35. The Beatles | With The Beatles (1963)

Wikipedia entry

---

Tracks

1. It Won't Be Long
2. All I've Got to Do
3. All My Loving
4. Don't Bother Me
5. Little Child
6. Till There Was You
7. Please Mister Postman
8. Roll Over Beethoven
9. Hold Me Tight
10. You Really Got a Hold on Me
11. I Wanna Be Your Man
12. Devil in Her Heart
13. Not a Second Time
14. Money (That's What I Want)

---

With The Beatles is a superb album. It's a rush of energy from the beginning to the end and the intensity just builds upon itself, ending in the cloudburst that is Money (That's What I Want). Not only does the album build in intensity, but most of the songs do to. John Lennon also adds another level of excitement when he is singing.

The album is very consistent even with the variety of genres featured. The rock and roll songs have the typical teenage girl themes that were common to the The Everly Brothers' A Date with the Everly Brothers and common to Elvis' Elvis Is Back! If there's any drawback it's that.

This is certainly an album that must be listened to. In the context of the 1001 albums list, it's a game changer like Miles Davis' Kind of Blues would have been if the Beatles never came on the scene. All of the songs are excellent, which makes it hard for them to stand out from one another, so here are the exceptional songs: It Won't Be Long, All My Loving, Don't Bother Me, Little Child, Please Mister Postman, Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got a Hold on Me, I Wanna Be Your Man and Money (That's What I Want). As for Money, it's simply an amazing version of the song. In fact, its intensity is more overwhelming than the previous songs combined.

The Beatles are also the first true band on the 1001 Albums list in the sense that no member is featured over the others.
★★★★★★★★★★