The White Album was meant to be the record that brought the Beatles back to earth after three years of studio experimentation. Instead, it took them all over the place, continuing to burst the envelope of pop music. Lennon and McCartney were still at the height of their songwriting powers, with Lennon in particular growing into one of music's towering figures. But even McCartney could still rock, and the amazement on "Helter Skelter" was that he had vocal cords at the end. From Beach Boys knock-offs to reggae and to the unknown ("Revolution #9"), this has it all. Some records have "legend" written all over them; this is one. --Chris Nickson

Their Tortured Masterpiece, 22 Sep 2008
It had been a tough year and a bit for The Beatles. Their manager Brian Epstein had committed suicide, their Magical Mystery Tour had seen them mauled by critics for the first time, and their attempts to practise transcendental meditation in India with the Maharishi had ended in disaster. It was during that ill-fated trip that most of these songs were written.

Inside the band itself, the situation was also far from hunky dory. Lennon would soon lose interest in the band, spending more and more time with his new partner Yoko Ono instead. Harrison was increasingly sick of being overlooked by John and Paul, who still only permitted him a few songs per album (he has four out of thirty here). Sensing this unease in the band, McCartney increasingly took charge of the group, a fatherly attitude which further annoyed the others. Meanwhile Ringo gets sole writing credit for `Don't Pass Me By', not one of the album's best but certainly pleasant enough.

It was with these tensions that The Beatles made The White Album, a self-titled song collection that derives its popular nickname from a stark white cover. Most of the songs here are pretty much solo compositions, as the band's two main songwriters had both begun to jealously guard their own work, allowing only minimal input from the other. Ironically, this is the album where George Harrison finally became their equal, writing a couple of the very best songs here.

Beginning with the sound of a plane taking off, Back In The USSR is a Beach Boys homage with a thumping piano beat and lyrics that were fairly controversial during the middle of the Cold War. This fades hauntingly into the acoustic Dear Prudence, written to encourage Mia Farrow's sister out of hut-bound seclusion during the India trip. Glass Onion mockingly references other Beatles songs, providing more fodder for those fans desperate to read hidden meanings into their work. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a bouncy tale of inter-racial marriage with a happy ending. Wild Honey Pie is a 50-second oddity that reinforces the strange new direction The Beatles had taken. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill sounds more like a twisted nursery rhyme than a rock song, a trait common to much of The White Album.

Next is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, possibly the album's best song. Written by Harrison and featuring guitar from his friend Eric Clapton, it tells of spiritual pain and disillusionment. Happiness Is A Warm Gun is one of the album's most oddly structured songs, featuring several disorientating changes of tone one after another. Martha My Dear is a nice piano ditty that may or may not be inspired by McCartney's dog, depending on who you believe. I'm So Tired is another pained Lennon contribution (he was clearly not having a fun time in 1968). Blackbird is a Bach-inspired piece, once again acoustic because this was the only instrument available to the band in India, and comprising some tasteful samples of the eponymous bird's song.

Piggies is perhaps the bitterest song present, comparing Capitalism to pigs eating bacon, unfortunately a key inspiration for the Manson cult's murder spree. Rocky Raccoon is a slightly unhinged story of a spurned lover setting out (and failing) to kill his rival for the woman in question's affections, featuring some honky-tonk piano. Don't Pass Me By is a bluesy country song written by Starr, the writing of which predated recording by at least four years. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? originated from Paul seeing two monkeys doing just that, and I Will is another McCartney effort, written for future spouse Linda Eastman. The first disc of the CD version (and second side of the original vinyl) ends with Julia, written for Lennon's dead mother and the only Beatles song on which he is the sole performer. This is one of the album's most beautiful compositions, imbued with a real sense of sadness and longing.

Disc Two opens with Birthday, on which McCartney sounds near-psychotic with celebration. Yer Blues expresses suicidal intent, the sort of soul-purging that would become increasingly common during Lennon's solo career. After this, the subdued Mother Nature's Son is a relief to hear - an early version of what would become Jealous Guy was dropped from the album because of perceived similarities to this McCartney tune. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey supposedly concerns Lennon and Ono, though alternative suggestions have been made such as drugs (it was around this time that Lennon acquired a taste for heroin). Sexy Sadie was originally called Maharishi, but George convinced John to alter the lyrics, though the sentiments remain the same. Helter Skelter is The Beatles' loudest and craziest song, the point where this album sounds most disturbed. Long, Long, Long is an extremely subtle Harrison piece, easy to overlook amidst more attention-grabbing Lennon and McCartney songs, but actually incredibly beautiful.

Revolution 1 was Lennon's response to a hippy movement that had grown increasingly violent, saying that he wants change but won't become brutalised to get it. Honey Pie is another of McCartney's music-hall-style recordings, which a lot of people sniff at but I think are actually quite good (this one especially). Savoy Truffle is probably Harrison's weakest contribution here, name-checking the contents of a chocolate box. Cry Baby Cry was inspired by fairy tales, ending with a brief McCartney segment that pleas `Can you take me back?', as though begging to return to a pre-Beatles childhood. The album's penultimate track is its most controversial, Lennon's chaotic sound collage called Revolution 9: personally I think it's interesting and genuinely haunting, though not one of the album's very best. Finally comes Good Night, a soaring ballad that Lennon wanted to sound deliberately cheesy.

And so that's it. The White Album is The Beatles' most endlessly fascinating album, simply because it features such a wide range of styles and moods. Overall the tone is dark and depressed, a result of the isolation and slight sadness felt by the band that had by now surpassed all its contemporaries. As though longing to regress to youth, many of the songs have a distinctly childhood feel, though it's not the happy one of Sgt Pepper a year earlier. My favourite tracks are `Dear Prudence', `Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', `While My Guitar Gently Weeps', `Blackbird', `Rocky Raccoon', `Julia', `Mother Nature's Son', `Sexy Sadie', `Helter Skelter', `Long, Long, Long' and `Revolution 1'.

First steps to break-up, 03 Sep 2008
Of all the major albums produced by the Beatles, this is the least coherent. The need to produce output for the purposes of the EMI contract led to some distinctly low quality rushed material from all the participants - in many ways a precursor to the substandard offerings to come later under their individual names. No longer greater than the sum of their parts, this is just four individuals showing their limitations. George Martin thought that it could have made one high quality album if the extensive dross (especially from heroin and Ono fixated Lennon) had been dispensed with, and he was right. This was probably the only occasion when the Beatles short changed their fans for selfish purposes. An example of the Beatles in decline, to be matched only by the Spectorised Let It Be.

NO filler, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

Quite simply a work of GENIUS , 30 Aug 2008
This is my favourite Beatles album and to all those who say it contains filler I will state that in my opinion it takes a long time to appreciate the finer details of this record - ie on the first few plays YES you are going to think there's some filler. I had the same opinion of Pet Sounds when I first heard it. Truly deep and meaningful music *does* take time to be fully absorbed and whilst initially I agreed with a lot of other folk that this should have been a single LP, I have since grown to appreciate *every* single song on this double collection. I would not drop any of them from the track list (well maybe Revolution No.9). I suppose this is The Beatles' rock record and perhaps those of a pop persuasion don't get it purely because it doesn't sound like Help or Rubber Soul. Well I'm into a lot of rock bands but I *love* Help & Rubber Soul and I also like Pet Sounds (hardly a 'rock' record in the traditional sense) so to me the fact The Beatles flit between different genres only enhances their appeal - Zeppelin and Queen did this further down the line and were all the more interesting for it. Those who dismiss the white album as having filler just haven't listened to it enough! It's like only reading a few lines from each chapter of a book and thinking you know the whole story, you need to spend a lot of quality time with this album in order to truly appreciate it. When it clicks believe me, it truly clicks! I just cannot understand a Beatles fan who doesn't consider this to be a 5-star album.

Pick this up while you still can, 16 Aug 2008
Imagine how lucky you would feel if you were invited into Abbey Road studio to hear the master tape of the White Album. Well, what this CD version is is the next best thing, a flat transfer of the Abbey Road master tape on CD... no EQ, no noise reduction, no compression or any other Modern mastering techniques that destroy the dynamic range of classic recordings. Is it quieter than a modern CD? Yes, but that's why we have volume knobs.
If the rumours are correct then the Beatles recordings will be re-mastered and re-released, whether good or bad the White album will not sound like this does. We can only hope when they are re-released that the Mono Mix finally gets it's CD debut. It's absolutley scandalous that this has not been available for over 20 years. But for the stereo version, IMO this is the definitive version and the best sounding of all the original Beatles cd's

Before Sgt. Pepper's, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 3-plus decades, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", the carnival-like "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") and McCartney's music hall-styled "When I'm 64", to Harrison's Eastern-leaning "Within You Without You", and the avant-garde mini-suite, "A Day in the Life", Sgt. Pepper's was a milestone for both 1960s music and popular culture in general. --Billy Altman

Their Tortured Masterpiece, 22 Sep 2008
It had been a tough year and a bit for The Beatles. Their manager Brian Epstein had committed suicide, their Magical Mystery Tour had seen them mauled by critics for the first time, and their attempts to practise transcendental meditation in India with the Maharishi had ended in disaster. It was during that ill-fated trip that most of these songs were written.

Inside the band itself, the situation was also far from hunky dory. Lennon would soon lose interest in the band, spending more and more time with his new partner Yoko Ono instead. Harrison was increasingly sick of being overlooked by John and Paul, who still only permitted him a few songs per album (he has four out of thirty here). Sensing this unease in the band, McCartney increasingly took charge of the group, a fatherly attitude which further annoyed the others. Meanwhile Ringo gets sole writing credit for `Don't Pass Me By', not one of the album's best but certainly pleasant enough.

It was with these tensions that The Beatles made The White Album, a self-titled song collection that derives its popular nickname from a stark white cover. Most of the songs here are pretty much solo compositions, as the band's two main songwriters had both begun to jealously guard their own work, allowing only minimal input from the other. Ironically, this is the album where George Harrison finally became their equal, writing a couple of the very best songs here.

