Disco de The Beatles: “Hard Day's Night [UK]”

Filled with energy, hooks, and enough great songs to last a lifetime, "A Hard Day's Night" is the ultimate document of Beatlemania. About the only thing missing from this unheralded masterpiece is the deafening shriek of adoring young fans. This is one for the history books because, in a nutshell, this IS 1964!!

Oddly enough, "Hard Day's Night" is rarely mentioned as one of the Beatles' best albums. What a shame, because this one is loaded with 13 unforgetable Lennon-McCartney classics. In fact, so cohesive are the tunes, that one could make a strong case for "A Hard Day's Night" as rock-n-roll's first true concept album. Lyrically, each song deals with love. Yes, it's mostly simplistic, however, a growing sophistication sneaks in on "Things We Said Today" and the haunting finale "I'll Be Back". The instrumental landscape is graced with driving acoustic guitars, Ringo's steady backbeat and of course, George's ringing 12-string guitar. So influential was George's playing -- especially on the classic title song -- that seemingly an entire generation of young guitar slingers made the 12-string a part of their arsenal. (The Byrds' Roger McGuinn credits "Hard Day's Night" as the inspiration for his love affair with the 12-string.)

All thirteen songs are wonderful. No filler-- just classic power pop sprinkled with a pair of John and Paul's most beautiful ballads ("And I Love Her" and "If I Fell"). The potent rockers "Any Time at All" and "You Can't Do That" are purely lethal. John doesn't merely sing these songs -- he screams his bloody lungs out!! Paul shreds his vocal cords on "Can't Buy Me Love", letting out what is perhaps the most famous scream in rock's history. You get the idea that the Beatles -- not yet fed up with touring and riotous mobs -- had a blast while recording "A Hard Day's Night". This is pure adrenaline and we, the listeners, are the lucky recipients. A must for any serious music fan, "A Hard's Day's Night" is not only one of the best albums of all-time, it's also one of the most important.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is the best rock album from The Beatles early period (1962-1964). It is the only album to include exclusively Lennon & McCartney songs. As well as been the extraordinary soundtrack to their first legendary movie. What really makes A HARD DAY'S NIGHT exceptional is the remarkable songs on this album. The music is radiant, consisitent, and incredible. There's infinite energy on the performances of every track. The album opens with the trademark chord crash on the title track. It's a classic Beatles song. "I Should Have Known Better" has a bright melody, with the trademark harmonica. This classic appeared as the B-Side to the "A Hard Day's Night" single in the United States. "If I Fell" is a gorgeous ballad in the three-part harmony arrangements, it's one of my favorites of their early ballads, and the favorite of the three-part harmony series (including "This Boy", "Yes It Is", "Because"). George Harrison takes the lead vocal on "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You". One of Paul McCartney's earliest and most tender ballads is "And I Love Her", another Beatles classic. "Tell Me Why" is an aggressive rock song, a relationship that would again be described on "I'll Cry Instead" and "What You're Doing". The brilliant rocker "Can't Buy Me Love" has made it's mark as a classic. It was the first single released from the album. Since PLEASE PLEASE ME the songs released on singles did not appear on albums, this was the first song to be featured on both formats. "Any Time At All" and "When I Get Home" are terrific Lennon rockers with positive relationships. "I'll Cry Instead" reflects the same relationship as "Tell Me Why" except with a wistful country feel. "Things We Said Today", the B-Side of "A Hard Day's Night" single; is a great McCartney song. "You Can't Do That", the B-Side to "Can't Buy Me Love" is the first song in which Lennon writes and sings about jealousy and threats, a theme that would appear again later. "I'll Be Back" is a sterling piece, a great album closer. The first half of the album: "A Hard Day's Night", "I Should Have Known Better", "If I Fell", "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", "Tell Me Why", and "Can't Buy Me Love" were featured in the film. The second half: "Any Time At All", "I'll Cry Instead", "Things We Said Today", "When I Get Home", "You Can't Do That", and "I'll Be Back" were written for the album, but left out of the film because of story and time requirements. There were fourteen Lennon/McCartney originals recorded during these sessions; "I Call Your Name" was released on the "Long Tall Sally" EP featuring: Long Tall Sally, I Call Your Name, Slow Down, and Matchbox. In the United States, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was issued by United Artists included all the film songs plus "I'll Cry Instead", and four instrumentals recorded by George Martin. Capitol Records issued their own version on SOMETHING NEW. All the film songs except "A Hard Day's Night", "I Should Have Known Better", and "Can't Buy Me Love" (which were released on singles) were on the album. The six songs from the second half on the record (with the exception of "I'll Be Back") and the German-language version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" were on the album. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is the best of their early albums. HIGHLY RECOMMEMED listening by the band that changed history permenantly.

It is unfortunate that amazon is lumping 280+ reviews of the original CD release of this album in with the new remastered product. The old release was monophonic, and the 2009 remaster is stereo. (A remaster of the mono mix is available only in an expensive limited box set.) Today I purchased the new stereo remaster, and this is my report. The main reason to purchase the remastered CD is for the sound quality, so I will focus on that question.

Overall, this is an improvement over the original 1987 mono CD. The bass and drums are much more distinct. The guitars are generally clean, maybe a little too clean. I could say the same about the vocals. The dynamics are compressed, but this is true of the 1987 mono edition. The compression is not extreme, but noticeable.

