I always thought they took a step back with the next album.
well, I mean, what is 'progress' and why is it so frigging important?
"Beatles for Sale" is a damn good record with some cutting edge songwriting on it.
They were kind of learning how to be electric and acoustic at the same time and getting some pretty cool blends. "Hard Days Night" had less of that. "Any Time At All" was pretty progressive in that regard with its piano work, but you get the sense that "If I Fell" and "And I Love Her" are the ballads. "I'll Cry Instead" and "Hard Days Night" the rockers. "I Should Have Known Better" and "Cant By Me Love" the lovable mop-top dance numbers-- "I'll Be Back" and "Things We Said Today" kind of the moody mid-tempo numbers, etc. I mean, it's a movie soundtrack, you know what you are getting!
"Hard Days Night" has some pretty hot country numbers on it--"Cant Buy Me Love" and "I'll Cry Instead"--this was a relatively new thing on that album and something they would expand upon the next record. Country was a vein that allowed them to be more emotionally expressive via story lyrics and musically complex in its flexability for chromatic runs and omni-presence of dominant 7th interplay that the Beatles were complete masters of (along with Major 7ths and 6ths of course!!) There were many musical lessons to be learned in the genre. Plus, it gave "George" a great opportunity to show what he had learned from Chet Atkins records. Country a step backward? Where the hell do you think they were going with their current single "I Feel Fine" or with their next blockbuster, "Help?"
"No Reply" is a cutting edge composition that would have been among the best on HDN. Great story lyrics and a wonderful chord pattern and harmony on the "I Nearly Died" sections. The bridge is purely raucious in the HDN tradition.
"I'm A Loser" is a wonderful lyrical development--light years beyond "Any Time At All" or "I Want to Hold Your Hand" --a tremendous harmony, a great swooping baseline, tremendous playing from George, and again, a very forward chord pattern with it's alternations of F and D (not d minor mind you!)
"Spoil the Party" is an absolutely brilliant blend of Everly's harmonies and Goffin/King style songwriting. I mean, what two part harmony in the rock canon is better than "I....Still....Love....Her?"
For your moptop fun tune, "Eight Days A Week" is pretty perfect and durable. IT almost seems like a distraction from the album. An album they seemed to know exactly what they were doing on. But with its incredible drum sound and harmony on the chorus (I lo-o-o-o-ove you" it looks forward to "Help" and "We Can Work It Out")
The Lennon/McCartney gems did not stop there. "Baby's In Black" was another Everlies nod, and a unique one at that. They kind of threw it together as a sea-shanty waltz with a really ballsy delivery. George's searing guitar intro and solo sealed the deal.
The schmaltzy "Mr. Moonlight" continued the tradition of schmaltz that started with "Taste of Honey" and continued through "When Im 64" and "Honey Pie"--it's the Beatles. You had your schmaltz on HDN with "Tell Me Why"--a better schmaltzy song, but to tell you the truth, I have always really liked Mr. Moonlight.
You wont find a Beatle obscurity more loved than "Every Little Thing"--a romantic, strong John offering with a wonderful instrumental bridge and tympani that looked forward to some of the experiments they would get more vested into in "Rubber Soul"
Paul's "What You're Doing" is not tremendous, but still has a memorable melody and some great shouting back-up vocals. It's kind of the "Happy Just to Dance With You" of the record. Some wicked hooks, but expendable. (for that matter, the Cyrkle version of "Happy Just to Dance With You" is MUCH better. Deal With It.
In my opinion, the momentum killing "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey" is one of the more boring things the Beatles have ever done and in a heartbeat should have been scrapped for the AMAZING AMAZING "Leave My Kitten Alone"--if there is a headscratcher in Beatles history it is WHY didn't they put this song on "For Sale"--
did Ringo not like his drum fills, could it have been that petty???
Speaking of Petty, the cover of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" is an effortless throwaway. Not without its charms but indeed more reminiscent of the relaxed feel of their BBC shows where they would play any number of covers and INDEED a step back, I'll give you that. It's completely unambitious, and almost just seems like they were looking for material.
The same can be said of the somewhat better, but still non-essential "Rock And Roll Music..." So in this regard, the album is a step back--only by virtue of the inclusion of the non-essential covers. But NOT by virtue of its originals. So many better choices for covers. "Soldier of Love" um, yes. That one.
So you heard it hear first. "Beatles For Sale" ripped my head off when I first heard it in 1996. I called it the 'first alternative music' for its unique chord structures. "Loser" and "Every Little Thing" are great examples of what I mean.
If there are any Beatles fans on this thread that have avoided the album because of its 'reputation'--this craziness must stop.
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