Beginning with the sound of a plane taking off, Back In The USSR is a Beach Boys homage with a thumping piano beat and lyrics that were fairly controversial during the middle of the Cold War. This fades hauntingly into the acoustic Dear Prudence, written to encourage Mia Farrow's sister out of hut-bound seclusion during the India trip. Glass Onion mockingly references other Beatles songs, providing more fodder for those fans desperate to read hidden meanings into their work. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a bouncy tale of inter-racial marriage with a happy ending. Wild Honey Pie is a 50-second oddity that reinforces the strange new direction The Beatles had taken. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill sounds more like a twisted nursery rhyme than a rock song, a trait common to much of The White Album.

Next is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, possibly the album's best song. Written by Harrison and featuring guitar from his friend Eric Clapton, it tells of spiritual pain and disillusionment. Happiness Is A Warm Gun is one of the album's most oddly structured songs, featuring several disorientating changes of tone one after another. Martha My Dear is a nice piano ditty that may or may not be inspired by McCartney's dog, depending on who you believe. I'm So Tired is another pained Lennon contribution (he was clearly not having a fun time in 1968). Blackbird is a Bach-inspired piece, once again acoustic because this was the only instrument available to the band in India, and comprising some tasteful samples of the eponymous bird's song.

Piggies is perhaps the bitterest song present, comparing Capitalism to pigs eating bacon, unfortunately a key inspiration for the Manson cult's murder spree. Rocky Raccoon is a slightly unhinged story of a spurned lover setting out (and failing) to kill his rival for the woman in question's affections, featuring some honky-tonk piano. Don't Pass Me By is a bluesy country song written by Starr, the writing of which predated recording by at least four years. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? originated from Paul seeing two monkeys doing just that, and I Will is another McCartney effort, written for future spouse Linda Eastman. The first disc of the CD version (and second side of the original vinyl) ends with Julia, written for Lennon's dead mother and the only Beatles song on which he is the sole performer. This is one of the album's most beautiful compositions, imbued with a real sense of sadness and longing.

Disc Two opens with Birthday, on which McCartney sounds near-psychotic with celebration. Yer Blues expresses suicidal intent, the sort of soul-purging that would become increasingly common during Lennon's solo career. After this, the subdued Mother Nature's Son is a relief to hear - an early version of what would become Jealous Guy was dropped from the album because of perceived similarities to this McCartney tune. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey supposedly concerns Lennon and Ono, though alternative suggestions have been made such as drugs (it was around this time that Lennon acquired a taste for heroin). Sexy Sadie was originally called Maharishi, but George convinced John to alter the lyrics, though the sentiments remain the same. Helter Skelter is The Beatles' loudest and craziest song, the point where this album sounds most disturbed. Long, Long, Long is an extremely subtle Harrison piece, easy to overlook amidst more attention-grabbing Lennon and McCartney songs, but actually incredibly beautiful.

Revolution 1 was Lennon's response to a hippy movement that had grown increasingly violent, saying that he wants change but won't become brutalised to get it. Honey Pie is another of McCartney's music-hall-style recordings, which a lot of people sniff at but I think are actually quite good (this one especially). Savoy Truffle is probably Harrison's weakest contribution here, name-checking the contents of a chocolate box. Cry Baby Cry was inspired by fairy tales, ending with a brief McCartney segment that pleas `Can you take me back?', as though begging to return to a pre-Beatles childhood. The album's penultimate track is its most controversial, Lennon's chaotic sound collage called Revolution 9: personally I think it's interesting and genuinely haunting, though not one of the album's very best. Finally comes Good Night, a soaring ballad that Lennon wanted to sound deliberately cheesy.

And so that's it. The White Album is The Beatles' most endlessly fascinating album, simply because it features such a wide range of styles and moods. Overall the tone is dark and depressed, a result of the isolation and slight sadness felt by the band that had by now surpassed all its contemporaries. As though longing to regress to youth, many of the songs have a distinctly childhood feel, though it's not the happy one of Sgt Pepper a year earlier. My favourite tracks are `Dear Prudence', `Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', `While My Guitar Gently Weeps', `Blackbird', `Rocky Raccoon', `Julia', `Mother Nature's Son', `Sexy Sadie', `Helter Skelter', `Long, Long, Long' and `Revolution 1'.

First steps to break-up, 03 Sep 2008
Of all the major albums produced by the Beatles, this is the least coherent. The need to produce output for the purposes of the EMI contract led to some distinctly low quality rushed material from all the participants - in many ways a precursor to the substandard offerings to come later under their individual names. No longer greater than the sum of their parts, this is just four individuals showing their limitations. George Martin thought that it could have made one high quality album if the extensive dross (especially from heroin and Ono fixated Lennon) had been dispensed with, and he was right. This was probably the only occasion when the Beatles short changed their fans for selfish purposes. An example of the Beatles in decline, to be matched only by the Spectorised Let It Be.

NO filler, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

Quite simply a work of GENIUS , 30 Aug 2008
This is my favourite Beatles album and to all those who say it contains filler I will state that in my opinion it takes a long time to appreciate the finer details of this record - ie on the first few plays YES you are going to think there's some filler. I had the same opinion of Pet Sounds when I first heard it. Truly deep and meaningful music *does* take time to be fully absorbed and whilst initially I agreed with a lot of other folk that this should have been a single LP, I have since grown to appreciate *every* single song on this double collection. I would not drop any of them from the track list (well maybe Revolution No.9). I suppose this is The Beatles' rock record and perhaps those of a pop persuasion don't get it purely because it doesn't sound like Help or Rubber Soul. Well I'm into a lot of rock bands but I *love* Help & Rubber Soul and I also like Pet Sounds (hardly a 'rock' record in the traditional sense) so to me the fact The Beatles flit between different genres only enhances their appeal - Zeppelin and Queen did this further down the line and were all the more interesting for it. Those who dismiss the white album as having filler just haven't listened to it enough! It's like only reading a few lines from each chapter of a book and thinking you know the whole story, you need to spend a lot of quality time with this album in order to truly appreciate it. When it clicks believe me, it truly clicks! I just cannot understand a Beatles fan who doesn't consider this to be a 5-star album.

Pick this up while you still can, 16 Aug 2008
Imagine how lucky you would feel if you were invited into Abbey Road studio to hear the master tape of the White Album. Well, what this CD version is is the next best thing, a flat transfer of the Abbey Road master tape on CD... no EQ, no noise reduction, no compression or any other Modern mastering techniques that destroy the dynamic range of classic recordings. Is it quieter than a modern CD? Yes, but that's why we have volume knobs.
If the rumours are correct then the Beatles recordings will be re-mastered and re-released, whether good or bad the White album will not sound like this does. We can only hope when they are re-released that the Mono Mix finally gets it's CD debut. It's absolutley scandalous that this has not been available for over 20 years. But for the stereo version, IMO this is the definitive version and the best sounding of all the original Beatles cd's

Height of their powers?, 19 Oct 2008
First things first. Sgt Pepper is not a concept or themed album. 3 of the 13 songs are vaguely based on the theme of the Beatles "playing" at being an old time band (including a reprise of the title song) and some of the music is continuous between songs. The rest of the songs are unrelated so why is the album so often described as groundbreaking? Listen to it and you will find out. The band and producer George Martin produced a remarkable album that at times is unashamedly experimental.

It is probably best summed up in "A Day in the Life", where they really throw the kitchen sink at it. In the middle and at the end of the song an orchestra builds a wall of sound for what seems like forever, until a crescendo is reached. It sounds remarkable now, it must have blown minds when it was released. And all this from songwriters in their twenties, though undoubtedly greatly influenced and encouraged by Martin.

"She's Leaving Home" deserves special mention. The lyrics beautifully describe the angst felt by a teenager who feels she has been "living alone" with her parents for too long. Along with the gorgeous music this song never fails to resonate with me.

"When I'm 64" shows Paul at his most playful music wise but again the lyrics are spot on. John contributes the classic "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". George demonstrates his experimental work with Indian music in "Within You Without You".

And I haven't even mentioned "With a Little Help from my Friends" and the title song, both classics in their own right.

Not every song is a classic. "Getting Better" and "Fixing a Hole" aren't up to the standard of the more famous songs though they do show how willing the band were to try new things, especially lyrically.

The best Beatles album? Quite possibly. I never tire of listening to it.


Sorry, I just don't get it, 10 Oct 2008
I really want to like it. It's ingenious and marvellous and at the time I'm sure it was groundbreaking. But though I love Abbey Road, I can't say the same for this. I was genuinely disappointed.

Beautiful, mad, silly, cheerful, philosophical, alarming, 28 Sep 2008
I don't know why I think that this is the best album by the best band that ever was. I may as well admit that the Beatles are my favourite band, but it's not like every single song here is a solid gold classic. "Revolver" has more really great songs than "Pepper", so why does "Revolver" just feel like a great album while "Pepper" feels like a great album that is also a major work of art?

It has something to do with the idea, something to do with the sequencing, something to do with the spirit of the whole thing. "Revolver", like most of the Beatles' albums, was put together as one album like any other, with everyone throwing in their best songs. "Pepper" was conceived as an experiment, with the most famous band in the world pretending to be some unknown bunch of guys dressed as a brass band. Most Beatles albums have pictures of the Beatles on the cover. So does this one, but it also has a gallery of their heroes. It's the Beatles' most ambitious album, but also their most emotionally generous one.

Consider that it puts Ringo in the top spot, singing one of the best songs on the album. Many of the songs are about trying to recover from emotional distress or damage; even George, who was usually either preachy or sulky in his songs, is here reflective and thoughtful. Lennon's snarling "Good Morning, Good Morning" is done as cantankerous comedy, not as serious disgust. McCartney's "Lovely Rita" is a love song to an authority figure; as the late Ian Macdonald pointed out, an American band would have depicted Rita as an uptight pig, but the Beatles decided that it'd be better to love her. Elsewhere, "Getting Better" is ruefully realistic ("It can't get much worse"). "She's Leaving Home" lets the parents realise what it was that they'd done wrong and in that respect is far more hopeful than the brilliant but chilling "Eleanor Rigby". Yes, "Eleanor Rigby" is a better song, but "She's Leaving Home" is better integrated into this album than "Rigby" is integrated into "Revolver".

