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With The Beatles

Beatles

1963
With The Beatles
Album Summary

With the Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the band's debut Please Please Me. Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions (seven by Lennon–McCartney and "Don't Bother Me", George Harrison's first recorded solo composition and his first released on a Beatles album) and six covers (mostly of rock and roll and Motown R&B hits). The sessions also yielded the non-album single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" backed by "This Boy". The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups over the years. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with. In the United States, the album's tracks were unevenly split over the group's first two albums released on Capitol Records: Meet the Beatles! and The Beatles' Second Album. It was also released in Canada under the name Beatlemania! With the Beatles. The album was ranked number 420 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2010). It was also voted number 275 in the third edition of English writer Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

Wikipedia

Rating

3.69

Votes

8560
Genres
Rock
Pop

Reviews

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Mon Aug 09 2021
1

Now this is interesting. The Beatles when they were shite. Listening to this album, I started laughing very quickly. “All I’ve Got to Do” is comically stupid. I kinda liked it though, and I had to save a few of the famous covers like “Mr. Postman” and “Roll Over Beethoven.” Hearing John or Paul (don’t know or care which honestly) on the latter track attempt the “woo” that Little Richard would do belongs in a museum of cringe, in the same wing as Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. As an album, this is generally super lame. Important to hear as far as their evolution is concerned, but in isolation, and some 60 years later, it’s pretty awful. Like the Everly Brothers if the Everly Brothers were terrible at singing and harmonizing and pronounced “Beethoven” really strangely. Favorite tracks: Til There Was You, Please Mr. Postman. Album art: Appropriately boring. How were these guys a boy band that drove the world wild? They look as lame as they sound here. 1.5/5

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Sun May 09 2021
5

Growing up, I almost exclusively listened to compilation's of the Beatles' greatest hits. Rarely ever, I took the opportunity to listen to a full album by them. Browsing through their discography, I feel like a complete outcast for saying that With the Beatles is my favorite, by a considerable margin. I will admit that the songs that made the biggest impression on me by the Beatles, are mostly scattered throughout Abbey Road, Revolver, Rubber Soul and A Hard Day's Night, but With the Beatles does not contain a single unenjoyable or average track at all. With the slight exception of Little Child, I find that every other song on With the Beatles is exceptionally touching, raw, authentic and sung beautifully. A 5/5 is absolutely deserved.

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Thu Apr 15 2021
2

I know it's a bit sacrilegious, but I've never been much of a Beatles fan. I don't hate them, and I recognize their contribution to everything we currently enjoy in mainstream music, but they've never really done it for me. This album is pretty typical of my enjoyment of them at 2 stars.

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Tue Feb 16 2021
5

Day 31 of Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and I’ve hit a major milestone! I cannot tell you how excited I was to get my first Beatles record! I didn’t grow up with The Beatles, the iconic Fab Four had been broken up for over a decade before I was even born. Sure, as a kid, I heard The Beatles on TV, radio, movies and even some commercials, they were just never my cup of tea. That remained the case until I got into my twenties... I can’t really explain how, I just suddenly started listening to their music on my own one day, and fell in love. The things about these guys that I had always thought was strange and off-putting when I was a kid quickly became the same things that I admired and enjoyed the most. With The Beatles, today’s album, is the second release from The Beatles, released in 1963, and the first to be released in North America. With The Beatles has the guys playing it safe, smartly, with Motown covers and simple, upbeat love diddly’s. The first unwritten rule in music is to get the girls to like it first, the guys will follow. Even though super innovative and experimental albums like Sgt. Pepper’s and Yellow Submarine seemed light years away musically, those would come only a couple of short years later. Even when The Beatles music would become more complex and psychedelic, their roots always remained closely tied to R&B and Rock n Roll. You would have to press really hard to find a songwriting duo that even comes close to being as prolific as Lennon & McCartney. The lyrics are simple, yet very effective. The singing is crystal clear, and dares you not to sing along. These guys made masterful music making seem so simple, and still, nearly 60 years later, there’s no other act that can touch them. I also really enjoy watching old interviews, these guys were really fucking witty and funny. Now on to the songs.. Nearly half of the track listing for With The Beatles is cover songs. If the entire album was all covers it would still be a smash. The kids from Liverpool take songs like Please Mr. Postman, You Really Got a Hold on Me, Money and Roll Over Beethoven to new heights. If you don’t like these songs, you won’t appreciate The Beatles, these are artists that inspired Beatlemania! This isn’t an album that uses tried and true classics as a crutch, though. The best songs on With The Beatles are originals. Til There Was You is one of my favorite all time Beatles songs. It’s very sweet, melodic and sentimental. All My Loving is nearly the perfect song, period. Hold Me Tight, I Wanna Be Your Man, All I’ve Got To Do, Don’t Bother Me, all really good and iconic songs. This is only one album, It’s amazing that The Beatles only lasted ten years when you look at their monstrous catalogue. There will never be another group that will impact the worlds musical culture as much as The Beatles. The coolest part about it all is that they always paid respect and honored those that paved the way for them. I absolutely cannot wait for more albums from The Fab Four! Please share your thoughts, memories and opinions!!

