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When the Beatles albums were released on CD way back in 1987 I believe, they also released two new CD’s called Past Masters Vol. 1 and 2. Basically, they take every track that wasn’t on the 13 original albums and puts them on there. So if you have all 13 original albums and these 2 albums, you have the complete output of the Beatles. The Past Masters are made up of singles that never appeared on albums (with their B-sides) and some other nice surprises. This issue, Vol. 2 includes songs from 1966-1970.
The Album
1) Daytripper
This is just a timeless riff for the Beatles. It really drives the song. It’s got a great feel on the song, it flows so nicely and the solo is simple yet effective (it’s a modulation on the riff from E to B). Great song.
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2) We Can Work It Out
This is a nice McCartney song with a pretty cool acoustic guitar going on in the background. Another timeless Beatles song and its amazing this was issued on the same single as Daytripper, that’s getting your money’s worth.
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3) Paperback Writer
People generally think John wrote this song because of the theme (writing books, hey John’s done that, he must’ve written the song) but it was John who wrote it. It’s another great moveable riff (since it’s barred down on the neck, you can play it anywhere) and it’s a great rocking song. Listen to the Beatles singing frere jacqua in the background.
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4) Rain
Totally awesome acid-rock song. It’s just a great sound to the song and is very trippy. It also features the first backwards vocals in recorded music and this is a must-hear for any fan of music.
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5) Lady Madonna
Another classic from the boys. It’s a piano driven song with a little guitar and Paul does some good singing here. There’s also a good saxaphone solo.
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6) The Inner Light
Another hidden gem on the song. A beautiful song with a great guitar part and amazing lyrics and groove. This might be one of my favorite Harrison songs ever.
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7) Hey Jude
I don’t think I need to write anything about this. It’s the Beatles longest #1 ever and the longest in history until Don McLean’s American Pie hit number 1. It’s written about John’s son, Julian who saw his parents going through a divorce. Great song, a classic, and usually tops the list as the best Beatles song.
Yeah Count: 8
Love Count: 0
8) Revolution
This is the fast version of the song, as opposed to the acoustic one on “The Beatles.” It’s one of the heaviest rock songs the Beatles ever recorded and it just rocks, hard.
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9) Get Back
I wrote about this on Let It Be and my opinion on it hasn’t changed in the three days since I wrote the last one.
10) Don’t Let Me Down
This is a Lennon number that was the B-side to Get Back. Great song and some pretty interesting choice of lyrics. I always loved the lead guitar part.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 3
11) The Ballad of John and Yoko
Another famous song. It’s one that John wrote about his and Yoko’s marriage. One might be interested to know that only Paul and John are playing on this song. Paul did the drums and bass, John did the guitars and they both sang.
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12) Old Brown Shoe
This is a lesser known George Harrison song and for the life of me I don’t know what it’s about, but it’s a good tune with a nice driving guitar and a nice distorted guitar solo.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 7
13) Across the Universe
See Get Back: Also, this is a slightly different version of the song, as it includes bird calls and high pitched background vocals. It was recorded for the World Wildlife Fund actually.
14) Let It Be
See Get Back: This has the second version of the guitar solo.
15) You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
Perhaps the kookiest song the Beatles ever created. Again, it’s just John and Paul again, but it’s not like anything you’ll ever hear from them. Brian Jones, the late guitarist of the Rolling Stones played saxaphone on this song.
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The Liner Notes
It’s 12 pages long. The first page is the plain white cover. The second page and the last page give the track listing with the second page showing the song writer credits. Page 3 has a little essay about the Past Masters set, pages 6 and 7 have a small collection of 4 Beatles photos of each year that the CD comprises represented. Page 11 shows the cover of the other Past Masters CD out. The rest of the pages give pretty detailed information about the songs about the release date, when it was recorded and a little about the song.
The Sound
This was recorded WAY back in 1966-1970 using analog tapes and only 8 track tapes to boot. It sounds really good for its age. Nowhere near the standards of today, but the Beatles sounding like this is better than anything released now, in my totally unbiased opinion!
The Final Review
The only unfortunate thing about this album is that people may not want to buy it based on the track listing. 11 of the 15 songs are on the 1962-66 and 1967-70 sets, leaving only 4 unique songs, and one of those songs (Across the Universe) is in another form on said albums. So that leaves only three really unique songs, Rain, The Inner Light and You Know My Name. But holy crap those are some awesome songs. Rain is a totally acid-rock song, the Inner Light is like an Indian flavored song but really awesome and better than Love You To and Within You Without You and You Know My Name is really unlike anything the boys have ever done. It’s a great collection of songs and I can’t recommend it enough just for those three awesome songs.
Final Rating:
9.5
Final Yeah Count: 8
Final Love Count: 7
Cumulative Yeah Count: 304
Cumalative Love Count: 386
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