"A Day in the Life" is the ultimate answer to people who think that this album is frothy or frivolous. Epic, melancholy and unnerving, it's the greatest single track the Beatles ever did and a fittingly ambiguous finale to a great album, perhaps the only Beatles album that is truly more than the sum of its parts. It's also, I think, the only Beatles album where if you put it on, you have to listen to the whole thing from start to finish. So who cares if it inspired art-rock? If without "Sgt Pepper" we wouldn't have had King Crimson, then that to me is just another point in its favour. The Beatles' best music is so good that you realise that valuing bands on the basis of how "authentic" or "dangerous" they are is just childish; what matters is what the music can do to you.

I have grown up on the Beatles. They were the first band I ever listened to and the first band I ever liked, even though they had split up before I was born. They never grow stale. More rubbish has been talked about them than any other popular culture figures except Dylan. Clear your mind of the rubbish and give this mysteriously inspiring album a listen.

The BIG one...., 28 Sep 2008
Of all the Beatles albums this one excites the most debate. It was probably the most eagerly awaited album ever - up that time. During 1966 the Beatles had gone from being on every TV show, concert tour, poster and News bulletin to being secretive, and reclusive and making no personal appearances - and everyone wanted to know what they were up to.
Then they issued the double A sided single, Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and we got a taster of what this album was going to be like. Originally intended to be part of this ensemble, these two songs were pushed out as a single to revive what Brian Epstein feared was waning interest in his "boys" whilst they completed the album. Breaking the mould they released a "promotional film" to go with the single - arguably the first pop video. This film was a pretty feeble affair though as I recall, with the Beatles riding horses up and down Penny Lane in Liverpool trying to look mystical, limbering up for the Magical Mystery Tour, no doubt, and not even miming the songs, which was unheard of in 1967!
So, what do we have here on this Sgt Pepper album? Song-wise we have the rocking title track which segues into "With a Little Help from My Friends" engagingly sung here by Ringo Starr (the song memorably turned into a massively overlong soul dirge by Joe Cocker who - inexplicably to me at least - had a huge number one hit with it).
Then, it's on to "Lucy In the Sky (With Diamonds)" - a wistful ballad with a chorus that has a driving percussion under it. In my humble opinion, the track actually sounds a lot better if you play it in Mono.
Onwards into "Getting Better" - a bouncy and optimistic tune with wonderful bass line sequences (play it at double speed, if you can, to hear how McCartney is actually playing little sub-tunes and counterpoint melodies, or just adjust your graphics equalizer to accentuate the bass).
Then it's "Fixing a Hole" - lots of earnest debate at the time about whether this was a 'drug song' (gasp, horror!): Truly, it doesn't matter because it's a nice enough song. The song repays listening closely to the various layers of the backing track, some very craftsman like playing by all concerned. The short lead guitar solo (I guess by George) in the middle is neat too. On the record - though much less so on the CD - you could hear the start of an intriguing vocal improvisation by McCartney near the very end of the fade out - I'd love to have heard a bit more of that, but it's not here.
"She's Leaving Home" was never my favourite track on this album - I always thought that Harry Nilsson's version was better - he actually sounded upset and engaged with the sad subject matter of the song, whereas Paul really doesn't. It's a great lyric, which hit some real targets in child-parent relationships (then) though.
On the Vinyl disc side one ended with "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" - a sonic romp in which every cliche fairground sound is brought into play at some stage.
Next, it's George with "Within You, Without You" - somewhat out of place in this collection I always thought, the music of the Indian sub-continent and Edwardian town band theme very much at odds. One has to say though that, considered in isolation, the track is a quite brilliant fusion of east and west (I guess the other George had a hand in that magic) veering from Indian restaurant wallpaper music, through a sitar solo and riffs that play all the pop/rock conventions of the time but sound just soooo cool. George used to say to Kenny Everett, whenever Ken asked him about the meaning of life - "It's all around you, Ken". Likewise, let the song wash over you - and I defy you not to feel better for it.
Again, switch to Mono for "When I'm 64" - Paul sings on one speaker and the backing plays on the other. What was George Martin thinking of? Anyway (In mono please) we have a song that rewinds all the way back via George Formby to the music hall stars of the Edwardian era. One could just imagine them doing the soft shoe shuffle whilst singing the song in a costamonger's cockney accent "A-weel-ya-stilla-needme-awillya-stilla-feedme". Paul of course sings it with strong traces of Liverpool, and it sounds great (in mono!).
Now we come to "Lovely Rita" a song about a man's fancy for a lady traffic warden. We have to remember that Traffic Wardens had only appeared on the scene in London a year or so before the song was written, and the name 'Meter Maid' was a very current one then. As has been observed many times before, the lyrics to the song veer engagingly between the highly formal ('May I enquire discreetly') to the cheeky and colloquial ('Give us a wink and make me think of you'). Love the piano solo too - that could have gone on a lot longer and I would not have objected.
'Good Morning, Good Morning' is next. Wonderfully crafted lyrics 'Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here' or ' Go to a show, you hope she goes' and some classy saxophone on the backing track (Ronnie Scott was it on the session?) and the track ends with an audio dissolve into a cacophony of farmyard animal noises (for some reason that is not clear to me even now!).
A quick whip through a much rockier rendition of the album's title track and then we arrive at the final track "A Day in the Life", a track that always felt to me as if a couple of not quite finished songs had been incredible skillfully stitched together by George Martin using some wonderful bridge pieces played by a full orchestra. A tour de force of technique, but I can't agree with people who say it is a Beatles masterpiece. For me the most impressive part of the track is that (pure Martin I think) orchestral climax at the end, and then that huge orchestral boom which oh-so-gradually fades away. Near the end of the movie Star Wars there is that famous scene where the Death Star explodes, and if you play the ending of this track over that scene I think you will have to agree with the way I always thought of that ending, as 'music to accompany the end of the world'. Spine tingling stuff, and oh-so-much better from CD than it ever was from Vinyl.
On the Vinyl album's run out groove (the groove right at the very centre of the record next to the label) there was a fragment of sound with the Beatles singing (something like) "I never could be any other" over and over again. Some wag discovered that, if you played this backwards, it sounded something like "We're hodi-Macki Supermen" - and there were debates about what these messages meant - with many dark hidden meanings suggested. This oddity is hard to reproduce on a CD of course, so it's not here. What's the betting that vinyl copies of the album will retain their price for years to come on the basis they are the only place to get that little snippet of 'Beatles' sound from! It's a mad world my masters.
Should you buy the album? Yes, even if you sell it again afterwards. Everyone should hear it at least once. Is it a masterpiece? If it had been done by anyone else, yes, but I believe Revolver was the Beatles best album so I can't say yes to that one. But buy Pepper anyway - what do I know? ;-)


overrated novelty album, 16 Sep 2008
when i was a boy,hitting my teens in the sixties,you were as the cliche goes.beatles or stones,and i was very much with the latter. from the beginning the beatles always had novelty songs,and maybe george martin is to blame,(he did produce the goons after all)i mean ;til there was you, taste of honey,michelle,penny lane.....etc,etc.even their best lp is spoilt by yellow submarine.but by the time they got to this one,well you could blame macartney or martin or maybe they just took the wrong acid.but it is,apart from one song(you can guess which one) one massive overrated novelty album.the stones got slaughtered for satanic majesties,but not this pile of old tutt.afterwards they came out with classics like ob la di and octopus garden.so for me the beatles were great when they were rockin in the early days,i saw her standing there,twist and shout and that sort of stuff,also the powerpop of ticket to ride,hard days night and that sort of stuff.but in my life they dont come close to the stones or plenty of other groups to many to mention.if its an lp from 67 you want,buy velvet underground with nico.end of story.

Proving yet again their willingness to dice 'n' slice their burgeoning legacy into new--if not exactly fresh--product, the Fab Four Minus One released this single disc compendium of their No. 1 hits. Though obviously superfluous to long-time Fabs faithful (who may also find themselves quibbling over the precise definition of "No. 1 hit" and the exclusion of seeming contenders like "Please Please Me" and "Strawberry Fields"), newly arrived visitors from the Pleiades star cluster and other neophytes will find it a concise and generous (nearly 80 minutes) single-disc introduction to the band's career-spanning, unparalleled dominance of pop music in the 1960s and beyond. But more than merely a trophy case of commercial success (and it won't be hard to find people to argue that these singles aren't even the band's best work), 1 is also a quick sketch of a remarkable seven-year musical evolution, one that stretches from the neo-skiffle of "Love Me Do" through a remarkable synthesis of R&B, rockabilly, Tin Pan Alley, gospel, country and classical that still defies efforts to effectively deconstruct it. --Jerry McCulley

Their Tortured Masterpiece, 22 Sep 2008
It had been a tough year and a bit for The Beatles. Their manager Brian Epstein had committed suicide, their Magical Mystery Tour had seen them mauled by critics for the first time, and their attempts to practise transcendental meditation in India with the Maharishi had ended in disaster. It was during that ill-fated trip that most of these songs were written.

Inside the band itself, the situation was also far from hunky dory. Lennon would soon lose interest in the band, spending more and more time with his new partner Yoko Ono instead. Harrison was increasingly sick of being overlooked by John and Paul, who still only permitted him a few songs per album (he has four out of thirty here). Sensing this unease in the band, McCartney increasingly took charge of the group, a fatherly attitude which further annoyed the others. Meanwhile Ringo gets sole writing credit for `Don't Pass Me By', not one of the album's best but certainly pleasant enough.

It was with these tensions that The Beatles made The White Album, a self-titled song collection that derives its popular nickname from a stark white cover. Most of the songs here are pretty much solo compositions, as the band's two main songwriters had both begun to jealously guard their own work, allowing only minimal input from the other. Ironically, this is the album where George Harrison finally became their equal, writing a couple of the very best songs here.

Beginning with the sound of a plane taking off, Back In The USSR is a Beach Boys homage with a thumping piano beat and lyrics that were fairly controversial during the middle of the Cold War. This fades hauntingly into the acoustic Dear Prudence, written to encourage Mia Farrow's sister out of hut-bound seclusion during the India trip. Glass Onion mockingly references other Beatles songs, providing more fodder for those fans desperate to read hidden meanings into their work. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a bouncy tale of inter-racial marriage with a happy ending. Wild Honey Pie is a 50-second oddity that reinforces the strange new direction The Beatles had taken. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill sounds more like a twisted nursery rhyme than a rock song, a trait common to much of The White Album.

