5/5 A Hard Album's Worth of Music...
  by Samhot (Star Land)
Or something like that. Um... nevermind.

And here it is - the very first (and only) album comprised of *all* Lennon & McCartney material, and what an excellent album it is. The Beatles' third album, overall, the boys had already started out with some mightily impressive songwriting skills, chops, and infectious melodies with their first two albums, _Please Please Me_ and _With The Beatles_ (both from 1963.) However, unlike those two (which feature a mix of originals and covers), this album is comprised of *all* original material, and the songwriting is also a step up, overall, from their first two albums.

Something that seems to fly over the heads of many Beatles fans is the complexity involved in the majority of their music. Yes, their later material was not the only music to be complex. In fact, this aspect started from the beginning, actually, and this album is no exception: many of the chords, progressions and structures to the songs on this album are very advanced -- especially coming from a rock band who wrote their own material back in the early '60s, and what's a hell of a lot more impressive is how they seem to make it all sound so seemingly simple; the complexity of the musicianship doesn't overwhelm the music, but in actuality, it plays an important role in making their music as infectious and devouring as it was (and still is): the way they treat the melodies, and how they sequence and arrange them are so marvelous.

You know the title track, as it features that explosive, shot-in-the-dark strum of a chord (which is complex, by the way.) And from there, we are taken on an exciting ride. We get infectious rockers like the aforementioned title track, lovely, melodic-soaked ballads like "If I Fell," more infectious rockers like "Happy Just To Dance With You," which is sung by George Harrison, and features some stunning arrangements, but these arrangements make for some interesting, mysterious, yet infectious melodies, which lend the track a certain sexy, elegant and utterly classy quality. We also get Latin-infused numbers like Paul McCartney's "And I Love Her."

My favorite track on this excellent album is "Tell Me Why." Many people on this page seem to bash this track, which is fine. It was rumored that John Lennon himself didn't think the world of this track, and said that it was a song written without much effort, and that it was inspired by his love of the R&B "girl groups" from that time period. You can definitely hear the influence here (and in certain other Beatles songs), but the passionate, raucous, uninhibited, and alternately beautiful vocal harmonies, the sexy way in which they swing, and the jazzy basslines from McCartney are just a few of the things that contribute to the creation of something which is almost orgasmic to my ears.

Later, we get to see one of the earliest examples of The Beatles exploring their love of country-rockabilly in "I'll Cry Instead," while "Things We Said Today" is more of a melancholic-toned melody, which, ironically, features a fairly-fast tempo. "You Can't Do That" features some ominous lyrics to a lover, but yet the melody and the song in general sounds so up-tempo, jovial and celebratory. And, to close off the album, we have "I'll Be Back," one of the most understatedly beautiful songs on the album.

The Beatles didn't ever really put out an album that wasn't filled to the brim with infectiousness, and impressive musicianship. This 1964 juggernaut is no exception. Highly recommended.


5/5 A must for any serious collection
  by Steven G. Jones (Landisville, PA USA)
So much has been written about the Beatles later albums such as Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road and The White Album, which all made your customer poll Top 100. It's a real shame that the Beatles earlier(pre-Rubber Soul) albums are underappreciated because they are all first rate rock 'n roll. A Hard Day's Night is the best of the earlier albums and ranks right up there with their later classics and also should have been on your customer Top 100. Every track here is brilliant in consumate beat-pop style. Infectious joy just explodes out of every song. A friend of mine described this album as "a guaranteed bad mood buster. The unforgettable opening guitar riff of the title song sets the tone for what is to come. And I Love Her is arguably McCartney's best love song. Lennon's glorious harmonica never sounded better than in I Should Have Known Better. The songs are more complex than it may first seem so listen to them carefully. For instance, Tell Me Why is a great rocker whose backbeat has a syncopated snazz that gives it a swing sound as well. Hardly pop fluff. The most incredible thing about this album is that it was written on the run while Beatlemania raged around them and they were pressured to get a soundtrack out for the movie, unlike the later albums when they had more time to experiment in the studio. A Hard Day's Night is a timeless classic that sounds as fresh and energetic today as it did 35 years ago. No serious rock collection is complete without it.

