Reviews (page 8 of 16)
certainly their weakest album
Early Beatles are not my jam
One of their very best records.
has its classics
5 stars cuz it’s The Beatles
Still got it!
This is the good shit
Novembre 1963, moins de huit mois après le coup d'éclat de "Please Please Me", The Beatles livrent leur deuxième album, "With The Beatles". Et par la même occasion, le Royaume-Uni et bientôt le monde entier sont saisis par une fièvre nouvelle : la Beatlemania. L'album s'ouvre sur les chapeaux de roue avec "It Won't Be Long", une composition de Lennon-McCartney qui incarne tout ce qui fait le succès du groupe à ce moment-là : une énergie contagieuse, des harmonies vocales précises et ce fameux "yeah, yeah, yeah" qui devient leur signature. C'est direct, efficace et terriblement entraînant. Le principal atout de l'album réside dans cette vitalité. On sent quatre jeunes hommes au sommet de leur popularité, jouant avec une confiance et une fougue communicatives. Le disque contient sans conteste l'une des plus belles pépites de leur début de carrière : "All My Loving". Cette chanson de Paul McCartney est une merveille de composition, bien plus sophistiquée que la plupart des morceaux pop de l'époque. La ligne de basse déambulatoire de Paul, la guitare rythmique effrénée de John et le solo impeccable de George en font un classique intemporel et le point culminant incontestable de l'album. Dans un registre plus sombre et introspectif, "Don't Bother Me" marque la toute première composition de George Harrison à figurer sur un album des Beatles. Bien qu'elle n'atteigne pas les sommets de ses futures contributions, elle témoigne d'une personnalité musicale en gestation et apporte une couleur bienvenue à l'ensemble. Malgré tout, l'album manque dans l'ensemble d'homogénéité car sur quatorze titres, six sont des reprises de standards de la Motown et du rock 'n' roll. Si cet exercice était courant à l'époque et déjà présent sur le premier album, il donne ici une impression de remplissage, comme si le groupe, pris dans le tourbillon des tournées, n'avait pas eu le temps de composer suffisamment de nouveau matériel original. Certes, certaines de ces reprises sont magistrales. La voix écorchée de John Lennon sur "Money (That's What I Want)" est à donner des frissons, concluant l'album avec une puissance viscérale. Sa performance sur "You Really Got a Hold on Me" est également poignante. De même, leur version de "Please Mister Postman" est pleine d'un entrain joyeux. Néanmoins, d'autres reprises peinent à convaincre. "Till There Was You", ballade issue d'une comédie musicale, semble un peu mièvre et détonne avec l'énergie rock du reste du disque. "Devil in Her Heart" ou "Roll Over Beethoven" (chantée par George) sont sympathiques, mais n'apportent pas la plus-value ou la réinvention qu'on attendrait des Fab Four. Elles donnent l'impression que le groupe se contente de jouer des morceaux qu'ils aiment, sans forcément se les approprier complètement. Même du côté des compositions originales, tout n'est pas au niveau de "All My Loving". Des titres comme "Little Child" ou "Hold Me Tight" (une ancienne chanson retravaillée) fonctionnent grâce à l'énergie du groupe mais manquent de la finesse et de l'inventivité qui caractériseront leurs futurs morceaux. il faut prendre "With The Beatles" comme un album charnière, mais un album essentiel pour comprendre l'ascension fulgurante du groupe. Il a parfaitement rempli sa mission en 1963 : satisfaire l'appétit insatiable des fans avec une nouvelle dose d'énergie Beatles. Cependant, l'album reste inégal. Pris en sandwich entre l'explosion brute de "Please Please Me" et le génie mélodique 100% original de "A Hard Day's Night" (sorti moins d'un an plus tard). C'est un album qui consolide un succès plus qu'il ne le réinvente. Un 3 sur 5 pour un bon album, témoin de son temps, mais pas encore le grand disque des Beatles.
"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.
Do wop Beatles. Some great tracks that tease their future textural intricacies, but not my go to if I'm in the mood for the Fab Four.
So cheezy, so adolenscent... "I'm kissing the lips that I'm missing", "I love you madly, you treat me badly" - all right, gents, that's early stuff, got it. Still strange that The Beatles of Yesterday, Come Together and Eleanor Rigdy had blown up with this. It was a fun way to shake the dust off the legends.
The Beatles origin
Early pop Beatles is my least favorite Beatles. All My Loving is a great pop song though and is the big hit from this album. There are several covers on this album and Till There Was You is a good example. Please Mr. Postman and Roll Over Beethoven are not as successful. Never cover Chuck Berry unless you happen to go back in time. I know they love Motown, but these are not great covers. Money (That's What I Want) works though and one of their more famous efforts.
All righty, well, not one of their best albums.
Underwhelming relative to other Beatles offerings. 3.2
3.5. Always like be some Beatles!
Not their best work, but there has been worse music on this list
Never listened to a Beatles album before this was good not great
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!
