral arrangements and Mellotron, without abandoning their grasp of memorable melody and immediately accessible lyrical messages. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in June 1967 as the Summer of Love dawned, was the definitive psychedelic soundtrack. Or, at least, so it was perceived at the time: subsequent critics have painted the album as an uneven affair, given a conceptual unity via its brilliant multi-tracked overdubs, singalong melodies, and fairy tale-ish lyrics. Others remain convinced, as millions did at the time, that it represented pops greatest triumph, or indeed an evolution of pop into art with a capital A. In addition to mining all manner of roots influences, the musicians were also picking up vibes from Indian music, avant-garde electronics, classical, music hall, and more. When the Beatles premiered their hippie anthem "All You Need Is Love" as part of a worldwide TV broadcast, they had been truly anointed as spokespersons for their generation (a role they had not actively sought), and it seemed they could do no wrong. Musically, that would usually continue to be the case, but the groups strength began to unravel at a surprisingly quick pace. In August 1967, Brian Epstein -- prone to suicidal depression over the past year -- died of a drug overdose, leaving them without a manager. They pressed on with their next film project, Magical Mystery Tour, directed by themselves; lacking focus or even basic professionalism, the picture bombed when it was premiered on BBC television in December 1967, giving the media the first real chance theyd ever had to roast the Beatles over a flame. (Another film, the animated feature Yellow Submarine, would appear in 1968, although the Beatles had little involvement with the project, either in terms of the movie or the soundtrack.) In early 1968, the Beatles decamped to India for a course in transcendental meditation with the Maharishi; this too became something of a media embarrassment as each of the four would eventually depart the course before its completion. The Beatles did use their unaccustomed peace in India to compose a wealth of new material. Judged solely on musical merit, the White Album, a double LP released in late 1968, was a triumph. While largely abandoning their psychedelic instruments to return to guitar-based rock, they maintained their whimsical eclecticism, proving themselves masters of everything from blues-rock to vaudeville. As individual songwriters, too, it contains some of their finest work (as does the brilliant non-LP single from this era, "Hey Jude"/"Revolution"). The problem, at least in terms of the groups long-term health, was that these were very much individual songs, as opposed to collective ones. Lennon and McCartney had long composed most of their tunes separately (you can almost always tell the composer by the lead vocalist). But they had always fed off of each other not only to supply missing bits and pieces that would bring a song to completion, but to provide a competitive edge that would bring out the best in the other. McCartneys romantic melodicism and Lennons more acidic, gritty wit were perfect complements for one another. By the White Album, it was clear (if only in retrospect) that each member was more concerned with his own expression than that of the collective group: a natural impulse, but one that was bound to lead to difficulties. In addition, George Harrison was becoming a more prolific and skilled composer as well, imbuing his own melodies (which were nearly the equal of those of his more celebrated colleagues) with a cosmic lightness. Harrison was beginning to resent his junior status, and the group began to bicker more openly in the studio. Ringo Starr, whose solid drumming and good nature could usually be counted upon (as was evident in his infrequent lead vocals), actually quit for a couple of weeks in the midst of the White Album sessions (though the media was unaware of this at the time). Personal interests were coming into play as well: Lennons devotion to romantic and artistic pursuits with his new girlfriend (and soon-to-be wife) Yoko Ono was diverting his attentions from the Beatles. Apple Records, started by the group earlier in 1968 as a sort of utopian commercial enterprise, was becoming a financial and organizational nightmare. These werent the ideal conditions under which to record a new album in January 1969, especially when McCartney was pushing the group to return to live performing, although none of the others seemed especially keen on the idea. They did agree to try recording a "back-to-basics," live-in-the-studio-type LP, the sessions being filmed for a television special. That plan almost blew up when Harrison, in the midst of tense arguments, left the group for a few days. Although he returned, the idea of playing live concerts was put on the back burner; Harrison enlisted American soul keyboardist Billy Preston as kind of a fifth member on the sessions, both to beef up the arrangements and to alleviate the uncomfortable atmosphere. Exacerbating the problem was that the Beatles didnt have a great deal of first-class new songs to work with, although some were excellent. In order to provide a suitable concert-like experience for the film, the group did climb the roof of their Apple headquarters in London to deliver an impromptu performance on January 30, 1969, before the police stopped it; this was their last live concert of any sort. Generally dissatisfied with these early-1969 sessions, the album and film -- at first titled Get Back, and later to emerge as Let It Be -- remained in the can as the group tried to figure out how the projects should be mixed, packaged, and distributed. A couple of the best tracks, "Get Back"/"Dont Let Me Down," were issued as a single in the spring of 1969. By this time, the Beatles quarrels were intensifying in a dispute over management: McCartney wanted their affairs to be handled by his new father-in-law, Lee Eastman, while the other members of the group favored a tough American businessman, Allen Klein. It was something of a miracle, then, that the final album recorded by the group, Abbey Road, was one of their most unified efforts (even if, by this time, the musicians were recording many of their parts separately). It certainly boasted some of their most intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumental arrangements; it also heralded the arrival of Harrison as a composer of equal talent to Lennon and McCartney, as George wrote the albums two most popular tunes, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." The Beatles were still progressing, but it turned out to be the end of the road, as their business disputes continued to magnify. Lennon, who had begun releasing solo singles and performing with friends as the Plastic Ono Band, threatened to resign in late 1969, although he was dissuaded from making a public announcement. Most of the early-1969 tapes remained unreleased, partially because the footage for the planned television broadcast of these sessions was now going to be produced as a documentary movie. The accompanying soundtrack album, Let It Be, was delayed so that its release could coincide with that of the film. Lennon, Harrison, and Allen Klein decided to have celebrated American producer Phil Spector record some additional instrumentation and do some mixing. Thus the confusion that persists among most rock listeners to this day: Let It Be, although the last Beatles album to be released, was not the last one to be recorded. Abbey Road should actually be considered as the Beatles last album; most of the material on Let It Be, including the title track (which would be the last single released while the group was still together), was recorded several months before the Abbey Road sessions began in earnest, and a good 15 months or so before its May 1970 release. By that time, the Beatles were no more. In fact, there had been no recording done by the group as a unit since August 1969, and each member of the band had begun to pursue serious outside professional interests independently via the Plastic Ono Band, Harrisons tour with Delaney & Bonnie, Starrs starring role in the Magic Christian film, and McCartneys first solo album. The outside world for the most part remained almost wholly unaware of the seriousness of the groups friction, making it a devastating shock for much of the worlds youth when McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles on April 10, 1970. (The "announcement" was actually contained in a press release for his new album, in which his declaration of his intention to work on his own effectively served as a notice of his departure.) The final blow, apparently, was the conflict between the release dates of Let It Be and McCartneys debut solo album. The rest of the group asked McCartney to delay his release until after Let It Be; McCartney refused and, for good measure, was distressed by Spectors post-production work on Let It Be, particularly the string overdubs on "The Long and Winding Road," which became a posthumous Beatles single that spring. Although McCartney received much of the blame for the split, it should be remembered that he had done more than any other member to keep the group going since Epsteins death, and that each of the other Beatles had threatened to leave well before McCartneys departure. With hindsight, the breakup seemed inevitable in view of their serious business disagreements and the growth of their individual interests. As bitter as the initial headlines were to swallow, the feuding would grow much worse over the next few years. At the end of 1970, McCartney sued the rest of the Beatles in order to dissolve their partnership; the battle dragged through the courts for years, scotching any prospects of a group reunion. In any case, each member of the band quickly