5/5 Pure Adrenaline....This IS Beatlemania !!!
  by paperbackriter (USA)
Filled with energy, hooks, and enough great songs to last a lifetime, "A Hard Day's Night" is the ultimate document of Beatlemania. About the only thing missing from this unheralded masterpiece is the deafening shriek of adoring young fans. This is one for the history books because, in a nutshell, this IS 1964!!

Oddly enough, "Hard Day's Night" is rarely mentioned as one of the Beatles' best albums. What a shame, because this one is loaded with 13 unforgetable Lennon-McCartney classics. In fact, so cohesive are the tunes, that one could make a strong case for "A Hard Day's Night" as rock-n-roll's first true concept album. Lyrically, each song deals with love. Yes, it's mostly simplistic, however, a growing sophistication sneaks in on "Things We Said Today" and the haunting finale "I'll Be Back". The instrumental landscape is graced with driving acoustic guitars, Ringo's steady backbeat and of course, George's ringing 12-string guitar. So influential was George's playing -- especially on the classic title song -- that seemingly an entire generation of young guitar slingers made the 12-string a part of their arsenal. (The Byrds' Roger McGuinn credits "Hard Day's Night" as the inspiration for his love affair with the 12-string.)

All thirteen songs are wonderful. No filler-- just classic power pop sprinkled with a pair of John and Paul's most beautiful ballads ("And I Love Her" and "If I Fell"). The potent rockers "Any Time at All" and "You Can't Do That" are purely lethal. John doesn't merely sing these songs -- he screams his bloody lungs out!! Paul shreds his vocal cords on "Can't Buy Me Love", letting out what is perhaps the most famous scream in rock's history. You get the idea that the Beatles -- not yet fed up with touring and riotous mobs -- had a blast while recording "A Hard Day's Night". This is pure adrenaline and we, the listeners, are the lucky recipients. A must for any serious music fan, "A Hard's Day's Night" is not only one of the best albums of all-time, it's also one of the most important.

5/5 The Beatles Best Rock Album (From The Early Years)
  by Matt Coker (Davis, CA, USA)
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is the best rock album from The Beatles early period (1962-1964). It is the only album to include exclusively Lennon & McCartney songs. As well as been the extraordinary soundtrack to their first legendary movie. What really makes A HARD DAY'S NIGHT exceptional is the remarkable songs on this album. The music is radiant, consisitent, and incredible. There's infinite energy on the performances of every track. The album opens with the trademark chord crash on the title track. It's a classic Beatles song. "I Should Have Known Better" has a bright melody, with the trademark harmonica. This classic appeared as the B-Side to the "A Hard Day's Night" single in the United States. "If I Fell" is a gorgeous ballad in the three-part harmony arrangements, it's one of my favorites of their early ballads, and the favorite of the three-part harmony series (including "This Boy", "Yes It Is", "Because"). George Harrison takes the lead vocal on "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You". One of Paul McCartney's earliest and most tender ballads is "And I Love Her", another Beatles classic. "Tell Me Why" is an aggressive rock song, a relationship that would again be described on "I'll Cry Instead" and "What You're Doing". The brilliant rocker "Can't Buy Me Love" has made it's mark as a classic. It was the first single released from the album. Since PLEASE PLEASE ME the songs released on singles did not appear on albums, this was the first song to be featured on both formats. "Any Time At All" and "When I Get Home" are terrific Lennon rockers with positive relationships. "I'll Cry Instead" reflects the same relationship as "Tell Me Why" except with a wistful country feel. "Things We Said Today", the B-Side of "A Hard Day's Night" single; is a great McCartney song. "You Can't Do That", the B-Side to "Can't Buy Me Love" is the first song in which Lennon writes and sings about jealousy and threats, a theme that would appear again later. "I'll Be Back" is a sterling piece, a great album closer. The first half of the album: "A Hard Day's Night", "I Should Have Known Better", "If I Fell", "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", "Tell Me Why", and "Can't Buy Me Love" were featured in the film. The second half: "Any Time At All", "I'll Cry Instead", "Things We Said Today", "When I Get Home", "You Can't Do That", and "I'll Be Back" were written for the album, but left out of the film because of story and time requirements. There were fourteen Lennon/McCartney originals recorded during these sessions; "I Call Your Name" was released on the "Long Tall Sally" EP featuring: Long Tall Sally, I Call Your Name, Slow Down, and Matchbox. In the United States, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was issued by United Artists included all the film songs plus "I'll Cry Instead", and four instrumentals recorded by George Martin. Capitol Records issued their own version on SOMETHING NEW. All the film songs except "A Hard Day's Night", "I Should Have Known Better", and "Can't Buy Me Love" (which were released on singles) were on the album. The six songs from the second half on the record (with the exception of "I'll Be Back") and the German-language version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" were on the album. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is the best of their early albums. HIGHLY RECOMMEMED listening by the band that changed history permenantly.

