The accompanying album is also, sometimes, categorized as one of their worst. In fact, according to Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time it is their lowest ranking album aside from Let It Be, an album that was, essentially, made as the band was falling apart (the only two Beatles albums to not be included on the list at all are Beatles for Sale and Magical Mystery Tour--- the former is still a pretty great album--- "No Reply", "I'm a Loser", "Eight Days a Week"--- but is, perhaps, weighed down by some of their weaker covers. While the latter is pretty much universally--- alongside the accompanying film--- considered the worst thing the band did but, hey, it did give us "I am the Walrus"). Now, if we are discussing the original US, United Artist Soundtrack, it is a pretty terrible listening experience. The songs from the film are inter-cut with incidental music from the score.
However, if we are talking about the original UK album (which for cataloging purposes has been the most widely released on CD--- and can be considered the band's 'intended' version) it can hardly be considered terrible by anyone's standards and, most likely, it is only because it has to stand next to four or five of the best albums ever made by any band, that it is so often panned. Sure, it is not as brilliant as Rubber Soul (which would follow only 4 short months later) or Revolver, nor does it have the historical importance of Meet The Beatles (really the American version of With The Beatles) or Please Please Me, and it doesn't stand as a perfect summation of everything that was great about those early, mop top years of the band like A Hard Day's Night but it still contains some of the best music ever recorded.
Remember, in addition to Lennon's brilliant title track the album also contains "Ticket to Ride", (and while Lennon's assertion that this song invented heavy metal seems dubious at best, it was one of the band's most sonically adventurous tunes at that point--- hints of eastern influence can be detected in the song's pulse) and "Yesterday", the most covered Lennon/McCartney composition. So, while it might not encapsulate the mop top years the way earlier albums did and it was not as groundbreaking as the work from the 'studio years', the album does serve as an important bridge between the two eras.
The first 'side' of the album is, basically, the songs from the film. While none of the other songs can compete with "Help!" or "Ticket to Ride", when listened to on their own, they are not without their charm. The band was growing. These were very different from the songs of a year earlier--- there was a bit more soul here, a little more country there. And we also get "I Need You": a nice early songwriting contribution from George Harrison that almost serves as a sort of prototype to his first great song, "If I Needed Someone".
The second half of the album, aside from a couple of throwaway covers, serves as a kind of proto-Rubber Soul. The folksier, acoustic numbers (also represented on the first side with "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away") not only gave us "Yesterday" but also the delightful "I've Just Seen A Face" which, in fact, was pulled (along with "It's Only Love") and used to open the American version of Rubber Soul (I'm with Little Steven on this one; the song just makes more sense there).
This might be one of the Beatles' 'worst' albums but it certainly isn't bad. In fact, I prefer not to think of it so much as one of their worst as much as I think of it as my least favorite.
Another thing I really like about the album is the fact that it was, really, the last album where they were just a rock and roll band. "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" might have been a throwaway cover, but it still showcased the group's ability to tear through an old school rock tune. Which leads me to this week's second 50th Beatles anniversary: The Shea Stadium concert.
The Beatles have often been accused of being 'a terrible live band'. There is some truth to this; most of the surviving recordings from the height of 'Beatlemania' are pretty unlistenable. However, this has less to do with the band than the audience and the technology. Not only did the screams of thousands of teenage girls drown out much of sound of the band but, remember, the Beatles were probably the first band to play arenas and stadiums. Most acts were still playing theaters and clubs. The technology simply wasn't there to accommodate the terrible acoustics of these venues; they weren't made to play music in. Along the same lines, the technology for recording live (especially over all those screaming girls) had not yet evolved to record this type of concert act. If you doubt me, listen to some of the live recordings (most of them available on the Anthology collections) where the band was playing under more 'ideal' conditions (see also the Live at the BBC collections--- technically most of these were 'live in the studio' but, still, most songs were captured in one or two takes without overdubs).
So, that brings us to Shea Stadium; the performance has never been given a proper, official release (apart from about 4 or five of the songs being featured on the DVD release of The Beatles Anthology; seriously, if you're a Beatles fan and don't own this you need to rethink your life). But, in the days of the internets, full recordings can be found quite easily online. Sure, the vocals are raw and the harmonies aren't as tight as they are on the album (considering the fact that they couldn't hear themselves, it's a minor miracle they weren't much, much worse), but their playing is tight, on point, yet, also filled with energy and abandon (especially on the show's closer "I'm Down", where Lennon just goes nuts on the electric piano). So, at the end of the day, this is Beatles being what I really most love about them: a good little rock band.