established a viable solo career. In fact, at the outset it could have been argued that the artistic effects of the split were in some ways beneficial, freeing Lennon and Harrison to make their most uncompromising artistic statements (Plastic Ono Band and All Things Must Pass). Georges individual talents in particular received acclaim that had always eluded him when he was overshadowed by Lennon-McCartney. Paul had a much rougher time with the critics, but continued to issue a stream of hit singles, hitting a commercial and critical jackpot at the end of 1973 with the massively successful Band on the Run. Ringo did not have the songwriting acumen to compete on the same level as the others, yet he too had quite a few big hit singles in the early 70s, often benefiting from the assistance of his former bandmates. Yet within a short time, it became apparent both that the Beatles were not going to settle their differences and reunite, and that their solo work could not compare with what they were capable of creating together. The stereotype has it that the split allowed each of them to indulge in their worst tendencies to their extremes: Lennon in agit-prop, Harrison in holier-than-thou mysticism, McCartney in cutesy pop, Starr in easy listening rock. Theres a good deal of truth in this, but its also important to bear in mind that what was most missing was a sense of group interaction. The critical party line often champions Lennon as the angry, realist rocker and McCartney as the melodic balladeer, but this is a fallacy: each of them was capable, in roughly equal measures, of ballsy all-out rock and sweet romanticism. What is not in dispute is that they sparked each other to reach heights that they could not attain on their own. Despite periodic rumors of reunions throughout the 1970s, no group projects came close to materializing. It should be added that the Beatles themselves continued to feud to some degree, and from all evidence werent seriously interested in working together as a unit. Any hopes of a reunion vanished when Lennon was assassinated in New York City in December 1980. The Beatles continued their solo careers throughout the 80s, but their releases became less frequent, and their commercial success gradually diminished as listeners without first-hand memories of the combo created their own idols. The popularity of the Beatles, however, proved eternal. In part, this is because the groups 1970 split effectively short-circuited the prospects of artistic decline; the body of work that was preserved was uniformly strong. However, its also because, like any great works of art, the Beatles records carried an ageless magnificence that continues to captivate new generations of listeners. So it is that Beatles records continue to be heard on radio in heavy rotation, continue to sell in massive quantities, and continue to be covered and quoted by rock and pop artists through the present day. Legal wrangles at Apple prevented the official issue of previously unreleased Beatles material for over two decades (although much of it was frequently bootlegged). The situation finally changed in the 1990s, after McCartney, Harrison, Starr, and Lennons widow, Yoko Ono, settled their principal business disagreements. In 1994, this resulted in a double CD of BBC sessions from the early and mid-60s (a second volume followed nearly two decades later). The following year, a much more ambitious project was undertaken: a multi-part film documentary, broadcast on network television in 1995, and then released (with double the length) for the home video market in 1996, with the active participation of the surviving Beatles. To coincide with the Anthology documentary, three double-CDs of previously unreleased/rare material were issued in 1995 and 1996. Additionally, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr (with some assistance from Jeff Lynne) embellished a couple of John Lennon demos from the 70s with overdubs to create two new tracks ("Free as a Bird" and "Real Love") that were billed as actual Beatles recordings. Whether this constituted the actual long-awaited "reunion" is the subject of much debate. Certainly these cuts were hardly classics on par with the music the group made in the 60s. Some fans, even diehards, were inclined to view the whole Anthology project as a distinctly 90s marketing exercise that maximized the mileage of whatever could be squeezed from the Beatles vaults. If nothing else, though, the massive commercial success of outtakes that had, after all, been recorded 25 to 30 years ago, spoke volumes about the unabated appeal and fascination the Beatles continue to exert worldwide. That fascination didnt fade in the new millennium. At the dawn of the 2000s, the Beatles released 1, a compilation of the 27 number one singles the group charted in the United Kingdom and United States. 1 was a runaway success, topping the charts around the world. It remained at number one for several weeks in the U.K. and U.S. (nine and eight, respectively), and continued to be a strong catalog item for years. By the end of the 2000s, it had sold over 31 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest album of the decade. George Harrison died of lung cancer on November 29, 2001, leaving Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as the only surviving Beatles. The first Beatles project to arrive after Harrisons death was 2003s Let It Be... Naked, a revision of the original 1970 album that stripped away Phil Spectors string arrangements and shuffled the track order. Next up was LOVE, a collaboration with the Cirque du Soleil dance troupe. The stage revue, based in Las Vegas, was accompanied by an ambitious remix album produced by George Martin and his son Giles; the soundtrack was another significant international success, going double platinum in several countries, including the U.S. and U.K. In 2009, the Beatles reissued their original catalog in new remastered editions, highlighted by two separate box sets containing their complete works in stereo and in mono (although the latter did not contain their last two studio albums); in 2012, the stereo remasters were released on vinyl. In 2010, the Beatles catalog made its digital debut. In 2013, the Beatles released the long-awaited second volume of BBC recordings, On Air: Live at the BBC, Vol. 2. Not long afterward, the digital-only The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963 presented unreleased material from 1963, including studio outtakes and BBC performances. In 2014, all of the groups American Capitol albums from the 60s were released as the box set The U.S. Albums. The following year saw a reissue of 1, containing new stereo mixes by Giles Martin, along with 5.1 mixes and a DVD/Blu-ray containing the first commercial release of the Beatles promotional films. In 2016, the Beatles years as a touring band became the subject of a Ron Howard documentary called Eight Days a Week; its release was accompanied by the first-ever CD reissue of Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 50th Anniversary of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2017 was marked with a deluxe reissue containing a new stereo remix by Giles Martin and a host of unreleased alternate takes. The next year, the Beatles received a similar deluxe edition, which included the first-ever official release of the Esher demos where Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison sketched out the songs that would become the White Album.
	Album: 1 of 29 Title:  Please Please Me Released:  1963-03-22 Tracks:  14 Duration:  33:04 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   I Saw Her Standing There  (02:56) 2   Misery  (01:52) 3   Anna (Go to Him)  (02:59) 4   Chains  (02:28) 5   Boys  (02:29) 6   Ask Me Why  (02:29) 7   Please Please Me  (02:03) 8   Love Me Do  (02:23) 9   P.S. I Love You  (02:05) 10  Baby It’s You  (02:40) 11  Do You Want to Know a Secret  (02:01) 12  A Taste of Honey  (02:07) 13  There’s a Place  (01:55) 14  Twist and Shout  (02:33)
Please Please Me : Allmusic album Review : Once "Please Please Me" rocketed to number one, the Beatles rushed to deliver a debut album, bashing out Please Please Me in a day. Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh, precisely because of its intense origins. As the songs rush past, its easy to get wrapped up in the sound of the record itself without realizing how the album effectively summarizes the bands eclectic influences. Naturally, the influences shine through their covers, all of which are unconventional and illustrate the groups superior taste. Theres a love of girl groups, vocal harmonies, sophisticated popcraft, schmaltz, R&B, and hard-driving rock & roll, which is enough to make Please Please Me impressive, but what makes it astonishing is how these elements converge in the originals. "I Saw Here Standing There" is one of their best rockers, yet it has surprising harmonies and melodic progressions. "Misery" and "Theres a Place" grow out of the girl group tradition without being tied to it. A few of their originals, such as "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and the pleasantly light "P.S. I Love You," have dated slightly, but endearingly so, since theyre infused with cheerful innocence and enthusiasm. And there is an innocence to Please Please Me. The Beatles may have played notoriously rough dives in Hamburg, but the only way you could tell that on their first album was how the constant gigging turned the group into a tight, professional band that could run through their set list at the drop of a hat with boundless energy. Its no surprise that Lennon had shouted himself hoarse by the end of the session, barely getting through "Twist and Shout," the most famous single take in rock history. He simply got caught up in the music, just like generations of listeners did.
