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The Beatles 1
Release Date: 2000-11-14
Sales rank: 89
Japanese exclusive reissue of 2000 compilation. This Toshiba/EMI pressing features an OBI strip (different from the last Japanese pressings issued in 1990) & an insert with Japanese text & lyrics in Japanese & English. Manufactured & pressed in Japan. Gatefold sleeve. 2003. Proving yet again their willingness to dice 'n' slice their burgeoning legacy into new--if not exactly fresh--product, the Fab Four Minus One have released this single-disc compendium of their No. 1 hits. Though obviously superfluous to the faithful (who may also find themselves quibbling over the precise definition of "No. 1 hit" and the exclusion of seeming contenders like "Please Please Me" and "Strawberry Fields"), newly arrived visitors from the Pleiades star cluster and other neophytes will find it a concise and generous (nearly 80 minutes) single-disc introduction to the band's career-spanning, unparalleled dominance of pop music in the 1960s. But beyond being a mere trophy case of commercial success (and it won't be hard to find critics who'll argue that these singles aren't even the band's best work), it's also a Cliff's Notes take on a remarkable seven-year run of musical evolution, one that stretches from the neo-skiffle of "Love Me Do" through a remarkable synthesis of R&B, rockabilly, Tin Pan Alley, gospel, country, and classical that still defies efforts to effectively deconstruct it. This is the pop monument equivalent of the '27 Yankees and '90s Bulls; it's every bit as obvious and dominating--and just as essential. --Jerry McCulley |
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Release Date: 2002-07-15
Sales rank: 99
One of the most famous and influential albums ever recorded, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band had a huge impact on the music world, signaling the beginning of a new era of sophistication and maturity in rock. The musical experimentation was dynamic and fresh, several tracks were edited to create seamless transitions, and even the visual design was more elaborate than anything previously attempted. Producer George Martin and The Beatles searched for new sounds and studio effects. They added crowd sounds and animal cries from sound-effects recordings, sped up Paul McCartney's vocals in "When I'm Sixty-Four" (to make him sound younger), and sustained a single piano chord for 40 seconds to end "A Day In The Life." The orchestrations, scored by Martin, were hailed by critics as bridging the gap between pop and classical music, and many people who had never bought a rock record bought Sgt. Pepper's. EMI. 2005.Before Sgt. Pepper, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 30-plus years, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," the carnival-like "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") and McCartney's music hall-styled "When I'm 64," to Harrison's Eastern-leaning "Within You Without You," and the avant-garde mini-suite, "A Day in the Life," Sgt. Pepper was a milestone for both '60s music and popular culture. --Billy Altman |
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The Best of the Moody Blues
Release Date: 1997-01-28
Sales rank: 141
Fans of the Moody Blues hungry for the band's intoxicatingly rich arrangements and soaring melodies need look no further than this terrific compilation. What it lacks in depth this collection makes up for in breadth, spanning the band's 30-year history of hits from "Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon)" to "Your Wildest Dreams." Featuring some of Justin Hayward and John Lodge's best songwriting and packed with performances truly worthy of the superlative adjective greatest, this collection of hits delivers the goods. --L.A. Smith |
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Rubber Soul (1990)
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Sales rank: 193
Japanese exclusive reissue of 1965 album. This Toshiba/EMI pressing features an OBI strip (different from the last Japanese pressings issued in 1990) & an insert with Japanese text & lyrics in Japanese & English. Manufactured & pressed in Japan. This album has been direct metal mastered from a digitally remastered original tape to give the best possible sound quality. 2003.Rank 'em how you like, Rubber Soul is an undeniable pivot point in the Fab Four's varied discography no matter where, or how, you first heard it. The album was softened up in its original 12-song American edition to jibe with the Dylan/Byrds folk-rock sound, as well as squeeze money from the Parlophone catalog. The 14-song U.K. edition--the version now available on compact disc--is a different, more dynamic, and ultimately more accomplished achievement. So many classics: "Drive My Car" and "Nowhere Man" (both omitted from the U.S. edition) merge the early combustible Beatifics to a burgeoning studio consciousness; "The Word" can be read as a pre-psych warning shot; the sitar-laden "Norwegian Wood" and the evocative "Girl" (the latter written on the last night of the sessions) stand as turning points in John Lennon's oeuvre. George finally emerges too, with the McGuinn-ish "If I Needed Someone." --Don Harrison |
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The Who: The Ultimate Collection
Release Date: 2002-06-11
Sales rank: 225