I used to absolutely love this album when I was at university so it has a special place in my heart for sure. That being said, I know for sure this is nowhere near the best album of the Beatles. Arguably their first album, though with less originals, actually has something more endearing and more of a cohesive feel to it. It’s still a quality album there is no denying that, and I actually heard some new things in the songs this time around too which is testament to the timeless quality of the Beatles. Despite my familiarity, I’m still changing and chopping my favourites years after first hearing it. 4/5 Standout tracks (this time): Don’t Bother Me Til There Was You Roll Over Beethoven
Banger
i prefer please please me
I mean, duhhh. Its The Beatles
Just ok. Kind of over the Beatles.
So, the Beatles is not really my thing, but I can get why these guys become so huge.
Already listened
I fell back asleep but it was chill
3.5
This is my least favorite Beatle's album. However I still think it's alright. Only one song I don't like the album is short. and very catchy like every. Beatle's album.
Ça va, si on veut comprendre l'origine des Beatles et le phénomène, mais en soi pas si mémorable
Wish I could give half stars. Not my favourite Beatles album but yknow still fairly enjoyable 3.5/5
Nice listen, but I’ve definitely been spoiled by White Album being one of their first I listened to
It's a strange one to have on the list. Basically business as usual after Please Please Me. Not particularly groundbreaking
The Beatles were pretty bland back in the early days weren't they? Not being a mega fan, I can only imagine that this was just how the record label wanted to package and present them. But this is the band that made girls go absolutely crazy? It's fairly standard, generic sounding late 50's/early 60's rock and roll/pop/merseybeat. Having said that though, you can definitely hear what they will be capable of in the future and the seeds are definitely there ready and waiting to grow. As always with The Beatles, the harmonies are great and some of the tracks are ridiculously catchy. That Lennon - McCartney songwriting duo never disappoints. My favourite from this is probably 'All I've Got To Do'. It's just classic early Beatles, everything I mentioned before in a track. A bit hit and miss, and probably still finding their feet, but still a decent enough outing from the Fab Four. My least favourite album of theirs though (so far).
#1 really fun intro vibe with backing vocals in the yeah the vocals 2. Good filler ig, still a good and fun song just not as much of a standout as the others 3. Really fun song great song ofc once again the combination/ zusammenspiel of lead and backing vocals make it interesting and soft and they seem to play with vocals / add layaers with them more than other instruments 4. More mellow vocals kinda 5. More fun cranked up vocal with more instruments 7. More modern sounding lead vocals while melodies/ bakcing v/ instruments sound more old fashioned 8. Classic 60s rocknroll sounding riff and guitar sound, while hearing some more iconic beatles sounds (clapping hands as beat, oohs in the vocals) 9. Again more old fashioned rocknroll vibe 10. Really nice vocals, once again together with backing, vocals sound more modern even, while the instruments sound old fashioned esp syrong simple bass, some experimentation with the vocals even 11. Fun upbeat vibe, nice break away/variation catches you again Rest is kinda similar to vibe before again Summary: this 1963 album is definitely a document of the time, it has classic 60s rock'n'roll sounds, with vintage guitar tones, strong punchy bass accents and layered vocals. It is clear though that the group was transforming these classic traditional aspects, the guitar is becoming more rocky, the vocals sound quite modern even on certain songs and you can hear parts of their iconic sounds with beats being clapped out and guitars becoming more electrifying. They play with the vocals nicely, there is some experimentation in pauls vocals and the interplay between lead and backing vocals is so fun and a big part of what makes the songs and really engages listeners. Just for personal preference though, this gets a 3/5 i think.
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
It was alright, prefer their later work. 3 stars.
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
I am not a fan of early Beatles. I could see myself giving it a second listen, but there would more likely be something else i would go with.
You're not going to lose with any Beatle record on this list. I know there are going to be some haters here, but not much to be done about that. Each album belongs on here.
it wont be long- 4 all ive got to do- 4 all my loving- 4 dont bother me- 4 little child- oh thats not... till there was you- 5 please mister postman- ill always think of that one vine. rip legend <3. not the beatles obvi, they should rot. 4 or 5 roll over beethoven- 4 hold me tight- 4 you really got a hold on me- 4 i wanna be your man- 4 devil in her heart- 4 not a second time- 3 or 4 money- 4. give black people theyre music back. its insane to me how americans hated black music until british people stole it and played it back to them and suddenly they loved it idc. at least it was short
It may look like there’s two Beatles missing (Bob Dylan and Yoko) but it’s just Bobby, Yoko’s hair is helping her camouflage in the dark.
Love Love Love
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.
Traditional rock and roll made me want to swing dance again (other than Devil in her heart, which is a fun salsa segue). Guitar occasionally takes it up a notch. I imagine it would have been great live and a bit looser. I wanna be your man is the highlight.
édes szíveim, imádom őket, de ez bizony rossz nagyon. :D
Pleasant enough, surprising how many of the "hits" were actually covers
Not my favourite, but still, it's the Beatles.
Classic sound from that time. Good album for a one time listen or background at a senior's complex. Not one I'd have in my rotation but die hard Beatles fan will be all over it. I'd give it 2.5 stars if I could not quite a 3 for me.
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.
