Reviews (page 5 of 14)
Tight, speciellt deras egna del som också är super! Musik jag blir glad av. Cover-delen inte lika intressant.
Chirpy yet soulful 60s bops, not as interesting as their later work but just a really enjoyable listen with lots of catchy tunes I already knew
the beatles r good
Side 1: pretty damn good. Don't Bother Me is a highlight. (And obviously All My Loving.) Side 2: hmm, some of the covers don't quite work, but finishes with Money which is perfect. From this to Happiness Is A Warm Gun in 5 years is still mind-blowing.
Still sounding surprisingly fresh and energetic. Even if its the worst of Beatles' albums on the list it's still great
It’s the Beatles, it’s at least going to be good and better than most, right? Not a personal favorite, still a very nice album. I would like to give it a 3.5, not an available score, and there’s no way you can give it a 3.
I was surprised by how many songs I knew from this album. Maybe it is because my husband is a Beatles fan, or because they were actually popular, who knows. Each song was short and sweet, making this a quick and easy listen. The love songs were sweet. The songs' silliness and playful nature lent themselves well to the pop elements too.
4/5 I like The Beatles; they feel familiar and calming.
A bunch of radio songs about love. Well done. Sound is basic, but it’s 1963!
The worst Beatles album. A lot of covers, which I don’t really like. But it’s the Beatles. And All My Loving Is fire. Their early stuff is underrated, tbh.
Great but a little lost in the other Beatles stuff
great Beatles album
Great album. Very of the time
14 tracks in 33 minutes wow, the longest track is 3 minutes exactly. This their 2nd LP starts with a burst of fresh energy. 1 thing is that the vocals are crystal clear & can be clearly understood (& sung along to). This is important & Oasis understood this, at the end of the day people love sing-a-longs. Vocals are on a separate channel / speaker to the Merseybeat instruments. It sounds so fresh, celebratory innocent & optimistic. It sounds simple but the tunes are brilliant & there are lots of harmonies. Excited to listen to this, it’s a proper history lesson - one of the most amazing things about music is about how you can go back in time & hear how it sounded at the time, even better than it was. I think this has aged well as the songs are so strong, there are no trendy studio effects on here. The Beatles were aged 20-23 when this came out, that is mental. Although kept simple there is some interesting shuffling Velvety guitars & percussion throughout. They’re amazing singers, seem to hit every note & it’s a wide range. Thrilled to listen to this for the first time, in some ways it feels like year dot for everything I love about music.
A real toe tapper.
# Album Name: with the beatles # Artist: The Beatles # Rating: 4/5 # Comments: The significance is clear. This album is the beginning of the beatles own content. The album is pretty mid though. Very generic 60's. However, it still has a small touch of class only the beatles can bring. Overall a decent listen. Id give this a 3.5 if i could. # Top Tunes: it wont be long / All my loving / Mt postman / roll over beethoven / i wanna be your man # Would I listen to it again? yes
They’re a really good band aren’t they? There’s not really any all-timer greats on here, but what you do have is a bunch of perfectly crafted, straight-forward pop singles. Many of them aren’t their own songs of course, but musically they’re on-point, and it’s an overall brief, fun time. 3.5 rounded up.
Beatles albums are like pizza: even when they aren't the best, they're still good. This might be the worst Beatles album, but it's still pretty good. We have covers that add nothing, but we also have some upbeat Beatles pop rock. So, I'm not going to a restaurant for it, but I'll consume it if it's there. Influence 5. Quality 4. Hits 3. I don't hate it 3.
Not my fav Beatles album. Still good, but not their best.
Top Track: Money / You Really Got A Hold On Me
a weak beatles album is still a beatles album. some of these covers are real good.
4.8
Songs of my really youth!
I have a soft spot for early Beatles albums. While they are pretty generic, I think you can still tell that they are very talented and the songs they’ve written them selves are pretty good (with a few exceptions). This album starts of very strong with 3 short original songs. They are by far the best on the album and I think in particular “All I’ve Got To Do” is an underrated song. The album drops of a bit after that with a mix of covers and not as strong songs. While the covers are good they don’t bring anything new to the table (looking at you “You’ve really got a hold on me”). I think this could be a 5 star album, maybe mostly due to nostalgia (I wasn’t born in the 60s but I listened to this a lot as a kid), but I’ll settle on a strong 4. I didn’t want to listen to the whole album again but the first few songs only.
Beatles er jo aldri håpløst. Ikke den mest kjente skiva. Men
Classic prepaychedelic Beatles. Enjoyable, digestible, and rock & roll-y. Still not good as love me do, but a diamond of early beatles nonetheless. I don't think anyone is doing silly love lyrics as good as they did.
Classic Not on the level of the other beatles records on the list, but still very very good First 3 tracks are outstanding
These guys again! I suppose it's worth prefacing this by saying that I think this is the worst Beatles album probably, and yet I also think that on a pure scoring system, it rates (and I've scored it higher than) The White Album. And yet the latter stands as an undeniable artefact to their genius. What this stands for is an undeniable artefact to their youthful exuberance and a great reference point for their early influences, given the number (and quality at times!) of covers on this record. Anyway, I suppose I've fallen between judging this on objective listen and the fact that I simply love it because it's the first music I ever remember hearing, specifically Devil In Her Heart, and it was the tape that started the most important journey of my life - the one through music. Also It Won't Be Long is an unmatched banger and deserves way more respect in the pantheon of great Beatles songs than it gets.
Even The Beatles early material and performances are better than most artists best albums and performances. Mind blowing how good these guys were. Favorites: "All My Loving", "Til There Was You (love The Music Man!)"
Kind of ridiculous that this one is here - Please Please Me would have been a much better choice for so many different reasons. Still, it's The Beatles, so it's near perfect. 4.5/5
music for the lover boys! super sweet and fun album from a time when the beatles were still very merseybeat. no irony or complicated layers, just warm harmonies and feelings. 3.5/5
day 13: have listened to barely any pre-66 beatles so excited for this. think there’s definitely a big shift between their sound here compared to the later albums, much more of a 60s style boyband/pop/love song approach, very little abstractism. it’s nice! nothing is even 3 mins long, just short sharp sweetly written pop songs. much more harmonising, all sounds nice, paul sounds brilliant on till there was you. all i’ve got to do is another highlight for me, really feels sweet and sombre and blushy. lots of bob dylan influence here too, harmonicas and bluesy/folksy sections. you really got a hold on me is another lovely ballad too, really really dig the 3/4 harmonies. if there was a bechdel test for dudes then they are not passing it with this album lol. real rolling stones vibes on i wanna be your man, i hate ringo disregard cuz he sounds awesome. every single song is so earwormy and catchy, seriously nothing im not loving here. while the concepts are simple and substance is limited, it’s all perfected in a tight 30 mins. scrummy!