	Album: 2 of 29 Title:  With The Beatles Released:  1963-11-22 Tracks:  14 Duration:  33:24 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   It Won’t Be Long  (02:13) 2   All I’ve Got to Do  (02:05) 3   All My Loving  (02:10) 4   Don’t Bother Me  (02:29) 5   Little Child  (01:48) 6   Till There Was You  (02:17) 7   Please Mister Postman  (02:35) 8   Roll Over Beethoven  (02:48) 9   Hold Me Tight  (02:33) 10  You Really Got a Hold on Me  (03:03) 11  I Wanna Be Your Man  (01:59) 12  Devil in Her Heart  (02:28) 13  Not a Second Time  (02:08) 14  Money (That’s What I Want)  (02:48)
With The Beatles : Allmusic album Review : With the Beatles is a sequel of the highest order -- one that betters the original by developing its own tone and adding depth. While it may share several similarities with its predecessor -- there is an equal ratio of covers-to-originals, a familiar blend of girl group, Motown, R&B, pop, and rock, and a show tune that interrupts the flow of the album -- With the Beatles is a better record that not only rocks harder, its considerably more sophisticated. They could deliver rock & roll straight ("I Wanna Be Your Man") or twist it around with a little Latin lilt ("Little Child," one of their most underrated early rockers); Lennon and McCartney wrote sweet ballads (the achingly gorgeous "All Ive Got to Do") and sprightly pop/rockers ("All My Loving") with equal aplomb; and the propulsive rockers ("It Wont Be Long") were as richly melodic as slower songs ("Not a Second Time"). Even George Harrisons first recorded song, "Dont Bother Me," is a standout, with its wonderfully foreboding minor-key melody. Since the Beatles covered so much ground with their originals, their covers pale slightly in comparison, particularly since they rely on familiar hits (only "Devil in Her Heart" qualifies as a forgotten gem). But for every "Roll Over Beethoven," a surprisingly stiff reading of the Chuck Berry standard, there is a sublime moment, such as Lennons soaring interpretation of "You Really Got a Hold on Me," and the group always turns in thoroughly enjoyable performances. Still, the heart of With the Beatles lies not in the covers, but the originals, where it was clear that, even at this early stage, the Beatles were rapidly maturing and changing, turning into expert craftsmen and musical innovators.
	Album: 3 of 29 Title:  Introducing… The Beatles Released:  1964-01-10 Tracks:  12 Duration:  28:30 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% AlbumCover	1   I Saw Her Standing There  (02:58) 2   Misery  (01:47) 3   Anna (Go to Him)  (02:59) 4   Chains  (02:28) 5   Boys  (02:29) 6   Ask Me Why  (02:29) 7   Please Please Me  (02:04) 8   Baby It’s You  (02:40) 9   Do You Want to Know a Secret  (02:00) 10  A Taste of Honey  (02:05) 11  There’s a Place  (01:54) 12  Twist and Shout  (02:33)
	Album: 4 of 29 Title:  Meet The Beatles! Released:  1964-01-20 Tracks:  12 Duration:  27:37 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   TrackSamples   Wikipedia   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:27) 2   I Saw Her Standing There  (02:57) 3   This Boy  (02:15) 4   It Won’t Be Long  (02:16) 5   All I’ve Got to Do  (02:08) 6   All My Loving  (02:10) 7   Don’t Bother Me  (02:31) 8   Little Child  (01:50) 9   Till There Was You  (02:20) 10  Hold Me Tight  (02:34) 11  I Wanna Be Your Man  (02:02) 12  Not a Second Time  (02:07)
Meet The Beatles! : Allmusic album Review : Meet the Beatles! wasnt the first Beatles album released in the U.S. (that wouldve been Introducing the Beatles, on Vee Jay), but as the first Beatles album released by Capitol Records, it was indeed the LP where many millions of Americans were introduced to the Fab Four. As an introduction, there could hardly have been one better. Largely comprised of material released on their second U.K. LP, With the Beatles -- the album art offers a blue-tinted spin on that late-1963 release -- Meet the Beatles! contains nine of that albums 14 songs, cutting out almost all the covers (all the better for publishing rights, but also an effective showcase of the groups talents; its hard not to view the inclusion of the one remaining cover, "Till There Was You" from The Music Man, as a way to illustrate how Meet the Beatles! could appeal to parents) in a quest to trim the LP down to 12 songs. What was added to the With the Beatles material are three of the Beatles best early songs: their American breakthrough single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and its U.K. B-side ballad "This Boy," plus "I Saw Her Standing There" from their U.K. debut Please Please Me (this song was the B-side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the U.S.). The revisions make Meet the Beatles! slightly more of a frenetic rock & roll record than its parent LP -- there isnt much R&B or as many ballads -- which, at the time, made it an appropriate soundtrack for the wild heyday of Beatlemania but, as the years have passed, the emphasis on joyous, exuberant rock & roll means that Meet the Beatles! still sounds fresh and exciting on its own terms. [A 50th Anniversary release of the album included both mono and stereo mixes of the original.]
	Album: 5 of 29 Title:  Twist and Shout Released:  1964-02-03 Tracks:  14 Duration:  32:35 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Anna (Go to Him)  (02:59) 2   Chains  (02:28) 3   Boys  (02:29) 4   Ask Me Why  (02:29) 5   Please Please Me  (02:03) 6   Love Me Do  (02:23) 7   From Me to You  (01:58) 8   P.S. I Love You  (02:05) 9   Baby It’s You  (02:40) 10  Do You Want to Know a Secret  (02:01) 11  A Taste of Honey  (02:07) 12  There’s a Place  (01:54) 13  Twist and Shout  (02:33) 14  She Loves You  (02:22)
	Album: 6 of 29 Title:  The Beatles with Tony Sheridan and Guests Released:  1964-02-03 Tracks:  12 Duration:  27:39 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   My Bonnie  (02:07) 2   Cry for a Shadow  (02:22) 3   Johnson Rag  (01:54) 4   Swanee River  (02:52) 5   Flying Beat  (02:00) 6   Darktown Strutters Ball  (02:01) 7   The Saints  (03:19) 8   Rye Beat  (02:02) 9   You Are My Sunshine  (02:22) 10  Summertime Beat  (02:00) 11  Why  (02:55) 12  Happy New Year Beat  (01:45)
	Album: 7 of 29 Title:  Jolly What! Englands Greatest Recording Stars: The Beatles & Frank Ifield on Stage Released:  1964-02-26 Tracks:  12 Duration:  27:06 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Please Please Me  (02:03) 2   Any Time  (02:15) 3   Lovesick Blues  (02:18) 4   Im Smiling Now  (02:03) 5   Nobody’s Darlin’ but Mine  (02:31) 6   From Me to You  (01:58) 7   I Remember You  (02:05) 8   Ask Me Why  (02:29) 9   Thank You Girl  (02:03) 10  The Wayward Wind  (02:43) 11  Unchained Melody  (02:36) 12  I Listen to My Heart  (02:02)
	Album: 8 of 29 Title:  The Beatles First Released:  1964-04 Tracks:  30 Duration:  1:26:16 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Ain’t She Sweet  (02:10) 2   Cry for a Shadow  (02:23) 3   Lets Dance  (02:33) 4   My Bonnie  (02:06) 5   If You Love Me, Baby  (02:53) 6   Whatd I Say  (02:39) 7   Sweet Georgia Brown  (02:06) 8   The Saints  (03:19) 9   Ruby Baby  (02:52) 10  Why  (02:58) 11  Nobodys Child  (03:55) 12  Ya Ya, Parts 1 & 2  (05:09) 13  My Bonnie  (02:45) 14  My Bonnie  (02:42) 1   Ain’t She Sweet  (02:10) 2   Cry for a Shadow  (02:22) 3   Lets Dance  (02:32) 4   My Bonnie  (02:07) 5   If You Love Me, Baby  (02:52) 6   Whatd I Say  (02:37) 7   Sweet Georgia Brown  (02:04) 8   The Saints  (03:19) 9   Ruby Baby  (02:48) 10  Why  (02:55) 11  Nobodys Child  (03:52) 12  Ya Ya  (05:09) 13  My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)  (02:45) 14  My Bonnie  (02:41) 15  Lets Twist Again  (02:40) 16  Top Ten Twist  (02:52)
The Beatles' First : Allmusic album Review : The Beatles early-60s Hamburg sessions backing Liverpool singer Tony Sheridan, produced by Bert Kaempfert, are rapidly becoming the equivalent to what those live 1955 Louisiana Hayride broadcasts are to Elvis Presley -- they keep turning up (a bit like bad pennies) in different incarnations, exploiting attributes that the artists in question either hadnt yet developed or didnt fully understand themselves. The main difference is that the Beatles early recordings are still under the control of a major corporation and havent been licensed non-exclusively to dozens of labels around the world. Still, this must be the fourth or fifth incarnation of the Tony Sheridan sessions to surface since the end of the 1990s, and competes with two different versions from Bear Family Records and at least one single-disc domestic U.S. edition. This time, the finished takes are represented in mono and stereo on two separate CDs as part of Universals Deluxe Edition series, packaged in a decorated, partly transparent slipcase with a booklet giving a history of the music involved. Its all very handsome and the sound is excellent, though no more impressive than the Bear Family package, and for reasons best understood by Universal has only been released in this edition in Europe. Its well produced and a bit on the expensive side as a double full-priced set, especially given that most of the American releases of this material have been mid-priced. And its a very mixed bag musically -- as with all incarnations of these recordings, to most modern listeners theyre likely to be more notable as a very distant prelude to what the Beatles would become