I’ve never been a big fan of the Beatles’ early albums, and 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 didn’t do much to change that. While it’s full of youthful energy and tight performances, most of the songs feel locked into a narrow formula — basic love lyrics, simple structures, little ambition. Worse, the mix is hard to enjoy today. The artificial stereo separation — what some call “ping-pong stereo” — can be downright distracting. Vocals in one ear, instruments in the other, with a strange hollowness in between. It’s a historical artifact, sure, but it doesn’t make for pleasant listening. That said, 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘺 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 is a genuine standout, and some of the cover versions work surprisingly well. 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 (𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵) in particular benefits from George Martin’s careful overdub work — it sounds tighter and more powerful than most of the album. But overall, this isn’t a phase of the Beatles I care to revisit. The real magic was still to come.
A fun collection of tunes, lots of covers, The Beatles still working to hit their stride. Was listenable, but not groundbreaking. I do wonder if The Beatles really deserve 7 spots on this list. I mean, yes, they're ~The Beatles~, but there are a lot of other deserving artists out there. I digress. Standout track: Till There Was You (Music Man, ftw!)
As a life long Beatles nut I know every beat, note and word. In the early 60’s when still at school and dependant on parents to finance record purchases you were lucky to have access to more than 4 or 5 LP’s a year. So the records you had were played endlessly and so became part of who you were. Unlike today where you have access to just about every record ever made, which is good but the downside is that you never get so emotionally connected as you did back in the day. So I began listening today knowing full well that I would award it 5 stars. So no need to listen critically but an opportunity to listen again from start to finish and try to capture again those memories of times as a young lad singing along in his bedroom adorned with posters of the Fab Four. At the risk of annoying younger people those times were really golden and I feel so privileged that I lived through that time. This album is a great example of how good music was then. What I didn’t know was that this was just the start. This to Sgt Peppers in 4 years!! 5/5 31/5/25
Some wonderful tunes and sounds, and a precursor of amazing things to come. By no means is this a great album.
"I don't like it," said my aunt of "With The Beatles". She was 8 when this album was released. We had just euthanised one of her beloved cats. I, however, liked it. I wouldn't put it near the top of the greatest albums pyramid; (confession: it probably wouldn't make the cut for a place on the pyramid.) that said, it was 33 minutes well spent.
1. It Won't Be Long - 7/10 2. All I've Got to Do - 9/10 3. All My Loving - 10/10 4. Don't Bother Me - 7.5/10 5. Little Child - 7/10 6. Till There Was You - 8/10 7. Please Mr. Postman - 8/10 8. Roll Over Beethoven - 7/10 9. Hold Me Tight - 7/10 10. You Really Got A Hold On Me - 7.5/10 11. I Wanna Be Your Man - 7/10 12. Devil In Her Heart - 6.5/10 13. Not A Second Time - 7/10 14. Money (That's What I Want) - 8/10
Okay. Why has it been over 13 months since my last Beatles album? I got 4 of them in the first 6 months or so of the project and then, for some reason, I had to wait 13 months for another! Whatever. In the time since then, I've become more passionate about my enjoyment of the Beatles albums I've heard. However, the four I've heard before today are all considered must-listens. Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper, Rubber Soul, and the White Album are seen as some of the greatest albums of all time. Well, okay, Rubber Soul isn't as big as the other three, but it's still an essential listen! With the Beatles is not an essential listen. You may be wondering? Why was this Beatles album put on the list? Well, I don't think With the Beatles was put on because of the album specifically. This, to me, is effectively the representative of the band's early days, which are still quite important to the development of the band we've all known and loved for the past 60+ years. There's something oddly charming about early Beatles songs. Like, this is nowhere near as good as the stuff they would make later. Let's get that out of the way. Compared to albums like Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper, With the Beatles is just worse. However, I still enjoyed my time With the Beatles. It's cute seeing some standard rock and roll that seems like child's play today knowing that these guys would go on to write masterpieces like "A Day in the Life" and the whole Abbey Road medley. But for now, we get simple love songs like "All My Loving" and "It Won't Be Long" interspersed with some covers. I don't know what it is, but there's something about an album like this that I like a lot more than something like an early Rolling Stones album. Maybe it's the fact that there's not as much blatant misogyny. Maybe the Beatles are just more charming characters. Maybe I'm just biased. Who knows? With the Beatles is a fun time, but not one that stands toe-to-toe with other albums of the time and albums that would follow. I still enjoyed it though. High 3/5.
Crazy how the Beatles went from this to fucking Revolution 9
Not my favorite Beatles album, but a good one nonetheless. 3.2/5
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
This is NOT The Beatles I love. That comes later. What you do have here are great harmonizing and genius of George Harrison on guitar.
It's the Beatles, if you like that kinda thing you'll like this
I'm pretty sure they have the entire Beatles discography on this considering this is the 3rd album I get from them on day 224, and no matter how many times they get shoved on me and hear all about how important they were for music, I still think they're boring as fuck, please stop trying to convince me otherwise, I'm not falling for the psyop
A bunch of catchy pop-rock songs. The quality Beatles vocal melodies are there, but the songs are simpler, more straightforward rock n roll. But it’s still not as melodically lush, musically advanced, or arranged as interestingly as their later work. It’s good for what it is.
Tight and bouncy, this is a collection of great little pop songs but little else. Although there are hints of the interesting chords and turnarounds which would pepper (heh) their most accomplished work, this is a naively straightforward album where one song blends into another. I'm glad they grew beyond this sound! Favourite tracks: All My Loving, Don't Bother Me, Money
I Want to Hold Your Hand was one of my all time favorites for the Beatles, but this album is not at the top.
