The Beatles - Hard Day's Night (1964)
Label - Parlophone
Producer – George Martin
Art Direction – Robert Freeman
Nationality- UK
Running Time – 29:47
Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)
1. A Hard Day's Night
2. I Should Have Known Better
3. If I Fell
4. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
5. And I Love Her
6. Tell Me Why
7. Can't Buy Me Love
8. Any Time At All
9. I'll Cry Instead
10. Things We Said Today
11. When I Get Home
12. You Can't Do That
13. I'll Be Back
What can I say. Another Beatles album. Absolutely fantastic. All tracks could be selected as standouts they are all THAT good!!!
Released at the height of Beatlmania 'A Hard Day's Night' was not only the soundtrack for the movie of the same name (perhaps the best rock and roll movie ever made), it was the first to be filled with nothing but Lennon-McCartney originals. This is the record that found the Beatles truly coming into their own as a band.
Decades after its original release, its infectious rhythms, bright guitars, and singalong melodies is still remarkably fresh. George Martins production puts air underneath the songs that makes them sound exciting and vital years after it was recorded. Even more impressive are the songs themselves. Lennon and McCartney have found a number of variations to the basic Merseybeat style that formed their earlier records. There is the smash hit McCartney classic “Can't Buy Me Love", the power of Lennon’s vocals on "Any Time at All" and the gentleness of it on "If I Fell". It's possible to hear both songwriters/singers developing their distinctive styles on the album.
John and Paul must have known how strong their material was and gave "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" to George – but oddly Ringo – who arguably is the star of the movie - didn't have a vocal.
In some ways this can be considered that last true BAND effort – as the distinctive styles of Lennon and McCartney started rising to the front following this record as they (for the most part)stopped collaborating on each others material.
Highly recommended
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1 comment:
That opening chord to the first track has you hooked from the very first second. It is still infectious today. When you hear it you're like "Oh yeah! It's the Beatles"!! What a grerat way to open a movie as well. John and Paul demonstrate so very well how they are going to be masterful at both rockers and ballads in the upcoming years. I, too, highly recommend it.
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