The Beatles
The Beatles Collection (16 CD)

"Ask who the Beatles were," sighed the Stadio a few years ago. Today we are in the midst of a period of historical revisionism: if until a few years ago the Beatles were indisputable (sacred monsters, and indeed they were), now there is a tendency to talk nonsense: someone says that the four Liverpudlian bugs were more of a media phenomenon and that, musically, they were not worth much. The second hypothesis (that of their lack of musical talent) is pure nonsense: the Beatles practically created beat-pop, which later became pop, were a source of inspiration for an impressive series of singers and bands, and knew how to create (not invent) psychedelic pop, making it extremely popular and commercial (being commercial is not a flaw, in fact, it is often a virtue). And anyway, 95% of the world's population knows that the Beatles were fundamental in the history of music: the remaining 5% should study a bit of pop history and then come and talk about it.

In 1988, to pay tribute to the Beatles, a luxurious wooden box set was released, containing 16 CDs in which the entire (and I do mean entire) discography of the Beatles was packed. Anyone who doesn't own it should rush to buy it immediately, even though, today, the price is quite high: 350 euros, but the musical value, in itself, is absolutely priceless.
- "Please please me" (1962, Parlophone): It's the group's first record, and it is, evidently, the simplest and most immediate. Beat and lively music, easy easy little songs and a series of more or less famous covers ("Twist & Shout", "A Taste Of Honey"). Here and there, some little gems stand out, but above all, there is the Beatles' first real chart success, "Love me do". Rating: 6/10
- "With the Beatles" (1963, Parlophone): Finally, Lennon and McCartney sit down at the table and begin to write their first historical pieces ("All My Loving", "Hold Me Tight"), and this time, the canonical three minutes per song are wisely distilled in tracks oscillating between almost rock beat and slow dances to dance with ease ("Money", "Please Mr. Postman"). Rating: 7/10
- "A Hard Day's Night" (1964, Parlophone): I had already done an extensive review of this, so I will limit myself to remembering that it is from this album that the Beatles really start to take things seriously: born as a simple soundtrack for one of the many little films shot by the four, the album quickly becomes a timeless classic (tracks like "If I feel", "Any Time At All", "Can't Buy Me Love", have long been immortal and indispensable). Rating: 7/10.
- "Beatles for sale" (1964, Parlophone): Success is unstoppable, the public demands novelty. Evidently pressured by continuous requests from fans, the Beatles seem a bit lost in the chaos of show-business. They produce an album that's a bit soft, at times even embarrassing, but occasionally, fortunately, they pull something respectable out of the hat ("Eight Days a Week"), but the covers this time are many (perhaps too many) and not even convincing. Rating: 5/10.
- "Help!" (1965, Parlophone): The Beatles' first major album, one of the most cohesive and brilliant. The Beatles, while not disdainful of a good dose of beat, confidently sail towards folk rock influences coming from America. Many essential and incisive ballads ("I've Just Seen A Face", "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away") and a series of absolutely monumental tracks, including "Ticket To Ride" and the perfect (perhaps a bit showy) choruses of "Help!". For the legend, there's no problem: McCartney writes, composes, and performs the immortal "Yesterday". Rating: 10/10.
- "Rubber Soul" (1965, Parlophone): The era of beat ends, and the creative and hallucinogenic phase begins (the trips to India, the guru Seibaba, drugs seen as support for art and life). No longer just a group for girls and teenagers, the Beatles begin to spice up their tracks with double meanings and sexy tricks. But the way of playing also changes: beyond the canonical instruments (piano, guitars, bass, drums), the sitar is also introduced ("Norwegian Wood"), and the overall compositional level becomes higher and more composed (the metrics, the harmonic turns, the musical structures, everything is less naive and more complex). Thus unforgettable tracks are born: "The Word", "Drive My Car", "Michelle", "In My Life", "Girl". Rating: 10/10.
- "Revolver" (1966, Parlophone): The Beatles didn't invent psychedelia, let's be clear, they simply perfected it and made it more accessible to the large public. "Revolver" is their first clearly psychedelic work: tracks like "Good Day Sunshine" or "Tomorrow Never Knows" are the most striking example of how, in just a few years, the Beatles have managed to change and perfect themselves, making their sound less adolescent and certainly more refined. Even a seemingly simple piece like "Eleanor Rigby" contains within it meanings and topics that are surely unconventional. There is also "Yellow Submarine", a simple and catchy track: it is the only lively thing on the entire album, and it is perhaps the least successful. However, credit must be given to Ringo Starr for at least trying to write a song. Rating: 10/10.