than as diverting entertainment. The brand of rock & roll represented here is closer to what influenced the Beatles than it is to what they came to generate themselves once theyd found their voice. That said, as examples of early-60s rock & roll as it was understood in Germany (and Liverpool), this is a good set, and it does contain some hints of what the Beatles would become -- some of the singing behind Sheridan and some of the lead guitar and bass work prefigure the better work that George Martin would coax from them starting a year or so after most of these sides were cut. On top of that, it happens that Tony Sheridan could really rock out as a singer and guitarist, and these sides all make for fun listening, with a few even downright diverting -- "Ya Ya" is a great cut, period, regardless of whether any of the Beatles are on it. The booklet includes a lengthy and sometimes interesting essay that -- as an English translation of a German original -- is sometimes a bit awkward to read. Featuring the mono version of the album, disc two is preferable for the richer, almost larger-than-life bass and rhythm section, although the stereo disc allows one to pick out the details of individual instrument parts with much greater ease. The material at hand has been treated far worse over the years, and it clearly deserves this sort of packaging -- and for those who are fans of the band, the music, and/or the period, this is a good place to stop, if one doesnt already own one of the Bear Family releases of the same material.
	Album: 9 of 29 Title:  The Beatles Beat Released:  1964-04 Tracks:  12 Duration:  28:48 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   She Loves You  (02:22) 2   Thank You Girl  (02:03) 3   From Me to You  (01:58) 4   I’ll Get You  (02:05) 5   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:27) 6   Hold Me Tight  (02:33) 7   Can’t Buy Me Love  (02:14) 8   You Can’t Do That  (02:38) 9   Roll Over Beethoven  (02:48) 10  Till There Was You  (02:17) 11  Money (That’s What I Want)  (02:48) 12  Please Mister Postman  (02:35)
The Beatles Beat : Allmusic album Review : The Beatles may rival (or perhaps even surpass) Frank Sinatra in terms of the sheer number of different international permutations of their songs and albums, but this German release from 1964 is well above average in its song selection. In assembling this LP, generic title and all, they ended up featuring 12 of the groups best songs -- four chart-topping hit singles ("From Me to You," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Cant Buy Me Love") augmented with a bunch of cool B-sides and lead tracks from EPs and a good album cut or two -- from the spring of 1963 through the spring of 1964. Even better, the producers werent afraid to include the bands covers of other peoples songs. The result is a composite of the highlights of their first year at the top that rivals the U.S.-issued Beatles Second Album for sheer rock & roll excellence, the only exception being the McCartney-sung ballad "Till There Was You," and as its sandwiched between "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Money," its as unobtrusive as it could possibly be. At the time, there was no compilation boasting all of these hits, which made this a popular import to England and later the U.S.A.
	Album: 10 of 29 Title:  The Beatles’ Second Album Released:  1964-04-10 Tracks:  11 Duration:  26:39 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Roll Over Beethoven  (02:44) 2   Thank You Girl  (02:01) 3   You Really Got a Hold on Me  (02:58) 4   Devil in Her Heart  (02:23) 5   Money (That’s What I Want)  (02:47) 6   You Can’t Do That  (02:33) 7   Long Tall Sally  (02:03) 8   I Call Your Name  (02:09) 9   Please Mr. Postman  (02:34) 10  I’ll Get You  (02:05) 11  She Loves You  (02:22)
The Beatles’ Second Album : Allmusic album Review : The Beatles Second Album was the first album of the groups work to be assembled by Capitol Records exclusively for the American market (as opposed to, say, Meet the Beatles!, which was a reconfigured and shortened version of With the Beatles). As such, it offends some historical purists, who dont think of it as a real album. Regardless of its origins, however, The Beatles Second Album stands as probably best pure rock & roll album ever issued of the groups music. In the process of pulling songs from various British and American EPs, singles (including "She Loves You") and B-sides, as well as tracks left over from the editing of With the Beatles for American release, the compilers somehow managed to avoid any trace of the pop ballads favored by Paul McCartney that usually slowed down the groups other early albums, and the result was the longest uninterrupted body of hard rock & roll and R&B; in their entire output. No other long-player by the group featured them doing more covers of songs by black American artists or songwriters, including Little Richard("Long Tall Sally"), Chuck Berry ("Roll Over Beethoven"), Smokey Robinson ("You Really Got a Hold on Me"), Barrett Strong ("Money"), and others, and just to show how rich a vein this all was at the time of its release, the version of "Roll Over Beethoven" here actually charted briefly as a single, while "Long Tall Sally" served as their concert finale.
	Album: 11 of 29 Title:  The Beatles’ Long Tall Sally Released:  1964-05-11 Tracks:  12 Duration:  29:26 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:27) 2   I Saw Her Standing There  (02:58) 3   You Really Got a Hold on Me  (03:05) 4   Devil in Her Heart  (02:28) 5   Roll Over Beethoven  (02:48) 6   Misery  (01:52) 7   Long Tall Sally  (02:06) 8   I Call Your Name  (02:14) 9   Please Mister Postman  (02:35) 10  This Boy  (02:15) 11  I’ll Get You  (02:05) 12  You Can’t Do That  (02:33)
	Album: 12 of 29 Title:  Something New Released:  1964-07-20 Tracks:  11 Duration:  25:17 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   I’ll Cry Instead  (01:48) 2   Things We Said Today  (02:38) 3   Any Time at All  (02:13) 4   When I Get Home  (02:18) 5   Slow Down  (02:56) 6   Matchbox  (01:58) 7   Tell Me Why  (02:10) 8   And I Love Her  (02:31) 9   I’m Happy Just to Dance With You  (01:58) 10  If I Fell  (02:22) 11  Komm gib mir deine Hand (I Want to Hold Your Hand)  (02:24)
Something New : Allmusic album Review : It was the summer of 1964, and it had been a whole three months (!!!) since a new Beatles album from Capitol Records -- The Beatles Second Album, assembled from various sources -- had been released to eager U.S. fans (and topped the charts). In the meantime, in addition to doing a tour of the U.S., the group had released their debut movie, A Hard Days Night -- but the U.S. rights to the soundtrack were owned by United Artists Records (that was, in fact, the basis for United Artists original interest in producing the movie), which had duly released its soundtrack in late June (and saw it top the charts). Capitol didnt have the soundtrack rights, but it was allowed to use most of the songs from the film; and as it turned out, the Beatles had delivered as fine a body of songs for the movie as they had for any of their albums up to that point -- songs that, as Capitol executives soon discovered, worked just as well in their combination. And so Something New was released about a month after UAs soundtrack, and if it wasnt as strong as the two preceding U.S. albums, in any other context and circumstance it would have been a contender for best rock & roll album of the year. Grouped alongside the bands hard-rocking, first-rate covers of Carl Perkins "Matchbox" and Larry Williams "Slow Down," and topped out with their German-language rendition of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" ("Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand"), which probably couldnt fit anywhere else, the Hard Days Night material sounded fine, and few fans seemed to mind paying twice for the songs that overlapped between the two albums. And no one seemed to notice that this is where the 11-song Beatles album comes into being, Capitol reasoning out that their material was so strong that they could get away with shaving off one track from the standard dozen, which became routine in the two years of U.S.-created releases that followed. Actually, outside of the context of the film for which they were written and recorded, the Hard Days Night material showed a remarkable growth in the bands range and sound in just a few months. George Harrisons 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, which was the groups biggest sonic innovation in the movie score, was a little reduced in profile without the movies title track on hand, but it was still present, as was an unprecedented (for a rock & roll group) reliance on acoustic guitar sounds ("And I Love Her," "If I Fell"), and a range of ballads that showed greater emotional depth and seriousness than had been heard from too many rock & roll bands in 1964. And then there were the songs -- "Anytime at All," "Things We Said Today" -- that melded rock & roll with acoustic and low-wattage electric music into something uniquely exciting, although the better-represented showcase movie title track wasnt here, With the rocking "Matchbox" and the exuberant "Slow Down" punching up the middle, Something New gave fans their moneys worth and then some, even if it was just a transitional collection in the history that followed.
