Review Summary: You are not going to please me with this.
I can't get around saying this because it is one of the most well known musical facts of all time: The Beatles are the best band in the world. I admit all of that and I totally agree with it too, but that doesn't mean they always make good music right out of the gate because their first album ironically called Please Please Me, is rather bad. The production is pretty bad even for the early 1960s! But that is not that big of a deal as long as they're is variety in the songs, but nope, every song on this record is just either a love song or a breakup love song. Sometimes that works but in this case I don't believe it did because the Beatles at the time were just not as good of songwriters as they became by the end of the 1960s once they had started writing about a more varied list of topics on their albums.
Let me be the first to say that I know it was the 60s but that is not an excuse for lazy recording and that is what this sounds like. I think, from what I know, they were rushed for time when they made the album and it most certainly shows! The vocals sound really rushed and a lot of the timing is off between the drums and the rest of the instruments for some of the songs. It is not too bad but certainly seems unprofessional from one of the greatest bands in the world. Once they got more time to record later on they were fine, but for now, they definitely rushed this album out the door for the new Beatlemania fans to eat up.
There are a couple good songs on the record like I Saw Her Standing There, even if it is a little creepy when it talks about 17 year old girls. It has a cool funky surfing sound with its 7 chords and those always sound cool for older bands like the Beatles and Beach Boys. Another one of the songs is the self titled title track called Please Please Me. It might be the best song on the album because of the background voices alone. The "come on (come on)" part in the chorus is infective, and one of the definite highlights of the album. However, just a couple of good songs does not make a good album, and Please Please Me is no acception. Without more time and experience the Beatles wouldn't write a truly great album until they got some more touring and writing under their collective belts.
