14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Handsome book, but why the snubbing of Harrison/Starr songs?, 16 Feb 2003
By Todd M. Pence - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (Hardcover)
Overall, this is a nice volume which augments the lyrics of the Beatles with striking and memorable illustrations, particularly from editor Aldridge, which very well capture the spirit of the Beatles' music. However, the book contains one serious shortcoming: its inexplicable (and unexplained) leaving out of almost all of the Beatle numbers not written by Lennon/McCartney. This means that such indispensible songs such as "Here Comes The Sun", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Something", "Old Brown Shoe", and "Octopus's Garden" (among others) are conspicously absent from this collection. Why? Instead, we get at least a dozen Lennon/McCartney compositions that were never actually recorded by the Fab Four, as well as Lennon's three most famous songs from his early solo career.
Another drawback is that the lyrics are presented in a seemingly random, haphazard order as opposed to any kind of a chronological or even thematic one.
A wonderful concept well-executed, but must be docked points for incompleteness because of the missing Harrison and Starr songs.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For the Beatlemaniac who has all their books..., 2 Dec 1998
By Studebaker Hoch, billythemtn@geocities.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (Paperback)
No reviews, no bios, just great lyrics and good art. This book was originally published during the late 60s, and so the art reflects the time. My only complaint: "Two of Us" is not about Paul and Linda (as the picture suggests), it's about the friendship of John and Paul (lines like "you and I have memories, longer than the road that stretches out ahead" make little sense in regard to Linda; Paul had only recently met her at the time of the song's writing, and he went on to spend the next 30 years with her). That aside, I say no Beatle library is complete without it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Illustrated Beatles Lyrics? Great!, 5 Feb 2001
By Ziggy, the Last of the Space Cowboys - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (Paperback)
"The Beatles: Illustrated Lyrics" is a must-have for Beatles fans everywhere. This book features the lyrics from most Beatles songs, each song paired with anadventurous illustration capturing the mood and theme/s of that particular song. Many of the illustrations are brilliant works of art, especially those for "Eleanor Rigby", "I Want You", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Dear Prudence" and are great to look at when listening to the songs. I found the illustration for "She's Leaving Home" - a comic strip of the story told in the song to be ecceptionally neat. Some of the pictures are interesting to say the least: "Cry Baby Cry", "Blackbird" and "Tomorrow Never Knows", whereas others are just darned weird, such as "Dr. Robert", "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Within You Without You" - but hey, even some of the weird illustrations are fun to look at. Also featured throughout the book is a selection of fan art - all of it pretty good.
In conclusion, if you are a die-hard Beatles fan, you shouldn't be without this book. Sure, it's not for everyone (some of the art may be a little too much for some people), but if you love the Beatles and if you love poetry, by all means grab a copy.