Please Please Me - Beatles (The) (CD 1998)

The Beatles have been considered by many to be the best band of all time. I don't quite agree, but I definitely would consider them for top ten. I'd have to say the Rolling Stones, their British rivals, have been a more versatile band and are much better musicians, but the Beatles' songwriting talents can't be denied. They are a band that invented Pop Rock and paved the way for many groups and musicians. And I think the Beatles' debut album is superior to the Stones' debut, although I like the Stones' rocking riffs much better on their later albums. Early on, though, the Beatles were more gifted in the songwriting department. They wrote nice melodies that people of any age could sing along with, while the Stones were more of an aquired taste earlier in their career.

Please, Please Me is an excellent debut album with nonstop nice verses and hummable choruses. It starts off with I Saw Her Standing There, a great song that kind of rocked for its time. McCartney and Lennon showed off their songwriting skills right out of the gate and never looked back. Although this album has quite a few covers, even covers that people associate with only the Beatles like Twist and Shout, they wrote many great original songs that put them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, thus stamping their place in music history. Please, Please Me is another song that you can't help singing along with, they show their talent with vocal harmonies that become their career trademarks. I've been in a few bands in my life, and Twist and Shout is the song that taught me how to harmonize. I owe a lot of gratitude to the Fab Four for the simple harmonies that they do during the aah's during this song. If you're in a band and want to know how to harmonize, just listen to this song. It's Harmonizing 101.

Please, Please Me isn't the Beatles' best album, but it's a great start and a very influential album. The songwriting genius is evident here as well as the vocal talents. All the songs are listenable, and even if you don't like a song, it's no big deal because none of the songs even top three minutes. Their musical chops aren't refined yet here, but you can see that they're a band that has a lot of staying power. I know it's easy to say that in hindsight with what the Beatles have accomplished, but just listening to their first album makes you realize how good they were at such a young age. If they were that good when they were young, one could only imagine at the time how good they were going to be in their prime.

So obviously, I recommend this album to diehard Beatles fans and music fans in general. And any person who is in a band should definitely own this album, for both songwriting and vocal harmony examples that can be used in countless songwriting styles.

The Beatles are responsible for unleashing the British Invasion; and Please,Please Me is the album that started it all. It's a piece of Rock and Roll History.