BEATLES FOR SALE

In the 18 months before this album was released, The Beatles had recorded and released three albums, seven singles, starred in a feature film, and done a world tour. So when The Beatles were asked to write another album to cash in on the Christmas charts of 1964, it's unsurprising that this was really not their best work. Unusually for a pop album, many of the songs on this album are depressing ballads about love not working, eg No Reply, I'm A Loser, Baby's In Black, Honey Don't, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party and What You're Doing. They don't even look that happy on the album cover! Surprisingly, this album was the first of theirs to be released in a gatefold sleeve - very prog indeed. However, the title 'Beatles For Sale' doesn't exactly sound magical does it.

The Beatles wanted to drop their cover songs and just produce their own material, a tactic which had made 'A Hard Day's Night' so successful. However, with hardly any time to write songs, they resorted to playing more covers on this album, and in some cases they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel. The highlights of this album are I'm A Loser and of course Eight Days A Week. There are also a few lesser gems, like No Reply, and of course Every Little Thing which, as most of you will probably know, was covered by Yes on their debut album. Most of the songs are quite forgettable though, and some of them are actually annoying! Words Of Love features incessant handclapping for the entire song, which is a bad song anyway! With Honey Don't you feel like telling Ringo to shut up! Mr Moonlight immediately grabs your interest with John's striking voice, only to lose it again when the song actually starts!

I have to admit, this is The Beatles' worst album. It's worth mentioning that the single I Feel Fine was released around the same time as this album, which features incredibly unusual but very well executed feedback in the intro. The deliberate use of feedback is very progressive, and it's unfortunate that they decided not to include it on the album. If you like collecting The Beatles' albums, make sure you get this one last.