Next is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, possibly the album's best song. Written by Harrison and featuring guitar from his friend Eric Clapton, it tells of spiritual pain and disillusionment. Happiness Is A Warm Gun is one of the album's most oddly structured songs, featuring several disorientating changes of tone one after another. Martha My Dear is a nice piano ditty that may or may not be inspired by McCartney's dog, depending on who you believe. I'm So Tired is another pained Lennon contribution (he was clearly not having a fun time in 1968). Blackbird is a Bach-inspired piece, once again acoustic because this was the only instrument available to the band in India, and comprising some tasteful samples of the eponymous bird's song.

Piggies is perhaps the bitterest song present, comparing Capitalism to pigs eating bacon, unfortunately a key inspiration for the Manson cult's murder spree. Rocky Raccoon is a slightly unhinged story of a spurned lover setting out (and failing) to kill his rival for the woman in question's affections, featuring some honky-tonk piano. Don't Pass Me By is a bluesy country song written by Starr, the writing of which predated recording by at least four years. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? originated from Paul seeing two monkeys doing just that, and I Will is another McCartney effort, written for future spouse Linda Eastman. The first disc of the CD version (and second side of the original vinyl) ends with Julia, written for Lennon's dead mother and the only Beatles song on which he is the sole performer. This is one of the album's most beautiful compositions, imbued with a real sense of sadness and longing.

Disc Two opens with Birthday, on which McCartney sounds near-psychotic with celebration. Yer Blues expresses suicidal intent, the sort of soul-purging that would become increasingly common during Lennon's solo career. After this, the subdued Mother Nature's Son is a relief to hear - an early version of what would become Jealous Guy was dropped from the album because of perceived similarities to this McCartney tune. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey supposedly concerns Lennon and Ono, though alternative suggestions have been made such as drugs (it was around this time that Lennon acquired a taste for heroin). Sexy Sadie was originally called Maharishi, but George convinced John to alter the lyrics, though the sentiments remain the same. Helter Skelter is The Beatles' loudest and craziest song, the point where this album sounds most disturbed. Long, Long, Long is an extremely subtle Harrison piece, easy to overlook amidst more attention-grabbing Lennon and McCartney songs, but actually incredibly beautiful.

Revolution 1 was Lennon's response to a hippy movement that had grown increasingly violent, saying that he wants change but won't become brutalised to get it. Honey Pie is another of McCartney's music-hall-style recordings, which a lot of people sniff at but I think are actually quite good (this one especially). Savoy Truffle is probably Harrison's weakest contribution here, name-checking the contents of a chocolate box. Cry Baby Cry was inspired by fairy tales, ending with a brief McCartney segment that pleas `Can you take me back?', as though begging to return to a pre-Beatles childhood. The album's penultimate track is its most controversial, Lennon's chaotic sound collage called Revolution 9: personally I think it's interesting and genuinely haunting, though not one of the album's very best. Finally comes Good Night, a soaring ballad that Lennon wanted to sound deliberately cheesy.

And so that's it. The White Album is The Beatles' most endlessly fascinating album, simply because it features such a wide range of styles and moods. Overall the tone is dark and depressed, a result of the isolation and slight sadness felt by the band that had by now surpassed all its contemporaries. As though longing to regress to youth, many of the songs have a distinctly childhood feel, though it's not the happy one of Sgt Pepper a year earlier. My favourite tracks are `Dear Prudence', `Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', `While My Guitar Gently Weeps', `Blackbird', `Rocky Raccoon', `Julia', `Mother Nature's Son', `Sexy Sadie', `Helter Skelter', `Long, Long, Long' and `Revolution 1'.

First steps to break-up, 03 Sep 2008
Of all the major albums produced by the Beatles, this is the least coherent. The need to produce output for the purposes of the EMI contract led to some distinctly low quality rushed material from all the participants - in many ways a precursor to the substandard offerings to come later under their individual names. No longer greater than the sum of their parts, this is just four individuals showing their limitations. George Martin thought that it could have made one high quality album if the extensive dross (especially from heroin and Ono fixated Lennon) had been dispensed with, and he was right. This was probably the only occasion when the Beatles short changed their fans for selfish purposes. An example of the Beatles in decline, to be matched only by the Spectorised Let It Be.

NO filler, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

Quite simply a work of GENIUS , 30 Aug 2008
This is my favourite Beatles album and to all those who say it contains filler I will state that in my opinion it takes a long time to appreciate the finer details of this record - ie on the first few plays YES you are going to think there's some filler. I had the same opinion of Pet Sounds when I first heard it. Truly deep and meaningful music *does* take time to be fully absorbed and whilst initially I agreed with a lot of other folk that this should have been a single LP, I have since grown to appreciate *every* single song on this double collection. I would not drop any of them from the track list (well maybe Revolution No.9). I suppose this is The Beatles' rock record and perhaps those of a pop persuasion don't get it purely because it doesn't sound like Help or Rubber Soul. Well I'm into a lot of rock bands but I *love* Help & Rubber Soul and I also like Pet Sounds (hardly a 'rock' record in the traditional sense) so to me the fact The Beatles flit between different genres only enhances their appeal - Zeppelin and Queen did this further down the line and were all the more interesting for it. Those who dismiss the white album as having filler just haven't listened to it enough! It's like only reading a few lines from each chapter of a book and thinking you know the whole story, you need to spend a lot of quality time with this album in order to truly appreciate it. When it clicks believe me, it truly clicks! I just cannot understand a Beatles fan who doesn't consider this to be a 5-star album.

Pick this up while you still can, 16 Aug 2008
Imagine how lucky you would feel if you were invited into Abbey Road studio to hear the master tape of the White Album. Well, what this CD version is is the next best thing, a flat transfer of the Abbey Road master tape on CD... no EQ, no noise reduction, no compression or any other Modern mastering techniques that destroy the dynamic range of classic recordings. Is it quieter than a modern CD? Yes, but that's why we have volume knobs.
If the rumours are correct then the Beatles recordings will be re-mastered and re-released, whether good or bad the White album will not sound like this does. We can only hope when they are re-released that the Mono Mix finally gets it's CD debut. It's absolutley scandalous that this has not been available for over 20 years. But for the stereo version, IMO this is the definitive version and the best sounding of all the original Beatles cd's

Height of their powers?, 19 Oct 2008
First things first. Sgt Pepper is not a concept or themed album. 3 of the 13 songs are vaguely based on the theme of the Beatles "playing" at being an old time band (including a reprise of the title song) and some of the music is continuous between songs. The rest of the songs are unrelated so why is the album so often described as groundbreaking? Listen to it and you will find out. The band and producer George Martin produced a remarkable album that at times is unashamedly experimental.

It is probably best summed up in "A Day in the Life", where they really throw the kitchen sink at it. In the middle and at the end of the song an orchestra builds a wall of sound for what seems like forever, until a crescendo is reached. It sounds remarkable now, it must have blown minds when it was released. And all this from songwriters in their twenties, though undoubtedly greatly influenced and encouraged by Martin.

"She's Leaving Home" deserves special mention. The lyrics beautifully describe the angst felt by a teenager who feels she has been "living alone" with her parents for too long. Along with the gorgeous music this song never fails to resonate with me.

"When I'm 64" shows Paul at his most playful music wise but again the lyrics are spot on. John contributes the classic "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". George demonstrates his experimental work with Indian music in "Within You Without You".

And I haven't even mentioned "With a Little Help from my Friends" and the title song, both classics in their own right.

Not every song is a classic. "Getting Better" and "Fixing a Hole" aren't up to the standard of the more famous songs though they do show how willing the band were to try new things, especially lyrically.

The best Beatles album? Quite possibly. I never tire of listening to it.


Sorry, I just don't get it, 10 Oct 2008
I really want to like it. It's ingenious and marvellous and at the time I'm sure it was groundbreaking. But though I love Abbey Road, I can't say the same for this. I was genuinely disappointed.

Beautiful, mad, silly, cheerful, philosophical, alarming, 28 Sep 2008
I don't know why I think that this is the best album by the best band that ever was. I may as well admit that the Beatles are my favourite band, but it's not like every single song here is a solid gold classic. "Revolver" has more really great songs than "Pepper", so why does "Revolver" just feel like a great album while "Pepper" feels like a great album that is also a major work of art?

It has something to do with the idea, something to do with the sequencing, something to do with the spirit of the whole thing. "Revolver", like most of the Beatles' albums, was put together as one album like any other, with everyone throwing in their best songs. "Pepper" was conceived as an experiment, with the most famous band in the world pretending to be some unknown bunch of guys dressed as a brass band. Most Beatles albums have pictures of the Beatles on the cover. So does this one, but it also has a gallery of their heroes. It's the Beatles' most ambitious album, but also their most emotionally generous one.

Consider that it puts Ringo in the top spot, singing one of the best songs on the album. Many of the songs are about trying to recover from emotional distress or damage; even George, who was usually either preachy or sulky in his songs, is here reflective and thoughtful. Lennon's snarling "Good Morning, Good Morning" is done as cantankerous comedy, not as serious disgust. McCartney's "Lovely Rita" is a love song to an authority figure; as the late Ian Macdonald pointed out, an American band would have depicted Rita as an uptight pig, but the Beatles decided that it'd be better to love her. Elsewhere, "Getting Better" is ruefully realistic ("It can't get much worse"). "She's Leaving Home" lets the parents realise what it was that they'd done wrong and in that respect is far more hopeful than the brilliant but chilling "Eleanor Rigby". Yes, "Eleanor Rigby" is a better song, but "She's Leaving Home" is better integrated into this album than "Rigby" is integrated into "Revolver".

"A Day in the Life" is the ultimate answer to people who think that this album is frothy or frivolous. Epic, melancholy and unnerving, it's the greatest single track the Beatles ever did and a fittingly ambiguous finale to a great album, perhaps the only Beatles album that is truly more than the sum of its parts. It's also, I think, the only Beatles album where if you put it on, you have to listen to the whole thing from start to finish. So who cares if it inspired art-rock? If without "Sgt Pepper" we wouldn't have had King Crimson, then that to me is just another point in its favour. The Beatles' best music is so good that you realise that valuing bands on the basis of how "authentic" or "dangerous" they are is just childish; what matters is what the music can do to you.

