Ahhh, it feels good to be back! Did you miss me? I’ve missed yapping, so let’s get started, and this time, we’re doing things a little differently.

There are a few artists that I feel have diverse enough catalogues, or catalogues I find interesting enough to warrant multiple reviews, simply because I can’t choose just one. So to fix this problem, I thought I’d start reviewing multiple albums from one artist in a single review. This doesn’t mean I won’t come back to them in the future, but I think it would be cool to do a more thorough look at an artist’s discography rather than just one album I may or may not like.

So, it’s only natural that my test subject be quite possibly the best to ever do it. They’re bigger than Jesus, the girls love ‘em, the boys love ‘em just as much, they love each other sometimes, it’s the Beatles of course.

The Beatles have one of the most interesting progressions I’ve seen in a rock band, and I think they’re the perfect group for this kind of review. So let’s get into it, and what better to start with than the start, we’re talking about “Please Please Me.”

Note: This is so much longer than I thought it’d be, you are by no means required to read all of it.

Part 1: “Please Please Me” (1963)

So I probably wouldn’t recommend this album to someone looking to get into the Beatles, but that’s not because it’s bad by any means. I just feel that the modern teenager would probably get more out of a record like “Rubber Soul”, or “Abbey Road”, than they would out of the Beatlemania-era albums.

But again, that’s not to say I don’t enjoy this, it’s a good album. I really enjoy classic rock n’ roll style music, what can I say, I’m a sucker for a good “Woah woah yeah”, or a “Doo da doo” or even a “Bop Bop Shoo-op.” And this record gets even better when you compare it to its Beatlemania counterparts like “Meet the Beatles” or “Beatles For Sale.” Nothing against those records, they have their moments, but “Please Please Me” is objectively a far more consistent album than either of those.

And even disregarding those later records, this album wouldn’t have made the impact it did if it was garbage, there had to have been something special about it, about The Beatles, no?

Rock n’ roll wasn’t a new concept at the time of this album’s release. It had been around for a while, with great success, but you could certainly say it had taken a rough hit. And if it weren’t for the Beatles, who knows if it would’ve stuck around. I mean, the glory decade of early rock n’ roll, the 1950’s, had come to a close with the genre’s biggest acts meeting their career’s demise. Buddy Holly was dead, Elvis was in Hollywood, Little Richard had ‘found Jesus’, and Chuck Berry was in jail.

So no, I don’t think The Beatles were necessarily doing anything new here, but their potential was impossible to ignore. Similar to other Beatlemania-era albums, “Please Please Me” is a mix of covers and originals. But I think it’s a lot harder to tell which are Lennon-McCartney (who were actually credited as McCartney-Lennon here) originals and which aren’t on “Please Please Me”, compared to “Meet the Beatles” or “Beatles For Sale.” And that, I think, is what makes this such a special album.

They have an interesting take on each song compared to its original. Not to shade on the Isley Brothers, but their rendition of “Twist And Shout” is really nothing special. Anybody could have recorded that song, there’s nothing that’s screaming “Isley Brothers”, at me. But there’s truly no mistaking John Lennon’s hoarse rasp for anyone else. They took that song and made it their own.

Although, if we’re being completely honest here, I think some of the album’s weakest tracks are covers. When it comes down to it, the originals are far stronger, which I think says a lot about how strong the Lennon-McCartney songwriting already was from the start.

Although songwriting was off to a great start, I will point out that when comparing this record to their later stuff, the instrumentation is lacking. But that shouldn’t surprise you, seeing as this is their debut, and the whole thing was made in a single day. So sure, the bass lines, the guitar parts, the drum fills, they can be described as “cute” at best. Not anything impressive or flashy, just simple and effective. But I think that’s okay, no one’s demanding math rock out of old-fashioned rock n’ roll.

The album starts of strong with “I Saw Her Standing There”, which gets points for that 1973 performance from John in which he describes Paul as “an old estranged fiancé”, before jumping into the song. As for the track itself, I think it’s a great opener, I do like a track 1 that starts with a count-in, that’s always fun.

Another song I’d like to highlight from this record happens to be the first song they let Ringo sing on, “Boys.” I hadn’t paid too much attention to this track before my most recent listen, but in hindsight that was a mistake because I think it’s a real hidden gem. Quite frankly I wish they’d let Ringo sing more because I actually really like his voice. He’s certainly not on the same level as John, Paul, or George when it comes to technical proficiency, but he can feel like a breath of fresh air after hearing so much of them.

