Review # 6: The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Uh, oh. Looks like they turned to drugs. Just looking at the cover you can tell they're high. Hopefully this translates into good music, because looking back, they seem to be hit or miss (though missing mainly because of cover songs and lame ablum filler).

1. Drive My Car - Wow, you must really like her Paul. She can drive your car? Actually, that's not what the song is really about, but not a bad way to start the album.


2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - I love everything about this song: the melody, the mysterious lyrics, the Law & Order twist at the end, the sitar played by George who was influenced by Ravi Shankar, father of Norah Jones, who was in "My Blueberry Nights" with Jude Law, who was in the "Road To Perdition" with Tom Hanks, who was in Apollo 11 with...Kevin Bacon.


3. You Won't See Me - The longest song of the Beatles career thus far and it feels like it.


4. Nowhere Man - A pretty good song that sounds like it was influenced while under the influence of the ganja. Also, Nowhere Man could be a pot-head getting lectured about the path he's taken - somewhat ironic considering their new hobby.


5. Think For Yourself - As stipulated in his contract, Georgie gets his very own song that he can show his mother and impress the ladies. Though, I'm pretty sure only his mother like this one.


6. The Word - Before the bird was the word, the word was the word. Or something.


7. Michelle - A good song with some dumb lyrics, but somehow it works (and somehow won a Grammy for Song of the Year). On a side note, Slick Rick (the rapper) mis-interprets the French lyrics "sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble" as "Some dumb monkey bumped his head on." I know, a Grammy, WTF?


8. What Goes On - While everyone is high, Ringo, joking around, hits record and starts singing a song that didn't make the first album...this piece of crap. Maybe it's funny if you listen to it while your high. Speaking of which...


9. Girl - A good song, but it sounds like they are taking a hit of weed everytime the title is mentioned. An early form of a drinking game, perhaps, but with weed, because The Beatles were gangsta, bitch!


10. I'm Looking Through You - Well after that much weed, I might be looking through you too. Actually this song is about Paul's girlfriend of 5 years. This is almost as bad as breaking up by email. The songs not that bad though.


11. In My Life - In a moment of clarity, John writes this great song.


12. Wait - Don't tell me what to do.


13. If I Needed Someone - After finding out the Ringo recorded another song, George pulls out his contract and demands another song. This is the result of that little tantrum. The world would be a better place without that contract.


14. Run For Your Life - John gets high and goes psycho: "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man." All while a little Eminem listens intently at home.

Well, it turned out that the drugs helped do the trick. They seem more relaxed and free. The good songs are really good and the bad songs, well, they still sort of work in a drug influenced kind of way. All considered, this is a pretty decent album.

Review #5: The Beatles - Help!

The first step to self improvement is admitting you have a problem and need some help. Finally the Beatles reach this tipping point, although being a little self conscience, the decide to mask their cries for help with flag signals. Unfortunately, the photographer thought that H - E - L - P in flag signals wasn't visually appealling so they instead spelled out: N - U - J - V! Apparently they need help in more ways than one. Let's see if they manage to get any.

1. Help! - I'm assuming this is the first of many pleas for help - and I fear that if they don't get any help they might turn to drugs and begin to resent one another. Oh, and this song is pretty decent.


2. The Night Before - Keeps the album moving, not bad, but nothing stellar. The lyrics don't seem to make much sense: "when I think of the things we did, it makes me cry" - what the f did you do?


3. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - Another of my favorite Beatles songs, this time for sentimental reasons, as I had a crush on my wife when I first heard this song and I had to hide my love away.


4. I Need You - George gets his first of two songs, this time writing for himself. meh.


5. Another Girl - Combined with the last song, the ablum is losing steam quickly. Paul seems to be rubbing it in his girlfriends face, maybe the one from track 2, not nice.


6. You're Going To Lose That Girl - Another dud, that's three in a row. It seems to be a response to the previous track as John threatens to steal one of Paul girls.


7. Ticket To Ride - A nice song about losing your girl. Given their schedule, I don't see how John has time to stalk and stifle so many women. Trivia Time - according to Wikipedia, the song title's meaning is in dispute, According to wholesome Paul it is supposed to be "Ticket to Ryde" - Ryde being a city in England somewhere, where his lost love is headed to. According to sex-obsessed John, it refers to a prostitute with a doctor's note declaring her free from disease and thus "Ticket to Ride (a prostitute)" - Ride being slang for having sex. The lyrics seem to support Paul. I think John is messing with someone.


8. Act Naturally - Ringo gets ahold of the mic while everyone is out of the room and presses record...


9. It's Only Love - In 1980 Lennon said: "I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song." I am in 100% agreement.


10. You Like Me Too Much - George's second song, keeping him one up on Ringo as stipulated in his contract. So if you're keeping score at home: George 2, Ringo 1, Listeners 0. I hope whoever allowed that into the contract was fired.