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Tue Jan 25 2022
4

Le haiku: Not the Beatles best, Yet the tunes are heckin good, I enjoyed it so.

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Sat Oct 23 2021
4

With The Beatles by The Beatles (1963) In retrospect, With The Beatles had all the elements that would establish The Beatles as the generation-defining musical group they would ultimately become. They would be no flash in the pan. Delicately exploring variations from standard chord structures, they were innovating without leaving the audience behind. They performed with flawless rhythm and grounding. And their melodies were and remain inspiring. The album is not without its flaws. The vocals lack maturity and discipline (especially in doubling dubs, the percussive ‘wows’ and ‘yeahs’, and a few diction flubs). The engineering is stuck in a formulaic rut, with instrumentals in the left channel and vocals in the right (exception: “Money”—the best mix on the album). Almost sixty years later, some of this sounds quaint. But nostalgically quaint. The most soulful original lyric is George Harrison’s “Don’t Bother Me”—the rest are relatively shallow, zeroed in on romantic adolescent male desire. It’s no wonder these songs drove the girls crazy. Their covers of other artists’ songs (six of the fourteen tracks on this record) are usually not as as strong as the originals, and the Lennon/McCartney vocal blend needed development (especially when they sang in unison). But all the essential elements were there—solid guitar by Harrison, and instinctively tight rhythm by Ringo Starr (drums) and Paul McCartney (bass) with vocal and rhythm guitar leadership by John Lennon all put together the complete rock and roll package. The musical standout on this album is “All My Loving”. Listening on headphones for the first time, I was pleased to discover the importance of the sixteenth note played by Harrison on electric rhythm guitar just before the beginning of each measure in the verse, but left off at the start of each phrase. He creates a rhythmic anticipation that drives the already rapid pace. Underrated genius here. He was only twenty years old. While not the best of The Beatles, this work stands as a rock and roll staple, and provides tremendous explanatory power for much of what followed. It shouted, “Wait till you hear what’s coming, folks.” 4/5

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Fri Sep 24 2021
5

Interesting to see another of their early albums here. I don't give these enough listens honestly. This album is just full of classic songs.

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Tue Oct 12 2021
4

I hate to not give a 5 to a Beatles album, but this was one of their earlier works where they were still doing some covers and it shows. While I find this record to be short and sweet, there are a few songs that I could do without. Nothing is "bad", but a few songs are skippable if they come on during shuffle mode.

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Sat Feb 20 2021
5

An underrated album within their discography

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Mon Aug 30 2021
5

This is probably the most forgettable Beatles album... but it's a Beatles album.

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Thu Oct 14 2021
5

This is a fine album. Beautiful vocals, gorgeous, harmonies, first rate songs and and tight playing. Not sure who's decision to have the stereo mix as vocals hard right, instruments hard left but I do hate it. Is there a mono mix available for this album? If so I would love to hear it. That's the one thing that keeps this from a straight up 5 star album...4,75 stars

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Tue Mar 08 2022
5

Imagine if we could have pop music this good now

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Mon Jun 26 2023
5

a classic 60’s record. call it cheesy but it wasn’t at the time. these lads were the greatest to ever do it. this album contains some of their all time best songs. they’re so young and cute here but their performances are fucking superb like how can you not love them. if you’rea beatles hater fucking grow up!!!!

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Fri Jan 07 2022
4

It's probably my least favourite Beatles album and a further listen today hasn't changed that view. Sure there are some good tracks but there's something about it that doesn't resonate, hence it rarely gets played. Actually the song I most enjoyed was 'Don't bother me' (George Harrison's first song) which has a moody breezy feel. I think it's because it's not a major/minor song (looked it up and it's verse is E Dorian mode) plus some Latin percussion. Overall I would call this the Beatles soul album and there's a clear Motown influence, especially in the John Lennon sung tracks. I also like the inspired acoustic performance of the standard 'Til there was you' plus 'All my loving' sounds like a #1, had it been released as a single. 3 seems a bit harsh for the stuff I do like, so given it a 4.

