Released: 1963
Tracks: I Saw Her Standing There; Misery; Anna (Go To Him); Chains; Boys; Ask Me Why; Please Please Me; Love Me Do; P.S. I Love You; Baby’s It’s You; Do You Want to Know a Secret; A Taste of Honey; There’s a Place; Twist and Shout
Best track: I Saw Her Standing There
Track to skip: none
It’s actually a bit subdued. This is my most recent Beatles purchase (at this point I own all official product except the original issue of Yellow Submarine and Let it Be) and when I first listened to it I was surprised how mellow this is. Not like “I’m So Tired” mellow, but not anything near what I was really expecting. I guess I was expecting an album of songs like Saw Her Standing There and Twist & Shout. Except for those two and Boys all of these songs are slow ballad-y things. Threw me for a loop, that’s for sure. Naturally this is, of course, a good album. Since it’s the first one it’s a given they’re going to put out the best stuff they had. Both Love Me Do and Please Please Me were released as singles prior to this album and this is the only time the singles were included on a corresponding album. At least until they shifted their focus from singles to albums.
On this debut (produced by the excellent and constant George Martin) our boys produce 8 originals out of the bunch and this immediately set them apart from most of the groups of the day. Most groups back in the early 60’s did not write their own material. I love that The Beatles were pretty much trendsetters from Day 1. The band would slowly push aside covers all together on their albums over the next 2-3 years. Like nearly all Beatles albums, everyone gets a chance to sing on here. The vast majority are split between Paul and John (naturally), but we do get Ringo singing the unintentionally gay Boys and George getting two lead vocals in Chains and Do You Want to Know a Secret. These 3 songs aren’t the best of the lot, but they’re not bad by any means. Really, none of these songs are bad and this album is significantly more stable than With the Beatles or Beatles for Sale.
The best song on here is track #1. It’s honestly so exciting! Maybe it’s just me, but I really hear change in that one song. It’s still a great song and Paul plays an exceptionally cool bass line. I think Paul was always the best musician of the group. Like I said, the album does go into ‘ballad’ mode after this one, but they’re still enjoyable songs. Of the originals I’d say about half still hold up as really good material and all of the covers are pretty good here too. Of course they get better as the decade goes on, but Please Please Me is a perfect starting point for one of the best rock groups ever.
Rating: 84
Write a comment