I have grown up on the Beatles. They were the first band I ever listened to and the first band I ever liked, even though they had split up before I was born. They never grow stale. More rubbish has been talked about them than any other popular culture figures except Dylan. Clear your mind of the rubbish and give this mysteriously inspiring album a listen.

The BIG one...., 28 Sep 2008
Of all the Beatles albums this one excites the most debate. It was probably the most eagerly awaited album ever - up that time. During 1966 the Beatles had gone from being on every TV show, concert tour, poster and News bulletin to being secretive, and reclusive and making no personal appearances - and everyone wanted to know what they were up to.
Then they issued the double A sided single, Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and we got a taster of what this album was going to be like. Originally intended to be part of this ensemble, these two songs were pushed out as a single to revive what Brian Epstein feared was waning interest in his "boys" whilst they completed the album. Breaking the mould they released a "promotional film" to go with the single - arguably the first pop video. This film was a pretty feeble affair though as I recall, with the Beatles riding horses up and down Penny Lane in Liverpool trying to look mystical, limbering up for the Magical Mystery Tour, no doubt, and not even miming the songs, which was unheard of in 1967!
So, what do we have here on this Sgt Pepper album? Song-wise we have the rocking title track which segues into "With a Little Help from My Friends" engagingly sung here by Ringo Starr (the song memorably turned into a massively overlong soul dirge by Joe Cocker who - inexplicably to me at least - had a huge number one hit with it).
Then, it's on to "Lucy In the Sky (With Diamonds)" - a wistful ballad with a chorus that has a driving percussion under it. In my humble opinion, the track actually sounds a lot better if you play it in Mono.
Onwards into "Getting Better" - a bouncy and optimistic tune with wonderful bass line sequences (play it at double speed, if you can, to hear how McCartney is actually playing little sub-tunes and counterpoint melodies, or just adjust your graphics equalizer to accentuate the bass).
Then it's "Fixing a Hole" - lots of earnest debate at the time about whether this was a 'drug song' (gasp, horror!): Truly, it doesn't matter because it's a nice enough song. The song repays listening closely to the various layers of the backing track, some very craftsman like playing by all concerned. The short lead guitar solo (I guess by George) in the middle is neat too. On the record - though much less so on the CD - you could hear the start of an intriguing vocal improvisation by McCartney near the very end of the fade out - I'd love to have heard a bit more of that, but it's not here.
"She's Leaving Home" was never my favourite track on this album - I always thought that Harry Nilsson's version was better - he actually sounded upset and engaged with the sad subject matter of the song, whereas Paul really doesn't. It's a great lyric, which hit some real targets in child-parent relationships (then) though.
On the Vinyl disc side one ended with "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" - a sonic romp in which every cliche fairground sound is brought into play at some stage.
Next, it's George with "Within You, Without You" - somewhat out of place in this collection I always thought, the music of the Indian sub-continent and Edwardian town band theme very much at odds. One has to say though that, considered in isolation, the track is a quite brilliant fusion of east and west (I guess the other George had a hand in that magic) veering from Indian restaurant wallpaper music, through a sitar solo and riffs that play all the pop/rock conventions of the time but sound just soooo cool. George used to say to Kenny Everett, whenever Ken asked him about the meaning of life - "It's all around you, Ken". Likewise, let the song wash over you - and I defy you not to feel better for it.
Again, switch to Mono for "When I'm 64" - Paul sings on one speaker and the backing plays on the other. What was George Martin thinking of? Anyway (In mono please) we have a song that rewinds all the way back via George Formby to the music hall stars of the Edwardian era. One could just imagine them doing the soft shoe shuffle whilst singing the song in a costamonger's cockney accent "A-weel-ya-stilla-needme-awillya-stilla-feedme". Paul of course sings it with strong traces of Liverpool, and it sounds great (in mono!).
Now we come to "Lovely Rita" a song about a man's fancy for a lady traffic warden. We have to remember that Traffic Wardens had only appeared on the scene in London a year or so before the song was written, and the name 'Meter Maid' was a very current one then. As has been observed many times before, the lyrics to the song veer engagingly between the highly formal ('May I enquire discreetly') to the cheeky and colloquial ('Give us a wink and make me think of you'). Love the piano solo too - that could have gone on a lot longer and I would not have objected.
'Good Morning, Good Morning' is next. Wonderfully crafted lyrics 'Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here' or ' Go to a show, you hope she goes' and some classy saxophone on the backing track (Ronnie Scott was it on the session?) and the track ends with an audio dissolve into a cacophony of farmyard animal noises (for some reason that is not clear to me even now!).
A quick whip through a much rockier rendition of the album's title track and then we arrive at the final track "A Day in the Life", a track that always felt to me as if a couple of not quite finished songs had been incredible skillfully stitched together by George Martin using some wonderful bridge pieces played by a full orchestra. A tour de force of technique, but I can't agree with people who say it is a Beatles masterpiece. For me the most impressive part of the track is that (pure Martin I think) orchestral climax at the end, and then that huge orchestral boom which oh-so-gradually fades away. Near the end of the movie Star Wars there is that famous scene where the Death Star explodes, and if you play the ending of this track over that scene I think you will have to agree with the way I always thought of that ending, as 'music to accompany the end of the world'. Spine tingling stuff, and oh-so-much better from CD than it ever was from Vinyl.
On the Vinyl album's run out groove (the groove right at the very centre of the record next to the label) there was a fragment of sound with the Beatles singing (something like) "I never could be any other" over and over again. Some wag discovered that, if you played this backwards, it sounded something like "We're hodi-Macki Supermen" - and there were debates about what these messages meant - with many dark hidden meanings suggested. This oddity is hard to reproduce on a CD of course, so it's not here. What's the betting that vinyl copies of the album will retain their price for years to come on the basis they are the only place to get that little snippet of 'Beatles' sound from! It's a mad world my masters.
Should you buy the album? Yes, even if you sell it again afterwards. Everyone should hear it at least once. Is it a masterpiece? If it had been done by anyone else, yes, but I believe Revolver was the Beatles best album so I can't say yes to that one. But buy Pepper anyway - what do I know? ;-)


overrated novelty album, 16 Sep 2008
when i was a boy,hitting my teens in the sixties,you were as the cliche goes.beatles or stones,and i was very much with the latter. from the beginning the beatles always had novelty songs,and maybe george martin is to blame,(he did produce the goons after all)i mean ;til there was you, taste of honey,michelle,penny lane.....etc,etc.even their best lp is spoilt by yellow submarine.but by the time they got to this one,well you could blame macartney or martin or maybe they just took the wrong acid.but it is,apart from one song(you can guess which one) one massive overrated novelty album.the stones got slaughtered for satanic majesties,but not this pile of old tutt.afterwards they came out with classics like ob la di and octopus garden.so for me the beatles were great when they were rockin in the early days,i saw her standing there,twist and shout and that sort of stuff,also the powerpop of ticket to ride,hard days night and that sort of stuff.but in my life they dont come close to the stones or plenty of other groups to many to mention.if its an lp from 67 you want,buy velvet underground with nico.end of story.

27 Great Songs, 17 Sep 2008
So here it is - the best selling songs from the best selling band ever. The idea behind this compilation is that all the songs were Number One singles either in the UK or US. Sounds fairly simple, but in fact browsing the negative reviews on here shows many people complaining about this CD. Main criticisms are either that a Beatles greatest hits isn't necessary because people ought to buy the individual albums, or moans about certain tracks being omitted (Strawberry Fields Forever has been mentioned a lot - yes it might very well be the Beatles' best single but it didn't reach No. 1).

While it is true that the Beatles are a band best bought album-by-album, this is a great purchase for newbies or people with a casual interest in this legendary band. I own most of their albums, yet still play 1 often, simply because it's so great to hear all these classic pop songs lined up one after another.

One of the most interesting things about 1 is that it's sequenced chronologically by recording date, allowing the listener to hear The Beatles' gradual evolution over seven years, in only 80 minutes (I say 'only', but that much music on one disc is fantastic value).

All in all, the songs contained here might not be The Beatles' very best but most of them are still pretty much flawless classics. My personal favourites are She Loves You, Ticket to Ride, Help!, We Can Work It Out, Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love, The Ballad of John and Yoko, Something and Let It Be. This is a great starting point if you're unsure about The Beatles.

they're good, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

fantastic but songs still missing like elvis 1 collection!!, 20 Jul 2008
the beatles are legends but still theres lots of songs missing strawberry fields forver here comes the sun while my guitar gently weeps revolution and many more like the elvis 1 collection still songs missing but still a good hits collection from the fab four they will always be remembered like alot of other legends dusty springfield,elvis presley,freddie mercury/queen,jimi hendrix,minnie riperton,karen carpenter/the carpenters etc buy this but also get the red and blue box sets there cool!!

Terrible! The Beatles sellout to Elvis, 25 Jun 2008
Terrible! The Beatles the greatest Pop group of all time who released the innovative 'Sgt. Pepper's' copy Elvis with the same concept of a hits album containing all their Number One's? which may of worked if all their UK singles reached the top spot... But where is 'Strawberry Fields' and 'Please Please Me' instead we get 'The Long And Winding Rd' and 'Eight Days A week', if you had a choice The Long Winding Rd or Strawberry Fields what would you choose? I thought so Strawberry Fields, enough reason why this Cd does not work they should have done two seperate Hits Cd's one for the USA and one for the UK.. (like the vinyl of 1982) Penny Lane without Strawberry Fields is like Bread without Butter... Also it is the worse sounding Beatles Cd as well!

A CLASSIC BAND , 21 Jan 2008
Apparently, there was a gap in the Beatles' catalog, after all -- all the big hits weren't on one tidy, single-disc compilation. It's not the kind of gap you'd necessarily notice -- it's kind of like realizing you don't have a pair of navy blue dress socks -- but it was a gap all the same, so the group released The Beatles 1 late in 2000, coinciding with the publication of their official autobiography, the puzzlingly titled Anthology. The idea behind this compilation is to have all the number one singles the Beatles had, either in the U.K. or U.S., on one disc, and that's pretty much what this generous 27-track collection is. It's easy, nay, necessary, to quibble with a couple of the judgment calls -- look, "Please Please Me" should be here instead of "From Me to You," and it's unforgivable to bypass "Strawberry Fields Forever" (kick out "Yellow Submarine" or "Eleanor Rigby") -- but there's still no question that this is all great music, and there is a bit of a rush hearing all these dazzling songs follow one after another. If there's any complaint, it's that even if it's nice to have something like this, it's not really essential. There's really no reason for anyone who owns all the records to get this too -- if you've lived happily without the red or blue albums, you'll live without this. But, if you give this to any six or seven year old, they'll be a pop fan, even fanatic, for life. And that's reason enough for it to exist.