	Album: 13 of 29 Title:  Aint She Sweet Released:  1964-10-05 Tracks:  10 Duration:  22:15 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Ain’t She Sweet  (02:13) 2   Please Please Me  (01:56) 3   From Me To You  (01:51) 4   Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby  (02:52) 5   Nobody’s Child  (02:58) 6   She Loves You  (02:08) 7   Im Telling You Now  (02:00) 8   Sweet Georgia Brown  (02:05) 9   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:23) 10  I Wanna Be Your Man  (01:49)
Ain't She Sweet : Allmusic album Review : In May 1961, the Beatles were hired as the backup band for singer Tony Sheridan, resulting in the recording of eight tracks, six of which featured Sheridan on vocals, one of which was an instrumental written by John Lennon and George Harrison, and one of which, "Aint She Sweet," featured a lead vocal by Lennon. Some of these recordings were released on singles in 1961, but they began to turn up on albums only after the Beatles became famous. This was the second one to appear in the U.S., and it was even more of a ripoff than most. It contained only four of the recordings, plus eight unrelated tracks by the Swallows, whoever they were. Even if you want a copy of the Sheridan/Beatles session, you can do better than this. Specifically, you can buy The Early Tapes of the Beatles (Polydor 23701).
	Album: 14 of 29 Title:  Beatles for Sale Released:  1964-12-04 Tracks:  14 Duration:  34:15 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Wikipedia   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   No Reply  (02:18) 2   I’m a Loser  (02:34) 3   Baby’s in Black  (02:08) 4   Rock and Roll Music  (02:34) 5   I’ll Follow the Sun  (01:51) 6   Mr. Moonlight  (02:37) 7   Medley: Kansas City / Hey‐Hey‐Hey‐Hey!  (02:33) 8   Eight Days a Week  (02:45) 9   Words of Love  (02:15) 10  Honey Don’t  (03:00) 11  Every Little Thing  (02:05) 12  I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party  (02:36) 13  What You’re Doing  (02:35) 14  Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby  (02:24)
Beatles for Sale : Allmusic album Review : It was inevitable that the constant grind of touring, writing, promoting, and recording would grate on the Beatles, but the weariness of Beatles for Sale comes as something of a shock. Only five months before, the group released the joyous A Hard Days Night. Now, they sound beaten, worn, and, in Lennons case, bitter and self-loathing. His opening trilogy ("No Reply," "Im a Loser," "Babys in Black") is the darkest sequence on any Beatles record, setting the tone for the album. Moments of joy pop up now and again, mainly in the forms of covers and the dynamic "Eight Days a Week," but the very presence of six covers after the triumphant all-original A Hard Days Night feels like an admission of defeat or at least a regression. (It doesnt help that Lennons cover of his beloved obscurity "Mr. Moonlight" winds up as arguably the worst thing the group ever recorded.) Beneath those surface suspicions, however, there are some important changes on Beatles for Sale, most notably Lennons discovery of Bob Dylan and folk-rock. The opening three songs, along with "I Dont Want to Spoil the Party," are implicitly confessional and all quite bleak, which is a new development. This spirit winds up overshadowing McCartneys cheery "Ill Follow the Sun" or the thundering covers of "Rock & Roll Music," "Honey Dont," and "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," and the weariness creeps up in unexpected places -- "Every Little Thing," "What Youre Doing," even Georges cover of Carl Perkins "Everybodys Trying to Be My Baby" -- leaving the impression that Beatlemania may have been fun but now the group is exhausted. That exhaustion results in the groups most uneven album, but its best moments find them moving from Merseybeat to the sophisticated pop/rock they developed in mid-career.
	Album: 15 of 29 Title:  Beatles ’65 Released:  1964-12-15 Tracks:  11 Duration:  27:13 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   No Reply  (02:18) 2   I’m a Loser  (02:34) 3   Baby’s in Black  (02:08) 4   Rock and Roll Music  (02:34) 5   I’ll Follow the Sun  (01:51) 6   Mr. Moonlight  (02:37) 7   Honey Don’t  (03:00) 8   I’ll Be Back  (02:25) 9   She’s a Woman  (03:01) 10  I Feel Fine  (02:21) 11  Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby  (02:24)
Beatles ’65 : Allmusic album Review : The Beatles released their latest official long-player, Beatles for Sale, in England on December 4 of 1964, capping a year of the most extraordinary activity ever seen on the part of a performing group. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., where sales were easily dwarfing the groups U.K. success by sheer weight of numbers, Capitol Records saw no reason to give 14 new songs to the waiting public, especially as they were sitting on one leftover song from the U.K. A Hard Days Night album, and had a current single whose two sides, "I Feel Fine" and "Shes a Woman," they could use to promote whatever they released. The result was Beatles 65, issued a little less than two weeks before the start of that year and ten days before Christmas. This was the first U.S. album on which the commingling of tracks started to wear on the originals. (The Beatles Second Album had been a miraculous assembly of material from nearly a half-dozen sessions and sources, while Something New was basically the Hard Days Night soundtrack without "A Hard Days Night" or "Cant Buy Me Love," but punched up with a pair of hard-rocking covers.) Beatles 65 was essentially the core of the rather dour Beatles for Sale, punched up with the new single and an offbeat but killer remnant from A Hard Days Night. While it all sounded OK and duly topped the charts, the cohesion was starting to get lost; between the acoustic-textured Beatles for Sale numbers and the feedback-laden "I Feel Fine," the hard-rocking "Shes a Woman," and the somewhat less sharp-edged Carl Perkins covers here, there was less and less method to the compiling for the U.S. This came courtesy of Dave Dexter, Jr., a Capitol executive whod had to be ordered to start authorizing the release of Beatles material by Capitol in America (as opposed to passing on it and letting other licensees handle it), and seemingly spent most of the next two years trying to prove how right hed been to neglect them. The odd thing was that, despite the weak and odd recouplings of songs, the album did sell, and song for song it was still better than anything the competition was creating -- as long as the singles were everything they should be, the band was on safe ground. With this and its next release, Capitol was starting to figure out just how valuable each Beatles song was by itself, and how far they could go repackaging them, as long as they retained some measure of common sense. They lost that attribute with the U.S. Help! album, courtesy of Dexter, but in the meantime the label did get out flawed if entertaining compilations such as this.
