PLEASE PLEASE ME

I personally don't care that it's not prog. This fact has nothing to do with the positive impact of this music on me. This is classic early 60's Beatles, and that is all. Hey, if you want prog, then get this: those guys do a bit of blue-eyed soul in their pop music and mix it with R&B (which explains the hints of surf-rock in the guitar work) and western music. Besides, some of the songs are so lightweight that they sound a bit like Hawaiian music. There, a little diversity for you.

This is a nearly flawless collection of good old Beatles songs, some of which remind me of the time when I was 15-16 years old, and some remind me of the time when I was 13. Of course, that means that there is an element of danger when it comes down to rating songs. What I mean by that is that I may give a song a five instead of a four because I used to like it back in the day and still like it now. Don't worry, I got this issue under control. That way 'Please Please Me' and 'Love Me Do' will get a four. Those aren't really mind-blowing songs, but they are just so adequately built, and they are still so fresh after all these years of not listening to them that they easily make these four handsome and gifted-for-melody young lads from Liverpool a top-of-the-line pop band. Ditto for most of the other tracks on the album. If you call yourself a Fab Four fan but you don't have this record, get it before the world finds out about this.

As far as specific ratings for these songs go, I want to get some things clear for you. As you may have noticed by now, I gave 'Ask Me Why' five stars. Why? Well, this song has a bit to do with ambient. How?! Those boys sing and moan with their sweet voices, projecting those vowels in such a manner that they just blow me away. 'There's a Place' has a very small musical and historical value, although I still love the voices of those young men, and I like that harmonica-led intro with a hint of desperation in it. Hence the rating of three stars. Lastly, 'Twist and Shout' gets a three from me for two reasons. Reason number one (which is a bad reason, if you think about it for a minute) is that the excessive airplay of this song today has really "paid off". Reason number two is that I didn't even like the song that much in the first place. So, these two explanations can be considered as a single two-fold idea.

Now that I've been listening to almost every single song on the record to come up with a genuine rating for all of them, I conclude that I should hear this album some more this season.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

1. 'Taste of Honey' - ****

2. 'I Saw Her Standing There' - ****

3. 'Misery' - ****

4. 'Anna (Go To Him)' - ****

5. 'Chains' - ****

6. 'Boys' - ***

7. 'Ask Me Why' - *****

8. 'Please Please Me' - ****

9. 'Love Me Do' - ****

10. 'P.S. I Love You' - ****

11. 'Baby It's You' - ****

12. 'Do You Want to Know a Secret - ****

13. 'There's a Place' - ***

14. 'Twist and Shout' - ***

Stamp: "Highly recommended" (regardless of the reviews with low ratings based on the general idea of PA.)