The Beatles' last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right Let It Be, the group held on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though all four contribute to the first side's writing, John Lennon's hard-rocking, "Come Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" make the strongest impression. A series of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous, touching, official close ("Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight" / "The End") is nicely undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney's cheeky "Her Majesty", which follows. --Rickey Wright

Their Tortured Masterpiece, 22 Sep 2008
It had been a tough year and a bit for The Beatles. Their manager Brian Epstein had committed suicide, their Magical Mystery Tour had seen them mauled by critics for the first time, and their attempts to practise transcendental meditation in India with the Maharishi had ended in disaster. It was during that ill-fated trip that most of these songs were written.

Inside the band itself, the situation was also far from hunky dory. Lennon would soon lose interest in the band, spending more and more time with his new partner Yoko Ono instead. Harrison was increasingly sick of being overlooked by John and Paul, who still only permitted him a few songs per album (he has four out of thirty here). Sensing this unease in the band, McCartney increasingly took charge of the group, a fatherly attitude which further annoyed the others. Meanwhile Ringo gets sole writing credit for `Don't Pass Me By', not one of the album's best but certainly pleasant enough.

It was with these tensions that The Beatles made The White Album, a self-titled song collection that derives its popular nickname from a stark white cover. Most of the songs here are pretty much solo compositions, as the band's two main songwriters had both begun to jealously guard their own work, allowing only minimal input from the other. Ironically, this is the album where George Harrison finally became their equal, writing a couple of the very best songs here.

Beginning with the sound of a plane taking off, Back In The USSR is a Beach Boys homage with a thumping piano beat and lyrics that were fairly controversial during the middle of the Cold War. This fades hauntingly into the acoustic Dear Prudence, written to encourage Mia Farrow's sister out of hut-bound seclusion during the India trip. Glass Onion mockingly references other Beatles songs, providing more fodder for those fans desperate to read hidden meanings into their work. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a bouncy tale of inter-racial marriage with a happy ending. Wild Honey Pie is a 50-second oddity that reinforces the strange new direction The Beatles had taken. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill sounds more like a twisted nursery rhyme than a rock song, a trait common to much of The White Album.

Next is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, possibly the album's best song. Written by Harrison and featuring guitar from his friend Eric Clapton, it tells of spiritual pain and disillusionment. Happiness Is A Warm Gun is one of the album's most oddly structured songs, featuring several disorientating changes of tone one after another. Martha My Dear is a nice piano ditty that may or may not be inspired by McCartney's dog, depending on who you believe. I'm So Tired is another pained Lennon contribution (he was clearly not having a fun time in 1968). Blackbird is a Bach-inspired piece, once again acoustic because this was the only instrument available to the band in India, and comprising some tasteful samples of the eponymous bird's song.

Piggies is perhaps the bitterest song present, comparing Capitalism to pigs eating bacon, unfortunately a key inspiration for the Manson cult's murder spree. Rocky Raccoon is a slightly unhinged story of a spurned lover setting out (and failing) to kill his rival for the woman in question's affections, featuring some honky-tonk piano. Don't Pass Me By is a bluesy country song written by Starr, the writing of which predated recording by at least four years. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? originated from Paul seeing two monkeys doing just that, and I Will is another McCartney effort, written for future spouse Linda Eastman. The first disc of the CD version (and second side of the original vinyl) ends with Julia, written for Lennon's dead mother and the only Beatles song on which he is the sole performer. This is one of the album's most beautiful compositions, imbued with a real sense of sadness and longing.

Disc Two opens with Birthday, on which McCartney sounds near-psychotic with celebration. Yer Blues expresses suicidal intent, the sort of soul-purging that would become increasingly common during Lennon's solo career. After this, the subdued Mother Nature's Son is a relief to hear - an early version of what would become Jealous Guy was dropped from the album because of perceived similarities to this McCartney tune. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey supposedly concerns Lennon and Ono, though alternative suggestions have been made such as drugs (it was around this time that Lennon acquired a taste for heroin). Sexy Sadie was originally called Maharishi, but George convinced John to alter the lyrics, though the sentiments remain the same. Helter Skelter is The Beatles' loudest and craziest song, the point where this album sounds most disturbed. Long, Long, Long is an extremely subtle Harrison piece, easy to overlook amidst more attention-grabbing Lennon and McCartney songs, but actually incredibly beautiful.

Revolution 1 was Lennon's response to a hippy movement that had grown increasingly violent, saying that he wants change but won't become brutalised to get it. Honey Pie is another of McCartney's music-hall-style recordings, which a lot of people sniff at but I think are actually quite good (this one especially). Savoy Truffle is probably Harrison's weakest contribution here, name-checking the contents of a chocolate box. Cry Baby Cry was inspired by fairy tales, ending with a brief McCartney segment that pleas `Can you take me back?', as though begging to return to a pre-Beatles childhood. The album's penultimate track is its most controversial, Lennon's chaotic sound collage called Revolution 9: personally I think it's interesting and genuinely haunting, though not one of the album's very best. Finally comes Good Night, a soaring ballad that Lennon wanted to sound deliberately cheesy.

And so that's it. The White Album is The Beatles' most endlessly fascinating album, simply because it features such a wide range of styles and moods. Overall the tone is dark and depressed, a result of the isolation and slight sadness felt by the band that had by now surpassed all its contemporaries. As though longing to regress to youth, many of the songs have a distinctly childhood feel, though it's not the happy one of Sgt Pepper a year earlier. My favourite tracks are `Dear Prudence', `Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', `While My Guitar Gently Weeps', `Blackbird', `Rocky Raccoon', `Julia', `Mother Nature's Son', `Sexy Sadie', `Helter Skelter', `Long, Long, Long' and `Revolution 1'.

First steps to break-up, 03 Sep 2008
Of all the major albums produced by the Beatles, this is the least coherent. The need to produce output for the purposes of the EMI contract led to some distinctly low quality rushed material from all the participants - in many ways a precursor to the substandard offerings to come later under their individual names. No longer greater than the sum of their parts, this is just four individuals showing their limitations. George Martin thought that it could have made one high quality album if the extensive dross (especially from heroin and Ono fixated Lennon) had been dispensed with, and he was right. This was probably the only occasion when the Beatles short changed their fans for selfish purposes. An example of the Beatles in decline, to be matched only by the Spectorised Let It Be.

NO filler, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

Quite simply a work of GENIUS , 30 Aug 2008
This is my favourite Beatles album and to all those who say it contains filler I will state that in my opinion it takes a long time to appreciate the finer details of this record - ie on the first few plays YES you are going to think there's some filler. I had the same opinion of Pet Sounds when I first heard it. Truly deep and meaningful music *does* take time to be fully absorbed and whilst initially I agreed with a lot of other folk that this should have been a single LP, I have since grown to appreciate *every* single song on this double collection. I would not drop any of them from the track list (well maybe Revolution No.9). I suppose this is The Beatles' rock record and perhaps those of a pop persuasion don't get it purely because it doesn't sound like Help or Rubber Soul. Well I'm into a lot of rock bands but I *love* Help & Rubber Soul and I also like Pet Sounds (hardly a 'rock' record in the traditional sense) so to me the fact The Beatles flit between different genres only enhances their appeal - Zeppelin and Queen did this further down the line and were all the more interesting for it. Those who dismiss the white album as having filler just haven't listened to it enough! It's like only reading a few lines from each chapter of a book and thinking you know the whole story, you need to spend a lot of quality time with this album in order to truly appreciate it. When it clicks believe me, it truly clicks! I just cannot understand a Beatles fan who doesn't consider this to be a 5-star album.

Pick this up while you still can, 16 Aug 2008
Imagine how lucky you would feel if you were invited into Abbey Road studio to hear the master tape of the White Album. Well, what this CD version is is the next best thing, a flat transfer of the Abbey Road master tape on CD... no EQ, no noise reduction, no compression or any other Modern mastering techniques that destroy the dynamic range of classic recordings. Is it quieter than a modern CD? Yes, but that's why we have volume knobs.
If the rumours are correct then the Beatles recordings will be re-mastered and re-released, whether good or bad the White album will not sound like this does. We can only hope when they are re-released that the Mono Mix finally gets it's CD debut. It's absolutley scandalous that this has not been available for over 20 years. But for the stereo version, IMO this is the definitive version and the best sounding of all the original Beatles cd's

Height of their powers?, 19 Oct 2008
First things first. Sgt Pepper is not a concept or themed album. 3 of the 13 songs are vaguely based on the theme of the Beatles "playing" at being an old time band (including a reprise of the title song) and some of the music is continuous between songs. The rest of the songs are unrelated so why is the album so often described as groundbreaking? Listen to it and you will find out. The band and producer George Martin produced a remarkable album that at times is unashamedly experimental.

It is probably best summed up in "A Day in the Life", where they really throw the kitchen sink at it. In the middle and at the end of the song an orchestra builds a wall of sound for what seems like forever, until a crescendo is reached. It sounds remarkable now, it must have blown minds when it was released. And all this from songwriters in their twenties, though undoubtedly greatly influenced and encouraged by Martin.

"She's Leaving Home" deserves special mention. The lyrics beautifully describe the angst felt by a teenager who feels she has been "living alone" with her parents for too long. Along with the gorgeous music this song never fails to resonate with me.

"When I'm 64" shows Paul at his most playful music wise but again the lyrics are spot on. John contributes the classic "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". George demonstrates his experimental work with Indian music in "Within You Without You".

And I haven't even mentioned "With a Little Help from my Friends" and the title song, both classics in their own right.

Not every song is a classic. "Getting Better" and "Fixing a Hole" aren't up to the standard of the more famous songs though they do show how willing the band were to try new things, especially lyrically.

The best Beatles album? Quite possibly. I never tire of listening to it.


Sorry, I just don't get it, 10 Oct 2008
I really want to like it. It's ingenious and marvellous and at the time I'm sure it was groundbreaking. But though I love Abbey Road, I can't say the same for this. I was genuinely disappointed.

