WITH THE BEATLES

It was still early days but the band already had some unusual ideas up their sleeves. The opening "It Won't Be Long" is an upbeat number but was very different in its day. I agree with the last reviewer who mentioned that The Beatles pushed typical musical boundaries slightly further here. Harrison's "Don't Bother Me" also has some subtle Eastern flavour, including some bongo work. These songs are highlights for me and there are plenty more!

Lennon's vocals are wonderful again, especially on "All I've Got To Do", which is a great song. McCartney's "All My Loving" is a classic too and "Til There Was You" is very sweet and romantic. Ringo gets the bongos out again on this track. "Roll Over Beethoven" is a good rock'n'roller which helped give the optimistic adolescent bounce similar to the previous release. You can feel the excitement in their performance as they were still not too far removed from their Cavern Club and Hamburg days.

There are some motown covers on the record too, of which "You've really Got A Hold On Me" and "Money" are the best. I also love the song "Devil In Her Heart" with Harrioson on lead vocals. I personally don't find this album quite as fresh and soulful as Please Please Me. In many ways, this was all part of giving the boys the exposure they needed. It's not essential Beatles but it's interesting to listen to this early stuff and work through the following albums to hear how they developed many musical ideas. Overall, this is a good album. You should be able to appreciate the energy here. It was all this that helped start the "mania" after all! And as a result, girls weren't only chasing after them in Europe but in America as well! Three solid stars.