A Record a Week: The Beatles - Ballads

I am very glad of two things: that my wife sleeps in on Saturday morning and that she doesn't read this blog; because she hates The Beatles and there sure have been a lot of them on here recently.



SIDE 1.
YESTERDAY
NORWEGIAN WOOD
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET
FOR NO ONE
MICHELLE
NOWHERE MAN
YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
ALL MY LOVING
HEY JUDE

SIDE 2.
SOMETHING
THE FOOL ON THE HILL
TILL THERE WAS YOU
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
HERE COMES THE SUN
BLACKBIRD
AND I LOVE HER
SHE'S LEAVING HOME
HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
LET IT BE

This album really has a taste of everything Beatles from start to finish. The songs written in the later years have a distinct feel of what each member's work would sound like, while the earlier songs contain a more blended feel.

To me, some of the ballads come across a bit dull for a band that can get fairly intricate. However, songs like Let it Be, Hey Jude and Yesterday have become iconic and with good reason. Blackbird and Across the Universe created two of my favourite cover versions of all time, by Sarah McLachlan and Rufus Wainwright, respectively. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away is a song that my family has been playing for years; so much that the original version sounds almost foreign to me.

Although I enjoy some collection records, they can never quite have the flow that an original album can. They don't always vary in style and the song order is not necessarily chosen by the band members themselves.