It was just OK. Wasn't great, wasn't terrible; it was just fine.
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.
Didn't expect to know most of these. They have their own sound to these classics, but to me the album sounds like a bunch of greatest hits/covers. Lennon's voice is best when raw.
Kort og godt. Ikke det bedste Beatles, men nem at nyde. Og måske vigtigst, så kender det sin besøgstid!
#notmyBeatles
Early Beatles. 1963. Catchy call refrain. Blues riffs. An archetypal Beatles sound. 2 - 3 minute songs. Little minuets. At the risk of being arrested for sacrilege. The early stuff is boy band blues. Personal preference, I much prefer the later stuff once they let George Harrison loose. That said a few catchy as hell tunes: It won’t be long, Don’t Bother Me, Please Mr Postman (cover), Roll Over Beethoven (cover), You Really Got a Hold on Me (cover) and Money (That’s What I Want) (cover)
acho esse o mais fraquinho deles...
esse eh o segundo piorzim deles, na minha humilde opinião tem please mr postman então tá valendo. bom album!
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, heavily blues influenced, album. But I can’t help but feel like every single Beatles album doesn’t belong on this list. Like did they truly grow enough in these early days to have .01% of all the albums here. I wish there was a rule for 2-3 albums per artist.
Inden jeg høre albummet: Jeg elsker The Beatles og hører meget af deres musik. kender godt nogle sange på albumment. men har ikke hørt så godt om albummet men glæder mig til at lytte. Efter at høre albummet: Jeg syntes ikke at albummet var mega godt, det er ikke noget som jeg vil sætte på selv igen men der var et par gode, som til there was you, og all my loving. men ellers ikke så meget der, det var meget oldschool
I understand this was groundbreaking at the time, but it never really aged well. I’ve never really been a fan of the early Beatles, anything pre rubber soul
Pretty good, but not their bes album
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.
Dang. It turns out even early mid Beatles are pretty damn good. Not nearly as inspired as their post Revolver output, but you can see the flashes of where they will go in the not too distant future. 3.5 Stars
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!
Repeat listen
Many are much too cool for them, but I think it's really interesting and enjoyable to hear where they started from and appreciate how far they travelled musically over the next half-decade.
I liked it a lot very good songs favorites are All my loving and Roll over Beethoven
mid
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.
Little bursts of pure nostalgia. Supremely good pop.Some good rocking tunes...Roll Over Beethoven and Money. Stand outs for me Till there was you and You've Really got a hold on me. Lyrics to Little Child sound off to me now.
Brilliant album. Brilliant group. The best rock and roll music ever. I love everything they did. In my mind, no one can top them.
Early Beatles classics
its early beatles stuff. fun, but isn’t gonna impress anyone in existence anymore lol
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.
With the Beatles - not quite in their stride yet but you can see why they stood out from the other Merseyside bands. Paul and John's voices meld so perfectly and the original compositions are good.
Primeira vez escutando um álbum dos Beatles de cabo a rabo. Bom começo para conhecer melhor a discografia (sei que há uma mudança de estilo em alguns álbuns mais para a frente). Ritmo animado que contrasta com o sofrimento trazido pela combinação de solidão e tesão nos versos. All I´ve Got to Do foi a minha faixa favorita sem sombra de dúvidas. Muito boa. Demais músicas são boas também.
Dont like
They already sound great, and in brief glimpses you get to see the exceptional talent they later displayed in bucket loads. If they never went on to write another record, I think With The Beatles would be considered a strong, c-tier early 1960s record with excellent pop sensibilities and gorgeous harmonies. As a Beatles record it receives a far greater level of expectation than it can handle.
Classic. Very “light” luridly and quite simple musically. But doesn’t everyone like popcorn now and again?
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.
The Beatles get a lot more interesting as musicians once they get past their generic pop rock era and don't have to deal with shrieking fans on stage.
The Beatles might be the greatest band of all time. This does not account for their early albums, which pretty much sounded like 50's/60's rock. This was before they were an interesting band. Not a bad listen, but boring compared to their later works.
Far from my favorite Beatles album, but not bad. Obviously it's an important step in their evolution, so from a historical perspective it's worth a listen. The trouble is that the overabundance of covers serves to break the spell for me and makes me want to go listen to those artists instead. It feels like they didn't have the confidence to stand on their own compositions, so they pulled in other songs they liked to support what they had and avoid a potential commercial failure. That makes this a mixed bag for me. None of it is especially bad, but it pales in comparison to their albums that followed.
Catchy, for sure. Still feels a bit tethered to the rock n' roll era, which is a bit of a stale sound now. These guys have a bit of talent though, think they'll go on to do better things. 6.5 / 10 Best track/s: Please Mr Postman, Till There Was You
Høyrt lite på før, sidan eg høyrer mest på eldre The Beatles, men overraskande bra og friskt.
Even further from the fuzz.
Amazing that they sounded almost fully formed this early on. A solid album although I feel Motown did a lot of the heavy lifting for this. Far from my favourite Beatles album but still good.
the covers were fun, this is a beatles album i dont usually pull for, so it was nice to give it some attention
Solid. Full of classics. Lacking variety.
