PLEASE PLEASE ME

The first prog album! Just kidding. I can't believe anyone on this site would give more than 2 stars to this album. Were the Beatles influential? Hell yes! Was this album influential? Hell no! This came out in early 1963, a time when the 45 rpm single was king. It wasn't until 1968 that LPs outsold singles (on both sides of the Atlantic). Before 1965 the majority of albums were just a couple of singles buried in filler. So obviously, the Beatles early success was based on their singles; it wasn't until at least A Hard Day's Night that people really paid any attention to their LPs.

This album doesn't hold any importance even for a Beatles fan. The only real significance of this album is that (unless I'm wrong) this is the only place you can get one of their best early songs ("I Saw Her Standing There") and one of their best early covers ("Twist And Shout"). "Love Me Do" and the title track can be found elsewhere. Realistically, although their early singles were popular, it wasn't until the mid-60s that the Beatles created music that would be influential on later rock music. They influenced a whole generation to want to play guitar and write songs, but it wasn't until say, 1965 that anyone really gave them credit as composers.

One song here that I have always liked, but seems to get ignored, is the Harrison-sung "Do You Want To Know A Secret". John and Paul do some great "do-wah-do" back-up harmony vocals in this song. Apart from the songs I already mentioned, there is nothing else here that really matters. This is only for a Beatles completist and no one else. 1 star.