If I feel like listening to beatles this is not an album is would pick. But still really good. Fun to listen to with earphones. The stereo separation is a bit outdated, but in a charming way.
To my British shame I haven't spent enough time listening to the Beatles actual album catalogue. This is a great album and has some huge songs and also some I haven't heard of that just bought the album together. Good stuff.
Its the beatles its not going to be bad
ok
fun
Always and Forever. The Beatles
A great album with some wonderful early Beatles songs. The first half is definitely and it tails off a bit at the end. Also a fair amount of covers, like many early Beatles albums.
Very much enjoyed this. I love this era of the Beetles. They say "yeah!" an awful lot.
Not my favourite Beatles album, but this is beautiful. All My Lovin, You Really Got a Hold On Me and Money are highlights. Beautiful harmonies, expressions of caught up yearning and devotion. Some tracks hit it less for sure, but yeah, overall a banger.
yeah!
Bit hit and miss. Mostly bangers but a number of weaker songs bring it down a bit. Love this era of the Beatles but this album I don't think shows off their best work
It's a great album with only a couple duff songs on it, but not my favourite Beatles era.
The Beatles fully deserve their legacy as the most influential band in modern history. But while this is a good album for its era, isn't not a representative for why the Beatles deserve this legacy. Too many songs are forgettable, a lot of the good ones are covers (though the best one: All my Loving, is original), but it's still a good listen from start to finish. Unlike many albums of the same era, this one doesn't suffer from same-ness. It sounds to me like there was thought given to the overall listening experience, rather than just a string of songs, and therefore there's enough variety is peppered through that when the album was over I was not yet tired of it. Overall, a good entry to the Beatles discography, but not an album I'd go back to regularly.
I used to think this was one of their worst; I wouldn't put it in their top eight, but it's better than I remember
Fun, nothing musically or lyrically interesting.
I prefer later Beatles work
Ah, the young Fab Four. I ignored early Beatles in favor of their transition and later years, yet still knew most of these classic hits. They’re just great. Of course, their wild creativity would emerge later, and many of these tracks are covers, but they’re still pleasing as heck. (Early Beatles is much too cute for swearing.) Strong 4
Haven't listened to many individual albums by the Beatles to this point. Lot's of fun songs!
This was a very nostalgic listen as I was raised on the Beatles, especially their earlier albums. I love so many of the songs on this record. However, there are definitely some weaker songs which prevents it from being 5 stars for me, especially compared to albums like revolver and abbey road.
Amazing Merseyside sound and rock'n'roll record.
not the best beatles album, but still a 4.
oh yes, wait a minute, Mr. Postman! (Wait) wait, Mr. Postman!
The sound of a band really hitting their groove. Songs like it wont be long and all my loving perfectly showing just how amazing their voices meld together. Even the covers are great
Firstly, the album artwork is hysterical. I can't decide if the designer realised that the four Beatles heads in a row would be the wrong proportions for the vinyl, so skwished Ringo down there at the bottom, or they accurately predicted which Beatles would have the most influence on musical culture and acted accordingly. I'd have been pissed if I was Mr Starr though. I like early Beatles, honestly possibly more than most later Beatles (which I'm aware is probably considered sacrilege). To me it just conjures up a particular era than I have a massive affection for in terms of the music, fashion and interior design (but not the general intolerance or misogyny). I would have firmly been an overexcited teenage girl screaming at them, had I been born in the 50s rather than the 80s. It's interesting to hear some flat/sharp notes on this in places. I assume a combination of the expense of recording records and the sheer rate of knots they were churning out albums, meant a little bit lower quality control. I really enjoy Beatles covers so Mr Postman, Roll Over Beethoven (entertainingly, very much sung with a Liverpudlian twang) and You Really Got A Hold On Me, being on this album made me happy. Especially the latter song, which I think is one of the best songs of it's generation. I think this would be a 4.5 but I'm going to round down, at least partially to stop me giving 5 stars to every Beatles album the Generator throws at me. 4/5
Not the best Beatles songs but the ones your mom enjoyed the most
I love the beatles, not my favorite album of theirs but its still classic.
Anything by the Beatles is at least 4 stars but this one just doesn't have the wall-to-wall great songs like many of the other ones do. There are a few too many covers as Lennon and McCartney were still finding their voice. And, admittedly, I have a bias toward the later period Beatles. Still, this is a fun, raucous album that captured them just as Beatlemania was about to hit.
I loved it
Great album. Had its highs and lows, but overall was fun to listen to. Can see myself coming back
Pretty good album, some pretty good songs here and there, but not really any that stand out. Quintessential 60s sounding , early Beatles, nothing that really stands out. 3.75/5
Beatles
Overall: 7/10 Potential hot take incoming: this is the worst Beatles album. There's too many covers, the originals aren't mindblowing and the making of the album isn't entirely interesting. With that being said, it's still The Beatles. There's great love songs here like All My Loving, Till There Was You and You Really Got a Hold On Me. I also really like George's first song that he wrote, Don't Bother Me. You may find yourself skipping about half of the album but there's still lots to like. Fav Song: All My Loving
i’ve heard this album. it’s good
The covers were better than their own songs, but they are babies here.
Já é possível notar a generalidade da banda e como se destacava no cenário da época. Ótimo disco. QoA Vesper.
A great Beatles album. I have to try not to give all of them fives but object this has a ton of great songs and covers. Easily a 4 for me
I've been a Beatles fan most of my life, but I know this material from how it was scattered among the shorter Capitol albums released in the U.S. This revisit was remarkable for me. First of all, I benefited by hearing these recordings in their remastered state which brought a whole new level of clarity and immediacy to my listening experience. Secondly, and this might be harder for younger listeners to understand, the sequencing of the songs totally changed the album-listening experience, in this case very much for the better. I think one of the intentions behind this 1,000 album project is proselytizing for listening to whole albums as a single artistic work in much the same way that reading a book involves reading, usually in a fixed sequence, all the chapters in that book. The book, not the chapters, is the work. The album, more than the songs, is the work.
Слабее первого альбома, но всё равно слушается на ура время от времени. 7 из 10.
Surprised this one is on here over a couple of their others. I've always thought of it as one of their weaker albums but even then I still enjoyed every song this time through. A couple fantastic songs, some underrated ones I forget about, and some decent covers. Cool album art as well. Still can't believe this one is here over Help but whatever I'll never complain to listen to some Beatles. It's always a fun excursion to go back and listen to one of their earlier albums, it always leaves me in a good mood. Rating: 4.4
Never heard of them
A couple of duds but it’s a great listen and it’s full of classics like All My Loving and underrated ones like You Really Got A Hold On Me (a cover) and Not A Second Time. I enjoy it.