11. Tell Me What You See - Nice instrumental, but other than that I don't see too much in this song. Wikipedia, on the other hand, suggests this unmemorable song is pivotal in the growth of the Beatles. Although I could see it growing on me.


12. I've Just Seen A Face - This sounds like what Simon and Garfunkle would sound like if they did a country song.


13. Yesterday - A great song, possilbly better known by its original title, "Scrambled Eggs." No seriously. Try singing it for yourself.


14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy - Aaaaaand were done.

Yes, they need help, and hopefully they find it somewhere before they turn to drugs. Of course after hearing this you may want to take some drugs too. The good songs on here are really good, but the rest simply suck. You'll find what you need on the greatest hits disk that you already picked up instead of album #2. And who knows, that may also save you from experimenting with drugs for first time.

The Beatles - with the beatles

So this is the UK version, the U.S. version was titled meet the beatles and released a couple months later with an altered track listing. According to Wikipedia: "released on 22 November 1963, the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated." I imagine it didn't do so well that first week, but then again, Jay-Z's The Blueprint was released on 9/11/01 and sold half a million copies the first week. Okay, so it was released in the UK in 1963 so they sold about 500k. The U.S. release came a few months later as Meet The Beatles.

So after their first album, they decided to take a whole four months off before recording this album. I imagine the 7.5 pounds they earned wasn't enough for them to go on holiday any longer. Again, a short album, with the longest song only 3 seconds longer than their previous record (no pun). Initially, this sounded like the album picked up in the middle of a song...suddenly, John is yelling at me that it won't be long (I know, your previous album was released just a few months ago, geez). I'd hate to see these guys the day before Christmas. Man, don't they have any patience?

This album had 8 original songs and six covers - let's see how they did...

1. It Won't Be Long - John does a decent job with this, but overall it's just average as they try to kick off the album with some energy.


2. All I've Got To Do - At this point I still can't tell John and Paul apart, but this song is better than the previous one, maybe because it sounds a bit more like Paul singing in my opinion.


3. All My Loving - Paul goes solo with probably the best song on the album.


4. Don't Bother Me - George takes the lead here with an average song that does nothing for me, in fact it kind of bothered me a bit. The music doesn't really fit the mood of the lyrics. The instrumental is just a bit too happy while George tries to sound...depressed?


5. Little Child - Apparently, John wants to dance with some little child - not sure what the point of this song is. In fact, he kind of sounds like that strange uncle who is a bit too friendly until he scares them away with his harmonica. Pass.


6. Till There Was You - First of 3 covers in a row - continuing the tradition of the previous album with a lack of passion (though, again, having never heard the original, maybe this is how it's supposed to sound).


7. Please Mister Postman - The Beatles cover the first number 1 hit single for Motown - always a crowd pleaser. Nice job with this, but I prefer the original, mainly because of the background vocals.


8. Roll Over Beethoven - Sticking with their cover band roots, they jack Chuck Berry this time. Not bad but they sing this like they're borrowing it and don't want to break it. Chuck Berry sings it like he owns it, which he does. It does a nice job keeping the energy high in the middle of the album though.


9. Hold Me Tight - This was a reject from Please Please Me and should have been a reject here too. Paul sounds like he's fighting his way through this one. I wonder if this would sound better with a little AutoTune featuring T-Pain?


10. You Really Got A Hold On Me - After the previous song, this sounds a bit better than it actually is. Pass.


11. I Wanna Be Your Man - Ringo was hoping to redeem himself in case people misunderstood his previous ode to boys. I think he goes a bit overboard. Quite repetative too, as I think he repeats the title 98 times. Were verses not invented yet?


12. Devil In Her Heart - Another cover that seems to drag on and it's only 2:30. It's like he's on a first date or an interview on his best behavior before allowing his personality to come out.


13. Not A Second Time - This seems a bit ironic to me as this album feels like a second version of their first, but minus the good songs.


14. Money (That's What I Want) - A cover song trying hard to be this album's version of Twist and Shout. Also this may be just them explaining that they were just trying to capitalize on the success of the first album and put this out to make a quick buck - seriously you only put 4 months work into this effort, it kind of shows.

I think they may have had a little sophmore slump going on, but then again, they only had 4 months so was do you expect. Speaking of which, over the course of about 8 years, they released 13 albums. In today's market, I doubt anyone would expect solid material on all those albums. In fact I'd bet the reviews would be horrendous if today's most popular artists dropped an album every 6 months. So 13 albums in 8 years, I'd expect them to be a bit watered down. Though since everyone raves about The Beatles, maybe they are the one group that can pull this off, but so far it is looking doubtful unless they continue to fill their albums with covers, but let's be honest, how far can that really take you?

Unless you love cover bands, but hate going to bars, I'd say pass on this one. In the end, you can find the highlights on a "Best of" disc that you'll probably need to buy anyway if you want to get all of the hit singles that never made the albums.

