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

Considered together, IMAGINE and its startling predecessor, PLASTIC ONO BAND, paint a vivid picture of the state of John Lennon immediately post-Beatles. If PLASTIC ONO BAND found John working out his hitherto repressed feelings about childhood and stardom, then the abiding impression of IMAGINE is John’s one certainty in this storm of doubts and recrimination: his love for Yoko. “Jealous Guy,” with its peerless vocal and a spot-on arrangement for strings, is sublime. “Oh My Love” is all delicacy and melodiousness. “Oh Yoko!” is a celebratory finale with none of the cloying self-obsession of John and Yoko’s home movies.

On two other songs where Yoko is not the dominant theme, she is nevertheless invoked through the “oh no, oh no” refrain. That’s not to say that love songs predominate. Half of the material covers similar terrain to PLASTIC ONO BAND, but the themes are balanced by hope and even light-heartedness. “Crippled Inside” is leavened by its country stylings including Dobro, courtesy of George Harrison, who also spices up two of the album’s pivotal tracks, “Gimme Some Truth” and “How Do You Sleep?” (the latter is a vitriolic attack on Paul McCartney). Outside of PLASTIC ONO BAND, this may be Lennon’s finest solo album.

Tracklisting
1. Imagine
2. Crippled Inside
3. Jealous Guy
4. It’s So Hard
5. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama
6. Gimme Some Truth
7. Oh My Love
8. How Do You Sleep?
9. How?
10. Oh Yoko!

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (10/28/71, p.48) – “…On the evidence of IMAGINE, I don’t think that John has resolved the manner in which a masterpiece and an artistic dead-end like POB can succesfully be followed….But then, great artists, of whom John is one, are nothing if not resourceful…”

Q (7/00, p.140) – Included in Q’s “The Best Male Angst Albums Of All Time”

Q (4/00, pp.104-5) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…a strange, contrary record with touches of genius….extraordinarily beautiful….it is a signpost to one of the 20th Century’s major figures….proof that genius is a series of fleeting moments…”

Mojo (Publisher) (4/00, p.106) – “…Contains both the best and worst of the man – the idealist and the ranter, the righteous and the vindictive anger….So you take your choice between the pantheistic songs or the pissed-off plodders…”

NME (Magazine) (9/18/93, p.19) – Ranked #34 in NME’s list of The Greatest Albums Of The ’70s.