Album Description: A Hard Day's Night was the first Beatles album of all-original material, and the first to feature George Harrison playing his Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar (on the opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night," for instance). The distinctive sound of the 12-string inspired countless guitarists including Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of the Byrds. The film from which these songs hail remains a classic combination of happy 1960s naivete and nascent hipster wit. Many of the most important rock bands to emerge in the latter half of the '60s came into being because of A Hard Day's Night's irresistible vibrancy. The tunes flow like the finest red wine, as the title track leads to the glorious harmonica of "I Should Have Known Better" and the powerfully poignant "If I Fell." EMI. 2005.
Amazon.com: Strummmmm! That dramatic guitar chord that kicks of A Hard Day's Night (album, song, movie) still jumps right out at you, slaps you in the face, and jump-starts your heart. And you know what? Both the music and the film are still as crisp and lively as they were in 1964. Of course, only the first seven songs are actually in the movie (and they are the strongest of the bunch, from the rousing rock & roll of the title track and the hit single "Can't Buy Me Love," to the beautiful ballads "If I Fell" and "And I Love Her"). But nobody's going to complain about having songs like "I'll Cry Instead" and "Things We Said Today" in the second half of the record; they sure don't feel like leftovers. Yet another high-point for John, Paul, George, and Ringo--four fab fellows who hit the highest heights imaginable. --Jim Emerson
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - One Of Their Best
I have had this before on cassette for years. I'm a beatle fan. I think this is their best probably from the early years (at least the first 4 albums) but it is subjective. So many songs are just fun and upbeat or just well done. You know the songs most likely already.
Rating: - A Musical Supernova
I have listened to every Beatles album over and over and over again. I have had times where each of the albums have been my favorite and where each album I have been sick of. I have endlessly played and replayed passages from nearly all the songs to grok on what makes them tick.
After such a thorough "wringing out" of each album, it is my opinion that a Hard Day's Night is the greatest Beatle album in that it had the greatest intensity of creativity in the shortest time span. It was an blindingly awesome roman candle of musical output. Any one of the songs on this album could've ... Read More
Rating: - Long live the Beatles!
This CD was AMAZING! It may not be the best Beatles album (Help! and Rubber Soul are, in my opinion), but it's The Beatles, so of course, you gotta love it! 5/5 stars!
Rating: - Milestone For The British Invasion
Usually when some one asks me about the British Invasion, the first thing that comes to mind is this album as well as the movie of the same name. Being the Beatles first album in which all tracks were written by them, this is the album that best represents everything the Beatles early work as well as the early British invasion was about.
The title track is pure pop rock with it's simple and playful lyrics set to a hard rockin' but catchy melody. After having seen the movie, one cannot hear this song without seeing, in their mind, the fab four racing down the street chased by tons ... Read More
Rating: - Mirepresentation by Amazon and Vendor
The product is a South American copy of the disk. The Vendor, Innuendo of Florida, ships Brazilian and Argentinian copies and represents them as 'Imports' Every record collector knows that 'Imports' of the Beatles would be EMI prints from Europe, not South America. Amazon is sustaining this misrepresentation by not including the country of origin in its info on the web site. The vendor ship the cd's wrapped in the same wrap used to wrap lollipops - i.e., cheap, no tamper tape like on all the other Beatles CD's I have ordered over the years. Since you have to open the cover to see the poor quality ... Read More