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Sun Jul 11 2021
2

Abteilung Schubidu haut Schlager raus. Kann es irgendwie nicht mehr hören. Überfutterterte 1.9

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Thu Feb 04 2021
1

I am not a huge fan of the Beatles and am an even lesser fan of the older stuff.

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Tue Oct 20 2020
5

I mean, it's not the best Beatles, but it's the Beatles regardless.

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Fri Feb 26 2021
5

Anything by the Beatles is fab in my book.

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Tue Jan 19 2021
5

In their second album, we can see the gears turning and the ‘pop’ easing up!

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Sat Jun 26 2021
5

I already knew I liked the Beatles, so it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed this album. I like their earlier stuff more than later stuff, and I hadn’t heard a lot of these covers before. It was nice to hear some stuff I hadn’t heard before.

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Sat Jan 16 2021
5

QUE BELLEZAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

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Thu Feb 04 2021
5

Me gustó, salen temas que no son tan populares o que yo no los tengo tan presentes, pero muy buenos

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Tue Feb 16 2021
5

Yay!! Especially good on vinyl filling up your whole house with sound!

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Thu Jun 10 2021
5

Wonderful! Brought back many happy memories!

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Fri Apr 23 2021
5

Drive rock and disco music. Ageless classic always will be good and attractive.

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Wed Mar 24 2021
5

I'm not really a fan of the beatles but because of my dad that loves to listen to "the beatles" i started to listen to their songs when i was young and it's so cool but sadly after that i haven't listen to their songs again because of the other artists that actually have a good music too and now when im listening to this album again ugh the nostalgiaaaaa

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Thu May 06 2021
5

Theres a reason that these guys are some of the GOATs

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Fri May 07 2021
5

Nice little album, definitely not as good as Rubber Soul and onwards but still a fun listen

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Mon May 24 2021
5

Not the best Beatles album, but how am I not gonna give a Beatles album a 5?? Lots of versatility on this record, from sweet, intimate tracks like Till There Was You to big upbeat rockabilly tunes like Roll Over Beethoven FAV TRACKS: All My Loving, Till There Was You, Please Mr. Postman, Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got A Hold On Me LEAST FAV TRACKS: Little Child, Money (That’s What I Want)

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Fri Jul 30 2021
5

Lord of songs added to my playlist, really great!

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Sat Aug 14 2021
5

Classic. Great songs. Great covers.

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Mon Aug 30 2021
5

FINE! I'LL GIVE THEM 5 STARS! DARN IT WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE SO GREAT. EVERY. DUMB. ALBUM. BRILLIANT.

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Mon Sep 06 2021
5

Certainly an all time classic.

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Tue Sep 14 2021
5

Although not as great as their debut it´s still a great album in their discography.

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Wed Sep 15 2021
5

Always a fan of early Beatles

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Thu Sep 16 2021
5

son los beatles, por supuesto que mi calificación es de 5 estrellas

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Tue Sep 21 2021
5

Classic Album! Their harmonies are stunning while being so distinct/ creative at the same time. While some of the tracks are covers from other songs, that dosen't make them have less meaning. Love early Beatles work

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Fri Sep 24 2021
5

Brings me back to college party days. A classic

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Fri Oct 08 2021
5

Atemporales. Melodías sencillas con pocos acordes muy bien seleccionadas.

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Sun Oct 17 2021
5

The Beatles' first huge hit. A classic that I've listened to hundreds of times. Can't get much better in 1963, that's for sure.

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Wed Nov 03 2021
5

I love this stage of the Beatles, it's just music that makes you want to dance and have fun. The vocals and songs are great, even if half are covers!

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Tue Nov 09 2021
5

Good album. Kinda old time, but pretty good stuff. Particularly the covers.

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Thu Nov 11 2021
5

Had not heard this Beatles album before but I liked it. Good collection of tunes with some energy.

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Mon Nov 22 2021
5

Love this, can't believe it's just 8 months after first album. Great covers as well as originals

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Mon Nov 22 2021
5

Hard to know what to say about the Beatles. I've never really been a massive Beatles fan, I like them as much as the next person but you just can't deny how good they are really.

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Mon Nov 22 2021
5

Well it has to be a 5 starts doesn't it. So many top tunes on here!! Like to hear Beatles do covers, as they are covered so much themselves

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Mon Dec 06 2021
5

All due respect to Paul McCartney's recent comment that The Rolling Stones are basically a blues cover band, this sophomore album from the Fab Four that has nearly half of its fourteen tracks as covers is great. While not a fan of their earlier works, The Beatles tapped into a vein that changed the direction of pop music and this disc is evidence.

