A Hard Day’s Night was the first Beatles album of all-original material, and the first to feature George Harrison playing his Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar (on the opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night,” for instance). The distinctive sound of the 12-string inspired countless guitarists including Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of the Byrds. The film from which these songs hail remains a classic combination of happy ’60s na‹vet‚ and nascent hipster wit. Many of the most important rock bands to emerge in the latter half of the ’60s came into being because of A Hard Day’s Night’s irresistible vibrancy. The tunes flow like the finest red wine, as the title track leads to the glorious harmonica of “I Should Have Known Better” and the powerfully poignant “If I Fell.”

A Hard Day’s Night not only was the de facto soundtrack for their movie, not only was it filled with nothing but Lennon-McCartney originals, but it found the Beatles truly coming into their own as a band. All of the disparate influences on their first two albums had coalesced into a bright, joyous, original sound, filled with ringing guitars and irresistible melodies. A Hard Day’s Night is where the Beatles became mythical, but this is the sound of Beatlemania in all of its giddy glory. Decades after its original release, its punchy blend of propulsive rhythms, jangly guitars, and infectious, singalong melodies is remarkably fresh. There’s something intrinsically exciting in the sound of the album itself, something to keep the record vital years after it was recorded. Even more impressive are the songs themselves. Not only are the melodies forceful and memorable, but Lennon and McCartney have found a number of variations to their basic Merseybeat style, from the brash “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Any Time at All” through the gentle “If I Fell” to the tough folk-rock of “I’ll Cry Instead.” It’s possible to hear both songwriters develop their own distinctive voices on the album, but, overall, A Hard Day’s Night stands as a testament to their collaborative powers — never again did they write together so well or so easily, choosing to pursue their own routes. John and Paul must have known how strong the material is — they threw the pleasant trifle “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You” to George and didn’t give anything to Ringo to sing. That may have been a little selfish, but it hardly hurts the album, since everything on the record is performed with genuine glee and excitement. It’s the pinnacle of their early years.

Tracklisting
1. A Hard Day’s Night
2. I Should Have Known Better
3. If I Fell
4. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
5. And I Love Her
6. Tell Me Why
7. Can’t Buy Me Love
8. Any Time At All
9. I’ll Cry Instead
10. Things We Said Today
11. When I Get Home
12. You Can’t Do That
13. I’ll Be Back
14. A Hard Day’s Night Documentary

Professional Reviews
Ranked #1 in EW’s “100 Best Movie Soundtracks” – “…A blitzkrieg of black-and-white imagery that changed the way we see the world. We can’t think of a better definition of a great soundtrack.”

Q (Magazine) (9/99, p.136) – Included in Q Magazine’s Best Happy Albums of All Time – “…the sound of young men almost astonished by their fecundity and melodic gifts….they never sounded happier.”

Q (Magazine) – Ranked #5 in Q’s “100 Greatest British Albums”

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The Beatles – Abbey Road
John Lennon – Imagine

ABBEY ROAD, recorded in the summer of 1969, was the last album recorded by the Beatles (LET IT BE was released in 1970, but recorded in early ‘69).

After the laborious disorganisation and infighting that characterised early 1969’s LET IT BE sessions (as famously captured on film), the fractious four were willing to let George Martin take the reins and to work with him as a cohesive unit for the much more succinct production of their (and the decade’s) swan song, ABBEY ROAD. The superb performances make the album an artistic high point for all members of the group. Paul McCartney inspired the suite of songs that begins with “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Often thought of as two long medleys, the songs that fill most of the second half of ABBEY ROAD segue seamlessly into one another, but are programmed as separate CD tracks. George Harrison had his first A-side on a Beatles’ single (”Something”); John Lennon contributed a pair of heavy rockers (”Come Together” and “I Want You”); and Ringo Starr’s “Octopus’s Garden” was a favorite with children.

The biggest band in rock history sees their original catalogue digitally remastered for the first time with improved packaging, including extra rare photographs, expanded and new essays and all enhanced with a video mini-documentary on the making of each album in the Beatles own words.

Tracklisting
1. COME TOGETHER
2. SOMETHING
3. MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER
4. OH! DARLING
5. OCTOPUS’S GARDEN
6. I WANT YOU (SHE’S SO HEAVY)
7. HERE COMES THE SUN
8. BECAUSE
9. YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY
10. SUN KING
11. MEAN MR MUSTARD
12. POLYTHENE PAM
13. SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
14. GOLDEN SLUMBERS
15. CARRY THAT WEIGHT
16. THE END
17. HER MAJESTY

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.94) – Ranked #14 in Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time” – “…Superb songs cut with an attention to refined detail, then segued together with conceptual force…”

Q (6/00, p.78) – Ranked #17 in Q’s “100 Greatest British Albums” – “The last Beatles LP to be recorded…it [has] extremely well-drilled and elaborate song structures….the quick-fire 8 track medley starting with ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ and ending with ‘The End’ is unprecedented in rock…”

Down Beat (1/22/70) – 4 Stars – Very Good – “…What is it that makes the Beatles so likeable? Maybe it’s that they never seem to strain for effects yet are meticulous craftsman; that their humor, even when rather gruesome …is never offensive; that their satire is never malicious; their lyricism never maudlin, but their work still has punch and conviction…genuine musicality and poetic imagination…”