tried, without success, to go into this listen without any preconceived framing (my preferred method of film-watching as well) but it was hard to not know this was a blue period beforehand. the age old story of a band pushed to tour tour tour then get in the studio to jerk off an album under the gun.

songwriting/melodies seem to meander to a fault on most tracks. the chorus on Loser is decent, but the verse vokes are deplorable and go nowhere. they say lennon was channeling dylan on this, but i'm having trouble hearing it.

on a lot of these tracks, it seems like there's not much clever couplet-linking, or whatever you want to call it, to fill the space. almost as if they're thinking too hard and their brains are fried from too much frodis and american vagina. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby just sounds tired.

some decent boogie-woogie pianer on Rock and Roll Music, but "hey, its the Beatles doing a rock n roll cover." zzzz

hi: 8 Days a Week

lo: everything else

i won't be humming much off this album later today. if i were 20 in 1964, this would be the moment where i'd be forced to make a decision as to whether or not i was gonna give this band another chance or if i'd be better served box them up in the same milk crate as my manfred mann records.

i swear, if it weren't for video games i'd have no idea who the Beatles were.

also, try listening to Kansas City while watching this gif:

Good lord, I had forgotten how great 'No Reply' is.

you can probably get the box for cheaper on amazon but i've just been buying them at a local record store and they've been on sale.

yeah, i played that like 20 times yesterday. the multitracked 'i saw the light' and 'i nearly died' are good but when it picks up in the middle with the handclaps is where it gets fucking awesome.

I'm on 'Kansas City' right now and after aside from the equally awesome 'I'm A Loser' there's nothing here on side 1 that is essential for me. Lennon sounds great but the Berry cover just grates on me, but this is more of a subjective issue, I just can't listen to Chuck Berry anymore. If I hear songs like 'Rock & Roll Music' I just get instantly annoyed.

EDIT: 'Eight Days A Week' is still great. Harmonies and handclaps.

i like i'll follow the sun.

even mr. moonlight isn't that bad thanks to john's vocal and the weird organ solo.

Yeah, that's not bad actually. It doesn't even sound like early Beatles to my ears. And none of it is terrible by any means, if any of it came up on shuffle I'd not hit skip once, it's just relative to what we've already heard and the foreknowledge of what's next, is just all right.

EDIT: 'I Don't Want to Spoil the Party' is kind of awesome too.

1. No Reply
Again a great start. John's doing something interesting with his voice here, sortof shouting while staying quiet. Can't explain it well, but it sounds like he's actually mad. Great song, great pacing, and the dark lyrics don't make it a drag.

2. I'm A Loser
More of the style of albums past, but with John's new dark lyrical bent. Also the guitars... George is getting better at aping the western country bends. After each line on the verses, he gets in a major third twang. Great start to the solo with the harmonicah, but then here comes George again with the finger-picked Buck Owens stuff to blow it out. Cool. Growth growth growth. And then to close it out more spanked country chords.

3. Baby's In Black
God how good do John and Paul's voices sound on this? The verse lilts along in 6/8, and then they go WAY up for the end of the chorus ("Ooooh how long will it take") and in the right ear we get another guitar strumming softly but effectively behind those 2 lines and for the remainder of the chorus, then that new guitar takes over for yet another country-inspired bendy wonky solo. It seems to stick around afterwards to do some warbly bends all over the place - up high, down low, man I'm getting seasick from all the wobbling. No note left unbent! The vocal harmonies, again just make this something really great. Love it. Favorite Part: At 1:30 listen closely to the right ear, youi can hear that second guitar track being cut back in too harshly... suddenly it's there again, much louder than a second previous. I love when little glitches like that get left in, makes you feel like you're there watching the process.

4. Rock and Roll Music
John cuts a promo again. Love the echo on the vocals. Works really well with short stoccato notes, like when he chops back into each new verse after the stops. The echo really stands out on that. The bass is too low on this by a little for my taste. A great cover. Not sure how much longer they're gonna be cutting loose with fun cover shit like this... storm clouds on the horizon. Favorite Part: Another glitch. Put it at 1:40, then listen as it hits 1:47 - the piano track cuts out as John's singing "Any old time you use it," then it gets rolled back in to regular volume by 1:55. I donno why I like that shit so much.

5. I'll Follow The Sun
This is some sort of huge departure for me. This seems like the first fully formed "mid period" beatles song. Maybe it's the lack of drums? Interesting dragged note guitar solo. Wonder why they didn't use a slide? Pauls' voice sounds incredible on this. Always loved this song, so I can't reallly be impartial at all. More dark subject matter done sweetly.

6. Mr. Moonlight
Saywhatnow? That organ... not sure what was going on here but it doesn't really make sense. I guess John loved this song? That organ solo is a serious low point.

7. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
Nothing "wrong" with this but for some reason I do not like Paul's voice on this. I just don't buy it, and it's the kind of song where you need to buy it. Not dirty enough.

8. Eight Days A Week
Again, a classic for a reason. Even the intro - they must've seriously considered this as an album opener. Great fade in (and later again as the outtro) sequence of chords. It's these little touches that other people really didn't bother with that make the good ones just so much better than everything else. And Hand Claps! These guys really know how to make that work. Bass is too low again. And man these lyrics almost have a dark "stalker" tint to them too, like "Every Breath You Take." Hold Me. Love Me. HOLD ME. LOVE ME GODDAMMIT.

9. Words Of Love
That low part in the harmony... Man even on a love song they had to put some storm clouds in there. The way they stretch out the last word of the verses, with the low note booming along, it's kinda crazy. Nice jangly guitar tone, but nothing can brighten this up much with those brooding vocals. Interesting.