This fully comprehensive 2CD collection charts the career of one of the most significant and formidable bands of all time. All tracks have been 24-bit digitally remastered.The Who's mighty catalog of beautiful, poignant, and often silly pop songs bashed out with Cassius Clay finesse has suffered in the past at the hands of multiple, butcher-shop best-ofs and horrible packaging. But this thrilling band--undeniably one of ye classicke rocke's greatest--gets the career-spanning entry-point compilation it deserves with the double-disc Ultimate Collection. The songs included here are no-brainers, for the most part--if they aren't huge hits like "My Generation," "I Can See for Miles," or "Baba O'Riley," they're long-standing fan favorites such as "Boris the Spider," "Pure and Easy," and "Squeeze Box." And while this reviewer wishes different songs were chosen from Tommy, and more than one tune was gathered from their arguably finest (and definitely silliest) album, The Who Sell Out, this record really isn't for fans (aside from the total trainspotter types) but for newcomers. --Mike McGonigal |
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Hot Rocks 1964-1971
Release Date: 2002-08-27
Sales rank: 227
Remastered reissue of 1972 compilation. Rolling Stones Photos It's the rare greatest-hits album that takes on a life of its own. Generally, best-of collections are superceded by updated retrospectives. Hot Rocks is one of the rare exceptions to the rule. Originally released in 1972, it instantly became the Stones intro of choice, elbowing aside Big Hits, High Tide and Green Grass and Through the Past Darkly. Why? It happened to hit the racks when Mick and company were at their creative peak. The 21 tracks found here represent seven years of dizzying growth. From "Time is on My Side" through "Satisfaction" and "Let's Spend the Night Together," on to Sticky Fingers's "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses," Hot Rocks never lets up. The likes of Sucking in the '70s and Jump Back come and go, but this Stones overview will not be moved. --Steven Stolder |
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Revolver [UK]
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Sales rank: 309
It is nearly impossible to overestimate this record. Revolver straddles with steady legs the divide between the exuberant pop of the '60s beat boom and the experimental outlands that followed. And then pisses over it all. Revolver stands at the summit of western pop music, partly by virtue of its centrality to the musical revolution of the '60s, and partly because its songs have endured as well as any ever written. On cuts like "Taxman" (featuring a fantastically ferocious guitar solo from, of all people, Paul McCartney) and "Doctor Robert," The Beatles' harmony-rich R&B is on such masterful form, the only question remaining is what they would do for act two. The answer: Change Everything. EMI. 2005.Revolver wouldn't remain the Beatles' most ambitious LP for long, but many fans--including this one--remember it as their best. An object lesson in fitting great songwriting into experimental production and genre play, this is also a record whose influence extends far beyond mere they-was-the-greatest cheerleading. Putting McCartney's more traditionally melodic "Here, There and Everywhere" and "For No One" alongside Lennon's direct-hit sneering ("Dr. Robert") and dreamscapes ("I'm Only Sleeping," "Tomorrow Never Knows") and Harrison's peaking wit ("Taxman") was as conceptually brilliant as anything Sgt. Pepper attempted, and more subtly fulfilling. A must. --Rickey Wright |
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1967-1970 (The Blue Album)
Release Date: 1993-10-05
Sales rank: 640
Even as the Beatles began heading toward an inevitable breakup, their prolific ways continued; this two-disc look back only skims the surface of their later achievements. Excerpts from Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, the white album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be compete for space with classic singles that do as much or more to prove their eclecticism: the epic ballad "Hey Jude," the plaintive "Strawberry Fields Forever," straight rock & roll of all stripes from the plainspoken "Revolution" and "Get Back" to the surreal "Come Together." Decades after the split, this (and its companion set of 1962-1966 cuts) remains a favored introduction for young listeners and a key sampler for veteran fans. --Rickey Wright |
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Remastered)
Release Date: 2009-09-09
Sales rank: 339
The classic original Beatles studio albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the Beatles catalogue has seen since its original release.
Within each CD's new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. The newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere.Before Sgt. Pepper, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 30-plus years, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," the carnival-like "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") and McCartney's music hall-styled "When I'm 64," to Harrison's Eastern-leaning "Within You Without You," and the avant-garde mini-suite, "A Day in the Life," Sgt. Pepper was a milestone for both '60s music and popular culture. --Billy Altman
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Revolver (Remastered)
Release Date: 2009-09-09
Sales rank: 360
The classic original Beatles studio albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the Beatles catalogue has seen since its original release.
Within each CD's new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. The newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere.
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