BEATLES FOR SALE

THE BEATLES were the hottest act in musical history at this point and Beatlemania was showing no signs of cooling off any time soon. Like many early 60s releases FOR SALE was the title for the UK release not seeing a US release until 1987 (but the US would see a slightly reworked version called BEATLES 65.) This was the point when the band was a victim of its own success. The constant touring and release of a new album every six months depleted the band's original songs and because of record company pressure the Fab Four were pretty much forced to cough up another album right after "Hard Day's Night." With very little original material to supply the band reverted back to covering 50s songs only unlike those on the first couple of albums, most of these tracks seem stale and like a retrograde instead of an energized attempt at refreshing their sound.

Personally I find this the weakest album in the entire BEATLES discography. It just feels forced. There are a few tracks like "No Reply" that are up to snuff, but even the single "Eight Days A Week" is one of my least favorite BEATLES hits. The covers are fairly boring and overall this album just feels unnecessary. There are some firsts in the BEATLES evolutionary path here. The band had their only cover song hit #1 in Australia with Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" and John Lennon was incorporating personal experience as the basis for songwriting as heard in "I'm A Loser" showing his influence from hanging out with Bob Dylan. This album isn't a total waste of time but it's nevertheless the one that I find myself rarely wanting to put on. Luckily things would only get better from here. 2.5 rounded down