Band: The Beatles
Album: Please Please Me
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The first album by the Beatles was basically their stage act put to disc. That's to say that it was full of pop melodies and danceable rock and roll. Listening to it, it isn't hard to imagine hundreds of screaming girls.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Well, the early songs aren't as seminal as the mid-career stuff ("Revolver," "Rubber Soul" and "Sgt. Pepper's") and it is littered with a bunch of covers.
Best song: "Please Please Me" is pretty great. "Do You Want to Know a Secret" is amazing. "I Saw Her Standing There" is silly, but good.
Worst song: I don't care for "P.S. I Love You."
Is it awesome?: Sure.
What can you say about the sixth album by the Beatles in the top 40? Their debut was recorded in nine days, mostly because the band had some success with their first two singles. George Martin saw this and made sure the band hastily record the album.
Along with "With The Beatles," "Please Please Me" is iconic of the band's early years. The suits, the mop tops, the harmonies. This is rock and roll of the early 60s at its finest. Some of the early Lennon/McCartney tracks are pretty amazing, specifically the title track and "I Saw Her Standing There," both classics in and of themselves. The cover, of course, of "Twist and Shout" is pretty great, too. Lennon's voice is as raw as ever and plays well to the song.
It's not "Revolver." It's not "Rubber Soul." But, it is pretty great and stands up 45 years after its release.
1 comment:
'Please Please Me' is only here because of the Beatles' immense reputation. Not only is it by no means the 39th best album ever made, it's not even obviously superior to other albums released by similar British artists in the same era, notably Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Hollies.
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