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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The First Real Beatles Album, 24 Jun 2004
"A Hard Day's Night" not only was the de facto soundtrack for the Beatles movie, not only was it the first Beatles album to be nothing but originals (all penned by Lennon-McCartney), but it found the Beatles truly coming into their own as a band. All of the disparate influences on their first two albums had coalesced into a bright, joyous, original sound, filled with ringing guitars and irresistible melodies. "A Hard Day's Night" is where the Beatles became mythical, but this is the sound of Beatlemania in all of its giddy glory. Decades after its original release, its punchy blend of propulsive rhythms, jingly guitars, and infectious, sing along melodies is remarkably fresh. There is something intrinsically exciting in the sound of the album itself, something to keep the record vital, years after its recording. Even more impressive are the songs themselves (obviously). Not only are the melodies forceful and memorable, but also Lennon and McCartney have found a number of variations to their basic Merseybeat style, from the brash "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Any Time At All" through the gentle "If I Fell" to the tough folk-rock of "I'll Cry Instead". It's possible to hear both songwriters develop their own distinctive voices on the album, but, overall, "A Hard Day's Night" stands as a testament to their collaborative powers- never again did they write together so well and so easily, choosing to pursue their own routes. John Lennon and Paul McCartney must have known how strong the material was/is- they threw the pleasant trifle "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" to George and didn't give anything to Ringo to sing. That may have been a little selfish, but it hardly hurts the album, since everything on the record is performed with genuine glee and excitement. It's the pinnacle of the Beatles early years. This is a truly great album; it's one of my favourites. If you haven't got it-you're crazy!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
2009 Stereo Remaster miles better than the 1987 Mono CD!, 16 Sep 2009
A joyous album - the first Beatles album with no covers. The first album to be recorded with 4-track tape machines which allowed more intricate arrangements (eg vocals on If I Fell and I'll Be Back). The song content is still of the boy meets girl / girl wrongs boy/ boy wrongs girl variety - but is melodically and harmonically more sophisticated than the band's 1963 output. So five stars for the music!!
Now for the re-mastering. The sound is bigger and much better than the 1987 mono cd and definitely less harsh. But it's not as good as it could be. (Possibly the limitations of cd sound quality??) The title track lacks ambience and there is an "artificial" feel to some of the songs - as if the sound is a bit constrained and can't "breathe" (eg the title track and I'm So Happy Just To Dance With You). I have a vinyl copy of the album with the 60's stereo mix on it which doesn't have any of these problems. But it is a bit scratchy....and I'm not keen on hearing scratches!
I've not heard the new mono re-master...but I do think A Hard Day's Night is the only album of the first four that DOES cut the mustard in stereo. The 2009 remaster is definitely worth buying....AND listen to Ringo hammering the cowbell on You Can't Do That. Inspired!!!
..And for those people moaning about the stereo field placement on many of the 2009 remastered Beatles albums....The albums have NOT been re-mastered from the MASTER tapes [where it is easy to shape the sound of individual voices and instruments and move things arround in the stereo field]. The remastering process has used the MIXDOWN tapes [the tapes used to press the records in the 60's AFTER all the mixing and stereo placement decisions had been made.] Therefore the re-mastering process was always going to be about making the original '60's mixes sound better. The Love album from a couple of years ago involved going back to the MASTER tapes and REMIXING which is why the sound on that album is quite different to some the 60's mixes [eg I am the Walrus].
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Hard Album To Put Down..., 22 Dec 2006
This is the Beatles' third album, and is the first one where every song has been written by the Beatles themselves. And what a good effort!
Not only does the album begin with probably one of the most famous Beatles songs ever, with that exact unidentifiable chord being struck to begin the highly-charged 'A Hard Day's Night', which came from a Ringo-ism, but this album also contains quite a huge number of songs that could quite easily have been singles and done very well in the charts - 'I Should Have Known Better', 'If I Fell', 'Things We Said Today' (which is one of my all-time favourite Beatles songs!) and 'I'll Be Back'. And of course the equally well-known 'Can't Buy Me Love' certainly does the album no harm.
There are quite a range of songs on this album - from the almost old-style rock 'n' roller 'I'm Happy Just To Dance With You', to the quite Bluesy 'I'll Cry Instead', to the love ballad of 'And I Love Her', and this album really does show the true potential of the Beatles as songwriters as every song has something to offer.
This album is worth getting for the high quality of all the songs alone, but I think it is the first album the Beatles did which has so many potential hits, something which they pride themselves on in future albums.
In my opinion:
Best Song = "Things We Said Today"
Weakest Song = "Any Time At All".
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