The Beatles - Please Please Me

The Beatles catalog has been remastered and reissued and I figured this would be a good time to give their albums an actual run through. Especially since everyone seems to rank them up towards the top on the best rock bands of all-time. Now, I've heard most of their hits, so I'm not a complete novice, but this genre is also not my favorite so I may have a more distorted view than your average reviewer. I think I can get a pass on not having heard all of these yet as the group dis-banded before I was even born, so for the most part, I didn't really know what all of the fuss was about.

Might as well go in order of release date, so up first is their first U.S. release Please Please Me released in 1963. I decided to go with the mono release for this album (vs. the stereo release) - stereo was just emerging back then, so all of the audiophiles are adamant that the mono version is the way the guys intended the album to be heard. But you can check out wikipedia for more info since if you are still reading this I'm sure you're eager to rave or argue about my listening experience.

So apparently this album was recorded in one day at three straight jam sessions, which could be impressive or could be concerning, I guess, depending on your point of view. Also, apparently it seemed to be a big deal that the band actually wrote their own songs when this was released instead of just covering hits, which I guess anyone can do so at least some success. I mean have you ever been to karaoke? Anyhoo, I guess I should get back to some sort of review.

The first thing I noticed about this album is how short it is. Only one song checks in at more than 3 minutes, and just barely at 3:01. So the verses are quite short if they even exist (yes I'm talking about you Please Please Me and Do You Want To Know A Secret). The next thing I notice is how formulaic it seems. Granted at the time the Beatles were nobodies and trying to get paid a lil' somethin' (all 7.5 pounds - no idea how much that is in real money) so I guess the record label was dictating a just add water approach. (Having heard some of the other songs in their catalog, when they have more artistic freedom it gets more interesting). Of the songs that they wrote, they appear more passionate (Please Please Me, Love Me Do, I Saw Her Standing There) vs. the cover songs (tracks 3-5, 10, 12, 14).

1. I Saw Her Standing There - First song of the jam session and they seem to have plenty of energy. Nice upbeat way to begin an album. Paul even has some fun screaming in the middle, maybe a throwback to their pub playing nights, which apparently (yes another apparently) they were originally supposed to record this album live in a pub during one of their performances, so there.


2. Misery - From upbeat to misery, thanks for sucking the fun out, guys. Actually, they seem a bit to happy to be losing their girlfriends. Maybe they are being sarcastic...I can relate to that.


3. Anna (Go To Him) - Now Anna, John seems upset about. Here's where the album begins to lose a little momentum, in my opinion.


4. Chains - Sounds like they gave this cover song to George to shut him up, but he doesn't seem too happy about it.


5. Boys - I guess Ringo was complaining that everyone else got to sing on the album he needed to get his shine too. Unfortunately, Ringo singing about "talking about boys" doesn't do much to help him out.


6. Ask Me Why - John takes the reigns back here. Maybe he just needed a break. Word on the interwebs is that he had a throat thing going on during the recording session, partly as a result the Twist and Shout cover is at the end for fear of screwing up his voice for the day. This song didn't do too much for me, don't ask me why.


7. Please Please Me - Things pick up here with a little call and response. Maybe this was recorded after lunch. A little fish and chips will go along way. It keeps me pumped for a whole 2 minutes and 6 seconds.


8. Love Me Do - A nice smooth transition into Paul who has been silent since about track 2. I like this song, but I think it could use an actual verse instead of running through the chorus a few times. Nice beat though.


9. P.S. I Love You - Another Paul song and I think it works well with some nice vocal inflections. Paul even gets a little improv on so I guess they have preformed this one a few times.


10. Baby It's You - Sloooowwing down, sha-la-la-la, la-la. A little uninspired at the beginning, like they lost a cricket match with the label and were forced to add this to the album.


11. Do You Want To Know A Secret - Oh, another love song. This time George seems a bit happier, though I don't know how you keep a secret when you record it for the world to hear. I imagine this being thrown George's way due to John's throat issue, Ringo's horrible performance, and Paul's insistence on only singing his own songs.


12. A Taste Of Honey - No, wait, Paul picks up a cover. And quite nicely I might add. A nice change in the beat keeps your attention. The beat is more interesting than the rest of the album, maybe because it was originally written as an instrumental before adding lyrics later so it needed to be more entertaining to begin with.


13. There's A Place - Apparently this song just played.


14. Twist And Shout - Everybody's heard this one - A nice way to end a debut album.

Overall, the remastered version is nice, but having not listened and memorized every last note and lyric for the last few decades, I can't appreciate all of the improvements that this has to offer, but as a first listen it is quite enjoyable. I will say that the remastered stereo version of Revolution is better than the 1993 cd version - The lyrics are clear and only the guitar is distorted (the mono version has the lyrics distorted as well).

A side note - The mono remastered versions are only available (currently) in a sold out box set, so you might be stuck with the stereo versions, but as long as you don't listen to this album (and the first few) on headphones, it shouldn't matter. The only issue is that on the original 2-track stereo they routed vocals to the right and music to the left so it gets a bit weird with headphones.