One of my favorites that I don’t see nearly enough love for comes from this album, that’s “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” It’s short, coming in at just under 2 minutes, but incredibly catchy, and I honestly prefer it to their lead single, “Love Me Do.” (I can only take so much of that damn harmonica) I’m a little bit ashamed to say “Do You Want to Know a Secret” was also the first Beatles song to truly trip me up for a long time when it comes to who’s on lead vocals. To me it sounded so much like John that I didn’t think I needed to look it up, apparently to my mom it sounded like Paul, but in reality it was neither of them, it was George. It’s wild to hear how much his voice changed in just a few years. If you were to tell me a few years ago that one man had sang both “Do You Want to Know a Secret” and “Love You To”, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.

And finally, a few tracks later, the record comes to a close with the aforementioned Isley Brothers cover, “Twist and Shout.” It’s a cheerful, feel-good kind of ending, full of raw energy probably caused by the band’s strong desire to get it over and done with so they could finally go home after a cool 13 hours in the studio that day. No one more desperate than John however, whose voice had become rough and ragged after a while. The version heard on the album was the first and only take of the song, initially sounding disappointing to John himself. They tried another take, but his voice was so dead, it just wasn’t possible. You can hear him coughing towards the end of the track as the remainder of the group cheers. Nonetheless, it’s the perfect closer, and definitely a highlight.

And with that I’ll stop my yapping about this album, I think I’ve said enough. Overall, a strong debut, and a great look into what’s to come from the group later. And coincidentally, that’s exactly what I want to talk about next. But before I cut it for “Please Please Me”, here are my highlights and my final score.

Highlights:

1. Twist And Shout

2. Do You Want to Know a Secret?

3. I Saw Her Standing There

Final Score:

7/10 (Pretty Good)

Part 2: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967)

The obvious “mid-Beatles” pick for me is an album I frequently see listed as one of the greatest, not just of its time, but of all time. I’m talking about “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” of course.

1967 was quite the year for music. Everyone knows that Sgt. Peppers was a direct response to The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” from the previous year, but adding to that, I can’t imagine what must’ve been going through the minds of the Beatles while making this record in the wake of so many new ideas on the scene. Early 1967 had seen the debut of The Doors with their self-titled album, containing some of the heaviest psychedelic music I’ve heard. I mean, has there ever been another like “The End”? Shortly after in early May, The Jimi Hendrix Experience debuted with “Are You Experienced.” Most would still call Jimi one of, if not the greatest guitarist of all time.

And I’m not bringing these other groups into this conversation to distract from The Beatles, but rather to set the scene for this record they were making. They had something to prove here. “Revolver”, released the year prior to Sgt. Peppers had already showcased some evolution, but if The Beatles wanted to stay relevant, they couldn’t just coast on “silly love songs” anymore.

But we’re still discussing them today, so clearly whatever they did worked. And well, what can I say other than there was definitely some evolution going on here.

The first of the iconic tracks from Sgt. Pepper’s has to be “With a Little Help From My Friends.” And if you weren’t seeing my Ringo vision on “Boys”, you should definitely see it here. His slightly monotone, un-serious voice is perfect for the song, and it’s got one of my favorite of his drum beats as well.

The most notable evolution that had occurred between “Rubber Soul” to “Revolver” was the introduction of the sitar, and thus the drastic change in the style of songs written by George Harrison. And that continued over onto this new record, but this time, George had the wisdom of his sitar instructor and mentor, Ravi Shankar.

I’m a big fan of the impact Ravi Shankar had on popular music in the mid to late 60’s, but George definitely took it farther than the others. He wrote only one of the Sgt. Pepper’s songs, “Within or Without You”, and boy does it stick out like (trigger warning) Donald Trump at “American Idiot” on broadway.

The transition from “Within or Without You” to “When I’m Sixty-Four” is stark, and thus makes the former my least favorite of the 13 tracks. There’s a place and a time for the kind of music George was into at this time, I just really don’t think this record was that place.

“When I’m Sixty-Four”, however, is a stand out in a good way. After a listen to this song, it’s not hard to see the “Pet Sounds” influence, I hope Brian Wilson considered it one of his greatest accomplishments to have had Paul McCartney sweating so hard Sgt. Pepper’s came out. But yes, I could see these clarinets being a part of the one hundred and something instruments used for a single Beach Boys track.

Taking a quick look through the reviews for Sgt. Pepper’s on Rate Your Music, I’m seeing an unnecessary amount of hate for “When I’m Sixty Four.” And while I won’t say I can’t see where they’re coming from, because it is cheesy, I will say that I completely disagree. I think it’s a delightful song, and I hope to be enjoying it just as much when I’m sixty-four.

As for songs that are completely slept on for no particularly good reason, one of my all time favorites from this album is “Fixing a Hole.” It’s got some intriguing lyrics and an absolute banger of a harpsichord part. Any song that uses a harpsichord has automatically won my love.

Sgt. Pepper’s come to a ending with arguably the best closing track of any album, although it has stiff competition in “Rock N’ Roll Suicide” off “The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” I’m of course talking about the all time classic, “A Day In the Life.”

