A Hard Day's Poll

Voted "I Should Have Known Better". Was almost tempted to leave the title track and "Can't Buy Me Love" off the poll as they will have way too many of the votes.

I don't think so.

i think 'things we said today' is my favorite song on this album, but it's hard to choose, especially with 'i'll be back' o nthere. also, I'm really fond of 'when i get home' and 'tell me why', even though they're kind of 'minor' songs in the beatles canon. so fuck if I know.

oddly 'a hard day's night' is maybe my least favorite song on the album

inspired by the babelfish thread I will reply thus and such: " Things have we say Today" he is a mythical song and I'll assesses higher than the route of title that Second would be.

oddly 'a hard day's night' is maybe my least favorite song on the album

Yeah, it and Can't Buy Me Love are the kind of crash-bang rockers that haven't aged as well as the rest.

I love And I Love Her, but prefer the gawkiness of the electric version on Anthology.

Things We Said Today is probably the most perfect song on the album, but I have a soft spot for the sentiment and feel of I'll Be Back, so that.

(though again, I think I maybe even like the failure of the 3/4 time version on Anthology)

(more)

I've never met anyone who considers the title track a big favorite, probably due to it being taken for granted because of its ubiquity. But after attempting to listen to it with fresh ears, I gotta say that it's one fuckin' flawless pop song- exuberant harmonies, ringing guitars, hooks all over the place- all that good Beatle-y stuff.

(Yes, I do realize the whole album is one fuckin' flawless pop album- I just think the title track is the peak.)

To my mind, it just doesn't get better than "And I Love Her".

One thing I have never understood is that this album often pops up in "Best 100 Albums Of All Time" lists in the US, but never in the UK.

I mean, it was the UK version that was filled with great self-composed pop songs all over. The US version had actually one third of lame George Martin-composed orchestra themes. Yet, that is the version that Americans know, love and vote into those Top 100 lists.

is this John's best album? I think so.

"Tell Me Why," for lots of reasons. The tossed-off girl-group-tribute silliness, a great Ringo drum pickup, fitting in chorus-verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus in 2:12, the exuberant falsetto on the bridge . . . such a fun song!!

love all of them to one degree or another, but for the purposes of this poll i'll say "any time at all" for the way john yelps the chorus.

I dunno if I agree with Geir's last post. The UK version that's been on CD since 1987 is the standard over here now.

You guys. If I Fell.

if we were going on scenes from the movie, it'd be "i should have known better," for the boxcar jam with patti boyd.

Well this is tough, cos "Ill Cry Instead" and "You Can't Do That" are equally as good as eachother, and, it strikes me, two sides of the same John-as-hardman coin. Both have this ball of pain in the throat, beating back sobs beauty. I'll go for "I'll Cry Instead" cos i've always loved it - the bass rules, it lollops along like a self-pitying drunk, and it's one of the truest and funniest of John's 'aren't i a loser' songs.

Also, to my ears, everything on side 1 - great songs as they are - is kind of played, and it's side 2 which conains all kinds of subtle, alluring charms.

The title track for its propulsive energy and harmonies.

This album never grabbed me that much - although the craftsmanship etc is excellent, it all sounds a bit going through the motions.

I often wondered if it was this album John was referring when he said that at the height of beatlemania he could bang out songs instantly to order in a way he couldn't do later.

And I Love Her, very very very closely followed by Things We Said Today. Possibly my two favourite Beatles songs ever. I love the acoustic solo on And I Love Her.

Finally picked "I Should Have Known Better," but could easily have picked six others. Like I said already, this is probably John's best Beatles album.

I don't remember "When I Get Home." Should I?

You guys. If I Fell.

-- St3ve Go1db3rg, Tuesday, 8 July 2008 05:53

^^^this

i mean... the harmonies are just... aw. and it seems to contain about a key change per line. and it's so very sweet and pleading and, ah i just love it.

"i hope you see that i would love to love you"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4HLKoFum-4

"I'm Happy To Dance With You" is the most charming George vocal ever, hence his best.

Love these songs much more than i did when i initially got into The Beatles. Personal favorite: "I'll Cry Instead".

why no love for 'you can't do that'?

probably my favorite beatles album, front-to-back.

Narrowed it down to "I Should Have Known Better," "Tell Me Why" or "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You." Will deliberate further.

This is probably John's best Beatles album.

Seconded. Although arguably as John was also the main contributor to "Rubber Soul". Paul had more input on "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper".

I dunno. "Beatles for Sale," which may be my very favorite, has John all over it.

BTW voted for "I Should Have Known Better," but "Tell Me Why" captures the Beatles' early raw excitement like no other song. What a wild middle eight!

things we said today, tho "if i fell" is also great. Interesting to see stuff like the title track and "can't buy me love" getting called out as dated -- I agree they are, tho it seems like these songs are usually held on as "classics" for a long time before falling into the dated pile. Wondering now, if I were to filter the entire Beatles catalog into tracks I actually still like and listen to, what I would end up with. Most of the "dated" stuff probably wouldn't be there, which ends up being most of their hits -- and this in turn makes me wonder if it's the same process as, say, picking up on the relatively obscure albums by popular acts, years after the fact. Is it because there is something somehow less dated about these songs/albums, or am I just bored of stuff I've heard too much? (not that I didn't always love "things we said today" and "if i fell", thereby further complicating my complications)

To my mind, it just doesn't get better than "And I Love Her."
I almost spit out my coffee. Not because of the choice, but the poster!

i mean... the harmonies are just... aw. and it seems to contain about a key change per line. and it's so very sweet and pleading and, ah i just love it.

