A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (US VERSION)

The difference between this version and the British version of Hard Day's Night is the US version is an actual soundtrack and only contains music from the movie. The song I'll Cry Instead actually got cut from the movie at the last minute, but it still appears on this soundtrack.

The most noticable difference between the two records is that this version has instrumental covers of Beatles songs played by part-time Beatle George Martin and his Orchestra. Orchestral versions of rock songs are not a favorite with a lot of people, they can bring back bad memories of dentist visits or long rides on slow crowded elevators, but to some of us they are yet another genre that has some good artists and some bad. Certainly cheesemeisters like Arthur Fiedler and Lawrence Welk can squeeze the life out of any good song, but other artists such as Tartaglia or Terry Baxter can make orchestral versions of psychedelic rock songs that are more far out than the originals. George Martin is much more like the latter two than the former two.

If you can dig this sort of thing, Martin's version of I Should Have Known Better is a fun 60s discotechue number with the melody being passed around between twangy guitars and honkin saxophones.The classic song, And I Love Her is given an exotic sound with latin percussion and deep reverb strings. Unfortunately Ringo's Theme is a little too corny even for this dubious genre and sounds like it belongs on little speakers down at the supermarket. Finally Martin's version of A Hard Day's Night shows what he is really capable of. His arrangement on this tune is extremely inventive and features constantly shifting time signatures and an avant-jazz arrangement that recalls some of Quincy Jones' best work.

The songs performed by the Beatles on here have been heard by all of us many times before. Hard Day's Night and Can't Buy Me Love still rock a bit, but most of the others are just second rate pop music. I would rather hear Martin's version of And I Love Her over the Beatles' version, it sounds nicer without the lyrics.

If you like slightly off-beat orchestral versions of rock classics, then you might want to hear what George Martin did with these wore out Beatles tunes.

First of all, this album, and the movie it accompanied, were released a year before the Beatles strted any sort of experimentation in their music. Also, four out of the twelve songs, a full third of the album, are maudlin, George Martin orchestrated versions of Beatles songs. So there is nothing prog about this album, proto or otherwise.

The songs played by the Beatles are typical of their early albums: okay, infectuous pop. And anyone who's been alive for at least a few decades has heard most, if not all of them over and over. If you must have these songs, get the British release, with only Beatles songs, and more of them,

The Beatles produced their best movie in AHDN and this version of the movie songs is remarkably close to the actual film even featuring a few of George Martin orchestrated instrumentals. For this reason the US version is a sought after item for Beatles collectors but the instrumentals are nothing to write home about really. As with the UK version, the actual songs are well produced and have some amazing catchy melodies.

There are quintessential Beatles galore on this classic, namely A Hard Day's Night with its trademark clanging intro chord - an F#m to die for. I Should Have Known Better is wonderful with crazy harmonica and Lennon at his best, and we get an instrumental version too. If I Fell is an instant treasure, and I'm Happy Just To Dance With You, And I Love Her, also the instrumental is here, and Can't Buy Me Love are well known classics.

I miss hearing the UK tracks of the other album version, Anytime At All, Things We Said Today and I'll Be Back. The US version includes throwaways such as Ringo's Theme (This Boy), sentimental claptrap, and A Hard Day's Night (instrumental) which is only worth hearing once. The US version is not as good as the UK but still offers enough to savour the palate of all Beatles collectors.