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.
Fun and charming. Lots of covers.
My third Beatles album and I’m not even 50 albums in! I liked Abbey Road very much and I still liked Revolver though I wasn’t as impressed by Revolver as by Abbey Road. This album With The Beatles was rather mono-thematic. While I’ve come to learn that they always sing a lot about love, I appreciate it when they don’t. Still, there are some bangers and bops on here that I can enjoy. I’m giving it 3 stars because it’s six covers songs.
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.
Mor white dudes
Always love listening to the Beatles
Good old Beatles teen love songs.
Not their best. Definitely on their sappier teen pop love albums. But still great
Wake me up when they release Help! Putting aside academic interests (historical significance, etc.) and focusing on it as a collection of recordings, it’s pretty forgettable; All My Loving excepted.
Better than I thought it would be, clearly their earlier pop-blues
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
Not the best of the The Beatles albums, but an interesting listening though.
This is #day271 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... well, it had to happen eventually: my first Beatles album. Ironically, I haven't hit a single Stones record yet, and I've always been more of a Stones guy. As for The Beatles, I like the Revolver kind of Beatles, aka experimental, and some of the later-in-their-career kind of Beatles. Not a fan of early pop/rock standard cover Beatles, really. That said, "It Won't Be Long" and "All My Loving" are sweet. The rest sounds pretty corny. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day272.
Though a far cry from the excellence of their later albums, one can start to hear the sounds that would go on to cement The Beatles as one of the all time greats. Whilst not essential listening by any stretch of the imagination, there's some good stuff on here that's well worth checking out.
Done
Not incredible, somewhat boring
Oldie but goldie
A lot of people hate the early Beatles albums because it lacks the perfection the later albums achieve both lyrically and musically. My argument for this is that they are SO DAMN CATCHY! I could listen to this for hours on end and even if it is far from their best, I can't stop listening to it!
Meh. Don’t get the fascination for the Beatles.
3/5 but still a great Beatles album, especially the first 3-4 tracks, which are Lennon-McCartney originals. I love the youthful excitement in "It Won't Be Long" and "All My Loving" and the pretty sustained vocalizations in "All I've Got to Do". Almost half of the album is covers - was that a normal thing of the time? And mostly Motown covers, where the originals are much better imo. I think this shows how much Motown has influenced the Beatles and helped propel them into stardom in their early careers. Even "All I've Got to Do" is very Smokey Robinson coded, and it works. Unfortunately, the later part of the album runs out of that steam. Even with their Motown covers, I can see how fans went crazy for the Beatles. They are so charming here and just so innocent and simple in their emotional lyrics.
A contender for my least favorite Beatles album, but it's still not a bad listen. 3/5
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.
Culture vulture Beatles. Neat.
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.
I love the Beatles and I’ve never listened to this album. I already love the sound. This is classic Beatles sound. “All my loving” is such a great song. Every bit of it. This album is so great. And it’s a great snapshot of how the music industry worked at that time and how it was changing.
These lads can write some decent tunes, but someone should probably give them drugs so we can see what they can really do.
meh but i guess i haven't listened to enough old stuff to have perspective. could be 3, but 2 ig since i hope most other stuff here will be better
It sounds so much of its time, in a way that later albums don't. Maybe it deserves to be on this list by virtue of it showing the Beatles evolution towards greater things, but in it's own right? Nah.
Even early/not fully baked Beatles are good Beatles.
Bra pop låtar int det bästa Beatles har att komma med Bästa låten: Please Mister Postman
yeah (yeah!) yeah (yeah!) yeah (yeah!)
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)
Lots of covers. Probably too many covers. But an interesting look back to when the Fab 4 were just getting started. Influential if not a bit dated.
3.0 - Ok
doesn't deserve to be in this list, in some ways its a cash grab, but its ok
schönes beatles album aber mir fast zu old schooly aber flowed schon gut
These kids are pretty talented…I hope they make something of themselves. As far as Beatles albums go, nowhere near my favorite.
Iconic album cover. As a Beatles fan, I listen to a few of the later albums regularly, but always enjoy coming back to their earlier stuff to see how much they evolved over the decade or so they were making music. An album full of great pop hits.
4/5
I know it is blasphemous to refer to a Beatles album as Meh but while I enjoy some of the covers this is just a poor or at best OK album. Not horrible but I can't see giving it more than a couple stars.
solid beatles record
It was ok. The Beatles is just not my thing.
Fun album, with definite glimpses of the band the Beatles would become. Few too many covers to be a classic album IMO.
Starts off fun, but goes fairly stale after a while. Fun fact - this is not their best album.
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.
Garage Rock meets Power Pop. Long before anybody uses these terms. Great album
Classic Beatles. I prefer their later stuff, but not bad.
Pure bliss. Old bliss admittedly, but bliss nevertheless.
no
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
Too many covers to give it anything more than a 3. Enjoyable listen.
Boy band era Beatles, the music is boring. All respect to how important it was historically etc, it is boring.
The Beatles were about to take over the world. 5 starrs or A-.
Just a band. In all honesty this isn't a great album, but it's ok. It's just a bunch of songs. Compared to what would come later, it's like a sketch. Really, if you give this a five, what are you giving Sgt Pepper or the White Album? And covers. Really? I know it's hard to judge what the impact and feeling was like back then, but this is now. Three at best. Do better, Beatles. Three stars.
