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This is a trip down memory lane to a slower and fun time,and it takes me to places I wish never would have ended. So I play this when I need a lift in spirit and just to get away from all that is going on now.
Later on, "Can't Buy Me Love," "Help.," "Penny Lane" and "Eleanor Rigby" had worked their magic to a grudging reversal of my initial opinion of the band. This CD really is just scratching the surface of the extent of the band's talent and influence. But, I had made up my mind to give it a fair listen all the way through. As a further disclaimer, I am too young to have been around during the Beatles' heyday.I can still remember popping in this disc and rolling my eyes through the inevitable reprise of those two songs. I'll start off with a confession: I was NOT a Beatles fan before I heard this CD. HIghly, highly recommended. I had known of The Beatles, and I had known their songs, but their material had so become part of culture that I hadn't known so many songs that I had already admired had been Beatles' originals. I realized an odd thing had happened.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "With the Beatles," "Please Please Me," "A Hard Day's Night" and, well you get the point. Then, near the end of the CD, some of the masterpieces such as "Come Together," "Let It Be," "Hey Jude" and "The Ballad of John and Yoko" completely converted me into a fan. I had heard "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" ad nauseum and I was disgusted with the idea that they were considered a brilliant rock band. For a fuller immersion into their granite legacy, pick up "Abbey Road," "Rubber Soul," "Sgt. (I had grown up with a strong prejudice against The Beatles, and though it was irrational, it was very difficult to let go). Having listened to the entire CD, I even had newfound respect for "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as necessary creative steps in the band's overall evolution. I found "The Beatles 1" to be a solid primer on what makes the band great, and I think you will, too.
When it has came down to Pop Music, there have been artists that have been honestly never forgotten, as the cornerstones of the pop music landscape. There also are some lesser-known songs here that are surprising like The Ballad of John & Yoko, Day Tripper and Eight Days A Week, that actually sound better than all the years they've been out on their original albums for so long. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I Am The Walrus on the collection as well. That also has been strongly reminded back in Sptember with The Beatles. If you have not even yet owned a Beatles album in your music library, than I would honestly recommend that you start right here with 1, as the simplest way of hearing why The Fab Four have never gone away, even though they ended years ago. With all of their classic records being remastered for the first time ever, and with their music being the focus behind their own Rock Band video game, there honestly has been no denying the constant they've still maintained since they cam on the Ed Sullivan Show 45 years ago. While we've lost some of those acts, like the tragic death of Michael Jackson back in June, what we should and truthfully remember is how great and influential their songs have been over the years. Yet with all the songs on the album, I honestly though wish there could've been a few of their more widely showcased songs like Sgt.
But while there are so many who own all of their classic records, there hasn't been many a definitive reflection of what has made The Beatles such a constant, and here it is.1 By The Beatles, their 2000 Greatest Hits album, is truthfully the strongest and most detailed greatest hits package that definitely reflects on almost all of The Beatles classic pop catalog from all the years they've made the best in pop music, in one comprehensive hits package. The songs have all been strongly remastered, and include a lot of their biggest and most influential songs including Love Me Do, Hey Jude, the somber Let It Be, Get Back and the soulful The Long & Winding Road. Overall, despite a few overshadowed songs, The Beatles 1 is definitely the strongest reflection of what made John, Paul, George & Ringo so strong with melodicmemories after all these years. It is honestly one of the few must have greatest hits records that I really have recommended that sounds so surprisingly strong today.Album Cover: ASongs: B+Price: A-Remastering: A-Overall: B+
Unfortunately for your wallet, chances are you'll find yourself thinking of other Beatles tunes that didn't hit No. Watch out. 1 in the U.S. This compilation might whet your appetite for more and more Beatles music. Each of the tracks is a winner (with the arguable exception of Phil Spector's crazily over-the-top production on the last track, "The Long and Winding Road"), and they're presented chronologically so you hear how the group's sound evolved. or U.K. and feel compelled to seek them out on CD as well.
From the beginning and up to "Help" the tracks on here are mostly on the lighter side. The CD starts out with "Love Me Do", "From Me To You" and "She Loves You". I grew up listening to my dad's Capitol LP's and my first cassette tape was The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits which was released in the early 80's. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) that's not the point of this collection.
It shows the change in style of the Beatles music from 1962 to 1970 from being a "simple" rock band to creating some of the most innovative, not to mention memorable, music to come out of the 60's. I've been a Beatles fan since before I was in grade school. Paul's "Yesterday" starts to show a more serious side to the band and from there you can really see their music change from songs like the happy and fun "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to music about prostitutes, "Day Tripper", and loneliness, "Eleanor Rigby". I had most of these songs on older CD's so my purchase was to get a taste of what the remastered one's would sound like. These three tracks are presented in their original mono mix while the rest of the album is in stereo.
While some may complain that their favorites are not on here (there isn't a single track from Sgt. Well, I wasn't dissapointed because the quality of these versions is clearly superior to the ones from 1987 and are on par with the new remasters as well. This CD is an excellent compilation of all their number one hits from the US and UK. This CD is a compilation of their number one singles and should be viewed as such. I especially like that "From Me To You" is in mono because the stereo version had the hard pan of vocals on one side with bass, rhythm and drums on the other.
In mono everything is centered. Now, I bought this album for less than ten bucks and before the new remastered CD's were released. Now that the remasters are out I would recommend this collection for the casual Beatle fan or somebody that's never heard (Oh, how I envy you) this wonderful music from, IMO, the greatest band of all time.
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