Comments on: The Beatles Mono Reviews 3 – With The Beatles

By: pillock

pillock — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:07:11 +0000

Andrew, but this is wonderful! We’re hsving genuine give-and-take, here! I should’ve been more argumentative. Christ, Lennon vs. Smokey…there’s a conversation to be had there.

By: pillock

pillock — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:13:51 +0000

Andrew, in Canada we had “Beatlemania” — neither “Meet” nor “With”, but a horribly bastardized version of both…which I still find a superior mix.

And if anyone gets irritated with you about this review series – GOD HELP US on the day when rational people are somehow irritated by the damn BEATLES — I will be only too happy to take those idiots off your hands, and say cruel things to them. Meanwhile I must say to you: yes I am aware,

Continue, please!

By: Andrew Hickey

Andrew Hickey — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:22:42 +0000

I wouldn’t – I usually choose Lennon’s version over the original any day, but on that one there’s a lightness of touch on the original that’s missing there – possibly because of the poor double-tracking.

By: Andrew Hickey

Andrew Hickey — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:21:20 +0000

Hmm… this might be completely wrongheaded, but I think we’re talking about different albums here. You keep referring to MEET The Beatles, rather than WITH The Beatles – Meet The Beatles is the album that was released in North America, rather than the British one I’m reviewing here. And it’s a much better (albeit shorter) album, sticking on I Want To Hold Your Hand, I Saw Her Standing There and This Boy and cutting out almost all the cover versions.

Either way, though, of course I love the album – I love *all* the Beatles albums – but I’m trying to listen to it not as someone who aged five practically wore out a taped-off-the-TV Betamax recording of old Ready, Steady, Go! episodes where the Beatles did It Won’t Be Long and All My Loving, but as someone listening to it fresh but in context. I would never want to be without it, but it’s no Please Please Me or Hard Day’s Night…

By: Marc Burkhardt

Marc Burkhardt — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:48:58 +0000

Well-written review, but like Pillock I have little objectivity regarding this LP. In fact, I’d rate Lennon’s reading of “You’ve Really Got A Hold Of Me” as equal to Smokey’s … No small feat.

By: pillock

pillock — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:37:31 +0000

HA! Well, I admire you for doing a review of Meet The — I sure couldn’t, I’m just not even close to bringing any objectivity to this record…but, two things occur:

One, as a complete album it is extremely listenable, which I attribute to the song order and selection as well as the sound — no mean feat, that! In a weird way, what you’ve got here is a concept album, only without the concept — unless the concept is “flip it again”, so I would say the sequencing’s a little better than smart, myself. In essence, here’s your first mixed tape aesthetic — get ‘em hooked, not even on the Beatles, but on Meet The Beatles: what the songs are, most of ‘em, is almost a secondary consideration.

Of course, it still might be a lot of subjectivity talking there.

And here: because the one thing I think you omit in reviewing “Not A Second Time” is how effective it is as a showcase for Lennon’s range — what’s easily overlooked in “Anna” is (it seems to me) much more evident here.