Disco de The Beatles: “Beatles 1”

Maybe it's just my ears, but after listening to the 1 CD over the past week, I am convinced that EMI has finally done the Beatles catalog justice.

Unlike the Yellow Sub songtrack album, where the songs were remixed, sometimes with curious results, on 1 all you get is a remastered sound that brings out the crispness in guitar licks, thundering drum rolls and a deep, melodic bass. Just listen to Eight Days A Week for an example; unlike the version on Past Masters, you can really hear the rhythm guitar as if you are in the recording studio. In Penny Lane the trumpets have a great, majestic sound, framing heavenly flutes and precise vocals. In Come Together you can really hear the lead guitar.

It's my opinion that everyone should buy this CD. Redundant content; absolutely. Unparalleled sound; without a doubt. Now if they would only revisit the original albums and give them the same royal treatment.

The Beatles "1" CD is an excellent single CD compilation of the number one singles of the Beatles. The enclosed booklet of the singles sleeves from around the world is a remarkable new addition to the Beatles discography and is worth buying just for that. There are picture sleeves from the US, UK, France, Japan, Spain, and other countries. We forget that the Beatles were a global phenomenon. This CD shows their global impact. The CD is number one on 19 charts in 19 different countries, all the countries that have album charts. This is a phenomenal achievement even for the Beatles, who have accomplished so much in their careers. These global sales also show the power of the Beatles as artists. Thirty years after they broke up, they can still dominate the charts. Garth Brooks learned the hard way in 1995 not to release any material that goes up against the Beatles. The Beatles destroyed Garth Brook's CD which never got to number one but stayed at number two. Since then, Brook's career has gone south while the Beatles roll on. You can't hype a bad product. The proof is in the pudding. Once a customer is dissatisfied, that customer cannot be sold again ever. It is a tribute to the Beatles that even with songs that almost everybody already knows and already owns, they can create a buying frenzy and go number one in virtually every country on the planet. Who else can do that? Garth Brooks found out the hard way. But anybody could have told him.

How good is the CD? The sound quality is excellent, especially on the early records. Digital remastering has brought the singles back to life. When I listened to the CD for the first time, it was like hearing the original 45s all over again. All the excitement and euphoria and energy of the original singles was there. I prefer the original Capitol reverb sound of "I Feel Fine" with the metallic-cymbals bleeding and distortion and overload. The "cleaned up" version loses some of the power of the original. "Day Tripper" was fixed up a bit with the right channel "drop out" being restored near the end of the song. In short, the sound quality is excellent.

This is a must-own CD. This CD has one of the greatest songs ever written, "Yesterday", and "Hey Jude", the top single of 1968 and one of the top chart singles of the 1960s. Buy it just for that alone. But you get the "Come Together"/"Something" single, "All You Need is Love", "Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby", and the US Tollie 45 version of "Love Me Do". These are the songs that changed a generation. Does the concept of a number one singles album work? After all, in 1982, Capitol released the Beatles "20" album which contained the 20 no.1 singles in the US. This album only did so-so. This new CD, however, presents a comprehensive look at their number ones both in the US and UK, taking advantage of the CD format which has more space, and which is released at a time when such a retrospective is needed. So the concept is an excellent one and it works. Who can go to the Past Masters albums and then the other albums, etc., to get all the records on the CD? This CD fills a void in the Beatles discography. The Beatles were album artists to be sure, but they were also singles or 45 artists. Every four months the Beatles released a single like clockwork. So singles loom large in the legend of the Beatles. The albums were one dimension; singles were the other. Both aspects present the complete picture. Now we see why the Beatles were so influential. They were album artists and they were singles artists. They had their cake and ate it too. It took genius to realize that, which the Beatles had. It is OK to be album artists, but you need singles too. Musicians of today have forgotten that.

At any rate, this is a remarkable CD. In my opinion, any fan of music should dish out the bucks to own this one. This CD is essential. It is the one to take on a desert island. It is the Mona Lisa of music. It is our generation's Beethoven symphonies. It is a must-own. I highly recommend this CD to anyone who appreciates art.

What can be said about this latest repackaging of hits from the greatest band in pop history? [Even the 32-page booklet has only one page of text and that is a brief introduction by producer George Martin.] So rather than trying to convince you why YOU should buy this CD, let me tell you why I bought it.

1. I already own all of their albums--two sets of vinyl (I replaced my original mono vinyl purchases in 1980 with all stereo) and their entire CD catalog, so as an avid Beatles fan since 1964 it was an automatic purchase.

2. This is a 79-minute time capsule of many of the Beatles' finest moments during their all too brief career from 1962 to 1970. [Note: "Please Please me" reached No. 1 on three of the four published U.K. charts, yet it is not included. "Something" reached only No. 3 in the U.S. and No. 4 in the U.K., but it is included. Granted, it was released as a double A-side single and perhaps qualifies, but then why didn't they also include "Strawberry Fields," which was a double A-side single coupled with "Penny Lane"? To limit this to a single disc, the compilers evidently played fast and loose with the CD's title in order to keep the length under 80 minutes.]

3. Seeing the various picture sleeves used around the world for their singles was a joy--especially the picture sleeves for their U.S. releases which brought back a flood of memories. Altogether more than 150 picture sleeves are included. The only text on these pages is the recording date and the studio where the song was recorded, along with the U.K. and U.S. release dates and what weeks the song was No. 1. It does not, however, include whether it is the mono or stereo mix of these songs.

So is this an essential purchase? No, I suppose not. But for this Beatles' fan it was money well spent. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!RECOMMENDED

I recently purchased this album as my wife & I are enormous Beatle fans. It did not disappoint! The album is a marvelous history of the Beatles music spanning 8 incredible years. Starting w/ "Love me Do" the album takes you through the early years when the music was pretty pop & illustrated their expertise in Rock N' Roll.- "I Want to Hold your Hand". Moving into the more sophisticated arrangements of "Eleanor Rigby", "Penny Lane" "Come Together", "Let it Be" and finally "The Long & Winding Road." The album has something for everyone and will fill your speakers for years to come." The book included with the CD gives an entire history of each & every cut with the release date & the date the single went #1 both in the UK and the US. It also tells you how long for how long the single was #1 . The back cover is areproduction of Richard Avedon's photos of the Beatles done for Life Magazine. It's worth it for that alone. I highly recommend it.

I can understand the feelings of some Beatles Fans. Yes, old die-hards -- like myself -- have these songs on 33-1/3 LP, 45 rpms, tapes (cassette, 8-track, and 4-track), and on CD. So, when a collection of Beatles tunes is re-packaged and re-rereleased, we sigh. Ah, if only something new would come out of the vaults.

This collection, however, is a little different. Never before have Capitol/EMI/Apple released all the Beatles number one hits in a single media. This CD is a musical history of the group, from the start of Beatlemania when "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. . ." was the rallying cry, to the end of the group amidst constroversy and disillusionment (the 60's finally ended).

More importantly, this CD gives the "New Generation" a chance to experience the Beatles -- a rather attractive alternative when one considers the garbage that is being passed off as music these days.

This collection is put together in chronological order, so the listener has a chance to experience the Beatles from Alpha to Omega. The CD is well packaged, and the sound quality is excellent.

This CD is worthwhile for the die-hard Beatles fan, as well as for the new fans getting acquainted with the lads from Liverpool. Indeed, a Splendid Time is Guaranteed For All and, Yes, the Beatles have passed the audition.