With The Beatles (1963) Review
The Beatles second UK LP (With The Beatles) is definitely not not the best Beatles studio album, in fact it is probably their worst non Yellow Submarine album. But that is not to say I don’t enjoy hearing this early classic in it’s new glorious remastered form nor is it to say that it does not have any fine tunes on it because that is definitely not the case.
But I do think that when looking at only the eight original songs on the album, it is likely the worst selection of originals the lads from liverpool ever released on an album (the underrated Beatles For Sale has a much better selection of eight originals in my opinion) on the other hand, the covers on this album are good (better than the covers on Beatles For Sale, which was their fourth album.)
My most favorite Beatles originals to listen to on the With The Beatles Remastered CDs are the first three songs. In particular I’ve been loving song number two, “All I’ve Got To Do” in mono. It sounds wonderful.
Another song that has actually been making an impression on me is song #9, “Hold Me Tight.” Paul McCartney wrote and sang lead vocals on this song and he’s been very dismissive of it. And while I’ll agree the song isn’t perfect, I think it is a good time.
“Till There Was You” is my favorite cover on the album. It is a very cheesy sickly sweet ballad but I think in some strange way it works because of that. The album closer, “Money” is an excellent way to end the record. When I listen closely to the remastered mono version I actually hear the song as much more unhinged than I realized. It rocks pretty darn hard.
For most of the albums I do prefer the stereo mixes(especially with the later albums which are my favorite, anyway) when it comes 2009 Beatles box sets but I do think that this CD sounds better in mono than in stereo.
That being said, The Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set is the best deal I love both of these box sets, but if I had to choose just one, it’d definitely be the stereo box set.
