With The Beatles

So Little Child is pretty fucking weird, right?

First time the Beatles has come up on the list.

Has been a part of my record collection for a very very long time. I had a completist phase on the Beatles so bought the lot. The earlier albums get less play time tbh, so this was a good prompt to give it a listen again.

It’s actually the covers that are most interesting in a way. The band are clearly running out of stuff to record at times so they just bang out numbers they’ve presumably been playing as part of their live sets for years.

Highlights:
- Till there was you….just a gorgeous little tune
- Roll Over Beethoven. One of the definitive cover versions.
- Money. Rocks pretty hard for 1963. Hints at the darkness to come.

Age has dulled its impact a bit now and it can seem a little simple to modern ears, but it’s still the Beatles and deserves to be on this list.

3

I really actually dug the first half, and It Won't Be Long is a legit banger. But then it gets really kind of soppy, poppy 50s sock hop sounding and that sucks. I feel like I've heard a lot of the songs on the second half of the album, and I'm not sure if I've heard covers of these songs, or if this album is half a cover album - and I don't care enough to look it up.

This isn't exactly high praise, but I'm pretty sure this is the best Beatles album. I liked it more than Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's, which I also gave 3 stars, but this one is better. Not good, mind you, but better.

Classic Beatles.... even the "helmet" hairstyle is as is to be expected of a respectable rock band.

The Beatles are one of the few bands where I like every album. Although their style over the years changed their output never lost its excellence and this early album is no exception. I think personally the thing I love about their music is that they can make the most joyful poppy song sound so melancholic. Here, even in the opening track singing about how it wont be long till he sees his girl they sound mournful. I love it.

Pretty solid album

This is Beatles before the beatles. Not really original at all. Some songs sound like covers too. The vocals on this one remind me a lot of Beach Boys and they definitely did it better. I want to give it a 3, but it’s still better than most 3s I’ve given out so, idk strong 3

Don’t get Beatle Mania!

ganz nett, aber auch nicht mehr.

I’m not sure why this is on the list. It’s not a bad album and it’s got John’s voice and the harmonies and some nice originals. But there’s a lot of filler and the producers have softened their sound from the debut. The remaster on streaming services and current pressings as softened it further. I like more oomph in my early Beatles.

They’re a really good band aren’t they? There’s not really any all-timer greats on here, but what you do have is a bunch of perfectly crafted, straight-forward pop singles. Many of them aren’t their own songs of course, but musically they’re on-point, and it’s an overall brief, fun time.

3.5 rounded up.

Kind of ridiculous that this one is here - Please Please Me would have been a much better choice for so many different reasons. Still, it's The Beatles, so it's near perfect.

4.5/5

Important album in context of seeing their evolution, but damn what a boring album. Has some fun bangers for sure but overall its one of their worst albums

The sound of a band really hitting their groove.
Songs like it wont be long and all my loving perfectly showing just how amazing their voices meld together.
Even the covers are great

Firstly, the album artwork is hysterical. I can't decide if the designer realised that the four Beatles heads in a row would be the wrong proportions for the vinyl, so skwished Ringo down there at the bottom, or they accurately predicted which Beatles would have the most influence on musical culture and acted accordingly. I'd have been pissed if I was Mr Starr though.

I like early Beatles, honestly possibly more than most later Beatles (which I'm aware is probably considered sacrilege). To me it just conjures up a particular era than I have a massive affection for in terms of the music, fashion and interior design (but not the general intolerance or misogyny). I would have firmly been an overexcited teenage girl screaming at them, had I been born in the 50s rather than the 80s.

It's interesting to hear some flat/sharp notes on this in places. I assume a combination of the expense of recording records and the sheer rate of knots they were churning out albums, meant a little bit lower quality control.

I really enjoy Beatles covers so Mr Postman, Roll Over Beethoven (entertainingly, very much sung with a Liverpudlian twang) and You Really Got A Hold On Me, being on this album made me happy. Especially the latter song, which I think is one of the best songs of it's generation.

I think this would be a 4.5 but I'm going to round down, at least partially to stop me giving 5 stars to every Beatles album the Generator throws at me.

4/5

I'm tired of listening to this album.
2.5/5

Okay. I realize I have an anti-Beatles bias and a chip on my shoulder about it - trying to preemptively defend myself against the masses who adore them.

I made an effort here to get past my biases.

This album is full of squeaky clean, inoffensive sixties pop. I can definitely hear the foundation for a lot of future music I enjoy being laid down - influential for sure.

I also completely failed to enjoy the listening experience. I turned down the volume twice before I started petting a cat so my hands would be too busy to do that again, and then I got very involved in petting the cat. At least she's happy!

My rating: two stars
My eternally needy little tortie who got an extra half hour of dedicated attention out of this: five slow blinks out of five

Everyone knows the sound of The Beatles' early Merseybeat records. The sound of US Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues can be heard throughout, particularly on the intricate and clever vocal harmonies. This is even more obvious with some of the cover choices (Please Mr Postman, Roll Over Beethoven). The music is stripped back in terms of instrumentation, keeping the vocals at the forefront. As a side note: some of the mixing choices on this remastered weren't great; panning the vocals completely to the right channel on some songs felt odd, almost distracting. Not my favourite era of the band, they are emulating a sound rather then their later more creative output but the vocals are crisp and enjoyable.

(4) this sent me right back to my 2020 beatles phase love love love

Not my favourite of the earlier stuff, but still better than Beatles For Sale