Disco de The Beatles: “With the Beatles”

I can't get over how critical fans and critics alike are of this wonderful, energetic and fun album. I simply adore it, and it's my number one choice when I need something to get me up and going in the morning! Their youthful energy shines through- this is moons before bitterness, jadedness and egotism crept in. They're just a bunch of kids who enjoyed playing music together, having a great old time recording their originals and covering some classics. This "purity" is what I miss in the later recordings. They seemed to stop loving making music together. But here they are at the pinnacle of fun- and they only got better with A Hard Day's Night (which was originally my favorite early Beatles album, until this one caught me).

My favorite tracks are the rockin' opener "It Won't Be Long", Lennon's gorgeous rendition of "You've Really Got a Hold on Me", George rockin' out on "Roll Over Beethoven", and the driving beat of "I Wanna Be Your Man". And who could forget a classic like Paul's "All My Loving"? And I absolutely love "All I've Got to Do"!

No one will ever compare or even come close to the magic they created. Ever. C'mon! Give this album a chance, people! Appreciate the energy and excitement! It's what started the mania in the first place!

I've read most of the reviews below, and it seems most are doing no more than using this space to air their personal bias about the Beatles. A true shame for those who have never heard this album.

Just for the record: this album catches the Beatles at the first flush of their incredible rise in popularity, and balances their years of experience playing clubs with the freshness of riding the first wave of British Beatlemania. The British public had finally caught on to the Beatles' incredible sound, and the Beatles responded, on this album and Hard Days's Night, with an adreniline rush that is very evident in the grooves (oops, I mean bitstream).

Anyone who knows anything about the early Beatles knows very well that they weren't about silly suits, any more than they were about writing deep lyrics. They were really about music and consolidating all their wonderful influences (R&B, Motown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Elvis, great showtunes) into a wonderful new sound. They were about delivering the finest rock vocals and harmony that those British listeners had every heard. They were about doing their own interpertations of their favorite artists' songs, many times unwittingly blowing the originals away! They were about writing the best songs they could possibly write. Listen carefully to the quality of the individual voices, the quality of the harmonies, and the excitement of the production on this album, and see if you don't get it: the Beatles were, and are, a true musical phenomenon.

It is absurd to say that this doesn't compare to their later work. While growth and change WAS the Beatles, and there is great merit in every phase of their career, there is no way that the later works could match the sense of discovery and excitement that this album conveys. You only expode on the scene once, and this album captures that explosion with the style, grace and musicality that only the Beatles had. They will always have their detractors; there will always be those who do not have the ears to hear, but for the rest of you, if you miss out on this classic, it's your loss, and you only have yourselves to blame.

p.s. This album, possibly more than any of the others, begs for a true remix/remaster from the original four-track session tapes. The latest technology would allow the drums and bass to be moved forward and centered and the voices to fill more of the stereo spectrum. The old mono master tapes were used for this original CD release, and the trasfer was done at the beginning of 1987(and was a horrible trasfer by 1987 standards!). The technology has come a long way since then. Capital, please let us hear these songs the way they could be heard. I have the original Mobile Fidelity vinyl box, and I KNOW how good this can really sound. Don't deprive us any longer!

If you enjoy the stereo effect of "music on the left, vocals on the right"...then this is right up your alley...

As was true with the first album ...This recording lacks the drive The Beatles were known for.

I did what many of you did back on Sept 9th....purchased the entire STEREO catalogue of remasters...and then proceeded to listen to them....only to be very disappointed with many of the stereo mixes

My solution was to go ahead and purchase the MONO REMASTER BOX....it contains the first 10 Beatle albums (up thru the WHITE ALBUM) in true MONAURAL sound...They sound the way The Beatles intended you to hear them...and they capture all the energy and definition of a real Beatle performance.

The benefit of having the STEREO REMASTERS....the enclosed booklet and outer jacket are easily worth the $12....

They should have included BOTH stereo and mono mixes in the remaster package..sort of how they did with the CAPITOL ALBUM BOX SETS

It's impossible for me to disagree more with the people who say this is a weak album. If anything, it's one of the Fab Four's most powerful early efforts. Not all of these tracks made the Top 40. Who cares? What's important here is the quality of the music, not the popularity of it. And that's what With the Beatles gives you: quality.

With a track listing just bursting with jangly guitars, danceable drumbeats and youthful, vibrant voices, this album is essential to those wanting to get the feel of Beatlemania. And just so you'll know, I'm 18. I bought this album when I was 14. People who claim that modern kids wouldn't "get" this kind of music need to sit down and shut up.

But back to the CD. With the Beatles contains a few of the band's popular numbers, like McCartney's "All My Loving," but more importantly, it boasts some of their unsung (though equally impressive) early material, such as the raucous "It Won't Be Long," the easier-going "Not a Second Time," the fun "Little Child," as well as the boys' inspired covers of Motown standards like "Please Mister Postman," "Money" and "You Really Got a Hold on Me," which hold their own well against their predecessors (and in certain cases, surpass them).

If you want to understand why everyone in the '60s was always copying the Beatles, get this album. It'll do your ears good.

Reviewing a classic Beatles album is like sitting down to critque the sunset--but here we go. The pre-Sullivan "With The Beatles" whips through its 14 tracks in just around 30 minutes, but leaves no doubt as to who the "kings of pop" were (or were about to become) in early 1963! From Paul's original,Top 40 friendly "All My Lovin'" and George's memorable debut "Don't Bother Me" to John's raw,primal cover of "Money",the basic formula was cemented--the amiable McCartney wanted to please the fans,the edgier Lennon wanted to shake them up, and Harrison, apparently, just wanted to be left alone! (Ringo was just, well, Ringo.)Quintessential Fabbishness. One star is deducted with this "toughlove" caveat: while I have always applauded the use of the original 14-track British editions for CD issue of the Beatle catalog, the sound transfer on almost all titles remains some of the worst out there. If any group in the history of rock ever deserved a "labor of love" remastering...need I say more?