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The Beatles
The Capitol Albums Vol. 2
(Capitol/EMI)
The Beatles accomplished more over the course of half a dozen years than most bands achieve in decades. But even for them, 1965 was a significant year.
But then, transitional periods often are. And '65 was nothing if not a time of change for the Fabs. They began the year still firmly imprisoned by the trappings of Beatlemania: The moptop lids, the matching suits, the teenybopper bubblegum tunes. But by December, things were different. The hair was longer. The clothes were freakier. And musically, they had begun to expand and experiment, thus taking the first steps toward the greatness that was to come.
The arc of The Beatles' 1965 trajectory is traced in The Capitol Albums Vol. 2, the second in a series of sets chronicling their career. Or at least their career on this side of the Atlantic, where their albums often differed drastically from the U.K. counterparts.
Like 2004's Vol. 1, this set has four U.S. albums -- in this case, The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! and Rubber Soul, all released in '65. Like the first box, it gives you all the remastered music in stereo and mono. And like the first box, it can be summed up in four words: Great music, poor packaging.
Let's start with the good stuff: The albums. The Early Beatles is just that -- most of the band's 1963 debut Please Please Me, which Capitol initially rejected. Considering it included Love Me Do, Twist and Shout, the title cut and Do You Want to Know a Secret, that seems a pretty dumb move in hindsight.
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Maybe they heard the stereo mixes, some of which are those weirdly off-balance things where one instrument or voice is on one side and everything else is on the other. Weak.
Speaking of weak, Beatles VI is a surprisingly poor disc for such a remarkable band. Essentially cobbled together out of six cuts from the British Beatles for Sale and four new tunes, it lacks cohesion and continuity. More to the point, it lacks hits. The only classic is Eight Days a Week, unless you really stretch to include their cover of Dizzy Miss Lizzie.
Beyond that, it's a mish-mash of so-so covers (Kansas City, Bad Boy, Words of Love) and second-tier originals like What You're Doing, I Don't Want to Spoil the Party and Tell Me What You See. If any Beatles songs could be called obscurities, this album has 'em. At least the stereo versions sound more realistic and planned; clearly the boys' technical prowess was advancing.
The mini-slump continues with the Help! soundtrack, which sandwiches bits of the score between hits like the title cut, Hide Your Love Away, Ticket to Ride and Lose That Girl, all nicely recorded in decent stereo. More meaningful however, is that sitars and tabla make their first appearances here, serving as a bridge between where the band had been and where they were headed.
Where they were headed, of course, was Rubber Soul. This is the album where everything changed. The arrangements, the lyrics, the instrumentation and the production all began to expand, evolve and improve as The Beatles became more confident and daring.
The proof is in the songs: I've Just Seen a Face, Norwegian Wood, You Won't See Me, Michelle, In My Life, Run For Your Life. It's rootsy, trippy, experimental yet commercial -- and they were still just getting started. What a difference a year makes.
Again, the only real complaint with this series is the packaging. The individual LP-style mini-sleeves are a nice touch (though it would have been a nicer touch to reproduce the Help! gatefold). The 60-page colour booklet loaded with pictures, liner notes and stats is swell too. But the box itself is ugly and awkward, with a goofy cardboard insert that folds in half from the centre, making it a pain to get everything in and out.
We hear they also issued this in a regular-sized CD box, which is great -- unless you already bought the Vol. 1 longbox. Talk about goofy.
Not so goofy that we're going to miss out on Vol. 3, though. Up next: Yesterday ... And Today, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour.
Track Listing:
Disc 1:
1. Love Me Do (stereo)
2. Twist And Shout (stereo)
3. Anna (stereo)
4. Chains (stereo)
5. Boys (stereo)
6. Ask Me Why (stereo)
7. Please Please Me (stereo)
8. P.S. I Love You (stereo)
9. Baby It's You (stereo)
10. A Taste Of Honey (stereo)
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret (stereo)
12. Love Me Do (mono)
13. Twist And Shout (mono)
14. Anna (mono)
15. Chains (mono)
16. Boys (mono)
17. Ask Me Why (mono)
18. Please Please Me (mono)
19. P.S. I Love You (mono)
20. Baby It's You (mono)
21. A Taste Of Honey (mono)
22. Do You Want To Know A Secret (mono)
Disc 2:
1. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey (stereo)
2. Eight Days A Week (stereo)
3. You Like Me Too Much (stereo)
4. Bad Boy (stereo)
5. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party (stereo)
6. Words Of Love (stereo)
7. What You're Doing (stereo)
8. Yes It Is (stereo)
9. Dizzy Miss Lizzie (stereo)
10. Tell Me What You See (stereo)
11. Every Little Thing (stereo)
12. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey (mono)
13. Eight Days A Week (mono)
14. You Like Me Too Much (mono)
15. Bad Boy (mono)
16. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party (mono)
17. Words Of Love (mono)
18. What You're Doing (mono)
19. Yes It Is (mono)
20. Dizzy Miss Lizzie (mono)
21. Tell Me What You See (mono)
22. Every Little Thing (mono)
Disc 3:
1. Help! (stereo)
2. The Night Before (stereo)
3. From Me To You Fantasy (Instrumental - stereo)
4. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (stereo)
5. I Need You (stereo)
6. In The Tyrol (Instrumental- stereo)
7. Another Girl (stereo)
8. Another Hard Day's Night (Instrumental - stereo)
9. Ticket To Ride (stereo)
10. The Bitter End/You Can't Do That (Instrumental - stereo)
11. You're Gonna Lose That Girl (stereo)
12. The Chase (Instrumental - stereo)
13. Help! (mono)
14. The Night Before (mono)
15. From Me To You Fantasy (Instrumental - mono)
16. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (mono)
17. I Need You (mono)
18. In The Tyrol (Instrumental- mono)
19. Another Girl (mono)
20. Another Hard Day's Night (Instrumental - mono)
21. Ticket To Ride (mono)
22. The Bitter End/You Can't Do That (Instrumental - mono)
23. You're Gonna Lose That Girl (mono)
24. The Chase (Instrumental - mono)
Disc 4:
1. I've Just Seen A Face (stereo)
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown - stereo)
3. You Won't See Me (stereo)
4. Think For Yourself (stereo)
5. The Word (stereo)
6. Michelle (stereo)
7. It's Only Love (stereo)
8. Girl (stereo)
9. I'm Looking Through You (stereo)
10. In My Life (stereo)
11. Wait (stereo)
12. Run For Your Life (stereo)
13. I've Just Seen A Face (mono)
14. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown - mono)
15. You Won't See Me (mono)
16. Think For Yourself (mono)
17. The Word (mono)
18. Michelle (mono)
19. It's Only Love (mono)
20. Girl (mono)
21. I'm Looking Through You (mono)
22. In My Life (mono)
23. Wait (mono)
24. Run For Your Life (mono)