It’s not ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ or ‘Abbey Road’, but this is still a lot of fun and very enjoyable. If anything, it’s a great counterpoint — listening to this alongside the Beatles’ later albums really highlights how quickly their sound and songwriting matured. Sure ‘With The Beatles’ feels a bit rushed and hastily put together, and with quite a bit of filler, but there’s still plenty to like. It’s catchy, energetic, and for the most part, infectious — a solid half hour of early Beatles charm.
Think it's probably the worst Beatles album. Still great though
Still pretty true to the original music they started with. Simple, honest pop music.
An essential album for any Beatles fan and any music fan for that matter!
I don't think I'm fluent enough musically to explain the effect that The Beatles had on music without just copying someone else's words. This album was good.
Better than I expected, always been a Beatles denier. Some of the covers on here really spoke to me, especially Till There Was You. Definitely feels like the primordial soup of rock n roll. Some of the mixing isn't made with headphones in mind, but it was last remastered in 2008 so I'll give them some slack.
decent
Ok listen I don’t love it but I do really like the Beatles… they just do such a good cover too, like it’s unique and in their voice which I feel like is pretty rare
Upbeat, light, Classics
Les Beatles quoi, ça s'écoute bien mais on n'est pas surpris
Toujours agréable d’écouter les Beatles, j’aime beaucoup ! Niveau instru : c’est assez classique mais les voix sont vraiment bien ! Album assez calme, pas le meilleur !
J'avais jamais écouté un album de Beatles du début à la fin, surtout celui là qui est un basique. Très sympa ! 4/5
(4) this sent me right back to my 2020 beatles phase love love love
When do the drugs kick in?
Till there was you I got to learn that song on ukulele and sing it to my 3-year-old
Great. It's a classic with a mix of some original songs and some covers.
Heard some songs off this before but wasn't familiar with the album. Fucking banggggggs
Pretty interesting that so many of these are covers. Cool to see some of their influences.
Early Beatles, in all of their monotone glory. Every song is a classic!
Enjoyed it, felt dated
I mean it's the Beatles!
Not my favourite of the earlier stuff, but still better than Beatles For Sale
Would listen again. 4 sterren
Excellent
Such a brilliant sound.
classic beatles
Wcześni Beatlesi, więc trochę błędów nowicjuszy i takiego oldschoolowego grania, ale nadal to jest płyta najlepszego zespołu wszech czasów. 8/10 i wielkie miejsce w moim sercu.
Nostalgia at its best! Some classic Beatles and a few forgotten gems.
It's not the peak of their songwriting, but it actually is a lot more interesting than I expected. I've heard a couple songs off of this before, but I've never sat and listened to it.
Great Album from the beginning of their career, some legendary tunes
I'm definitely a Beatles fan and, while I enjoy this album, I recognize that it is far from their best and not deserving of 5*. There's definitely a reason that I don't listen to it a ton and much prefer most of their other albums. Favorite songs: All I've Got to Do, Till There Was You, Please Mister Postman, Devil In Her Heart
The Beatles é uma das minhas bandas favoritas e é difícil ser imparcial. Não é o melhor álbum deles mas é bom!
Some class songs but just not their best
It's not my early Beatles go-to (that would be A Hard Day's Night) but the three-in-a-row "All I've Got to Do" and "All My Loving" and "Don't Bother Me" is pretty killer.
With The Beatles starts off with the urgent “It Won’t Be Long” and rarely lets up. It showcases uptempo rockers, great harmonies, Lennon’s chiming Rickenbacker and clean production, which lets you hear each instrument and the vocal harmonies. The covers are all well chosen and performed, though a few of the originals, while good, stick to a formula and pale against the kaleidoscopic development of songwriting chops to come. It’s not hard to imagine how exciting this must’ve sounded to a postwar generation starting to come of age, fueling their the fizzy optimism and overactive sex drives.
This is pretty much the Beatles at their corniest... and if you can manage to trick yourself into listening to this with fresh ears, it cannot be denied that every song slaps.
Super fun pop album. Classic Beatles at some of their best. I loved the whole thing.
Pretty solid. Even though it has a lot of covers, I still prefer their covers over some of the originals.
3.5
It takes some chutzpah to listen to Little Richard and think "I could do that." This is no one's favorite Beatles album (and I guess it wasn't released in this form in the US at all), but it definitely showcases George as a promising songwriter.
The Beatles – With The Beatles With The Beatles is the sound of a band still in their sharp suits, still smiling for the press, but starting to get restless behind the scenes. It’s only their second album, released just months after their debut, but already there’s a bit more confidence, a bit more swagger in the playing. The harmonies are tighter, the guitar work more assertive, and there’s a cool, shadowy vibe to the cover that hints at the sophistication to come — even if the music inside still mostly plays it safe. There are great moments here. “All My Loving” is a perfect slice of early Beatles charm, and George gets his first proper vocal spotlight with “Don’t Bother Me,” which adds a darker tone that stands out among the breezier tracks. But a big chunk of the album is still padded with covers, and while they’re fun (especially their storming take on “Money”), it feels like the band is still figuring out their identity. There’s less of the raw excitement of Please Please Me, and not yet the bold experimentation that would define their later work. It’s a stepping stone
What a band! I love these early albums because you're basically getting them live in the studio with maybe some handclaps or a doubled lead vocal added after. These are the days when they would record five or six tunes before lunch. The music may sound basic but there are very few ensembles of any kind who could crank out performances like this, one after the other. Whenever I play this record I skip immediately to Please Mister Postman and then go back and listen to the whole album from the top. For me it rivals the original, with John's pleading hitting harder than the Marvellettes could ever muster. On the intro of Roll Over Beethoven, George's lead guitar is pushed to what sounds like the absolute outer limit of his chops. I like to imagine he stayed up all night practicing, knowing they were going to record it the next morning. Some days this is a five for me. Today's it's a four.
Fetus Beatles!
Great. Nothing amazing, seems like a bunch of covers but good ones.
Da scaricare per il viaggio
Very good sophomore album by the Fab Four. Many covers, but some great originals as well. Has what I believe to be the definitive version of Twist and Shout.
Nice to have a palate cleanser after all the drum machines with some old school Beatles.
I love early beatles + I'm feeling generous so 4 stars it is
First time I've heard a full Beatles album, and not a cover. I like Mr Postman, Roll Over Beethoven (first seen from the dog movies), Hold me Tight. Even though it's a bit old, you can still hear their influences today (2025)
Not the best nor my favorite Beatles album but still good. Not many probably won't say this but I absolutely love All My Loving.
3 у меня по нелюбимости альбом данной группы но как и все остальные он очень классный и вообще у группы нету плохих песен,в нем нету чего то необычного
I liked them better during their pop phase, as uncool as that is. Classic performances, but also the classic criticism of relying on too many covers.
You can really see all of their potential just ready to burst out of them. Great production, playing, and the vocals are spot on. Not my favorite Beatles record, but… well, it’s still a Beatles record.
