Living in the US, this collection was only available to me in two ways: as an expensive import or as the backbone of two albums, "Meet the Beatles" and "The Beatles Second Album". I bought "Meet" and asked for the other as a birthday present...and got it!
What I miss on "With" is the immediacy that was achieved on "Please Please Me" by the recording of that album in a single day...this was their big chance and you can hear them going for it. On "With", perhaps they felt more at ease in the studio, and with the studiocraft they now had the time to employ. This album saw more extensive use of double-tracked vocals than on "Please", which lead to a fuller sound. However, I feel the overall sound on "Please was cleaner, so that's kind of a wash.
It's been said that the reason so many bands suffer from the 'sophomore jinx' on their second album is that you have your whole life to write your first album, but 6 months to write your second. That may be true, but our boys had less than four months between the release of "Please" and the commencement of sessions for this album, with no discernable drop in quality. Talent indeed!
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Topic: With the Beatles (Read 1780 times)