5/5 At LAST, their MASTERPIECE in STEREO!!!!!!!
  by Shlomo Sinatra (Alaska)
Okay, I know some of you will disagree that this is their masterpiece; you may possibly point toward the utterly fantastic Revolver, or perhaps Sgt. Pepper as thier finest moment. Perhaps artistically that may be so (remember, this is subjective). But, for me, and MILLIONS others, the early Beatles albums were and are the most exciting that they ever released, the most exhilirating music ever made possibly; THIS is the sound of Beatlemania! And man does it sound wonderful! GLORIOUS! Okay, the reviewer below me made some good points about certain songs sounding better on a couple other CDs (one being a comp., which I steer from except for Past Masters; I am amongst those who simply cannot afford to buy a CD for one song; so congratulations if you can afford that, or the stereo box --let alone the mono one, with the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul, and the great Sgt. Pepper mono mix; but for MANY of us, who are possibly buying these one, two, three etc at a time, and those who have hungered for the first four albums to be released in stereo for ALL these years (utter frustration for many extreme fanatics) --these are a GODSEND!

And this CD sounds miles better to me than on the infamous "Beat Records" Original Master Recordings CD set that I've absolutely treasured. It was infamous for its GREAT sound quality. That is, it was great sound...UNTIL NOW.

I cannot put into words the thrill of hearing this album this way, but I will try...first off, the sound is FANTASTIC! Especially amazing was the first listening to Things We Said Today; it sounds unbelieveable on here! And the opening drum wallop of Any Time At All, which gets MY vote as one of the finest Beatles songs ever, my absolute favorite; those writers of the book An Illustrated Record claim that it's not a love song, that is ABSURD! It's the great John Lennon at 100% sincere and heartfelt (which with John means a LOT), the lyrics are beautiful and the delivery is absolute perfection; if you want to know why Lennon was/is considered one of the very best singers in rock and roll history, look no further than this song. It's the greatest!; Lennon was the greatest.

This -- along with With The Beatles -- is my favorite Beatles album. Their greatest period. This is simply the peak of the Beatles as pop song craftsmen. There is NOTHING more important to a song than a euphoric feeling it can bring to you just from hearing it, as opposed to whatever "statement" it makes. Joyously life-affirming is what this is! I was feeling down lately, and this music makes me -- can make one -- feel glad to be ALIVE! The greatness of the early Beatles!
This the most thrilling, Any Time At All, Tell Me Why, Things We Said Today, A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, And I Love Her -- there is simply not a bad song on here! They are fantastic. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You -- dismissed by some snobs for being "lightweight" lyrically, even Lennon was not crazy of The Beatles' early songs; too bad! For the opening chords [whatever chords they are!] are positively THRLLING! One song that was my least favorite on here, When I Get Home, even THAT sounds wonderful!

This whole album is utter pop perfection.

I bought this and Revolver first, as I did not have the money to pre-order more. I have since went out today and, spurred on by these, the sound on both (Revolver is VASTLY improved from its previous CD release), I was SO excited, bought the other 5 I was missing of up through Revolver, and will hopefully get more (aka the rest) in a couple weeks.

Don't let this gem of an album pass you by; it is positively beautiful.

You NOT gonna think that And I Love Her, or Any Time At All, are anything less?

Stop analyzing and open your heart. (I just realized, how some will never appreciate certain albums, the truth in the Lovin' Spoonful song: "It's like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll.")

ENJOY! The songs are perfection and the sound quality is TREMENDOUS!!!!

No true Beatles fan can NOT love this disc!