With its improved songwriting and tighter arrangements, "With the Beatles" stands as a vast improvement over "Please Please Me". Unlike with the previous album, the Beatles spent a lot of time in the studio developing a more focused product. 'It Won't Be Long' showcases the band's masterful vocal arrangements and Lennon's unique chord progressions. The chordal structure defies diatonic harmony. Written in E Major, the verse includes an unexpected flatted major VI chord (CM). The bridge features a smooth, yet unexpected chordal descent from the tonic. Not many of the Beatles’ 1963 pop contemporaries ever came close to using such unconventional progressions. 'All I've Got to Do' greets the listener with a dark and dissonant jazz Eaug11 chord. 'Don't Bother Me' introduces George Harrison's cynical songwriting. I've never quite cared for McCartney's tedious 'Hold Me Tight' (a reject from the debut album). Interestingly, "With the Beatles" gives seven covers (as opposed to the six of "Please Please Me"). Regardless, the baffling cover of 'Till There Was You' from The Music Man stands out as top material. On top of McCartney's smooth melody, Harrison delivers such a tasty solo! At this point, the Beatles were experiencing the beginnings of Beatlemania, and perhaps the constant attention drained some spark of youth from the group. As such, the album cover's plain-faced shadows mark a drastic contrast to the colorful smiling of the Please Please Me cover.
I mean, yeah. Of course this is a good record.
After their first album, The Beatles were under a lot of pressure to deliver another hit, and they recorded this album just a few months later. What’s amazing is that even with such a short turnaround, this album not only solidified their success but made them even more popular than they were after their debut.
Classic Beatles songs
Great collection of singles
The Beatles are a band I'm excited to get into during this exercise, since I really haven't before now. Good album, but not sure it's going to convert me
I love the beatles
Cool record You can hear the blueprint of what the Beatles would become. I enjoyed some of the covers.
Enjoyed this more than I expected to, to the extent I'd probably listen to this again.
good
I was going to do this whole bit about how this record was bad because the Beatles had gone hippie. But the reality is, these early records are fine, but not great. The significance of this release has been diminished by time. It's still good though.
Songs are pretty short and don't flow into each other well. Great, sweet love songs with very little complexity. No difficulty hearing any lyrics. Till There Was You is a beautiful showcase of Paul's singing at its best. I like the subversiveness of 'You've Really Got A Hold On Me,' where the singer admits the object of his affection treats him badly. That's about as edgy as it gets.
My first ‘Beatles’ album in this list! An exciting day for any fan. Personally, I think this is one of their weaker albums due to the fact they are still attempting covers and haven’t yet hit their creative peak (and oh boy, do they deliver). However, as it’s the fab four I can’t give it less than 4 as this album undoubtedly includes some of their classic hits!
even I as one their biggest fan would have to admit - they've got better ones.
I mean, that's Beatles, that's good
Me encantó. Un disco lleno de temazos y clásicos con un sonido súper fresco (considerando que son de los años sesenta).
Впервые в жизни слушаю битлов полностью, раньше слышал только отрывками отдельные треки. Честно говоря, ничего сверхиновационного не услышал, разве что It Won't Be Long - звучит необычно и заедает в голове
I love the Beatles, but although the musicianship is there, this doesn't have the composition strength of later albums. Standout song is All My Loving, which is great (Hold Me Tight is a bit of a stinker though). Serviceable covers played with verve (Money is among the best). A lower end four.
Sooooo good!!!
"The Beatles when they were shite," the top review on this site writes, immediately outing themselves as a ghoul without a soul. Is a song like All I've Got To Do melodramatic and juvenile... yes? Is it two minutes of pure soul, 22-year-old Lennon belting like he's Smokey Robinson? Hell yes!!! This is obviously still studio-driven early-era Beatles, but it's not like they couldn't pump out bangers. All My Loving is worth the price of admission on its own. The covers - The Music Man into the Marvelettes into Chuck Berry (!!!) is a generational run - are incredible, and were a real portal for me. Tell Tchaikovsky the news. I could never -objectively- look at a record like this. I can practically see the cartoons in my head when I hear Hold Me Tight. This is a borderline masterpiece. It presages the singular creative output to come.
3.5. Always like be some Beatles!
This album is quintessential Beatles with some of their best early hits. I feel like all of these songs are bops. No notes, I love me some Beatles!
Banger
I fell back asleep but it was chill
I love the beatles, but this is probably one of the weaker albums for me. Some classics on here and the start of greatness that comes later. Still worthy of lots of stars and love
very good beatles classic stuff
Pre-listening thoughts: love that we got this after our trivia team name was The Shitty Beatles the night before Post/during listening thoughts: yeah this sure is early Beatles! To be honest, I'm not sure why this album was included. It's great, I mean The Beatles are classic, but it feels like it was only included BECAUSE it's The Beatles. I feel like especially with Roll Over Beethoven on this album, this spot should've gone to Chuck Berry. I also said I didn't think I'd ever give a Beatles album lower than a five but this is like the worst the Beatles get. 8/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: All My Loving, Till There Was You (MUSIC MAN MENTIONED), Please Mister Postman (although this isn't even a top 3 cover of this song), You Really Got a Hold On Me Least fav tracks: none
First Beatles day!!! This one had a few stinkers, but it was good and I could definitely hear elements of what this band would develop into
Even as 'packaged' as the Beatles were at this point in their careers, you can hear what they will be capable of.
The seeds are there. This doesn’t stand next to their legendary albums, but it was quite respectable in its own way.
I’m not a huge Beatles fan, but this is undeniably a great album. Favourite tracks: It Won’t Be Long, Money, All My Loving.
You say Beatles, I am probably gonna give it a high score. I have a serious soft spot for their early catalog in general. It's just so sing-along-able, and I love to do so. 4.25/5
Love that their voices aren’t actually incredible, but so pure, raw, and real. The harmonies are so nice. It’s fascinating how they figured them out. Wonder why there are so many covers on this album? Cohesive sound throughout the album is very pleasant and listenable. I can see how The Beatles became huge stars. Cute English guys with an extremely palatable sound.
Kort og godt. Ikke det bedste Beatles, men nem at nyde. Og måske vigtigst, så kender det sin besøgstid!
I own this because i inherited it from my mother and really cannot fault it. It is not something that i put on to listen to often but I really enjoyed listening to this and there are some great songs. Till there was you is easily the standout song. Solid 4 stars
A great introduction to the Beatles… chock full of classics. Not my favorite of theirs, but very happy to see this one pop up for me today.
Maybe their worst album
Not bad at all. Good stuff. I think this band will be pretty successful. They might catch on.
Some great Beatles songs on here and a few really duff ones and too many covers. All in all a decent second album on their way to much greater things!
I liked it a lot very good songs favorites are All my loving and Roll over Beethoven
This album was fun with so many hits, but many of the covers disrupted the momentum. Having said that, their version of Money (That's What I Want) is the best, for my money.
