Came across this horrid summation of ALL the Beatles albums!

[Kylenz]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00004WXTN/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R2MNN2EHL4JJ5X

...well, except for Magical Mystery Tour of course. I don't think I've ever come across a more ignorant music listener. Everyone's entitled to their opinion.. but this one shows no heart.. for someone fully immersed in The Beatles catalogue it makes you wonder why they bought the albums in the first place!

It seems to me that as far as music is concerned, there are only two things to consider, one being the degree of enjoyment it brings to the listener and the other, the quality of the music, whether it be the technical quality of the production, the competence of the musicians or the audio quality of the recording. For me, the degree of enjoyment is by far the overriding criteria since that is primarily the purpose of music.

As far as the Beatles albums are concerned, in my view the first five albums are head and shoulders above any of the following albums. In particular, I would comment as follows (note: side one/two refers to the sides of the original vinyl lps):-

Please Please Me - this was a wonderful debut album and contains some fantastic songs, such as the excellent cover version "Baby It's You", which is my all-time favourite Beatles song. I would give this album 10 out of 10.

With The Beatles - Another enjoyable album, although not quite as good as their first album. I would give this album 8 out of 10.

A Hard Day's Night - Another excellent album; especially side one which has the beautiful ballad "And I Love Her." Side two is not quite as good as side one but does have the wonderful "You Can't Do That", which was released as the B-side to "Can't Buy Me Love." I would give this album 9 out of 10

Beatles For Sale - Probably the weakest of the first four albums but nevertheless contains some enjoyable songs such as the Buddy Holly cover "Words Of Love" and Paul's "What You're Doing" (it never ceases to amaze me the different voices that Paul McCartney could muster for his songs). I would give this album 8 out of 10.

Help! - This album is of similar quality to A Hard Day's Night. The original side one is excellent and although side two is weaker, it does have the classic "Yesterday." I would give this album 9 out of 10

Rubber Soul - For me, this is the start of the decline. A very disappointing album compared to the previous one and really quite boring. I would give this album 4 out of 10.

Revolver - Rather more interesting than the previous album but also rather weird and containing some stupid songs such as "Yellow Submarine" and "Tomorrow Never Knows." "Eleanor Rigby" and "Here, There And Everywhere" are my favourite tracks, followed by "Dr Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing." Overall, I would give this album 6 out of 10.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Very imaginative but low on enjoyment factor. I would give this album 4 out of 10.

The Beatles (White Album) - Apart from a few good songs, such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", I would have to say that this album is just plain boring and stupid. I have only got it because it was a free gift. There is no way I would pay even 50p for it. My score for this album is 1 out of 10.

Abbey Road - A definite improvement on the White album, but then again it could hardly be any worse. The original side one of the album is not particularly interesting and ends with the boring song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which just goes on and on and on. Side 2 however is something of a masterpiece. I would give this album 7 out of 10. The score would have been higher if side one were as good as side 2, but it isn't.

Let It Be - Although this album was recorded before Abbey Road, it wasn't released until afterwards. Apart from the title track which is excellent, the rest of the album is pretty boring and again has some stupid songs (for example, George Harrison singing , "All through the day I me mine, I me mine, I me mine..." - Give me "I Need You" from Help! or "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" from A Hard Day's Night any time). I would give this album 2 out of 10.

So.. does anyone here agree with his assessments? 

[mervap]

Ummmmmmmmmmmm........no.

For me, the degree of enjoyment is by far the overriding criteria since that is primarily the purpose of music.

If this statement is true, then his asessment is clearly a matter of his personal taste and he certainly entitled to that...

As far as the Beatles albums are concerned, in my view the first five albums are head and shoulders above any of the following albums.

Many of you may know this, but as far as actual music goes, I agree (kinda) with him here....I have always preferred the sound of the early, more tight-knit group to the later, more wide-ranging sound. However, I enjoy them all and also realize how ground-breaking those later albums are...

[mervap]

Oh, and did I mention that this guy is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?

[2 of 3]

I understand what he is saying, but the problem is...he's one of those people Lennon tore a new one, when he said "sorry, we're not the mop tops you fell in love with" or what ever he said...it was something like that.
Anyway, he didn't really care for the Beatles' evolution. I can live with that. 

I can almost guarantee he would have been bored with the lads if they never changed though.

[Kylenz]

We all like bands that just get together and form a tight groovy unit.. but to give their later albums one or two marks out of ten.. beggars belief. Rubber Soul is boring? Let It Be has stupid songs? The White Abum is boring and stupid? "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a stupid song? Whoa! 

[chris]

i would give this butt-muncher's review a 1 of 10. both stupid and boring. and the second half was no where near as good as the first.

[oldasSoul]

A perfect example of the type of listener referenced in 'Pirate Radio', where Radio Sunshine's tagline is "Who needs the Beatles when you've got Herman's Hermits!?!"

I give this reviewer 1/16 of a start out of 5, primarily because there were very few spelling or grammatical errors. 

[Kylenz]

"Who needs the Beatles when you've got Herman's Hermits!?!"

[lampie1970]

to each his own you know? He prolly LOOOOOOOVES brtiney spears....i mean, give the parents some credit for getting their tween into review writing instead of beauty pageants at that age...

[oldasSoul]

Perhaps this reviewer needs the sarcasm font discussed elsewhere on this board. It's hard to imagine anyone holding these views for real, but as Lampie said, he's likely a big fan of Britney, Selina Gomez, and likely thinks that the most recent Jonas Bros. album is the peak of perfection!

[chris]

Perhaps this reviewer needs the sarcasm font discussed elsewhere on this board. It's hard to imagine anyone holding these views for real, but as Lampie said, he's likely a big fan of Britney, Selina Gomez, and likely thinks that the most recent Jonas Bros. album is the peak of perfection!

wait. you guys don't like the jonas bros.?

[oldasSoul]

Like mervap I can see his point about the tighter, poppier early albums being easier to digest. Because I started with SPLHCB, then the White album I was more used to the more experimental side. I did have '62 - '66 as well, but the brutal stereo mix on the very early songs (instruments one side, vocals other side) didn't endear it to me.

There are definitely times when I'm more in the mood to be entertained rather than challenged while listening to music, but to call RS boring and diss the songs on LiB is too much. He should sit down and listen to the entire catalog, in order of release, then read the Anthology book cover to cover before making these statements. But what do I know?