This is basically prom night Beatles. All suits and clean haircuts. It’s a polite, good time. The covers are kind of adorable, even when they’re a little half-baked, and there's a flash here and there of what they’d grow into, but it’s more sock hop than stadium anthem. Spins: 3 Playlist Additions: - All My Loving - Please Mister Postman - Roll Over Beethoven - You Really Got A Hold On Me - Money
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
This is the album where the Beatles start to realize their potential. The album isn’t a couple of singles surrounded by their amateur show material. It’s a little more thoughtful and is the beginning of the through line to the band that changes everything.
2,5
I do not know what it is, but when I am listening to The Beatles, I found out that my mood was instantly lifted
Pretty solid (of course) and the covers are good versions. Some of the originals are pretty forgettable. I would go 3.5--when it came out it was a 10, dropping for being a bit basic these days.
One of my favourite bands of all time; my very first record ever was The White Album, and it changed my life. Hearing this record makes me reflect on the wonder of chance and fate - that these four young men should find each other, blend their sounds and thoughts and opinions on music - and that the end result would be arguably the most consequential pop music of the 20th century. 1000 stars out of 5.
Beatles really did come onto the scene ripping off black artists
I was initially going to skip this one. I'm glad I didn't.
One f the very first bands I remember listening to as a youth. My uncle and Aunty played the RED albums all the time. First records I ever bought with my own money were Beatles. So will always have a special place in my heart.
How do you rate an album that almost every song you’ve ever heard has somewhere in its DNA? I suppose the question has to be: would I put this on for pleasure, and I wouldn’t. It isn’t bad by any means, but it wouldn’t be the Beatles album I would choose to spin.
This is fine. To be expected for early beatles
Lopu jo
Despite being a Beatles record, this has not much to offer even in terms of the era. Pretty average 60ies. A few mémorables, a few awful trucks. If it weren't the Beatles, I predict this would have gone fairly unnoticed.
Very good album. Never listened to the Beatles much but enjoyed this album. Could see myself re-listening to this, or more Beatles.
60s' pop rock being 60s' pop rock with the added benefit of horrible use of stereo. Not terrible but outdated and quite boring.
This is one Beatles album that could be left off this list. At this point this inclusion is just Brit Bias or fanboyism. I generally enjoy the Beatles, yet wouldn't call myself a huge fan. This album just drones on, and doesn't really stand out at all in their catalog of music. When the album ended, I found myself audibly saying, "Thank god".
Hard to say anything bad about this LP. Many classics! And to believe they wrote all of these tunes!? Just incredible.
Most of the tracks were new to me, but I knew a couple. Enjoyed it a lot, will listen again.
The first 4 songs are surprisingly excellent for early era Beatles, and the cover of Please Mister Postman is good (hard to mess up in all honesty), but yeah the rest of this, particularly the covers,aren't very special. I understand the importance of this album in the grand scheme of the bands development, as well as it's wider influence on it's peers and successors in terms of The Beatles embracing increased maturity and a greater control of their artistic image and creativity, but I'm not sure you need to listen to this before you die. There are far greater Beatles albums, you could stick to those and take away far more, sure you'd be lacking some background on the musical path they took, but the better stuff still holds up. 3 Stars.
Good album from the Beatles. Underrated by beatles fans.
1. It Won't Be Long - can be buried in a hole far away from my cochlears. 2. All I've Got To Do - Liked. Downloaded. 3. All My Loving - off their 2nd album that's awesome. Classic. Like the harmonies a lot. 4. Don't Bother Me - love the percussion in this song a lot. It reminds me of Latin American samba. Downloaded. 5. Little Child - meh. 6. Till There Was You - love the acoustic guitar. Downloaded. 7. Please Mister Postman - yeesh my poor cochlears. I don't think I like this song? Every cover is bad on my ears. Skipped halfway. 8. Roll Over Beethoven - quintessential early Beatles sound pero no download for me. 9. Hold Me Tight - meh. 10. You Really Got a Hold On Me - those opening notes are so iconic and only meant for The Miracles. pass. 11. I Wanna Be Your Man - meh. 12. Devil In Her Heart - meh. 13. Not A Second Time - do love the piano a lot in this song. 14. Money (That's What I Want) - stronger cover than the others. Love the breakdown at the end. Not really one that I would download but still strong. Piano by George Martin ("The 5th Beatle") Final Thoughts - 14 songs and the entire album is 31 minutes. Gnarly different standards now a days. I would give this a 3/5 but add half a point for it being a quintessential stand alone Beatles album. Rating: 3.5/5
More Beatles already? I do think this album has almost all the songs I enjoy of theirs (mainly because of Across the Universe) so this will probably be my favorite album out of the 4 or 5 I have feeling that I'll be listening as part of this project.
What a fun album
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.
Definitely sounds like The Beatles. For such an iconic album cover, it’s mainly all covers and songs I have never heard that sound very similar. 6/10
Good for beachy vibes, bit slow for my taste. Also I can only listen to old Beatles song for so long before it all kind of sounds the same.
Some fire on this. Favorite track is I Wanna Be Your Man.