	Album: 16 of 29 Title:  Greatest Hits Released:  1965 Tracks:  12 Duration:  27:45 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify    AlbumCover	1   I Feel Fine  (02:23) 2   I Call Your Name  (02:11) 3   I’ll Get You  (02:05) 4   From Me to You  (01:58) 5   This Boy  (02:15) 6   She Loves You  (02:22) 7   Long Tall Sally  (02:03) 8   Thank You Girl  (02:03) 9   Matchbox  (01:59) 10  She’s a Woman  (03:02) 11  Slow Down  (02:57) 12  I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:27)
	Album: 17 of 29 Title:  The Early Beatles Released:  1965-03-22 Tracks:  11 Duration:  26:17 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Love Me Do  (02:23) 2   Twist and Shout  (02:36) 3   Anna  (03:04) 4   Chains  (02:26) 5   Boys  (02:27) 6   Ask Me Why  (02:27) 7   Please Please Me  (02:02) 8   P.S. I Love You  (02:05) 9   Baby It’s You  (02:42) 10  A Taste of Honey  (02:07) 11  Do You Want to Know a Secret  (01:58)
The Early Beatles : Allmusic album Review : The Early Beatles does not represent its songs in the sequence -- or in their exact content -- that its makers intended; not by a long shot. That said, this is also the way that tens of millions of listeners in the U.S. did hear this material between 1965 and 1983. And of course, any means by which one gets to hear 11 1963-vintage tracks by the Beatles is OK. Whatever particular order or specifics of the songs, the listening experience will stack up well against any other 11 songs by anybody else who was walking around back then. So this record still rates high, though not as high as it might, because it isnt the ideal format for the music. By way of explanation, when the Beatles earliest recordings for EMIs Parlophone Records in England were originally offered to Capitol Records -- EMIs American outlet -- in 1963, there was no interest, based on the poor performance of virtually any British rock & roll on the American charts up to that time. Instead, EMI signed licensing agreements for those early singles with the Chicago-based VeeJay Records, who were willing to take a chance and ended up doing very well with these songs, once the group broke through in America at the end of 1963 and the beginning of 1964. Capitol Records found the 13 early sides in question out of reach legally, thanks to those licenses. Cut to early 1965 and the end of those licensing agreements -- Capitol was now entitled to release them in the U.S. and assembled The Early Beatles, which proclaimed: "11 of their hit 1964 recordings NOW ON CAPITOL" on the front cover, overlooking the fact that everything here was from 1963 (or, in the case of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You," from 1962), and using a group shot from 1965, which showed the four bandmembers looking surprisingly serious (especially Ringo) -- or is it just some weariness in their eyes? There was no weariness on the record, however, which -- capturing moments from two years earlier -- encompasses 11 of the most unabashedly joyous examples of music-making that anyone had ever heard. Any similarity between The Early Beatles and Parlophones Please Please Me album or VeeJays Introducing...The Beatles is not only understandable but unavoidable, as all three albums were constructed from essentially the same core body of songs -- The Early Beatles, however, has only 11 tracks, while Please Please Me boasted 14 and Introducing...The Beatles had 12. What is here, however, is as beautiful as one remembers it from 1964, if you were lucky enough to be around for it, and still makes a great discovery process 45 years later, though there are differences. Instead of Please Please Mes shattering rendition of "Twist and Shout," this album finishes with "Do You Want to Know a Secret," a John Lennon-Paul McCartney song given to George Harrison to sing, on which he acquits himself in a raw, honest performance, not as smooth as the Billy J. Kramer hit rendition but more memorable in the long run, precisely for its vocal flaws. It might not be as effective a closer, but it is a finale that works, and "Twist and Shout" doesnt come off badly -- if not given maximum impact -- sandwiched between "Love Me Do" and "Anna." Indeed, listening to this material anew as part of the 2006 Capitol Albums, Vol. 2, it becomes clear that any way one slices this material up, it works, as it represents the Beatles at a point when they not only loved the sheer act of making music, but confronted the nightly reality that they had to win over listeners each time out, or lose their livelihood. As to the "lost" tracks (two of which were missing in action in the U.S. until the 1980s), they were "I Saw Her Standing There," which had been rescued by Capitol in early 1964 for use on the U.S. album Meet the Beatles! and the B-side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Theres a Place," and "Misery." "Theres a Place" was a jewel of a beat ballad, and "Misery" was an odd, downbeat lament with beautiful harmonies and some of George Martins most prominent contribution on piano to any Beatles record. In the end, its best to go to the U.K. version of this material, Please Please Me, but The Early Beatles is a decent substitute, this despite some excess reverb added by American compiler Dave Dexter, Jr. In fact, its most useful function, beyond just listening to it with delight, might be to pair it with Please Please Me and see the differences in how Americans and Britons discovered these songs.
	Album: 18 of 29 Title:  Beatles VI Released:  1965-06-14 Tracks:  11 Duration:  28:04 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Allmusic   Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Medley: Kansas City / Hey‐Hey‐Hey‐Hey!  (02:33) 2   Eight Days a Week  (02:45) 3   You Like Me Too Much  (02:38) 4   Bad Boy  (02:20) 5   I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party  (02:36) 6   Words of Love  (02:15) 7   What You’re Doing  (02:35) 8   Yes It Is  (02:42) 9   Dizzy Miss Lizzy  (02:55) 10  Tell Me What You See  (02:39) 11  Every Little Thing  (02:05)
Beatles VI : Allmusic album Review : Six months had elapsed since the release of Beatles 65 in America, and the powers that were at Capitol Records recognized that some new product was needed, especially as the group was about to tour the United States. The result was Beatles VI, using the remaining tracks off of the British-released Beatles for Sale album (going all the way back to the fall of the previous year), among them that albums highlight, a cover of Buddy Hollys "Words of Love," and four new songs, two of them from the second side of the soon-to-be-released U.K. Help! album. The result was as much of a mish-mash as any album of Beatles songs ever assembled by Capitol Records, although -- thanks to the quality of the performances and the songs -- it was still eminently high-quality material, song-for-song, and outclassed virtually all of the competition. And as long as the groups singles held up in quality, albums like this would continue to scale the top of the charts with ease.
	Album: 19 of 29 Title:  The Beatles’ Greatest Released:  1965-07 Tracks:  16 Duration:  38:43 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify    AlbumCover	1   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:24) 2   Twist and Shout  (02:33) 3   A Hard Day’s Night  (02:33) 4   Eight Days a Week  (02:45) 5   I Should Have Known Better  (02:44) 6   Long Tall Sally  (02:03) 7   She Loves You  (02:22) 8   Please Mister Postman  (02:35) 9   I Feel Fine  (02:23) 10  Rock and Roll Music  (02:34) 11  Ticket to Ride  (03:11) 12  Please Please Me  (02:03) 13  It Won’t Be Long  (02:13) 14  From Me to You  (01:57) 15  Can’t Buy Me Love  (02:14) 16  All My Loving  (02:09)
	Album: 20 of 29 Title:  Rubber Soul Released:  1965-12-03 Tracks:  14 Duration:  35:32 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   Drive My Car  (02:21) 2   Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)  (02:06) 3   You Won’t See Me  (03:23) 4   Nowhere Man  (02:44) 5   Think for Yourself  (02:19) 6   The Word  (02:42) 7   Michelle  (02:41) 8   What Goes On  (02:48) 9   Girl  (02:30) 10  I’m Looking Through You  (02:30) 11  In My Life  (02:27) 12  Wait  (02:13) 13  If I Needed Someone  (02:21) 14  Run for Your Life  (02:27)
Rubber Soul : Allmusic album Review : While the Beatles still largely stuck to love songs on Rubber Soul, the lyrics represented a quantum leap in terms of thoughtfulness, maturity, and complex ambiguities. Musically, too, it was a substantial leap forward, with intricate folk-rock arrangements that reflected the increasing influence of Dylan and the Byrds. The group and George Martin were also beginning to expand the conventional instrumental parameters of the rock group, using a sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," Greek-like guitar lines on "Michelle" and "Girl," fuzz bass on "Think for Yourself," and a piano made to sound like a harpsichord on the instrumental break of "In My Life." While John and Paul were beginning to carve separate songwriting identities at this point, the album is full of great tunes, from "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and "Michelle" to "Girl," "Im Looking Through You," "You Wont See Me," "Drive My Car," and "Nowhere Man" (the last of which was the first Beatle song to move beyond romantic themes entirely). George Harrison was also developing into a fine songwriter with his two contributions, "Think for Yourself" and the Byrds-ish "If I Needed Someone."