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Sat Dec 11 2021
5

85. With the Beatles - Beatles 14 tracks It's pretty hard not to love this. It just flows & keeps you interested & all the tracks are short & sweet & it leaves you wanting more rather than less. It's aged, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Is "beautiful" too strong? 5/5

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Sat Dec 25 2021
5

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: It won’t be long, All my loving, Don’t bother me, Not a second time, Money

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Fri Jan 07 2022
5

Pure quality rhythm and blues pop.

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Wed Jan 12 2022
5

Great album, all my loving is a 10/10 song

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Mon Jan 17 2022
5

I love the Beatles, so his will score well, but it is so early in their career that they hadn't quite developed into the band they became. Lots of cover versions, which is odd when they had three of the best songwriters (and Ringo). Thus does include the first Harrison song on an LP though, which is interesting. All the songs are good or great, and all are pretty much part of life in Britain. I prefer their later stuff, when they were exploring the fringes of modern music and developing the future, but still love this. It is both good in its own right, and an interesting snapshot of the biggest band in the world, ever, just as they claimed that title.

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Tue Feb 08 2022
5

Legendary album of The Beatles. Like the rythm. Some songs are perfect.

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Thu Feb 17 2022
5

1001 Albums Generator Day 7 Homer Simpson: "I never knew you were such a Beatles fan." Ned Flanders: "Of course I am! They were bigger than Jesus!" The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tends to be remembered mostly for concepts and isolated jokes (towels, the Infinite Improbability Drive, Paranoid Android etc), but some of Douglas Adams' observations of behaviour have stayed with me. One of these is a moment shortly after the Earth is demolished. Arthur Dent, having narrowly escaped, is trying to get his head around it. He thinks of his parents and his sister, that he'll never see them again. He doesn't react; it's just too big. He thinks about the person he stood behind in the supermarket queue a few days before. The whole supermarket has gone, and everyone in it. He panics. He tries to start small again and build up, but when it hits him that there's no longer such a thing as a McDonald's burger, he passes out. Talking about The Beatles can be too much to take in; I think that's one of the reasons us fans can be such anoraks. Peter Jackson's Get Back was fantastic because it indulges that impulse to collect minute details, but also because it makes The Beatles smaller, by dropping us right in there at a moment when they were still four friends writing songs, making each other laugh, with a future together still available. This is my way of making them small: talking around the subject to remind myself that this was an album made quickly by a group of bright young men, "a good little rock 'n' roll band," as McCartney puts it. They were still excited just to be doing it. George gets his first songwriting credit here, and maybe it's telling that it's the first song of unmasked, unguarded personal discontent. A sign of things to come. Or maybe it was just a miserable day on a long tour and he felt a bit under the weather in a hotel in Bournemouth. I'm getting ahead of things. They hadn't even been to America yet. So we focus on the details: the verses of All I've Got To Do, and the precise, unique timbre of Ringo's cymbal smacks. Better writers than me can and have talked about their place in the lineage of vocal girl groups, the pros and cons of their covers versus the originals etc etc. The vastness, richness and importance of their story don't persuade me they're a great band; the music does that. But they do help to remind me how miraculous the act of making songs is, and make me want to read, write and discuss other artists with the same close attention. This is the album of theirs I heard last, and not the one I have the greatest personal connection with, but it's absolutely thrilling stuff.

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Sat Mar 19 2022
5

This is catchy shit, and while I think I prefer mid to late Beatles much more, that early sound is still so fun.

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Sat Mar 26 2022
5

What can be said about this record that hasn't already been said? Lennon, in particular, is on fire throughout - reeling off a procession of songs that must have gladdened Cynthia's heart. Little did she know.

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Thu Apr 14 2022
5

What can I say about The Beatles that hasn't already been said. Super groovy album, vocals on full display with surf-style rock 'n roll instrumentals underneath. The vocal doubling is done so perfectly on select tracks throughout, and the harmonies are very enjoyable. This album truly marks the start of a new era for pop music. Fave tracks: It Won't Be Long, I Wanna Be Your Man, Money (That's What I Want)

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Sat Apr 16 2022
5

Beatles at their Mop-top height here! Some great tunes on it from the Beatlemania era and pre |John's "Bigger Than Jesus" Gaffe. can really see their progression as songwriters, as usual George just gets a look-in songwriting wise. "All My loving" "Till There Was You" Covers "Please Mr Postman" & "Roll over Beethoven" highlights for me. Of course in the top 1001 albums of all time!

