With The Beatles

Beatles at their best? No. Beatles at their most industrious? Maybe... 14 songs, 6 covers, 2 LPs in under a year as was the typical fare of early 60s music. The covers are tights, especially the cover of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman", the original songs are serviceable with "All My Loving" being the obvious peak but it's obvious when that and that alone tends to appear on any greatest hit compilation album...

People who say the Beatles are overrated are obviously the most annoying, but people who say they didn’t really get good until Rubber Soul/Revolver aren’t far behind. Five stars.

Early Beatles has a time and a place. The time being 60 years ago and the place being nowhere near me.

"With the Beatles by The Beatles, their second studio album, builds on their early sound and hints at the greatness to come.

You can hear their pop instincts really sharpening here, with tight harmonies, energetic performances, and confident songwriting. The album brings together seven original Lennon-McCartney tracks, George Harrison’s first composition Don’t Bother Me, and a set of brilliant rock and roll covers.

It’s a near-perfect record that captures the raw energy and excitement of early Beatlemania.

Favourite tracks: All My Loving is an undeniable classic, Don’t Bother Me is a real surprise, and Roll Over Beethoven is pure rock and roll
Least favourite tracks: None, there isn’t a weak song here
Album artwork: Simply iconic, the moody black and white portrait is one of their most striking covers

A real treat after the recent string of bad luck in album selection. Every track is a keeper. Although they got better with age it’s still great.

I don't know how they did it. I wasn't even in the mood for a Beatles album. Within 3 seconds of pressing play, I was experiencing the joy of youth and the hope of possibility. It's just so innocent and brilliantly played and performed. Magic.
Great cover art.

Historically I know this is an important album. That being said, it isn’t anything to write home about. It’s fine, the covers aren’t great, but the originals are fine. So personally I wouldn’t listen to anything on here again. So it’s a two for me.

Amazing, a halfway boring album from the Beatles. Even the hits are uninteresting. I think I had this album in my ear when I developed my youthful dislike of the Beatles. Fortunately, I got to know and appreciate the Beatles better, not least through this project. But this album has very little to do with that. I might listen to one or two songs from it again. I'd rather like ti forget the existence of the rest. 2/5

‘All I’ve Got To Do,’ ‘All My Loving,’ ‘Don’t Bother Me,’ ‘Till There Was You,’ ‘Please Mister Postman,’ ‘Hold Me Tight.’ Some great originals, some enduring covers. It’s a copycat league and they copied as emulators and admirers. Do I prefer Chuck’s maiden recording of ‘Roll Over Beethoven’? You bet. Is Smokey’s ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’ the better one? Uh-huh. Is this still a milestone album and essential listening? I know it is.

Got this one on annual "George quits the band" day! This album cover is the one that gave me the most trouble in college when I was trying to learn who was who, because hair is my major person-identifier. I think I've got it now though (Paul, Ringo, John, George, right? :p)

Unfortunately I fear my highlights are just "ones I've heard before (minus 'Roll Over Beethoven' and 'I Wanna Be Your Man')", which is all my brain can handle at this time. All the songs are relatively short and sweet though.

Highlights: 'It Won't Be Long', 'All My Loving', 'Till There Was You', 'Hold Me Tight', 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' (adverbs!)

Although it was an album recorded together and mostly live, it’s not an in the evolved state that the form took later in the sixties and beyond. For the quality of the songs and moreso the energy of the performances, a clear 4

The second Beatles record if I remember right. It sounded the same like the first, but they were praised like hell. Of course, they remain one of, if not the best, band of all time, but their later work was actually interesting

It was fine.

I feel as though this album shows all of its cards too early, as the beginning tracks are absolute classic after absolute classic. However, Don't Bother Me and beyond is the wild west. You'll definitely have some fantastic tracks peppered in there, but you have to get through a lot of boring, basic rock n roll numbers to get there. Even on this short album they feel as though they pad out the run time, and are unnecessary. Luckily, those peppered in good tracks are fantastic, from Till There Was You to Not A Second Time's amazingly simple piano solo, those tracks and more are highlights of the early Beatles era, and elevate the album. However, I could still see the argument that this is the weakest of the entire Beatles discography, and while I'd disagree, I'd at least hear you out.

I've owned the US version of this (Meet The Beatles) for most of my life and it omits all the covers, which I now realize is a crime. Never even knew they covered Smokey and The Miracles! Early Beatles are far from my favorite Beatles, but this is still pretty outstanding considering the context of the time. Here are four Brits who LOVE American rock 'n' roll, but aren't content in simply going through the motions of playing it. The originals are all built upon it, but the pop melodies (and harmonies) are their own. Even the covers go beyond simply playing someone else's songs. Their own spin is in everything from the vocal treatment to the arrangements.

An ok (though understandably simplistic and undercooked) piece of 60s pop. While I understand why it's on here, I think other Beatles albums are better spent on a list like this. 2/5

I feel as though since this is the Beatles I am expected to like this more than I do. The covers are alright and the originals are mostly fine. Just knowing what they do after this makes this less impressive. Favorite songs were All My Loving and Roll Over Beethoven.

Top 25 album....

Writing about the Beatles is like Dancing about Astronomy... wat?

Dig these lads. There's more historic value than anything else to "With the Beatles." Still magical, the early Beatles changed popular music like nothing before or since.

The recording I heard today on Apple Music has obviously been cleaned up for the digital age and is a little out of context, but after a few minutes the ears become accustomed to the sound. In fact, the cleaned up digital versions gave a freshness to the sound that you don't get when playing an old scratchy vinyl. On the other hand, these songs are somewhat famous for their exquisite production and engineering, which were designed for the technology of the time. Meaning that vinyl was the way god (George Martin) intended.

There are a lot of technical avenues I want to go down, like how there's spanish rhythms all over the place, how the vocal harmonies seem to always resolve perfectly, how Ringo brings much-needed energy to tunes like Roll Over Beethoven (and every other song on here for that matter, many of which would be real yawners without him, more on that next time I get a Beatles record), but it doesn't matter in the end. Why does everyone love the Beatles WITHOUT EXCEPTION? Just listen to it.

when I was a young fellow, I remember fondly listening to a tape cassette called "Beatles Ballads". I was always going to add a star purely for Till there was you, great song with nice memories attached.

This feels like it's essential listening as the "before" photo for the band, and as a good example of the sound of bands around this era. I love what they did later on, but lots here felt ...unessential? It was good, but not great. :)