	Album: 21 of 29 Title:  Greatest Hits Volume 1 Released:  1966 Tracks:  14 Duration:  33:10 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% AlbumCover	1   Please Please Me  (02:03) 2   From Me to You  (01:57) 3   She Loves You  (02:22) 4   I’ll Get You  (02:05) 5   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:24) 6   Love Me Do  (02:23) 7   I Saw Her Standing There  (02:56) 8   Twist and Shout  (02:34) 9   Roll Over Beethoven  (02:48) 10  All My Loving  (02:10) 11  Hold Me Tight  (02:33) 12  Can’t Buy Me Love  (02:14) 13  You Can’t Do That  (02:38) 14  Long Tall Sally  (02:03)
	Album: 22 of 29 Title:  And Now: The Beatles Released:  1966 Tracks:  12 Duration:  28:30 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% AlbumCover	1   She Loves You  (02:22) 2   Thank You Girl  (02:04) 3   From Me to You  (01:56) 4   I’ll Get You  (02:05) 5   I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:24) 6   Hold Me Tight  (02:29) 7   Cant Buy Me Love  (02:12) 8   You Cant Do That  (02:37) 9   Roll Over Beethoven  (02:48) 10  Till There Was You  (02:13) 11  Money (Thats What I Want)  (02:47) 12  Please Mister Postman  (02:33)
	Album: 23 of 29 Title:  Yesterday… and Today Released:  1966-06-14 Tracks:  32 Duration:  1:17:58 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   Drive My Car (stereo)  (02:30) 2   Im Only Sleeping (stereo)  (03:02) 3   Nowhere Man (stereo)  (02:44) 4   Doctor Robert (stereo)  (02:16) 5   Yesterday  (02:07) 6   Act Naturally (stereo)  (02:31) 7   And Your Bird Can Sing (stereo)  (02:02) 8   If I Needed Someone (stereo)  (02:23) 9   We Can Work It Out (stereo)  (02:16) 10  What Goes On (stereo)  (02:49) 11  Day Tripper (stereo)  (02:52) 12  Drive My Car  (02:25) 13  I’m Only Sleeping  (03:02) 14  Nowhere Man  (02:44) 15  Dr. Robert  (02:14) 16  Yesterday  (02:07) 17  Act Naturally  (02:33) 18  And Your Bird Can Sing  (02:03) 19  If I Needed Someone  (02:21) 20  We Can Work It Out  (02:15) 21  What Goes On  (02:47) 22  Day Tripper  (02:51) 23  Im Only Sleeping (rehearsal)  (00:40) 24  Im Only Sleeping (take 1)  (03:00) 25  Yesterday (take 1)  (02:35) 26  And Your Bird Can Sing (take 2 plus overdubs)  (02:16) 27  Day Tripper (take 1)  (02:06) 28  Day Tripper (take 2)  (00:20) 29  Day Tripper (take 3)  (03:50) 30  Day Tripper (Anthology DVD remix)  (02:55) 31  We Can Work It Out (Anthology DVD remix)  (02:15) 32  Tomorrow Never Knows (mono matrix 1)  (02:59)
	Album: 24 of 29 Title:  Revolver Released:  1966-08-05 Tracks:  14 Duration:  35:09 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Wikipedia   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   Taxman  (02:39) 2   Eleanor Rigby  (02:08) 3   I’m Only Sleeping  (03:02) 4   Love You To  (03:02) 5   Here, There and Everywhere  (02:27) 6   Yellow Submarine  (02:40) 7   She Said She Said  (02:39) 8   Good Day Sunshine  (02:10) 9   And Your Bird Can Sing  (02:03) 10  For No One  (02:02) 11  Doctor Robert  (02:17) 12  I Want to Tell You  (02:30) 13  Got to Get You Into My Life  (02:32) 14  Tomorrow Never Knows  (02:57)
Revolver : Allmusic album Review : All the rules fell by the wayside with Revolver, as the Beatles began exploring new sonic territory, lyrical subjects, and styles of composition. It wasnt just Lennon and McCartney, either -- Harrison staked out his own dark territory with the tightly wound, cynical rocker "Taxman"; the jaunty yet dissonant "I Want to Tell You"; and "Love You To," Georges first and best foray into Indian music. Such explorations were bold, yet they were eclipsed by Lennons trippy kaleidoscopes of sound. His most straightforward number was "Doctor Robert," an ode to his dealer, and things just got stranger from there as he buried "And Your Bird Can Sing" in a maze of multi-tracked guitars, gave Ringo a charmingly hallucinogenic slice of childhood whimsy in "Yellow Submarine," and then capped it off with a triptych of bad trips: the spiraling "She Said She Said"; the crawling, druggy "Im Only Sleeping"; and "Tomorrow Never Knows," a pure nightmare where John sang portions of the Tibetan Book of the Dead into a suspended microphone over Ringos thundering, menacing drumbeats and layers of overdubbed, phased guitars and tape loops. McCartneys experiments were formal, as he tried on every pop style from chamber pop to soul, and when placed alongside Lennons and Harrisons outright experimentations, McCartneys songcraft becomes all the more impressive. The biggest miracle of Revolver may be that the Beatles covered so much new stylistic ground and executed it perfectly on one record, or it may be that all of it holds together perfectly. Either way, its daring sonic adventures and consistently stunning songcraft set the standard for what pop/rock could achieve. Even after Sgt. Pepper, Revolver stands as the ultimate modern pop album and its still as emulated as it was upon its original release.
	Album: 25 of 29 Title:  A Collection of Beatles Oldies Released:  1966-12-10 Tracks:  16 Duration:  38:47 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Wikipedia    AlbumCover	1   She Loves You  (02:22) 2   From Me to You  (01:57) 3   We Can Work It Out  (02:16) 4   Help!  (02:21) 5   Michelle  (02:42) 6   Yesterday  (02:07) 7   I Feel Fine  (02:20) 8   Yellow Submarine  (02:39) 9   Can’t Buy Me Love  (02:14) 10  Bad Boy  (02:20) 11  Day Tripper  (02:50) 12  A Hard Day’s Night  (02:33) 13  Ticket to Ride  (03:11) 14  Paperback Writer  (02:19) 15  Eleanor Rigby  (02:08) 16  I Want to Hold Your Hand  (02:26)
	Album: 26 of 29 Title:  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Released:  1967-06-01 Tracks:  13 Duration:  39:52 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Wikipedia   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band  (02:02) 2   With a Little Help From My Friends  (02:44) 3   Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds  (03:29) 4   Getting Better  (02:48) 5   Fixing a Hole  (02:37) 6   She’s Leaving Home  (03:35) 7   Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!  (02:38) 8   Within You Without You  (05:05) 9   When I’m Sixty‐Four  (02:38) 10  Lovely Rita  (02:42) 11  Good Morning Good Morning  (02:41) 12  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)  (01:19) 13  A Day in the Life  (05:34)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band : Allmusic album Review : With Revolver, the Beatles made the Great Leap Forward, reaching a previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless experimentation. Sgt. Pepper, in many ways, refines that breakthrough, as the Beatles consciously synthesized such disparate influences as psychedelia, art-song, classical music, rock & roll, and music hall, often in the course of one song. Not once does the diversity seem forced -- the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When Im 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita." Theres no discounting the individual contributions of each member or their producer, George Martin, but the preponderance of whimsy and self-conscious art gives the impression that Paul McCartney is the leader of the Lonely Hearts Club Band. He dominates the album in terms of compositions, setting the tone for the album with his unabashed melodicism and deviously clever arrangements. In comparison, Lennons contributions seem fewer, and a couple of them are a little slight but his major statements are stunning. "With a Little Help From My Friends" is the ideal Ringo tune, a rolling, friendly pop song that hides genuine Lennon anguish, à la "Help!"; "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" remains one of the touchstones of British psychedelia; and hes the mastermind behind the bulk of "A Day in the Life," a haunting number that skillfully blends Lennons verse and chorus with McCartneys bridge. Its possible to argue that there are better Beatles albums, yet no album is as historically important as this. After Sgt. Pepper, there were no rules to follow -- rock and pop bands could try anything, for better or worse. Ironically, few tried to achieve the sweeping, all-encompassing embrace of music as the Beatles did here.