It was alright
Found it okay, maybe was comparing to other songs of The Beatles I like, or wasn't in the mood...
Very pleasant album. I enjoyed the listen.
It’s one of my least favourite Beatles albums. Has good songs, but it kind of disappoints
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!
Never been a Beatles fan
Dont know if it is their first or one of the firsts,but it is pretty bad compared to all of their other songs Songs with repetitive lyrics,their symphony doesnt glue with you and their lyrics are almost identical and simple,just talking abiut love in the simplest of ways
Pretty great, had already heard most of these songs before of course. Amaya cool to stumble across new ones
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)
Haut mich jetzt net vom Hocker, bin aber auch kein riesen Beatles Fan.
Exploring a band's rise before they become meteoric monoliths is always a fascinating and exciting exercise. For The Beatles, that is four times so. With The Beatles documents the soon-to-be Fab Four iron out kinks and refine techniques all the while continuing to introduce new ideas that would come to rip the rulebook that characterized pop songwriting at that time. From John and Paul's chemistry increasingly bearing fruit to George's first stab at making his voice heard and Ringo being ever reliable on the kit and the occasional song sung by him, With The Beatles is not only the sounds of the pot overboiling but the sounds of a tide turning for good.
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.
I always loved the beatles. They're legendary. With their soft songs, they directly touch the spirit. This album isn't their best. You have to listen Yellow Submarine and Eleanor Rigby or maybe the Taxman.
Bangers! Bangers! Bangers! Love the originals and covers.
Up until Sgt. Pepper’s UK Beatle albums would have 14 tracks, US versions only 12. Then a couple of times the US market would squeeze out another album to make money off of which caught things up (Yesterday and Today, Beatles IV). The US version of this (Meet the Beatles) had the 9 songs written by the group, plus three other hits released in the UK on a single (She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There, and This Boy — 3 great tracks). The 5 cover versions on this UK release ended up on the US album The Beatles’ Second Album. So arguably Meet the Beatles is a better album than With the Beatles. Still, I love the covers here (especially Roll Over Beethoven), so it’s still a 5.
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’m glad the Beatles evolved from this sound, this is everything they ended up rebelling against by the end.
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.
A landmark album which contains several of their much-loved songs & had a massive societal impact when it was released. And you removed it from The List whilst retaining 4 albums of risible shit from the Beastie Boys & literally dozens of vile rap & hip hop drivel & the same number of identical, formulaic rooooaaaar & 'American rock' garbage. SHAME ON YOU
Not the best Beatles is still more memorable than a lot of what’s out there. This and A Hard Day’s Night are both 3.5, that got a 4 so giving this a 3.
Warum die drums alle links und vocals rechts
Interesting to get this album immediately after Little Richard. It clearly takes so much from LR. As a whole, this album works a little better for me. While LR maintained a high intensity throughout, this album rolls and crests with a little more emotional variation. It keeps the upbeat tempo throughout, just like LR, but the individual songs leave a little more space to emotionally breathe. But there is no “With the Beatles” without “Here’s Little Richard.”
no surprises with the beatles
Yippee
7/10 Favorite Tracks: *Til There Was You*, Please Mister Postman Least Favorite Tracks: Not a Second Time, Money (That's What I Want).
Was ok. Not many of the songs grabbed me and I guess it was very samey to a lot of stuff I've already listened to, but listening to it in 2025 defo doesnt do it any favours
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.
Too many 'Babys', 'Pleases'.and 'Loves' for me. Later Beatles much more interesting
Some nice little dittys but not that interesting overall. Mad that there was only 2 years between this and Rubber Soul. The cover of a Money is good but the Secret Machines version is better (sponsored post). Overall, and unlike almost all their other 33s, lacks a big single or two.
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.
It was pretty good, not on the level of the 2 other Beatles albums I've reviewed so far - but they were from later in their catalogue.
Love the length of songs. Love the Beatles. Lots of covers that were unexpected.
so much beatles on this here website
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
Only 13 albums in and here is my 2nd Beatles record! This is not my Beatles, but it’s pretty enjoyable with a couple of strong Lennon/McCartney compositions and, dare I say, a very enjoyable cover of Please Mister Postman. I don’t listen to this one often and I can’t see that changing, but it’s a fun record. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Still good, but somehow just misses the usual greatness associated with The Beatles.
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
3.5
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.
ich werde real sein: mid af
Please Mister Postman neuron activation Sonst sleeper😴
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.
Didn't like it
early Beatles is still Beatles. great album, fav track Money
BLAH PEOPLE BEETLES
6.5/10 My score makes it sound like I didn’t really like it, when I did. But this just isn’t my favourite Beatles sound. The melodies are there, the songs are good (a lot of covers gives it a “let’s bang this out” feel) but they are very much route one rockers. Excellent ones though. The vocals of Lennon and drums of Ringo carried this album. Best: Money
Very of a time, didn't make a huge impression though. It's just so much apart of the fabric of music it's difficult to think about it as an artistic thing
This album is really the impetus of modern rock and roll. Sure it takes plenty of influence from the likes of Chuck Berry (they even cover a song here) and the other 50’s guitar blues rock greats, but I don’t think rock would have evolved into what it has without the Beatles, and beginning with this album. That being said, it shows its age stylistically and its one of those albums where I think to myself “if I’m going to listen to the Beatles, it isn’t going to be this”. ‘This’ is great, but I much prefer the later Beatles sound.
