 "Can't ask for much better than this!" | 2010-01-28 |
| - Reviewed By H. Jin from Melbourne, Australia |
You almost can't go wrong with a collection of The Beatles' best work from 1962-1966; they had so many outstanding tracks that most songs just pick themselves. But even allowing for this, 'Red' does an excellent job of collating the hit singles and key album tracks from the Fab Four's most commercially successful period.
All of the band's major British and American hit singles are here, from 'Love Me Do' to 'Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine'. What else can be said about these songs apart from the fact that they're some of the greatest music ever made; from the boyish enthusiasm of 'Please Please Me' and 'A Hard Day's Night' to the more sophisticated 'Yesterday' and 'Paperback Writer'.
'Red' also collects many important album tracks from the period; 'All My Loving', 'And I Love Her', 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away', 'Drive My Car', 'In My Life', 'Nowhere Man'. These are inspired selections, and their presence really highlights how brilliant The Beatles were. Most other bands would have been proud to have these as their best single...The Beatles relegated such masterpieces to album tracks!
The songs are presented in chronological order, which allows us to follow the band's growing ambition and experimentation, culminating in the pre-psychadelia of the 1966 singles. As well, the album contains the complete lyrics, plus a selection of photographs from the period. Again, we witness the evolution in the band's style from the clean cut lads of 1962-3 to the self-conscious cool of sunglasses and cigarettes in 1965-6.
Since the band had so many memorable tracks, it's easy to complain about what's missing. If you wanted to be picky, you might question whether 'Rubber Soul' deserves SIX tracks here. Maybe 'Girl' could have made way for something like 'No Reply', 'I'm A Loser', 'I Should Have Known Better' or 'I Saw Her Standing There'. Others also have noted that the 26 songs here could probably have fit on 1 CD instead of 2. But overall, these are minor quibbles.
Obviously, anyone with more than a passing interest in The Beatles should pick up the individual albums. But since most of the band's singles never appeared on albums, 'Red' is still an important collection to own, for die-hards as well as casual fans. A really comprehensive, complete package that does its job well. You can't ask for much better than this.
Five stars. |
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 "1/2 -- the quintessential early years collection, but it could have been better in several ways" | 2010-01-23 |
| - Reviewed By The Record Collector from Hockessin, DE |
'1962-1966 (The Red Album)' is the essential early years collection of The Beatles. Collecting singles and album tracks from The Beatles first four years on Capitol/Parlophone, 'The Red Album' is part one of the two records in the 'Red' and 'Blue' album "series." It's a great album, full of classic tracks and several obscurities that are wrongfully neglected and ignored by most Beatles fans.
'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away' is a fine example of this. How often do you hear this played on the radio? I know The Beatles made a rare promo video for this song, but still, despite this, it is regarded as one of the more obscure tracks in the Beatles canon. It should have been a number one single, and it is rightfully deserving of that status. But I'm glad it gets recognition here.
And, EVERY HIT SINGLE FROM THE 1962-1966 TIME PERIOD IS HERE!!! That's right, if you've been wanting 'Love Me Do,' 'Please Please Me,' 'A Hard Day's Night,' 'Help!' and 'Drive My Car' (it should be noted that this was not a single, just a classic, famous album track -- it might as well have been a single, though) all appear here on this compilation.
And the sound quality is relatively decent. With the 2009 remasters now out and widely available in stores, I can tell you that those sound a little better, although the sound here is still very good. Certainly not worth complaining about, anyway.
And now, I'm going to review some negatives, and are the only things that are keeping me from rating this album five stars.
Firstly, a point that has been made MANY times here in the Amazon review section for the record is simple. WHY ISN'T THIS JUST ON ONE CD? It all could have fit with about 16 minutes left to spare. That means, not only were two discs wasted on something that could easily have fit on one CD, but classic album tracks like 'The Word,' 'If I Needed Someone,' 'Act Naturally,' 'Boys,' 'I Didn't Mean to Spoil the Party,' and 'Tomorrow Never Knows' could have all fit here too, and the additions of these songs would have easily made this a five star album. (I know, I know, with all of these songs, it'd probably run over the 80 minute time limit on a CD, but the addition of just SOME of these songs could make it five stars easily).
Overall, if you prefer the early Beatles to the latter day Beatles (personally, I am a 50/50 person -- I can't compare, they are both such great phases in such a legendary band), than '1962-1966' is for you. Every single hit and several key album tracks from 'Please Please Me' to 'Revolver' are all spanned on 'The Red Album.' Regardless of what kind of Beatles fan you are, I strongly recommend this album. Sure, it's missing plenty of great album tracks, and I think we all have personal favorites from the period that aren't here ('Chains,' 'She Said She Said' and 'Mr. Moonlight' for me), but this collection was made to touch on the hits from the period, and it does the job of collecting the hits from the period in one place perfectly.
I can highly recommend this to any fan of British Invasion, early Beatles, or just great rock music in general. A great collection of early singles and some classic album tracks.
Recommended.
ENJOY!!! |
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| "Missing one favrite, but..." | 2009-10-12 |
| - Reviewed By Roger G. Fleming |
| I wished it had included Penny Lane, but that was on Magical Mystery Tour (1967) - Other than that, it's pretty excellent for a remaster/compilation! I did, however, get MMT album. Not just for the one song that was missing, but to replace my vinyl copy. The only real negative is the quality of the midrange. Some of the cuts sound a bit tinny to me. Not as "round and smooth" as the old vinyl, but the clarity somewhat makes up for that. I've heard details in this copy that I have never noticed before! All cuts are originals that have been digitally remastered. NOT second cuts, and not rough pressings as far as I can tell. I've heard some poor reproductions of other artists before and this is not like that. These are the real thing...no "first takes" or radically remixed disasters in the bunch...Yay! Until now I have not had any Beatles to play in my car on the way to and from work. I'm so happy with this CD set I keep an MP3 copy in my car at all times. |
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| "what a great gift to give on a 50 brithday" | 2009-09-21 |
| - Reviewed By Martha A. Brown |
| I bought this as a gift for my sonin law 50 brithday. he said that this was the best gift he got as it made him think of his teen age years.said that now that wasnt so long ago.so now he is not getting old |
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| "Red Album" | 2009-05-09 |
| - Reviewed By English Prof from San Juan Capistrano, CA United States |
| Please, Please Me, I Want to Hold Your Hand, All My Loving, and She Loves under one cover. Priceless. |
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| "Good Compliation of Classic Beatle Favorites" | 2009-04-11 |
| - Reviewed By admiralu from Camarillo, California United States |
| I bought this double album CD set because I wanted a good collection of earlier Beatle hits to put on my iPod. While the first four songs are in mono, the rest are in stereo and sound great. It was announced a few days ago that the entire Beatles catalog will be reissued in remastered stereo in original UK editions. I have held off purchasing the Beatles hits on CD because they have not been remastered. I still have a large selection of records of their music and will be looking forward to the remastered CDs coming later this year. It is great to hear these songs on my iPod since Beatle music is not available in digital form yet. The Beatles still rock! |
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