While I don't like early Beatles as much as their middle- to late-period stuff, I still enjoyed the hell outta this. Four stars.
Early Beatles classics
After getting three later albums of all-original material (Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, A Hard Day's Night), it feels weird getting an early record of theirs where nearly half the songs are covers. It feels even more bizarre that the album in question is still pretty good. For sure, the covers on With the Beatles were done in such a clear imitation that you can tell where each of the songs came from. "Rock and Roll Music" sounds a lot like Chuck Berry. "You Really Got a Hold on Me" sounds like Smokey Robinson. Both "Please Mr. Postman" and "Money (That's What I Want)" sound like they came straight out of Motown in the delivery. The young lads at this time weren't being experimental in their renditions. Yet, they still played these songs with the top-notch execution that you would expect them to play at this early in their career. Not to mention, the original songs on this record mostly hold up all these decades later. The opening run from "It Won't Be Long" through the George Harrison-led "Don't Bother Me" is still amazing. "Not a Second Time" is a decent cut towards the end. Even the Ringo-led "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a fun bop that Lennon and McCartney originally penned for the Rolling Stones. Overall, With the Beatles may not be an essential listen for a list of albums to listen to before you die in retrospect, but it's still a fun time.
Pretty classic Beatles sound here. It was nice to have the many covers add a layer of soul to the Beatles Britishness. They managed to nail a lot of the covers while maintaining their personal sound. I love that fact that they all got to sing on this album and the messy history of its many releases.
Really liked this. Even if it’s obviously not quite as good as the Beatles later work it’s still amazing. 4 stars
Kind of hard to rank this as it’s really good since it’s the Beatles but it’s definitely my least favourite from the ones I’ve heard(which is pretty much all of them by this point), it still has some good songs though like the first one and pretty much the entire second side of the album, definitely not their strongest though but I’m still gonna give this a low 4. Overall 7/10.
Dope
Fantastic Album, approached it with an open mind and really enjoyed it. Tbh, I didn’t think it was gonna be as good as it was.
Not my favourite Beatle's album but still worth a listen.
Høyrt lite på før, sidan eg høyrer mest på eldre The Beatles, men overraskande bra og friskt.
Obviously not the Beatles best work being so early in their careers but still a heap of fun to be had, especially All My Loving and You Really Got a Hold. Just love these four boys form Liverpool eh!
Va che bello con le canzoni tutte corte. Azz quelle che mi piacciono di più sono cover.
350/1001 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Even on their early just-finding-my-feet days, this band was something else. The album starts with It Won't Be Long at full throttle and, while there are some slower songs, never really lets go. I'm not going to bother with "oh but they got better.." because obviously this isn't The White Album. This is great: short, snappy, intensely energetic, and fully committed.
Always love listening to the Beatles
Good old Beatles teen love songs.
3.5 overall since I zone out quite a bit when relistening to this but rounding up because Till There Was You is one of my favorite Beatles songs lyrically and instrumentally really enjoyed this throughout even if I zone out
Done
Oldie but goldie
This is very good. It's funny to hear early Beatles, because they are cool, but just very old-timey rock. I said earlier (for Revolver) that it was like the Beatles had discovered a bunch of new sounds but didn't know how to use them yet. Here, they have not discovered as broad a vocabulary, but use a narrower range of sounds very competently. I'll say I think if I were making 1001 albums, this wouldn't make the cut--there are many Beatles albums, and this is neither the best, nor the first, nor particularly trailblazing, nor the best of its era. 4 stars. That said its better than albums that I absolutely think do belong.
This is not The Beatles at their best, but you can start to see what they will end up with in these early songs. And so even if it's not fantastic, it's still pretty good.
There are a lot of classics on this album, but I had ZERO idea that the Beatles covered Mister Postman. Homophobic that they changed the lyrics so they wouldn't be in love with a man, I am brave for saying this.
You can see how they became The Beatles from a lot of these songs, but there are some fairly mediocre ones too. I always find their rendition of Roll Over Beethoven pretty funny - the intro riff is such a comically simplified version of the Chuck Berry version is sounds like when your buddy is just learning guitar.
Till There was You is lovely.
01) It Won't Be Long - 8,5 02) All I've Got to Do - 9,0 03) All My Loving - 10,0 04) Don't Bother Me - 8,5 05) Little Child - 8,5 06) Till There Was You - 9,0 07) Please Mr. Postman - 9,0 08) Roll Over Beethoven - 8,5 09) Hold Me Tight - 8,5 10) You Really Got a Hold on Me - 8,0 11) I Wanna Be Your Man - 8,0 12) Devil in Her Heart - 8,5 13) Not a Second Time - 8,0 14) Money (That's What I Want) - 8,0 TOTAL: 8,57 (86/100)
schönes beatles album aber mir fast zu old schooly aber flowed schon gut
4/5
Fun album, with definite glimpses of the band the Beatles would become. Few too many covers to be a classic album IMO.
I actually had never listened to this record before. It was hard to rate it because I was comparing it to other Beatles albums rather than just as a stand alone album like I do all the other albums on this list. I think overall it was fun with some high energy and some catch pop songs. I enjoyed it but honestly probably won't revisit it as a whole album ever.
I always feel conflicted with the early Beatles. Are they good? Yes. Are they unique? Well... I don't totally know. These are all covers (or mostly covers) and while they're good, the music sounds very similar to most music of the time. I think what they do really well is swapping vocals between John and Paul. They also really do blues and rock n roll really well. They're clearly talented, and this is certainly good. It just doesn't hold a flame to Sgt. Peppers or Abbey Road or White album or Revolver or Rubber Soul. Which then makes me feel like this record is only on the list, because the other ones are so prolific. Which to me, doesn't warrant a spot on the list.
Iconic because of the cover photo and because it broke them in the US. I love it because of all the doo-wop and girl group covers. Not only highlights how much girl groups influenced them, but shows how amazing they were at combining girl group vocals (lots of refrains and dual lead vocals) with Buddy Holly-esque songwriting. Also was the album that gave us She Loves You, which to me is the quintessential early Beatles record.
Decent
a really good album with a good blend of originals and covers, showing the Fab Four & their influences as they were in the early years, but I don’t know if I’d call it an essential Beatles record. Even among their early work, I personally prefer Please Please Me & A Hard Day’s Night. favs: It Won’t Be Long, You Really Got a Hold On Me, Don’t Bother Me, Roll Over Beethoven least favs: Little Girl, Hold Me Tight
I do not know what it is, but when I am listening to The Beatles, I found out that my mood was instantly lifted
I was initially going to skip this one. I'm glad I didn't.
Very good album. Never listened to the Beatles much but enjoyed this album. Could see myself re-listening to this, or more Beatles.