Beautiful, mad, silly, cheerful, philosophical, alarming, 28 Sep 2008
I don't know why I think that this is the best album by the best band that ever was. I may as well admit that the Beatles are my favourite band, but it's not like every single song here is a solid gold classic. "Revolver" has more really great songs than "Pepper", so why does "Revolver" just feel like a great album while "Pepper" feels like a great album that is also a major work of art?

It has something to do with the idea, something to do with the sequencing, something to do with the spirit of the whole thing. "Revolver", like most of the Beatles' albums, was put together as one album like any other, with everyone throwing in their best songs. "Pepper" was conceived as an experiment, with the most famous band in the world pretending to be some unknown bunch of guys dressed as a brass band. Most Beatles albums have pictures of the Beatles on the cover. So does this one, but it also has a gallery of their heroes. It's the Beatles' most ambitious album, but also their most emotionally generous one.

Consider that it puts Ringo in the top spot, singing one of the best songs on the album. Many of the songs are about trying to recover from emotional distress or damage; even George, who was usually either preachy or sulky in his songs, is here reflective and thoughtful. Lennon's snarling "Good Morning, Good Morning" is done as cantankerous comedy, not as serious disgust. McCartney's "Lovely Rita" is a love song to an authority figure; as the late Ian Macdonald pointed out, an American band would have depicted Rita as an uptight pig, but the Beatles decided that it'd be better to love her. Elsewhere, "Getting Better" is ruefully realistic ("It can't get much worse"). "She's Leaving Home" lets the parents realise what it was that they'd done wrong and in that respect is far more hopeful than the brilliant but chilling "Eleanor Rigby". Yes, "Eleanor Rigby" is a better song, but "She's Leaving Home" is better integrated into this album than "Rigby" is integrated into "Revolver".

"A Day in the Life" is the ultimate answer to people who think that this album is frothy or frivolous. Epic, melancholy and unnerving, it's the greatest single track the Beatles ever did and a fittingly ambiguous finale to a great album, perhaps the only Beatles album that is truly more than the sum of its parts. It's also, I think, the only Beatles album where if you put it on, you have to listen to the whole thing from start to finish. So who cares if it inspired art-rock? If without "Sgt Pepper" we wouldn't have had King Crimson, then that to me is just another point in its favour. The Beatles' best music is so good that you realise that valuing bands on the basis of how "authentic" or "dangerous" they are is just childish; what matters is what the music can do to you.

I have grown up on the Beatles. They were the first band I ever listened to and the first band I ever liked, even though they had split up before I was born. They never grow stale. More rubbish has been talked about them than any other popular culture figures except Dylan. Clear your mind of the rubbish and give this mysteriously inspiring album a listen.

The BIG one...., 28 Sep 2008
Of all the Beatles albums this one excites the most debate. It was probably the most eagerly awaited album ever - up that time. During 1966 the Beatles had gone from being on every TV show, concert tour, poster and News bulletin to being secretive, and reclusive and making no personal appearances - and everyone wanted to know what they were up to.
Then they issued the double A sided single, Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and we got a taster of what this album was going to be like. Originally intended to be part of this ensemble, these two songs were pushed out as a single to revive what Brian Epstein feared was waning interest in his "boys" whilst they completed the album. Breaking the mould they released a "promotional film" to go with the single - arguably the first pop video. This film was a pretty feeble affair though as I recall, with the Beatles riding horses up and down Penny Lane in Liverpool trying to look mystical, limbering up for the Magical Mystery Tour, no doubt, and not even miming the songs, which was unheard of in 1967!
So, what do we have here on this Sgt Pepper album? Song-wise we have the rocking title track which segues into "With a Little Help from My Friends" engagingly sung here by Ringo Starr (the song memorably turned into a massively overlong soul dirge by Joe Cocker who - inexplicably to me at least - had a huge number one hit with it).
Then, it's on to "Lucy In the Sky (With Diamonds)" - a wistful ballad with a chorus that has a driving percussion under it. In my humble opinion, the track actually sounds a lot better if you play it in Mono.
Onwards into "Getting Better" - a bouncy and optimistic tune with wonderful bass line sequences (play it at double speed, if you can, to hear how McCartney is actually playing little sub-tunes and counterpoint melodies, or just adjust your graphics equalizer to accentuate the bass).
Then it's "Fixing a Hole" - lots of earnest debate at the time about whether this was a 'drug song' (gasp, horror!): Truly, it doesn't matter because it's a nice enough song. The song repays listening closely to the various layers of the backing track, some very craftsman like playing by all concerned. The short lead guitar solo (I guess by George) in the middle is neat too. On the record - though much less so on the CD - you could hear the start of an intriguing vocal improvisation by McCartney near the very end of the fade out - I'd love to have heard a bit more of that, but it's not here.
"She's Leaving Home" was never my favourite track on this album - I always thought that Harry Nilsson's version was better - he actually sounded upset and engaged with the sad subject matter of the song, whereas Paul really doesn't. It's a great lyric, which hit some real targets in child-parent relationships (then) though.
On the Vinyl disc side one ended with "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" - a sonic romp in which every cliche fairground sound is brought into play at some stage.
Next, it's George with "Within You, Without You" - somewhat out of place in this collection I always thought, the music of the Indian sub-continent and Edwardian town band theme very much at odds. One has to say though that, considered in isolation, the track is a quite brilliant fusion of east and west (I guess the other George had a hand in that magic) veering from Indian restaurant wallpaper music, through a sitar solo and riffs that play all the pop/rock conventions of the time but sound just soooo cool. George used to say to Kenny Everett, whenever Ken asked him about the meaning of life - "It's all around you, Ken". Likewise, let the song wash over you - and I defy you not to feel better for it.
Again, switch to Mono for "When I'm 64" - Paul sings on one speaker and the backing plays on the other. What was George Martin thinking of? Anyway (In mono please) we have a song that rewinds all the way back via George Formby to the music hall stars of the Edwardian era. One could just imagine them doing the soft shoe shuffle whilst singing the song in a costamonger's cockney accent "A-weel-ya-stilla-needme-awillya-stilla-feedme". Paul of course sings it with strong traces of Liverpool, and it sounds great (in mono!).
Now we come to "Lovely Rita" a song about a man's fancy for a lady traffic warden. We have to remember that Traffic Wardens had only appeared on the scene in London a year or so before the song was written, and the name 'Meter Maid' was a very current one then. As has been observed many times before, the lyrics to the song veer engagingly between the highly formal ('May I enquire discreetly') to the cheeky and colloquial ('Give us a wink and make me think of you'). Love the piano solo too - that could have gone on a lot longer and I would not have objected.
'Good Morning, Good Morning' is next. Wonderfully crafted lyrics 'Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here' or ' Go to a show, you hope she goes' and some classy saxophone on the backing track (Ronnie Scott was it on the session?) and the track ends with an audio dissolve into a cacophony of farmyard animal noises (for some reason that is not clear to me even now!).
A quick whip through a much rockier rendition of the album's title track and then we arrive at the final track "A Day in the Life", a track that always felt to me as if a couple of not quite finished songs had been incredible skillfully stitched together by George Martin using some wonderful bridge pieces played by a full orchestra. A tour de force of technique, but I can't agree with people who say it is a Beatles masterpiece. For me the most impressive part of the track is that (pure Martin I think) orchestral climax at the end, and then that huge orchestral boom which oh-so-gradually fades away. Near the end of the movie Star Wars there is that famous scene where the Death Star explodes, and if you play the ending of this track over that scene I think you will have to agree with the way I always thought of that ending, as 'music to accompany the end of the world'. Spine tingling stuff, and oh-so-much better from CD than it ever was from Vinyl.
On the Vinyl album's run out groove (the groove right at the very centre of the record next to the label) there was a fragment of sound with the Beatles singing (something like) "I never could be any other" over and over again. Some wag discovered that, if you played this backwards, it sounded something like "We're hodi-Macki Supermen" - and there were debates about what these messages meant - with many dark hidden meanings suggested. This oddity is hard to reproduce on a CD of course, so it's not here. What's the betting that vinyl copies of the album will retain their price for years to come on the basis they are the only place to get that little snippet of 'Beatles' sound from! It's a mad world my masters.
Should you buy the album? Yes, even if you sell it again afterwards. Everyone should hear it at least once. Is it a masterpiece? If it had been done by anyone else, yes, but I believe Revolver was the Beatles best album so I can't say yes to that one. But buy Pepper anyway - what do I know? ;-)


overrated novelty album, 16 Sep 2008
when i was a boy,hitting my teens in the sixties,you were as the cliche goes.beatles or stones,and i was very much with the latter. from the beginning the beatles always had novelty songs,and maybe george martin is to blame,(he did produce the goons after all)i mean ;til there was you, taste of honey,michelle,penny lane.....etc,etc.even their best lp is spoilt by yellow submarine.but by the time they got to this one,well you could blame macartney or martin or maybe they just took the wrong acid.but it is,apart from one song(you can guess which one) one massive overrated novelty album.the stones got slaughtered for satanic majesties,but not this pile of old tutt.afterwards they came out with classics like ob la di and octopus garden.so for me the beatles were great when they were rockin in the early days,i saw her standing there,twist and shout and that sort of stuff,also the powerpop of ticket to ride,hard days night and that sort of stuff.but in my life they dont come close to the stones or plenty of other groups to many to mention.if its an lp from 67 you want,buy velvet underground with nico.end of story.

27 Great Songs, 17 Sep 2008
So here it is - the best selling songs from the best selling band ever. The idea behind this compilation is that all the songs were Number One singles either in the UK or US. Sounds fairly simple, but in fact browsing the negative reviews on here shows many people complaining about this CD. Main criticisms are either that a Beatles greatest hits isn't necessary because people ought to buy the individual albums, or moans about certain tracks being omitted (Strawberry Fields Forever has been mentioned a lot - yes it might very well be the Beatles' best single but it didn't reach No. 1).

While it is true that the Beatles are a band best bought album-by-album, this is a great purchase for newbies or people with a casual interest in this legendary band. I own most of their albums, yet still play 1 often, simply because it's so great to hear all these classic pop songs lined up one after another.

One of the most interesting things about 1 is that it's sequenced chronologically by recording date, allowing the listener to hear The Beatles' gradual evolution over seven years, in only 80 minutes (I say 'only', but that much music on one disc is fantastic value).