Pardon my French, but man is this shit weird. I know I said there wasn’t anything like “The End”, but if a song were to ever come close, I think it’d be this one. What a roller coaster of a song, you just never know where it’s going.

I think the secret to making a heavy-hitting closing track is to end with a loud, powerful chord. Both “Rock N’ Roll Suicide” and “A Day In the Life” use this technique, and it leaves me amazed each and every time I hear it.

I say all the time that one of the main reasons I’m so into older music is how many imperfections you can hear in old songs, and how real that makes them feel. Well in “A Day In the Life”, after that loud, powerful chord, you can turn your volume all the way up to hear road manager, personal assistant, and pianist, Mal Evans slightly adjust his chair.

Well, seeing as though we’ve still got another album to discuss here, I think it’s best I cut myself off right now, so that’s all I’ve got on Sgt. Peppers for today at least. Final thoughts, it changed music forever, and it definitely showcased the band’s talents better than the early days. If the Beatles were to have only one win over the Stones, it would be that the Stones equivalent of Sgt. Pepper’s, “Their Satanic Majesties Request” is by far the most unlistenable of their projects. But, this is by far not the best Beatles album.

Highlights:

1. A Day In the Life

2. With a Little Help From My Friends

3. Fixing a Hole

Final Score:

8.5/10 (Great)

Part 3: “Abbey Road” (1969)

So what is the best Beatles album you ask? It’s “Abbey Road”, of course it’s “Abbey Road.” It’s only fitting to end our Beatles journey with the end itself, the final album. And for those who are thinking “‘Let It Be’ is the final album! You don’t know anything, you whippersnapper!”, “Let It Be” was recorded before “Abbey Road”, it was released afterwards.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let us discuss. My, what a record “Abbey Road” is. If the award for messiest album behind the scenes hadn’t already been handed to “Rumours”, it would’ve gone to “Abbey Road.” I mean, we’ve got poor George having his perfectly reasonable songs rejected left and right, Paul and John fighting over who can trigger the other’s abandonment issues the hardest, Ringo making songs about octopuses, it’s just such a mess.

But a mess has never sounded better, each member is truly shining, even if it means giving up the perfectly even consistency we saw in their earlier records. Now, don’t get me wrong here, there are good and bad examples of Beatles arguing over creative differences while making an album, it isn’t all great all the time. I love The White Album to death, but it is by no means consistent. With the musical styles of each Beatle clashing, especially those of John and Paul, they ended up with an at points beautiful, but overall messy final product. Why Abbey Road doesn’t get the crap The White Album gets for being inconsistent, well Abbey Road doesn’t have a “Revolution 9” equivalent, now does it? The high points are higher, the low points are definitely lower.

But that’s not how I feel “Abbey Road” sounds, I think the two are very different. Abbey Road blends all 4 of the Beatles’ styles together seamlessly, it doesn’t sound messy at all. How a record can contain both “Octopus’s Garden” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, without either sounding strange or out of place is beyond me, but they did it.

Paul’s songs are much like how they’ve always been. They’re poppy, with catchy melodies, some with childish lyrics, some without. George’s songs resemble those that made it onto his first solo album post-Beatles, “All Things Must Pass.” They’re folky, quiet, and beautiful. John’s are a mix of songs most would call strange, but he would probably describe as avant-garde, and songs that border on proto-metal. And finally, Ringo’s songs … er … Ringo’s song … well … George’s song he gave Ringo the credit for … um, it’s there too.

Speaking of something, let’s talk about the first of George’s songs off “Abbey Road”, “Something.” I think it was Frank Sinatra that called this the greatest love song, simply because it doesn’t use the word “love” itself, even once. And that’s a significant accomplishment for a Beatle, knowing they used that word a whopping 613 times across their 13 album discography. But while I do thoroughly enjoy the song, I don’t think I’d agree with Frank on this one. Mostly because at some points, it doesn’t even feel that much like a love song. “You’re asking me, will my love grow? I don’t know, I don’t know." You stick around, now it may show. I don’t know, I don’t know.” He doesn’t know if his love will grow, it might, it might not. Speaking for myself, I’d raise an eyebrow if my significant other wrote that for me. But I mean, Pattie Boyd definitely put up with worse from George Harrison, so what do I know?

“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is quite the divisive topic amongst Beatles fans, but I’ll go ahead and confess that I like it. Granted, I think I’d like it a whole lot more if the image of John, George, and Ringo rolling their eyes so hard they get stuck like that could leave my mind. It’s true that the song is a controversy for the fandom, but it might have been a bigger controversy within the band itself. There was no song those guys hated more than “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, and it didn’t help that Paul insisted on spending 3 of their recording days on the track. Although, there seems to be a disagreement about how long the recording process took exactly.