This was the first Beatles album I liked, and this will probably be very unpopular but may be my favorite still? I prefer how cohesive it is compared to future albums that are a bit too all over the place.
Released same day as Kennedy was shot. 22nd Nov. 1963. Album cover is a classic. A photo by Robert Freeman. Mix of cover songs like Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry and Please Mr Postman - The Marvelettes. Originals like All My Loving - McCartney and Little Child - Lennon. The song writing is getting more complex after the Please Please Me album. They're evolving.
Some fire on this. Favorite track is I Wanna Be Your Man.
Another great Beatles album, this one had quite a few of my favorites of their older stuff! But alas the Beatles will always be my go to!
Lots of bops. Earned several claps from J (in between trying to drink the bath water). Released the same day as the JFK assasination…coincidence?? (yes)
Not a huge fan of the early Beatles (love their later music), but can understand the impact this had in the early 60’s; what a time this must have been. Still gets 4 stars from me for some classic songs from the Fab Four.
This is my favorite of the early-career stuff. But a lot of that credit belongs to Motown. And there are some real clunkers here too. Four stars.
I love the ones I know. No problem with the ones I did’t know. I am not a Beatles FANatic. 4 stars for respect.
7/10 Favorite Tracks: *Til There Was You*, Please Mister Postman Least Favorite Tracks: Not a Second Time, Money (That's What I Want).
It’s the Beatles and for that reason alone, it’s a classic. I like the Beatles but The White Album was just a couple days ago and I got my fix for a while. This album showed up in the list too soon.
A very solid album overall which charts the Beatles transition from a primary reliance on covers to singer-songwriter output. You really get a sense of the sound and pace which powered Beatlemania on this album. It’s not as experimental nor creative as later outings, but is a nice snapshot of the era which heralds the oncoming rush of the British invasion of American pop. A solid 4 stars in that context.
Love the length of songs. Love the Beatles. Lots of covers that were unexpected.
Well...I'm not quite a fan for early Beatles albums, not because they're not good, but they're simply not as good as their later works. However, this is still a talented pop rock album and i can enjoy this if I'm.feeling good. Besides, this is the album with "All My Loving","Roll Over Beethoven" and "Not A Second Time" in it...and that dumb "Don't Bother Me", this song.is silly to a point that i like it. It's no masterpiece(well, maybe a little) but it's still good. Just...listen to the music. Pretty Damn Silly Love Songs. A overall 4-4.5/5
banger fucking album
1 ou 2 ultra-classiques, pas mal de remplissage avec des covers plus ou moins réussies. Le potentiel est là, hâte de voir ce que va donner ce petit groupe de jeunes anglais à l'avenir.
Overall cheerful and cute. Some lyrics aged very poorly.
Hold me tight is such a sick song. The beatles have so much better, this is merely a 4.
Where are all the guitar solos and distorted power chords??? Palm-muted low E string chugs???? Anyways, it's the Beatles!! I liked recognizing the famous riff from Johnny B. Good in Roll Over Beethoven
Songs are simple, straightforward and largely about love (the screaming “Money” the notablest exception). Though they sound pretty tame today, one hears the certain wildness that must have scared middle-class parents, and obviously it’s edgier than the skiffling “Please Please Me” and “Love Me Do,” which have their folkie/busky charms. Still, one wishes for more weirdness and rough edges here. Despite picturing the clean-shaven mop-tops in their suits (more tameness), the links to both the leather-clad Hamburg toughs and the drugged-out, meditating hippie artistes come quite readily to mind also. They seem adolescent-y, which one supposes they were, and thus hard to fully credit or take seriously. Yes, it was still new, this rock music, and a landmark of the British Invasion, sure, and the Beatles played with more edge, one supposes, the late catalog is an order of magnitude richer. One wants to compare to Gerry and the Pacemakers, say, or the Dave Clark 5 to figure out what was different about the Fab Four and why/how this record presaged the genius (for that’s what it was, if one considers pop music to dabble in the realm of music) to come. Great cover photo, well judged cover photos keep one from rating this a 3, which it probably deserves but which would also feel sacrilege and can't be done.
beatles are ok
4/5 Iconic album that was fundamental to modern music.
4.5, not my favorite Beatles album but still a great one.
Beatlesiksi tykkäsin tästä tosi paljon! Sopivasti variaatioita ahtaahkoissa raameissa (vairhaisrockbeatles).
Levy alkaa lähes yhtä kovalla tasolla kuin bändin paras, A Hard Day's Night (juuri niin). Keskivälin jälkeen alkaa jonkinlainen suvanto, mikä - ja tämä kertoo saavutuksesta - johtuu covereista, tai tarpeettomasta (tai tarpeellisesta) turvautumisesta niihin. Laitoin silti heti uudelleen kuunteluun, ja niin muidenkin ptäisi.
early Beatles is still Beatles. great album, fav track Money
With The Beatles isn’t my favorite Beatles album, but you can definitely hear them starting to come into their own. Their original songs are stronger here than on Please Please Me, and even the cover songs—though not what you'd call essential listening today—are still well done and full of energy. It’s a solid early effort that shows the band leveling up and hinting at what’s to come.
I’m sure this was a great record for its time. I had some Beatles anthology albums so I know plenty of their hits, and i used to prefer their older bubblegum poppy stuff.. but as I get older I find this early stuff a bit cheesy and appreciate their later songs. It’s still the Beatles, and still good, but this album falls to a 4/5 for me today
Aantal onverwacht goede tracks die ik niet kende, waaronder: All I've Got To Do Don't Bother Me Till There Was You Verder beetje overbodige covers ("Please Mister Postman", "Roll Over Beethoven") en de klassieker "All My Loving". "Devil In Her Heart" klinkt als een Libertines-nummer.
Full disclosure, I am a lifelong unabashed Beatles fan, and own a lot of their albums. I had heard most of, if not all of these songs before but not as an album. I liked most of the songs, even most of the covers, although I thought a couple of them were pretty weak. I have always liked their cover of Til there was You, and always really enjoy hearing it. According to the Wikipedia article, George Harrison sang a couple of the covers that I had always believed was John Lennon. If the article is correct, it is really difficult for me to tell them apart here, unlike their later albums. I generally prefer the Beatles from Rubber Soul post, but all in all still think this is pretty good. For me, it’s 3.5 stars, rounded up to a four.
Incredible album, i’ve got 2 different pressings of “meet the beatles” with very similar track list. all the songs on here are great 🐞I LOVE THE BEATLESSSS.
This is my favorite Beatles album on the list so far. "All I've Got To Do" sounds a lot like "Tell Her No" by The Zombies. I think that song came out after "With The Beatles" though. Favorite song: "Please Mister Postman"
Классика, что тут сказать? Но другие их альбомы нравились больше
The Beatles were a good cover band and I would be perfectly happy listening to their covers. (Exception, "Till There Was You" which was about a schmaltzy as you can get.) The covers are a taste of the type of thing we would have heard in the Cavern Club or during their residence in Hamburg when they were still a struggling working band. Their self-written songs were just a hint of the greatness that was to come. I don't put this on par with their later outings but it's still a very good album.