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Mon Apr 18 2022
5

it's crazy how ahead of the time this band was, releasing in 1977. This album sounds like some of early 2000's Alt Rock. They really made a statement releasing music so ahead of the time.

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Mon Apr 25 2022
5

Quite a time warp. This album was recorded in mid-1963 and released in November of the same year. The band had not yet visited the U.S., the album hit the stores and radio in the same month JFK was assassinated, and the band members were still so very young. It's very difficult for me to extract the history, culture, and context of the band and the bigger picture from the album, and I don't really want to. It's still all before I was born, but it was all such a part of my early youth that it feels quite familiar. Listening to the album, which I haven't heard in so many years but for a few songs here and there, I still find their songwriting talent to be remarkable. Love the performances on the album, too. I hear such great influences on their music -- 50s pop, rockabilly, early rock 'n roll, a teensy bit of jazz swing, hints of very early surf rock, doo-wop, blues, and so on -- yet even as far back as this very early album they still sound very much like The Beatles. Overall, I really enjoy the album. It's fun, it's not overcomplicated, catchy, and I'm glad to have listened to it again.

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Tue Apr 26 2022
5

It's about time. 150 albums in before the GOAT arrive.

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Sat Apr 30 2022
5

I could just say "it's the Beatles" and give it a five, but I don't think that would do service to this album because it isn't the most well known Beatles album, and indeed it doesn't have... well, any of the songs that they're traditionally known for. But the thing is, every song stands tall on this album. They're not hits, but they're not mediocre either. They put the work in on the songs they wrote for this album, and chose the others that they covered well. It's a fantastic rock album of mostly love songs, and only the Beatles could make it as engaging as it is.

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Sat Apr 30 2022
5

Hah, this was easy: stone cold classic that was a joy to go back and revisit, it’s been awhile since I listened to it straight through. And I like everything except “Little Child” and possibly “Devil in Her Hear”.

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Tue May 03 2022
5

far from the best Beatles album and its pop sound wasn’t anything new for 1963 but still I’m a huge sucker for this goofy, snazzy music overall, I think a 9/10 would be fair considering just how gosh darn enjoyable it is tho obviously everything pre-revolver is pretty much just generic pop music

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Sun May 29 2022
5

The ascent to absolute greatness continues! Some of their greatest early songs are here.

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Sun Jun 19 2022
5

Nice to hear some original Beatles - mixed with some covers 👍🏻

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Mon Jun 20 2022
5

Listened Before: This album is a gem. Literally any song on here could have been released as a single and probably gone to number one. Solidly written, well produced, and the performance is... well it's the Beatles. Added to Library? N (Not really my style) Songs added to Playlist: Please Mister Postman, All My Loving

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Tue Jul 05 2022
5

Always loved it, particularly the first and last tracks

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Tue Jul 05 2022
5

A lot of golden oldies here. A soundtrack of the 60s. Classic

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Wed Jul 13 2022
5

really solid, really beatles-y

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Sat Jul 16 2022
5

Wonderful and ground breaking.

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Mon Jul 18 2022
5

Some great songs on here. Enjoyed!

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Mon Jul 18 2022
5

I was not expecting to enjoy this album as much as I did. I recognized some songs, but there were new ones that grabbed me and caused me to listen twice through. My first 5 star on a new-to-me album!

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Mon Jul 18 2022
5

Love Love Love! One of my favorite Beatle songs is on the album. It's a Buddy Holly cover, Words of Love. Anything they sang had a touch of magic.

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Tue Aug 02 2022
5

Tried to listen to this with Beatles bias removed and was still supremely impressed. Crazy to think this was released the year my dad was born (not sure why that seems so unbelievable, maybe because elements of the songs sound so contemporary even today). Another example of how it's easy to see why they were such a big deal and how they've had such a lasting impact on the culture. Solidified my strong preference for Paul's writing over John's although I assume a lot of it was collaborative - Paul's voice is way nicer. Till there was you absolutely blew me away - I haven't been that affected by a song in a long time and have listened to it at least 6 times since yesterday. What an incredibly beautiful tune. In other parts of the album there is a certain lyrical sop factor (and at times creep factor *cough* John *cough* Little Child) common to the time/genre that is unfortunate but they at least have an edge over their contemporaries in the ad lib screaming and hooting in some of the songs - it does well to set them out from the pack. These boys were always destined for greatness.

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