Ringo: “The worst session ever was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for fucking weeks. I thought it was mad.” (Rolling Stone, 2008)

George: “Sometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my god, 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was so fruity.” (Crawdaddy Magazine, 1977)

But regardless, I actually do really like this song, much to the dismay of my beatlemaniac history teacher. I find the contrast of the story Paul is telling and the way in which he’s telling it to be extremely entertaining, but I certainly don’t blame John, George, or Ringo for being just about fed up with it by a certain point. (whether it was 3 days, or “fucking weeks”)

So a few fucking weeks later, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” ends as yet another Paul song, “Oh! Darling” begins. It’s great that this ended up being a hit because it sounds like it took some effort to sing. Given its raspy nature, John had offered his vocals for the track, but because Paul had written it, he wanted to sing. That of course meant coming into the studio early every day for a week trying to get it right. Anyway, they eventually ended on this and I think it sounds pretty good. John, however, made sure everyone knew he disagreed.

A track I’d like to shout out specifically here is one I’d probably call my favorite Beatles song, and that’s “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” This song just blows me away every time, it’s so unbelievably, well, heavy. Especially for its time, it’s just such a monster of a song. At the time, critics bashed John’s lyrics for their lack of variety. And they’ve got a point, I’ll go ahead and list every word that’s mentioned in this song, in order, right now for you.

1. I

2. Want

3. You

4. So

5. Bad

6. It’s

7. Driving

8. Me

9. Mad

10. Babe

11. She’s

12. So

13. Heavy

14. Know

15. Yeah

So that’s 15 words right there, pretty sure I didn’t miss any, but correct me if I’m wrong. So yes, the critics were definitely onto something, the appeal of this song wasn’t in its lyrics. But really, I think that’s part of what makes it so interesting. It doesn’t need intriguing lyrics to keep you hooked, it’s just that heavy.

This will always be Paul’s best bass line in my opinion. Those fast ascending and descending lines? Scrumptious. And paired with that ominous electric guitar riff that just about dominates the song for the last three minutes? That downright gnarly sounding crackly scream from John? That crunchy organ from Billy Preston? He’s the fifth Beatle as far as I’m concerned. It all just comes together (ha, come together) so beautifully, what an outro. The abrupt ending is so perfect, that wind? I couldn’t improve on it if I tried, really.

But I don’t think it’s fair to entirely credit the Beatles for popularizing this heavy sound like I see some people do, especially as “She’s So Heavy” was created in the wake of so many other proto-metal giants’ debuts. You’ve got Steppenwolf in early ‘68, Deep Purple in July of that same year, and Led Zeppelin in January of ‘69. Something was brewing there, and The Beatles were jumping on that.

“Here Comes the Sun” is placed immediately after She’s So Heavy’s abrupt cut off, which was certainly a decision. Does it interrupt the flow of the album a little bit? Yeah, I’d say so. But they’re both great songs nonetheless, and it’s just so perfect that the Beatle they thought would never write a hit wrote the group’s most streamed song on Spotify.

“You Never Give Me Your Money” marks the start of the 15 minute medley on side 2 of this album, which they’ve sectioned off into individual songs. I like “You Never Give Me Your Money”, much like Maxwell’s, it’s very Paul heavy between the alternating vocal styles and groovy bass line. It sort of feels like 4 different songs merged into one, which at times feels a little awkward, but it’s a charming little tune.

“You Never Give Me Your Money” transitions into “Sun King”, a sort of “ethereal” sounding track, allegedly inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s entirely instrumental “Albatross.” I feel a little less stupid for not understanding the non-English portions after learning that it’s basically just a bunch of gibberish they’d picked up in school.

“Sun King” then transitions into “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam.” I think of these songs in the same general light, almost as if they were one. They have a similar childish feel to them. They’re probably my least favorite songs here, and if there was ever to be an argument against “Abbey Road”, this would be it. But I do find them charming at times, so I won’t make too much of a fuss about it.

Then as “Polythene Pam” is fading out, Paul once again interjects with the beginning of “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window”, which despite its ridiculous title, is definitely a highlight for me. It’s bluesy, it’s catchy, it’s fun, and I totally wish they’d made this one longer.

Okay, the “real” final song of “Abbey Road” is a hidden track, so I’m not going to count that. “The End” (By the Beatles, not the Doors), will always be the final Beatles song to me. The final track, off the final album. And I’ll say this about it, “And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make”, is one hell of an ending.

Final Score:

9.5/10 (Amazing)

Highlights:

1. I Want You (She’s So Heavy)

2. She Came In Through the Bathroom Window

3. Something

So I guess that’s all I’ve got the say about the Beatles. Kidding of course, I could fill a dozen more pages with thoughts about these guys, but this review is already far too long. If you stuck around till the end, you’re a real one, so thanks for that. I’ll catch you back here next time for a chat about a group they tell me has (allegedly) found the dark side of the moon? I don’t know if I believe that, but we’ll see, I suppose.