So many hit songs. Typical album has maybe one or two.
The sound is more dated than their later work which is timeless, most of the better songs on this record are covers, having said that it's a great listen, something easy to listen through again and again, such talented musicians, particularly Lennon's vocals on this record
Go in both my ears you weirdos, get out my right ear. Fair enough though.
Compared to all the other Beatles albums that we've had, this one seems to only have only a couple of popular songs but the rest also sounded pretty nice. If they sounds alright nowadays, imagine how cool they would've been back in the day and since the rest of the music from that time was quite boring, this must've been amazing.
OK. Can see why people like it.
This has been the hardest album for me to review and rate so far. I like early Beatles music. And I don’t like early Beatles music. The “boy band” era for them is fun, peppy, and, for me, sometimes tedious. A lot of the songs start to sound the same. So “With the Beatles” was a test. I’d never listened to it. Wound up going through it twice. Honestly, I enjoyed a majority of the album. Starts strong with the first four songs. “Little child” loses me, but the next six are good. “Devil in her heart” and “Not a second time” are okay. And then it ends really strong with “Money (That’s What I Want).” I’m pretty sure I would play this album again and could see it making it into my rotation. I’m going 4/5
so excited to get started
This is such an odd little album. A simple, heartfelt collection of some fun songs and some pretty songs. Lots of covers. It kinda makes me feel like I’m listening to 4 boys recording an album in their garden shed. My highlights were Till There Was You (McCartney’s voice actually shocked me there) and All My Loving. I’ve always enjoyed earlier Beatles than later. And this is no exception.
Fun album full of good compositions, some great covers, top vocals and good instrumentation. Lacks the depth, variety and greatness of other/later Beatles releases. All tracks are good though but doesn’t have the replay-ability of other Beatles albums such as Abbey Road, which is to be expected considering the type of album it is and at what stage of the Beatles career it was released. All tracks are decent-good and none are skips. Includes some classic early Beatles highlights - “It won’t be long”, “Please mister postman”, “Roll over Beethoven”, “You really got a hold on me” & “Money (that’s all I want)”. Overall, whilst this doesn’t showcase how brilliant the Beatles would become it is still a very fun album, essential early Beatles and a very enjoyable listen. 4/5.
Covers & early hits. An easy listen for fans. Nothing earth shattering, but as far as early 60s boy band pop goes, it's a winner.
I mean, c’mon. It’s really good! BUT… Not even B-tier Beatles if I’m being critical (fine, it’s lower B-tier.) Still, With The Beatles *was* one of the first Beatles records I really grew on to as a teenager. Remember loving the stretch from “Till There Was You” to “I Wanna Be Your Man” growing up, in particular, but there isn’t a bad output on the thing. Best original composition probably goes to “All My Loving,” but typing this out I’m already second guessing myself. These guys aren’t half bad!
Definitely not my favorite Beatles album, but also still really good. The mixing is a little tough and the number of covers isn’t great.
Fav song: All I've Gotta Do Pretty good! The vocal harmonies on this album are supreme. Not the best Beatles album, but a banging one none the less.
Lots of good classic songs. I like The Beatles but also like other artists of that time more.
Not my favourite album of theirs, but it's full over overlooked tracks in my opinion. The start of something rather extraordinary...
3.5
Ah yeah, a nice snapshot of when the Beatlemania kicked off, quite representative, and also an example of the annoying missing off-album singles from around the same time, which was often the case with many of their popular songs not ending up on an LP until later collected releases. Also interesting presentation of the time how basically everyone covered everyone if a song was a hit. I was never into beat in general (way before my time), but it's a decent piece of their early output.
I grew up listening to all forms of the Beatles, from the early, bubble gum pop songs, like the ones on this album, to the complicated and more deep tracks in their later work. I appreciate both eras of Beatles, pre and post Sgt. Pepper's. This album is fine. No single song stands out as drop dead amazing, but it does what it was intended, make a lot of money. The music is tight, vocal delivery from Paul, John, and George are solid. Well worth the 33 minutes to hear the whole thing. 4/5
8/10
Can't help but compare it to early Stones albums. I liked it, but this confirms that I am more of a Stones fan. Still a solid album though.
After more than 350 albums, I finally have a Beatles one! This one obviously isn't their best one but, like, it's still the Beatles. Probably one of my least favourite Beatles albums but still 4*. Fav tracks: All My Loving, It Won't Be Long, Hold Me Tight
Beatlemania for life, baby The only reason this doesn’t get five stars is because it was an executive mistake to have them record so many covers
I see why girls in the 60s were going absolutely nuts over this
The Lennon/McCartney songs are like pre-TikTok dopamine factories
If you had bet me in the 1963 that four years later this same group would produce Sgt. Pepper I would have definitely lost that bet. On a totally different planet for their sound and style at this point.
I grew up with the Beatles, but it wasn’t until I was older that I realized my dad didn’t really have anything in his collection before Rubber Soul. Of course, I knew there were Beatles songs that pre-dated that album but I had never listened to any of those albums start to finish. Even after I went back to Beatles “oldies” (which is kind of mind-blowing they did this all in a decade because their doo-wop Help! sound is completely different from their post-Rubber Soul psychedelic sound, and those albums released the same year..what?!). Despite my familiarity with the Beatles discography, I had honestly never heard of With the Beatles. I looked at the tracklist and even then, minus the covers, I wasn’t familiar with the songs. How was this possible? And, what does this say about the album if there aren’t any hits on it? Why is this the first Beatles album I’m hearing on this list? Did I miss something? Well, apparently I DID miss something because this album is incredible. Do the Beatles ever miss? I’m not suggesting this is a masterpiece, and all things considered, it’s still probably one of my least favorite Beatles albums, but it’s still so good. I was most impressed by “Til There Was You,” which I was utterly shocked to find that not only was this a cover, it originally appeared in the Broadway musical The Music Man. All in all, this is classic Beatles “oldies” with none of the hits, and it’s good. The harmonies, the melodies, the arrangements, it all works, and it’s easy to see how the Beatles were so successful. I’m still not sure how they managed to transform their sound so much over the course of a decade, but I’m glad for it. The originals on here are great, but not as noteworthy as some of the other stuff they’ve done (save for maybe McCartney’s “All My Loving”). This one is a solid 4.5 for me, but I’m bumping it to 4 since we can’t give half ratings mostly due to there being so many amazing Beatles albums, and I’m still a little surprised this one made the cut. The Wikipedia article did shed some light on it and convinced me it’s worth the entry on this list, but I’m hoping it didn’t get in over other Beatles albums.