What about a comparison with the UK stereo vinyl release? I don't have immediate access to any UK stereo pressings, but my best friend has a box set. My recollection is that you hear more subtle detail and natural reverberation from the recording studio on the vinyl than the new CD remaster. To some extent, this may be a limitation of the CD medium. (Yet my digital recordings of vinyl from my own turntable do not seem to suffer as much from this defect as commercial recordings, which is hard to fathom.) I think the new CD sounds a little too clean, too processed, with some details smoothed over a bit too much. I had the same reaction to the Beatles Let It Be... Naked album, which remixed the Let It Be album without the orchestrations and embellishments added to the original. Some of the guitars did not have the same raucous bite they had on the original CD.

On the plus side, I'll reiterate that the bass and drums come through very naturally and clearly. It sounds good. It sounds clean and smooth. The best vinyl copies of A Hard Day's Night, played on an expensive turntable, will likely sound more relaxed, more dynamic, more detailed, and retreive more of the natural studio ambience of Abbey Road studio. I am unlikely to ever own the best vinyl so I'll make do with the remastered CD. And I have mixed feelings about that.

Anyone who thinks the early Beatles were somehow immature or "lesser" compared to their later work simply needs to pick up this jaw-dropping album. Without a doubt it's one of their three greatest (The other two being Revolver and The Beatles, in my opinion), and I would even be open to arguments placing it at the top, though I personally wouldn't myself.

Realize: a little over a YEAR into their major-label career, in the wake of two #1 LPs and four consecutive #1 singles with current expectations to match, in the midst of a publicity crush the likes of which won't be seen again until Jesus returns, during a mindblowingly grueling touring schedule, AND while filming a motion picture, The Beatles ALSO found the time to put out a fully perfect album of 13 self-penned songs. The ONLY time Lennon and McCartney wrote all the songs for an album, in fact. The main triumph is Lennon's - he wrote 10 out of 13, including the title track and impressively mature gems like "If I Fell" and "I'll Be Back" - but when McCartney's three contributions are called "Can't Buy Me Love," "And I Love Her," and "Things We Said Today" the balance is redressed. A Hard Day's Night is the final word on early Sixties pop and, when you factor in the diamond-crushing pressure they were under at the time, also one of the most bravura performances in rock history.

So here's the deal. About a month ago I picked up "Beatles 1" because I hadn't any Beatles CDs and I figured at a mere $13.00 it was a bargain. I had once owned "Sgt. Pepper" years before, but had lost it. I was of the opinion that all the best Beatles songs were post-Pepper, in the psychedelic period (Day in the Life, Hey Jude, Penny Lane, and so forth). Listening to "Beatles 1," I realized this assessment was simplistic. Suddenly early tunes like "We Can Work It Out," "Day Tripper," "Ticket to Ride," and yes, even the incredibly hackneyed "I Want To Hold Your Hand" kept spinning round and round in my head. I was boggled by the incredible efficiency of these songs -- hardly any of them measuring in at 3 minutes, not a note wasted, tight arrangements, great vocals with every little inflection and mordent carefully maximized, and melodies so fiendishly catchy that they get under your cerebral cortex and become a running soundtrack to your life.

Whoah, I told myself. There's more to the Beatles than the post-Pepper psychedelia!

Fast forward to a week ago. Having the afternoon free I popped in to a local movie theater (the Fine Arts in LA, just across from the Larry Flynt building) where the recently re-released "A Hard Day's Night" was being shown. I liked the movie but was especially struck by three of the songs, all of which I'd known all my life, but hadn't actually heard in years -- "I Should Have Known Better," "And I Love Her," and "If I Fell." Things I'd never realized now jumped out at me. How John's harmonica sprang so perfectly from the melody of "I Should Have Known Better," how the arid percussion/bass opening of "And I Love Her" inoculated against its sappy (though beautiful) melody, how outrageously, absurdly gorgeous is the chorus of "If I Fell" -- sort of like the music equivalent of drowning in chocolate, being smothered in something glistening and wonderful.

I decided 'twas time to buy me some more Beatles CD's. So with an Amazon gift certificate I got for Christmas, I ordered "Revolver" (along with Brian Wilson's response, "Pet Sounds"). Once I got "Revolver" I played it over and over again. I'm making a tape of it right now for car use. "Michelle" and "Girl" and "The Word" and "Norwegian Wood" have been dancing through my brain.

But, oh yes, we were discussing "A Hard Day's Night." I decided I had to have the album because of those three songs I mentioned -- "I Should Have Known Better," "If I Fell," and "And I Love Her." (I already have "A Hard Day's Night" on "Beatles 1".) I had to drive halfway across town to find the thing. The local Best Buy and Borders were sold out of it, so I went to the Virgin Megastore on the Sunset Strip to pick it up.

And that is where I am now. I haven't even tried to familiarize myself with the final 6 tracks (the ones that weren't in the movie). I just keep playing those key 3 over and over again. I am absolutely hypnotized by "I Should Have Known Better." This song is pop perfection. It's a drug. It's audio heroin. I don't understand what that blasted harmonica does to my gray matter.

Meanwhile I bought Hunter Davies' biography of the Beatles (told ya it was a Beatles week for me) and read through most of it. (I think I am getting a bead on John finally -- sarcastic, wounded, sometimes mean, flipping almost daily between idealism and cynicism, desperate to debunk the phenomenon he had become.) And I read some 200 Amazon customer reviews of "Sgt. Pepper" in which the debate rages over whether Pepper really was such a good album after all. I find myself agreeing with the criticisms sometimes. What did the Beatles do, after all, beyond a bunch of well-produced ditties? Can their work compare to the bluesy soulfulness of the Stones, the expansive jazz-inflected odysseys of Pink Floyd, the guitar virtuosity of Hendrix and Clapton? Are they really the best rock band ever, or is it just a snowjob?

But then that harmonica comes back into my mind. I can't get the Beatles out of my mind. None of us can. It's a musical virus.