	Album: 27 of 29 Title:  The Beatles Released:  1968-11-22 Tracks:  30 Duration:  1:33:50 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Wikipedia   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   Back in the U.S.S.R.  (02:43) 2   Dear Prudence  (03:56) 3   Glass Onion  (02:17) 4   Ob‐La‐Di, Ob‐La‐Da  (03:09) 5   Wild Honey Pie  (00:52) 6   The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill  (03:14) 7   While My Guitar Gently Weeps  (04:45) 8   Happiness Is a Warm Gun  (02:43) 9   Martha My Dear  (02:28) 10  I’m So Tired  (02:03) 11  Blackbird  (02:18) 12  Piggies  (02:04) 13  Rocky Raccoon  (03:32) 14  Don’t Pass Me By  (03:50) 15  Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?  (01:41) 16  I Will  (01:46) 17  Julia  (02:54) 1   Birthday  (02:44) 2   Yer Blues  (04:01) 3   Mother Nature’s Son  (02:49) 4   Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey  (02:26) 5   Sexy Sadie  (03:17) 6   Helter Skelter  (04:30) 7   Long, Long, Long  (03:05) 8   Revolution 1  (04:16) 9   Honey Pie  (02:42) 10  Savoy Truffle  (02:55) 11  Cry Baby Cry  (03:13) 12  Revolution 9  (08:13) 13  Good Night  (03:11)
The Beatles : Allmusic album Review : Each song on the sprawling double album The Beatles is an entity to itself, as the band touches on anything and everything it can. This makes for a frustratingly scattershot record or a singularly gripping musical experience, depending on your view, but what makes the so-called White Album interesting is its mess. Never before had a rock record been so self-reflective, or so ironic; the Beach Boys send-up "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the British blooze parody "Yer Blues" are delivered straight-faced, so its never clear if these are affectionate tributes or wicked satires. Lennon turns in two of his best ballads with "Dear Prudence" and "Julia"; scours the Abbey Road vaults for the musique concrète collage "Revolution 9"; pours on the schmaltz for Ringos closing number, "Good Night"; celebrates the Beatles cult with "Glass Onion"; and, with "Cry Baby Cry," rivals Syd Barrett. McCartney doesnt reach quite as far, yet his songs are stunning -- the music hall romp "Honey Pie," the mock country of "Rocky Raccoon," the ska-inflected "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and the proto-metal roar of "Helter Skelter." Clearly, the Beatles two main songwriting forces were no longer on the same page, but neither were George and Ringo. Harrison still had just two songs per LP, but its clear from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," the canned soul of "Savoy Truffle," the haunting "Long, Long, Long," and even the silly "Piggies" that he had developed into a songwriter who deserved wider exposure. And Ringo turns in a delight with his first original, the lumbering country-carnival stomp "Dont Pass Me By." None of it sounds like it was meant to share album space together, but somehow The Beatles creates its own style and sound through its mess.
	Album: 28 of 29 Title:  Abbey Road Released:  1969-09-26 Tracks:  17 Duration:  47:23 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   Come Together  (04:19) 2   Something  (03:03) 3   Maxwell’s Silver Hammer  (03:27) 4   Oh! Darling  (03:27) 5   Octopus’s Garden  (02:51) 6   I Want You (She’s So Heavy)  (07:47) 7   Here Comes the Sun  (03:06) 8   Because  (02:46) 9   You Never Give Me Your Money  (04:02) 10  Sun King  (02:26) 11  Mean Mr Mustard  (01:06) 12  Polythene Pam  (01:13) 13  She Came In Through the Bathroom Window  (01:58) 14  Golden Slumbers  (01:32) 15  Carry That Weight  (01:37) 16  The End  (02:20) 17  Her Majesty  (00:23)
Abbey Road : Allmusic album Review : The last Beatles album to be recorded (although Let It Be was the last to be released), Abbey Road was a fitting swan song for the group, echoing some of the faux-conceptual forms of Sgt. Pepper, but featuring stronger compositions and more rock-oriented ensemble work. The group was still pushing forward in all facets of its art, whether devising some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record (especially on "Because"), constructing a medley of songs/vignettes that covered much of side two, adding subtle touches of Moog synthesizer, or crafting furious guitar-heavy rock ("The End," "I Want You (Shes So Heavy)," "Come Together"). George Harrison also blossomed into a major songwriter, contributing the buoyant "Here Comes the Sun" and the supremely melodic ballad "Something," the latter of which became the first Harrison-penned Beatles hit. Whether Abbey Road is the Beatles best work is debatable, but its certainly the most immaculately produced (with the possible exception of Sgt. Pepper) and most tightly constructed.
	Album: 29 of 29 Title:  Let It Be Released:  1970-05-08 Tracks:  12 Duration:  35:03 Scroll:  Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75% Spotify   Wikipedia   Allmusic    AlbumCover	1   Two of Us  (03:36) 2   Dig a Pony  (03:54) 3   Across the Universe  (03:47) 4   I Me Mine  (02:26) 5   Dig It  (00:50) 6   Let It Be  (04:03) 7   Maggie Mae  (00:40) 8   I’ve Got a Feeling  (03:37) 9   One After 909  (02:53) 10  The Long and Winding Road  (03:38) 11  For You Blue  (02:32) 12  Get Back  (03:07)
Let It Be : Allmusic album Review : The only Beatles album to occasion negative, even hostile reviews, there are few other rock records as controversial as Let It Be. First off, several facts need to be explained: although released in May 1970, this was not their final album, but largely recorded in early 1969, way before Abbey Road. Phil Spector was enlisted in early 1970 to do some post-production work, but did not work with the band as a unit, as George Martin and Glyn Johns had on the sessions themselves; Spectors work was limited to mixing and some overdubs. And, although his use of strings has generated much criticism, by and large he left the original performances to stand as is: only "The Long and Winding Road" and (to a lesser degree) "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine" get the wall-of-sound layers of strings and female choruses. Although most of the album, then, has a live-in-the-studio feel, the main problem was that the material wasnt uniformly strong, and that the Beatles themselves were in fairly lousy moods due to inter-group tension. All that said, the album is on the whole underrated, even discounting the fact that a sub-standard Beatles record is better than almost any other groups best work. McCartney in particular offers several gems: the gospelish "Let It Be," which has some of his best lyrics; "Get Back," one of his hardest rockers; and the melodic "The Long and Winding Road," ruined by Spectors heavy-handed overdubs (the superior string-less, choir-less version was finally released on Anthology Vol. 3). The folky "Two of Us," with John and Paul harmonizing together, was also a highlight. Most of the rest of the material, by contrast, was going through the motions to some degree, although there are some good moments of straight hard rock in "Ive Got a Feeling" and "Dig a Pony." As flawed and bumpy as it is, its an album well worth having, as when the Beatles were in top form here, they were as good as ever.