I'm most attached to Please Please Me. I can't deny that each album displays their growth, cleverness, and continuing development as people and songwriters, but funnily enough, the album that gives me the most enjoyment is their first. I think it represents the period of The Beatles where they felt the least pressure from the public and everyone else... I imagine them playing these songs in The Cavern and The Top Ten Club and places like that, a little earlier than when they actually recorded the record, with their pre-moptop haircuts and the leather outfits, and their youthful chirpiness... just kids reflecting the music and the energy of the musicians they admired, hoping for something to change, but just loving the hell out of the music they played and the thrill they got off it. I listen to Please Please Me and it's just full of that sparkle I know Brian saw in them when he first saw them, that spark that made him know they were special. The spark that was free to be whatever it wanted to be, before the music industry and the crazed public swallowed them up and pushed them into a bit of a creative and emotional corner. They're all great lads, and I think Please Please Me displays their talent for songwriting, their edge as musicians, and their drive to make good music. I Saw Her Standing There, Boys, Please Please Me, There's A Place and Twist And Shout really push the energy right up for me, making singalongs and extreme dancing irresistable! The way they sing and scream and play really forces you to listen to how good they are. Misery, Chains, Love Me Do, Do You Want To Know A Secret and A Taste Of Honey are great middle-of-the-road songs that you can really enjoy, and for quite a while when I was new to the record, I was hearing and feeling different things in each of them on every listen. Anna (Go To Him), P.S. I Love You and Baby It's You are great slowies that give me such a warm feeling of affection for the boys and I think shows off more of their vocal talents, John's in particular in Baby It's You, and the low harmonic structures they weaved in P.S. I Love You. And my personal fave from the album, Ask Me Why, is just an absolute dream. Even though there are Beatles songs I love more, I just turn to jelly at even the first notes of Ask Me Why! It's just the mind-blowingly close harmonies, using the whole "I love you-woo-woo" thing, the sweet chord changes, the overall atmosphere of the song, and John's gorgeous vocals... It just melts my heart!
Phew! Didn't mean to ramble on that much... shouldn't have been so damn talented, should they?
xxx