I bought this CD after seeing the Anthology thing on TV my freshman year. It was probably my favorite CD of the year, tied with Green Day's Insomniac. Don't ask me why. Anyway, this truly started my Beatle obsession. They were basically all I listened to for most of 9th grade. It was great. The movie that this was the sndtk. from is very funny, check it out if you get the chance. Maybe not as much of a classic as Hard Day's Night, but fun nonetheless. The 7 songs from the movie + "Yesterday" clearly outclass the rest of the album, so I'll just focus on those.
Help! This is a great song. A lot of energy, plus separate vocal parts you can sing with your friend Sharon. This is where Beatle lyrics even start to mean something. When you consider that this was how Lennon was really feeling at this point, Revolver doesn't seem as much of a departure, lyric-wise, anyway
The Night Before Another fine song, this time sung by Paul. On the whole, the McCartney-influenced material tends to suit me more than the Lennon stuff. Of course there are exceptions (the White Album, where they both sang a fair amount of stupid songs) Nice storytelling-type lyrics.
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away This song is distinguished by the fact that Sharon sang it for Share-the-Fun the summer after 9th grade. It's probably got the best 'video' in the movie; I just love that guy that pops up from the manhole. On top of all this, it is a nice song on its own merits and very enjoyable to listen to.
I Need You This was before George knew how to write a real song. Oh well, it's a sweet one, so we'll give him credit. I'm not sure, but I think this was even Harrison's first composition on a Beatle album. In which case, we'll definitely give him credit.
Another Girl This is a fairly silly song, but proves the fact that most of the songs they do about love in general turn out ok. This part in the movie is silly as well, they're just messing around on the beach and end up switching instruments and all that.
You're Going to Lose that Girl "Boys, are you buzzing?" No seriously, this is a good song, I especially like the harmonies. Also some very nice drumming on this track. (Since I am now a percussionist, I can make insightful comments like that)
Ticket To Ride No, I believe *this* song has the best video. When watching skiing on the Olympics, this song immediately springs to mind. Also a nice little pop/rock song. Which brings up a good point. Are the Beatles pop or are they rock? Or do they just defy categorization?
Act Naturally The Song For Ringo To Sing. He does a nice job at it, but the first time I heard this song, it was on a show called Kidsongs. It was these idiotic kids singing, and the they sang the song about a dog that was going to be in a movie. So I always associate that with this song and it dulls my enjoyment of it somewhat.
I'm just going to skip over the next three since none really stands out in order that I can get to...
Yesterday One of the greatest songs they ever did. I *had* to listen to it as I type this. We even did it for chorus my freshman year. (Sophomore year was Back in the USSR. If we did one last year as well, I don't recall it.) It's a beautiful song, and the strings only add. In the Dave Barry Turns 50 book he states that the young people were troubled by the fact that the parents also liked this song. Well, can you blame them?
The last song is so bad that I'm not even going to write about it, only say that it
sucks that it's on the end of the CD because you get all nice and relaxed from Yesterday
and then that comes along and jars you right out of that feeling.
Jump to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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