10. Honey Don't
Hmm. I know they had to give something to Ringo and I love them for trying, but you know, it just... meh. This is the one you get up and get a beer during. Nice bright little solo work in the beginning, then ending in some low note walking runs. More of George picking up on the Nashville guitar stuff of the time, mixed with more of the Eddie Cochran swing guitar finger picked high chords and rhythms.

11. Every Little Thing
Kettle Drums! I like this song, always have. It's not amazing in any particular way, but it's done simply and well. As usual, it's the harmonies (on the chorus this time) that suck me in. "Every liiiitle thing she does [BUM BUM]"

12. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
Round 3(? 4?) of the George Country Guitar Fest. Also another lyrical shot from the Gloom Cannon across the bow. The vocal gymnastics on this are fucking great, they're all over the place and make it sound easy. Again a chorus that hooks me in bigtime with high harmonies and interesting songwriting. A surprise hit with me. Favorite Part: High hats on the beginning of the chorus that show up just to help set that mood, then disappear.

13. What You're Doing
Guitar makes this somewhat interesting, along with the trembly Western Saloon piano, but really there's not a lot to love here. It's ok, and the drum work is a nice departure at some points too from the past, but ... meh.


14. Everybody Wants To Be My Baby
Dopey, fun, and kinda forgettable.

guy's're getting jazzed about a real queef of a record

fucking love the vocal harmonies on baby's in black and words of love

I think it's funny that you think No Reply, I'm Loser, Baby's in Black, and Don't Want to Spoil the Party are "los."

well laugh away then

theres no fire in this record

Beatles For Sale

One of those Beatles albums I've never heard at all (with the exception of "8 Days a Week" and their cover of "Rock 'n' Roll Music"). I've read about their level of exhaustion at this point of their career and, damn, that pretty much nails it. Interesting stuff on it though.

No Reply
I like everything about this, although it's missing that usual Lennon/McCartney climactic moment that would push it into pop drama. Instead of an interesting bridge it just goes staccato and sorta lays there. Everything else about it, however, sets me up to expect a continuation of the greatness of Hard Day's Night.

I'm A Loser
Hmm, there's a touch of folk rock on this for sure, which I guess accounts for the talk of Lennon's interest in Dylan. Doesn't sound much like Dylan of course - more like the blueprint for the early Byrds. Beatles get the worm.

Baby's In Black
They're losing me at this point. Harrison's guitar makes this much more interesting than it should be.

Rock 'n' Roll Music
I've never liked this cover much. Serviceable at best. They could have done this one in their sleep, and it sounds like they may have.

I'll Follow The Sun
It's pretty. Paul working up to "Yesterday".

Mr. Moonlight
Whoa. What the fuck is going on here? This might be the single most interesting track I've heard yet from any of these albums. It's bordering on comedy. Sounds like a bitter John saying "let's see how the shrieking teenyboppers deal with... an ORGAN SOLO." Kind of awesome in the worst way possible.

Kansas City/ Hey Hey Hey!
Man, "Kansas City" is one of those tunes like "Baby Please Don't Go" that I hope I never hear again. This is a cover that's way too obvious. They probably wouldn't have pulled this one out until late in the 3rd set from a particularly long night in the Ratskellar.

Eight Days A Week
Well now. The hit. And deservedly so. Not sure how exactly, but the remaster really brings out the easy roll of this tune, like I've never heard it before. Unless I've been listening to a different version all these years - was there another version?

Words Of Love
Man, they barely care here. It's like they just want to try out some studio effects they might use for a "real" effort later. Those running handclaps are fucking annoying.

Honey Don't
Yeah, Ringo ain't coming close to cutting Wanda Jackson no matter how much lipstick you smear under his beak.

Every Little Thing
I mean, I sort of like this album's conscious rejection of the trademarked chirpy Beatles sound, and I appreciate how they're starting to toy with the studio and introduce odd instrumentation into the gameplan, but that timpani can go fuck itself. Hard.

I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
The formula at 16 rpm.

What You're Doing
Love that 12 string chime off the top, but don't like how it artificially sinks in the mix during the verse. This is a fine song though - approaches the level of "No Reply".

Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
Possible alternate title: "C'mon boys, let's finish this bloody record and get some sleep."

Was Eight Days a Week the first use of a fade-in in pop music?

According to the wiki on the song:

went and picked up revolver, magical mystery tour and white album.

we're in a rhythm here

It was bound to happen eventually.

I'd always heard that it was spelled Ryde, but then censored because that's where teen mothers went to have their kids before they were put up for adoption. You know, that whole convalescing in the country side while the get over rheumatic fever crap. Anyway you listen to it, it's well written. Love the double time at the end.

It's funny I always mentally grouped Help!, Rubber Soul and Revolver together. For the longest time it was the only Beatles albums I physically owned.

I can understand that grouping. I think for me that Rubber Soul marks the great divide, so Help is the end of the early period. That and the opening tracks of Hard Days Night and Help seem more like companions than help and Drive My Car, which gets a little more syncopated.

but yeah, Ticket to Ride could have ended up on rubber soul or revolver, it was a little forward for its time.

For its time... that's funny but...

That's another thing, the amount of growth rock and roll went through in the 60s is mind numbing, a year makes a big difference.

Excellent point on the opening tracks, I hadn't considered that before but you're right on the mark. I guess for me, lyrically Help! is why I tended to group it with Rubber Soul and Revolver. Right from the start, they're already significantly mature, they're looking back now 'When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never need anybody's help in anyway...', to 'I believe...in yesterday', there's not quite a quantum leap forward in sophistication, but at least a single energy level compared to Beatles for Sale. But like you and I have both said within this thread, it's the incredibly short time frame that's mind-blowing, how they got so great so very quickly.