Incredible performances on vocals and instruments. Incredibly catchy songs.
Kinda really fire. Twangy and hopelessly romantic with a bit of aura. Many bangers that just hit the spot.
Nautin
Early Beatles are great. It really helps to understand the influences and get a sense of where they came from. Fun to think of this as the same band that would soon create albums like Sgt. Pepper or Let It Be. Also, “All My Loving” is an all timer for me. That said, this is the era of Beatles that I listen to the least. They were groundbreaking and yet still sound of a time on this album. Still enjoyed thoroughly.
As always, I like the Beatles. Although this album was not their best, I think that it was nice and it held my preferences.
a lovely classic. til there was you is a gem
The classes that has some songs that I forgot how much I appreciate just go to classic rock rock ‘n’ roll
While nowhere near as adventurous as many of the Beatles' later albums, this album is still a pretty fun listen. I'd probably put Please Please Me over this, but yeah. 7 or 8
Can’t go wrong with the Beatles
With The Beatles This was the Beatles second album, released just six months after their debut, featuring a mix of original songs and covers. Although the Fab Four were still only in their early 20s at this point, their experience of playing hundreds of gigs in seedy clubs has already made them into an incredibly tight and professional band, buzzing with energy and ideas. Their Lennon & McCartney team is kicking into gear and George gets a track too! https://album.link/i/1441164362
I already said it, I'm more into their late albums than their first ones, for all the experimentation paths they took. But these early albums are all solid (really tight, they know their business) & fun pop-rock albums, classic for an ear from our era, but I can understand the thrill it might have been to hear them at the time.
Not their best but still great
Not the most iconic of Beatles records, but an excellent example of their early career.
Godt album
so so good just wouldn’t listen to it on the reg
I've never been a huge fan of the early Beatles. It is still a good album (especially for 1963), but there are only a couple of songs that I really care about here. I think this one is right on the edge between a 3 and a 4 and leaning towards a 3, but it just feels wrong to give the Beatles a 3. I guess it is close enough that it can be rounded up to a 4. Low 4.
Not heard many of the album tracks before. 14 catchy 3 minute pop songs - hard to dislike
I’ve been a Beatles stan since the day I brought Rubber Soul to show and tell in 2nd grade. This being the first Beatles album we’ve gotten has put me in a bit of a spot. On the one hand, I believe The Beatles were sent from God and are by a significant margin the best band ever. On the other, I can see how this album can come across as fairly rudimentary and irritating to some. Their raw talent does shine through but it’s only a glimpse of their potential, which was realized at lightspeed. A few things stand out: - John’s vocals and charisma - The Beatles ability to arrange a simple song with a small but unconventional change or section that elevates it above any normal pop song. - Till There Was You is a crazy cover for a 22 year old. A show tune they composed in a bossa nova style. - Some of the covers are bad, by their standards, and the Beatles playing 50’s rock is not good. At this age it’s already clear they’re music fanatics and phenoms. What I’ve never understood is how they did all this without any kind of formal musical training. I think they all must have had a freakish ear and poured over records trying to figure out changes and melodies. That’s neither here nor there. Giving a 4 here, even though I feel all Beatles records deserve a 5. I think I’m making a new Beatles scale. On the Beatles scale it’s a 2 or 3 but adding 1-2 because it’s the Beatles.
Kind of impossible to evaluate the Beatles because whatever standards I have for rock/pop music is based on their influence. It’d be like saying you prefer a Tesla to a model-T - even making the comparison makes you sound ignorant. That said, if evaluating just on personal taste, this is a solid but not amazing album. The catchiness is there - and that’s the element that carries them through all their eras, even the experimental ones. Kinda crazy that it was only like 4 years between this and the white album (my favorite). I guess you can’t get from here to there that quickly without having a really strong songwriting foundation. And that’s what this album establishes.
Not my favorite Beatles but still great
‘All I’ve Got To Do,’ ‘All My Loving,’ ‘Don’t Bother Me,’ ‘Till There Was You,’ ‘Please Mister Postman,’ ‘Hold Me Tight.’ Some great originals, some enduring covers. It’s a copycat league and they copied as emulators and admirers. Do I prefer Chuck’s maiden recording of ‘Roll Over Beethoven’? You bet. Is Smokey’s ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’ the better one? Uh-huh. Is this still a milestone album and essential listening? I know it is.
This is great, but it's not amazing yet.
Don't know many of the songs but it's quite a nice album!
It’s the Beatles, but it isn’t a no skips record.
Some early Beatles, pre-Capitol Records era. Lots of covers here with a few originals. Hard to believe after all this time there was one song I never heard before (Hold me Tight). This album seems very standard now, but in 1963-1964 this music was all the rage.
Got this one on annual "George quits the band" day! This album cover is the one that gave me the most trouble in college when I was trying to learn who was who, because hair is my major person-identifier. I think I've got it now though (Paul, Ringo, John, George, right? :p) Unfortunately I fear my highlights are just "ones I've heard before (minus 'Roll Over Beethoven' and 'I Wanna Be Your Man')", which is all my brain can handle at this time. All the songs are relatively short and sweet though. Highlights: 'It Won't Be Long', 'All My Loving', 'Till There Was You', 'Hold Me Tight', 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' (adverbs!)
I prefer the later Beatles but this was an enjoyable album
Really enjoyed this, whether it was just the nostalgia element or not I can't quite say. But I much prefered it to the white album. All good songs performed to a high standard. Brilliant. But not perfect. 4
John
Solid, not my favorite, but plenty of classics.
I'm not a Beatles fan, but there's no denying that this is a good album, in my view at least. Very clean, too vanilla, but good, tight musicianship. To give it less than four stars would be an insult to the talent of the Fab Four, even though I can never love their music.
Some great stuff, but also kind of annoying, if I’m being honest. Still giving it 4 stars because I wuv the Beatles. Interesting how much more of the lead singing John did in the early days.
hot take: Beatles are great
Do I like this album? Absolutely. However, I struggle to rate this album as high as other Beatles albums because there are *6* covers on this album: Till There Was You - Sue Raney Please Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry You Really Got a Hold on Me - The Miracles Devil in Her Heart - The Donays Money (That's What I Want) - Barrett Strong That makes 43% of this album covers. That said, it is a bop. "It Won't be Long" and "All My Loving" are highlights for me.
As much as I love The Beatles, I can't give this a 5/5.
You can tell these guys are talented and the covers are a credit to the good taste of the Beatles moreso than any kind of stealing. They made the songs their own and the end product is good and Beatley. They really sound like a 60s boy band here. This won't blow anyone away today, but this sounds like the Beatles and it's a stepping stone to their catalog that is fun to listen to.
I do love the early Beatles. I’m not as much of a fan of some of the covers here. I prefer to hear their sound with their own songs.
Beat, 1963 -> 4