This album was actually not that bad. I’m glad I decided to give them a try.
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.
The Good: We know who we are with… The Bad: What happens if we suffer from entomophobia? The Ugly: Being left without the Beatles… I was NOT looking forward to listening to this album… not because of who they are, but more because the album cover warned me that this could be a little too campy… Boy was I wrong! Again these four freaks from Liverpool prove they are the GOAT, and I really do my best to not like them. There weren’t too many songs on list that looked familiar to me, so you spin the album (stream… sorry) and you realize that you’ve heard almost all of them before… Whether or not it is in movies, or tv shows, or just on the radio… And the tunes are wonderfully short, so even if you aren’t enjoying a tune too much, it is over before you can say “what the fuck am I listening to?”!!! FUCKERS 5*
Didn’t like it to start off with, enjoyed it by the end
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
Dette er kjedelige vanilla-epoken til Beatles før de lagde sicke bangers
De beste Beatles albumene har en del killers og en del fillers. Her det dog bare fillers.
1. Don't bother me 2. All my loving 3. Money (that's what I want) Tidlig beatles er ikke helt min greie, men noen få kule låter underveis.
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.
I am a Beatles fan so I may be bias, but this has the hits ("It Won't Be Long", "All My Loving", "Till There Was You") and a batch of covers that they made their own ("Roll Over Beethoven", "Please Mr. Postman", "Money (That's What I Want)"). Not my favorite period in Beatledome but the good stuff is too good to ignore.
Absolute banger after banger, 0 skips. It's The Beatles I don't gotta say anymore.
Pleasant to listen to, cute songs but really nothing special
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.
Not their best
I have a mixed relationship with the Beatles. I have listened to their best work so many times that I fear I have become desensitized to their greatness and their influence. But even in keeping my own subjective opinions caused by massive social over-playing in mind, I think even the most objective among us will agree that this is not the Beatles at their best. John and Paul had still not found their voice, instead focusing on covers and vaguely creepy love songs. But even the Beatles worst is better than many bands’ best. 3.3/5
Considering myself "familiar" with the Beatles, didn't occur to me how little of the earlier stuff I had listened to. Formulaic themes, yes, but sweet (& teeny song times) Glad they moved it up a notch or 5 though 😅
Schönes aber nich spektakuläres frühes Beatles Album, mit dem Songs „All My Loving“ & „Please Mr. Postman“. Insgesamt etwas zu viel Beat und zu wenig Gefühl.
meh
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"
These guys have potential
Классика, что тут сказать? Но другие их альбомы нравились больше
2.5
Six out of fourteen tracks are (not great) covers. And, does a book/list like 1001 AYMHBYD need seven Beatles albums? I love the Beatles, but really?
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.
I have little love for the older stuff The Beatles made - it's just not my cup of tea. A lot of it feels samey, and the vocal work just doesn't do it for me. That said, I recognize that there are still some good tracks here. 'Till There Was You' was my fave from this album.
It's hilarious how average this is
Houmous & Chutney wrote and performed the soundtrack to the hit 2003 film Beethoven’s 5th. It almost didn’t happen. Len had a crisis of conscience. He’d promised John way back when that he’d never perform in any sort of tribute to John or Yoko and we agreed we’d never cover Roll Over Beethoven. How do you follow The Beatles effort? So few people ever understood that the entire premise of all 6 films was that Beethoven the dog WAS John Lennon. That’s why we did the 5th. We got offered all of them. Only when we got to the 5th did we realise no one knew so it was fine. 3.2
So many hit songs. Typical album has maybe one or two.
Never rated them highly and this didn’t change it
I knew most of these songs from just playing them at jams, hearing them at musicals, etc., but I've rarely listened to the originals. They are classics tho, and I like playing them. It was fun to hear them all in one "playlist". I usually just know them as "the early beatles". I was doing some chores while listening, so it didn't feel like a deep dive. But the album doesn't feel like something that needs a deep dive. It feels more like party music, vibes, rebellious, white people dancing music. It sometimes did feel like I was listening to a white and british interpretation of some very important and historic african american music. But then again, doesn't the majority of popular western music fall into that category. Funny to hear some of the biggest songwriters ever in their early stages. I don't know Beatles lore that well, so would be interesting to know how important this album is compared to some of the more popular once. It's definitely not their best work imo.
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
We're still with the early Beatles here, so there are a few covers (Please Mr Postman, Roll Over Beethoven, Money (That's What I Want), and others), but they're done very well, very well indeed. They do manage to avoid Difficult Second Album Syndrome on their own compositions - All My Loving went on to be a classic in their stable, and the others can hold their heads high. All in all, if you're a fan you'll know it, if not give it a try, you won't go far wrong.
Beatles at their best? No. Beatles at their most industrious? Maybe... 14 songs, 6 covers, 2 LPs in under a year as was the typical fare of early 60s music. The covers are tights, especially the cover of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman", the original songs are serviceable with "All My Loving" being the obvious peak but it's obvious when that and that alone tends to appear on any greatest hit compilation album...
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.