All in all, the songs contained here might not be The Beatles' very best but most of them are still pretty much flawless classics. My personal favourites are She Loves You, Ticket to Ride, Help!, We Can Work It Out, Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love, The Ballad of John and Yoko, Something and Let It Be. This is a great starting point if you're unsure about The Beatles.

they're good, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

fantastic but songs still missing like elvis 1 collection!!, 20 Jul 2008
the beatles are legends but still theres lots of songs missing strawberry fields forver here comes the sun while my guitar gently weeps revolution and many more like the elvis 1 collection still songs missing but still a good hits collection from the fab four they will always be remembered like alot of other legends dusty springfield,elvis presley,freddie mercury/queen,jimi hendrix,minnie riperton,karen carpenter/the carpenters etc buy this but also get the red and blue box sets there cool!!

Terrible! The Beatles sellout to Elvis, 25 Jun 2008
Terrible! The Beatles the greatest Pop group of all time who released the innovative 'Sgt. Pepper's' copy Elvis with the same concept of a hits album containing all their Number One's? which may of worked if all their UK singles reached the top spot... But where is 'Strawberry Fields' and 'Please Please Me' instead we get 'The Long And Winding Rd' and 'Eight Days A week', if you had a choice The Long Winding Rd or Strawberry Fields what would you choose? I thought so Strawberry Fields, enough reason why this Cd does not work they should have done two seperate Hits Cd's one for the USA and one for the UK.. (like the vinyl of 1982) Penny Lane without Strawberry Fields is like Bread without Butter... Also it is the worse sounding Beatles Cd as well!

A CLASSIC BAND , 21 Jan 2008
Apparently, there was a gap in the Beatles' catalog, after all -- all the big hits weren't on one tidy, single-disc compilation. It's not the kind of gap you'd necessarily notice -- it's kind of like realizing you don't have a pair of navy blue dress socks -- but it was a gap all the same, so the group released The Beatles 1 late in 2000, coinciding with the publication of their official autobiography, the puzzlingly titled Anthology. The idea behind this compilation is to have all the number one singles the Beatles had, either in the U.K. or U.S., on one disc, and that's pretty much what this generous 27-track collection is. It's easy, nay, necessary, to quibble with a couple of the judgment calls -- look, "Please Please Me" should be here instead of "From Me to You," and it's unforgivable to bypass "Strawberry Fields Forever" (kick out "Yellow Submarine" or "Eleanor Rigby") -- but there's still no question that this is all great music, and there is a bit of a rush hearing all these dazzling songs follow one after another. If there's any complaint, it's that even if it's nice to have something like this, it's not really essential. There's really no reason for anyone who owns all the records to get this too -- if you've lived happily without the red or blue albums, you'll live without this. But, if you give this to any six or seven year old, they'll be a pop fan, even fanatic, for life. And that's reason enough for it to exist.

Here's validation of the Beatles' status., 28 Oct 2008
The Beatles. A band that are so familiar to everyone in the western world that it's easily possible to live 25-30 years without hearing one of their albums from start to finish. You just hear it everywhere. But that's just the thing; you always hear the same songs - essentially, the ones from the Red and Blue albums.

I remember being captivated at a very young age by the otherworldly songs on the Blue Album - Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds probably contributed to my later interest in psychedelic substances - and I began to appreciate the quality of songwriting on the Red Album, rather than the actual songs themselves when I started learning to play guitar at 16. And while I would readily admit that some of the Beatles' songs were truly amazing, I was never inspired to buy one of their albums. I just made a tape of my favourite songs from the Red and Blue albums.

Now, my dad did have With The Beatles on vinyl, and I remember listening to that once, but I just wasn't into that traditional rock n' roll style then. I just liked the weird, psychedelic stuff. Other than that, there was one occasion where I heard Revolver on a car journey, and I'm pretty sure a friend of mine played a tape of the White Album all the way through in my presence once. I still had to conclude that some Beatles stuff is amazing... some merely average.

I'm not really here to talk about that. I'm trying to get around to reviewing Abbey Road. My point, I guess, is that everyone knows The Beatles were amazing, but it's easy to forget why, or even to just take it for granted, and never wonder why. For me, Abbey Road is absolute proof of their genius. At 30 years old, I sat down and listened to it all the way through for the first time, and was just blown away. Sure, I already knew "Come Together", "Here Comes the Sun", "Something", "Octopus' Garden"... but hearing them in the context of the actual album really brought a new perspective on them.

Some of these songs on Abbey Road are like straight forward blues/rock songs, but the production on them and the performances just raise them way above so many other bands. The others form an outrageous medley, lasting around 17 minutes in total. This is like a masterclass: the vocals and harmonies, George's guitar playing, Paul contributing one of the most consistently outstanding series of bass lines ever, and Ringo's amazingly simplistic but inventive drumming... not to mention John's less obvious, but no doubt equally impressive contribution. It's a perfect album - that's all there is to it.


sweet, 03 Sep 2008
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

AND IN THE END ........, 02 Jul 2008
The Beatles final album (last to be recorded) is a mixed bag. At one end of the spectrum there are Harrison's two landmark songs - 'Something' & 'Here Comes The Sun' then there is Lennon's frankly baffling 'I Want You Shes's So Heavy' and McCartneys trite 'Maxwells Silver Hammer'.
This is the sound of a band falling apart. Of course, this being the Beatles, there are also moments of pure brilliance - 'Come Together' is John's last great Fabs song and his band mates, especially Paul, help turn the swampy blues track into a minor masterpiece. Ringo's jaunty 'Octopus's Garden' may be a lightweight kids song but the inventive arrangement and clever harmonies are often overlooked.
Abbey Road though is Macca's album. 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window' is almost classical in it's composition, whilst his work on the long medley shows a man in full command of his obvious talents. George also excells throughout and his distinctive lead guitar work is often outstanding.
Lennon was, at times, very critical of the overbearing McCartney and on Abbey Road the division between the two was never more obvious. But it's Paul thats holds the record together and it's to his, and George Martins, credit that the results are so good. Free to experiment with newly installed 8 track recording equipment the Beatles managed to fashion a complex and polished sounding album that lacked only in consistencey and focus.
Had 'Come and Get It', 'Maybe I'm Amazed' or Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass' made the cut then this could well have been The Beatles finest hour. It's sounds a lot better than the scrappy 'Let It Be' and as a swangsong record still manages to stand head and shoulders above the competiton of the late 60's. The iconic cover shot was the icing on the cake.

THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MADE, 15 Jun 2008
Que frase mas magica: "Y al final el amor que tomas es el amor que tu distes"; con tan brillante frase (que Lennon llamo "cosmica") los Beatles cerraron con un tremendo broche de oro su brillante carrera discografica; aunque LET IT BE fue su ultimo disco lanzado, en realidad ABBEY ROAD fue su ultimo trabajo discografico como grupo; ¡¡¡Y QUE TRABAJO!!! DEJARON LO MEJOR PARA EL FINAL; considerado el mas increible album despues de PEPPER y REVOLVER, este disco tiene los brillantes rocks COME TOGETHER, I WANT YOU, lindas baladas como SOMETHING (de George), OH DARLING, brillantes pops como HERE COMES THE SUN (si, tambien de george), armonias exquisitas como BECAUSE (escuchen como se funden las voces de John, Paul Y George), canciones ingeniosas como OCTOPUSS GARDEN (la segunda composicion de Ringo) y el mitico y grandioso MEDLEY DE ABBEY ROAD que inicia con YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY, la preciosa SUN KING (con palabras ¡¡en castellano!!), la movidisima POLITHYNE PAM, una soberbia SHE CAME THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW, una linda cancion de cuna GOLDEN SLUMBERS y nos lleva al extasis final en THE END, ¡¡¡que gran final!!! para terminar con una mini-composicion de Paul HER MAJESTY... UN GRAN FINAL PARA UN GRAN GRUPAZO!!!

Addictive, 24 May 2008
I tell you what. This was the best way for the Beatles to end the show. Every song makes you want to listen to the whole disc again. A great triumph. Beatles Rule!

There are only three stories worth knowing from the last 2,000 years of history: the life of Mohammed, the life of Jesus and the career of The Beatles. They invented all music ever. John was the best one; but Paul is--despite the knighthood and everything--still the most under-rated songwriter of the 20th century. This is the album with "Eleanor Rigby", "Here, There and Everywhere", "For No One", "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" on it--but then, you knew that anyway. We presume you have this album already and you're just getting a second copy in case you lose the first. --Caitlan Moran

Their Tortured Masterpiece, 22 Sep 2008
It had been a tough year and a bit for The Beatles. Their manager Brian Epstein had committed suicide, their Magical Mystery Tour had seen them mauled by critics for the first time, and their attempts to practise transcendental meditation in India with the Maharishi had ended in disaster. It was during that ill-fated trip that most of these songs were written.

Inside the band itself, the situation was also far from hunky dory. Lennon would soon lose interest in the band, spending more and more time with his new partner Yoko Ono instead. Harrison was increasingly sick of being overlooked by John and Paul, who still only permitted him a few songs per album (he has four out of thirty here). Sensing this unease in the band, McCartney increasingly took charge of the group, a fatherly attitude which further annoyed the others. Meanwhile Ringo gets sole writing credit for `Don't Pass Me By', not one of the album's best but certainly pleasant enough.

It was with these tensions that The Beatles made The White Album, a self-titled song collection that derives its popular nickname from a stark white cover. Most of the songs here are pretty much solo compositions, as the band's two main songwriters had both begun to jealously guard their own work, allowing only minimal input from the other. Ironically, this is the album where George Harrison finally became their equal, writing a couple of the very best songs here.

Beginning with the sound of a plane taking off, Back In The USSR is a Beach Boys homage with a thumping piano beat and lyrics that were fairly controversial during the middle of the Cold War. This fades hauntingly into the acoustic Dear Prudence, written to encourage Mia Farrow's sister out of hut-bound seclusion during the India trip. Glass Onion mockingly references other Beatles songs, providing more fodder for those fans desperate to read hidden meanings into their work. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a bouncy tale of inter-racial marriage with a happy ending. Wild Honey Pie is a 50-second oddity that reinforces the strange