I think the intro is the wildest thing about it, musically. It starts off with a ii V I in Db major, except there's a tritone substitution for the V, so you get the progression Ebm D Db -- I don't know if The Beatles used this trick anywhere else. Then the phrase is repeated, but the tritone sub is used as a pivot chord -- it becomes the tonic in the new key and we get a ii V I in D major. And the intro never comes back. Fuckin nuts.

There are no more key changes after that, but there's that great D9 chord at the start of each B section, which functions as a V of IV.

St3ve OTM.
The Beatles made it look so easy that most people don't even think about what great musicians they were.

I dunno. "Beatles for Sale," which may be my very favorite, has John all over it.

"Beatles For Sale" would have been a fantastic album had it featured "I Feel Fine", "She's a Woman" and "I Call Your Name" instead of some of all those pointless cover versions. But that was 1964....

"Things We Said Today" = Zombies influence? Or vice versa, more likely.

why no love for 'you can't do that'?

It's getting my vote, even though it works a lot better on The Beatles' Second Album.

Yeah, I keep thinking of these songs in their US album context. Something New is probably my favorite of the US albums.

Standing In The Shadows Of Bob? Babbitt?

Great album, and I do think one of the more underrated (or at least less-spoken) ones within the Beatles catalog. "When I Get Home" or "I'll Be Back" for me.

this is hard

To my mind, it just doesn't get better than "And I Love Her."
I almost spit out my coffee. Not because of the choice, but the poster!

For the record, i am still an actual human being.

There's no song on this LP which is less than perfect. A very difficult choice, I could choose any of them. But.....awww... If I Fell....

Things We Said Today

"Tell me why" is such a great closer! Amazing! In those days, LPs had two closing songs!

And it's not even a closer! (Can't Buy Me Love ends side 1, at least on the UK version)

you're right.

I have this version: http://www.vinylrecords.ch/B/BE/Beatles/Yeah/IMG_0626thumb.jpg

.. but it's exactly the same.

"If I Fell" - those harmonies are insane.

Probably the most self-centred Beatles album, based on the preponderance of "I" and "me" titles.

geir you nut beatles for sale has some of their very best covers -- viz a viz "rock and roll music" and "kansas city." (haha and "mr moonlight"!)

Another vote for "You Can't Do That". I guess, maybe it's the cowbell or maybe it's just because the a lot of the others have been played and played until they have become part of the musical wallpaper of the world.

Went with "Things We Said Today" - beautiful songwriting, and Paul sings low enough that I can actually hit the notes when I sing along.

(And the way he comes out of the bridge is simply phenomenal.)

voted "i'll be back" barely over "i should've known better" and "a hard day's night".

"Tell Me Why" is fucking great, one of my favourite early Beatles for a million reasons, most of which are lame.

"If I Fell" FTW. I don't really start loving their albums until Help!.

'Course, I voted "Tell Me Why" like I said, but with all the "Things We Said Today" love, I'm thinking about when McCartney did his big world tour back in 1989, the first time he really started busting out a lot of the old Beatles stuff on tour. I went to see him at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the first time I had ever seen a former Beatle perform live, and he did that song. And all I could think was, "I cannot believe I'm sitting here, in a fully-packed 80,000-seat stadium, watching PAUL MCCARTNEY sing THINGS WE SAID TODAY!" It was amazing.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Surprised by #2.

I would say I am surprised at #5. But it is fair, really, as this album is about so much more than those two singles.

Surprised by the scale of the win, and the track that did!

Also, medal for album with no zero voted tracks.

Usually a sign of quality for sure.

would have voted "I Should Have Known Better," which is secretly one of their most sublime recordings

brilliant single-tracked version of And I Love Her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjWmZHNKPJk

Love those sweet arpeggios at 0:31

would've voted "If I Fell" (though I love "And I Love Her" as well)

Interesting mathematical attempt to determine what notes are being played in the opening of "A Hard Day's Night"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKx0DG-5Qyg

Okay granted this is about the film rather than the album, but:

https://www.criterion.com/films/28547-a-hard-day-s-night

New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack as well as stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray

In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features

Audio commentary featuring cast and crew (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

In Their Own Voices, a program featuring 1964 interviews with the Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos

“You Can’t Do That”: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary by producer Walter Shenson including an outtake performance by the Beatles

Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen, and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

Picturewise, a program about Lester’s early work, featuring a 2014 audio interview with the director (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

Anatomy of a Style, a 2014 program on Lester’s methods (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

Interview from 2014 with Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and excerpts from a 1970 interview with Lester (dual-format and 4K UHD only)