- "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967, Parlophone): Some call it the most important record in all of rock, others instead label it as a base text of psychedelia. I don't know who is right, but I consider it the absolute masterpiece of the Beatles as well as the most beautiful album in the entire history of music (think what you want, but for me, it remains so). In the midst of the season of love (the so-called Summer Of Love), the Beatles produce something extremely excellent, capable of seamlessly transitioning from pop to rock, from psychedelia to Eastern scents. Sergeant Pepper dreams of LSD and tells of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", McCartney still nods to drugs with "Fixing A Hole", talks about girls seeking freedom by leaving home (and it wasn't really such a banal topic at the time) with "She's Leaving Home", John Lennon invents a circus-like musical carousel with "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!", George Harrison plays the sitar (very well, let's say) in "Within Or Without You", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (especially the second part, the reprise) is a rather frenzied rock while the finale with "A Day In The Life" is nothing but a masterpiece, complete with futuristic (or spacey, you decide) interludes that resemble certain musical passages from the early Seventies Pink Floyd (involuntary homage or yet another inevitable imitation?). Rating: 10/10.
- "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967, Capitol): The only American LP, fully entering the Beatles' discography. It is not a masterpiece, despite the presence of timeless tracks ("Penny Lane", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Hello, Goodbye", "All You Need Is Love"), the album appears disjointed and incoherent, almost a simple demonstration of the compositional level the Beatles had reached. There is no strong idea or a glue to hold together a series, however excellent, of tracks that, despite everything, have over time become immortal classics. Rating: 8/10.
- "White Album" (1968, Apple): The Beatles founded their record company, Apple. This means little, however: the contrasts between John and Paul begin to become too venomous, George is always a precious piece that no one wants to tap into, while poor Ringo is left aside, as has been happening since the first album (Ringo was not an exceptional drummer, his shortcomings were often patched up by John or Paul, depending on the track). The famous 'white album', however, is a masterpiece. You can tell that each thinks for himself, and in fact, even here, cohesion and compactness are lacking. The tracks, however, are more interesting and at times even innovative: there are slightly silly nursery rhymes like "Obladi Obladà" and the typical romanticism of the best Lennon ("Julia", dedicated to his mother), but there is also room for pure rock'n roll ("Back In The USSR"), for some acoustic tracks ("Blackbird", "I Will"), for experimentation (the hammering one of "Revolution") and for punk (or rather, almost punk) of what is probably the key track of the entire album, "Helter Skelter". Little work in the studio, often not even studied recordings. It resulted in a masterpiece. Rating: 10/10.
- "Yellow Submarine" (1969, Apple): Soundtrack of the eponymous cartoon. Frankly nothing exceptional, yet the class, as they say, is not water. Rating: 6/10. "Abbey Road" (1969, Apple): The penultimate work of the Beatles. Absolutely exceptional for the ways it was recorded (in haste, without refinements or particular care) it is a masterpiece of pop, before being a key disc of the entire Beatles production. Once again, John and Paul share the biggest slice, and write a series of tracks oscillating between the romantic and the delicate ("The End", "Golden Slumbers"), but there is also room for the usual wild rock or seemingly silly nursery rhymes ("Sun King"). This time, however, even Ringo and George manage to fit in a trio of pearls: George writes perhaps the most beautiful track of the entire album, "Something" and the excellent "Here Comes The Sun", while Ringo writes his very own "Yellow Submarine - Part Two", or "Octopu's Garden". A pop masterpiece, as said, and "Come Together" would be enough to confirm this thesis. Rating: 10/10.
- "Let it be" (1970, Apple): It's the quartet's last work, and it's their farewell step. A farewell that could have been less harsh: the four can't agree on the outfit to give to the album, and the result is an ugly mess. It is useless to speak of the legends created around this album, beginning with the powerful producer Phil Spector who heavily altered the work, often completely distorting its meaning. The pompous "The Long And Winding Road" wasn't supposed to be so grandiloquent (John imposed it on Paul in a disdainful and dictatorial manner), nobody remembers most of the tracks anymore ("I Me Mine", "Two Of Us"), and improvisations (the cornerstone of the previous "White Album" and "Abbey Road") this time don't work, also because many tracks are recovered scraps that perhaps were better off lying in some obscure drawer. In the collective memory, "Let It Be" and "Get Back" are the only ones left, beautiful songs, but certainly not masterpieces. Rating: 5/10.
- "Past Masters, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" (1988, Parlophone): It is a nice recovery work. All the official tracks that never appeared on English albums are present. Essentially, everything the Beatles released. An important recovery, considering the variety of sounds present in these two substantial volumes. Rating: 10/10.

Here, if you buy "The Beatles Collection" you will have, in 16 CDs, all of this. And excuse me, allow me, it's not little at all, indeed...