For the very first album review for Music Geek Central, a blog dedicated to taking a look at music of varying genres, what better review to write than one from the Beatles, easily one of the most influential and innovative bands of the 60's - and perhaps of all time. And the album we've chosen to review is an album that could arguably be considered their artistic breakthrough - "A Hard Day's Night". Sure, some nay-sayers may say that the Beatles' greatest triumphs didn't come along until Rubber Soul, but all the wonderful aspects of the Lennon-McCartney sound were already present on this 13-song, nearly flawless piece of masterful popcraft.
Now, the Beatles were known for releasing records at an alarmingly rapid rate; their third album, "A Hard Day's Night", was released only nine months after their previous outing, "With the Beatles". But inside those mere nine months, the entire world had changed for the band.
The Beatles' name had started to become more familiar to those outside of their hometown, especially when their 1963 Christmas single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", became a number-one blockbuster hit in America at the beginning of 1964. The band, who had sworn they wouldn't tour in America until they had their first number-one there, finally flew down to New York on February 7, 1964, to be greeted by seemingly thousands of young fans. To even further cement their popularity in the U.S., two days later, the Beatles performed on the prestigious Ed Sullivan Show to a whopping 73 million viewers, at the time the most viewers to ever tune in to a U.S. television program.
These four lads from Liverpool were on the top of the music world, when American director Dick Lester decided to capitalize on their success by bringing them into the movie world as well, with the 1964 film "A Hard Day's Night". The movie was a black-and-white "mockumentary" that exaggerated a day in the life of the Fab Four (a nickname that the Beatles had earned by the press), complete with slapstick, wry and witty dialogue from the band, and of course, excellent music numbers from the Beatles themselves. Not only did the sophisticated and arty comedy of the film gain the Fab more respect from the press, but it also seemed to encapsulate the confidence and energy of the youth at the time.
The album that accompanied the film was just as energetic and brilliant, with Side 1 of the album featuring songs from the film, and Side 2 with songs that were recorded for the film, but didn't make the final cut (but are still as good, anyway).
The Beatles' confidence and musical vision seemed to be growing by the minute, and "A Hard Day's Night" is no exception. The album kick-starts with the sudden, startling 12-string attack of the title track - the song is an exciting craze of a song that perfectly captures Beatlemania at its fullest, and it also tells you that the Lennon-McCartney duo is back and writing better than ever.
That's right, the two are the authors of the entire album - no covers of any kind, just a full-on blast of Lennon-McCartney; and considering that the album never seems to come across any filler, the whole thing seems like an artistic triumph.
The record flows beautifully, the unabashed title track rolls right along into the heartfelt yet ever-so upbeat "I Should Have Known Better", followed by an Everly Brothers-inspired ballad titled "If I Fell", and so on.
Though Lennon-McCartney were the primary control of the album, that doesn't mean the others get some room of their own. George Harrison gets to sing on the gorgeous rocker "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", and his blaring 12-string proved to be an influential sound in the development of the impending folk-rock movement.
Meanwhile, Ringo, though he doesn't get to sing or write anywhere on the record, he is credible for coming up with the title for "A Hard Day's Night". The story goes that the Beatles had just returned from a long, hard day of performing. As Ringo put it, "I came up still thinking it was day, I suppose, and I said, 'It's been a hard day...', and I looked around and saw it was dark, so I said, '...night!'"
John elaborated, "It was an off-the-cuff remark. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny, just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We're going to use that title.'"
In short, "A Hard Day's Night" captured the Beatles at the peak of their popularity, and was quite possibly the point where the band started to show signs of a blossoming artistic vision. But, it would soon turn out that the constant touring, performing, photo shoots, and press conferences might have some kind of toll on the Fab Four.
RATING - 10/10
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