1963’s With The Beatles is not my favorite Beatles album, in fact I think it’s arguably their least good non Yellow Submarine studio album. But that’s not to imply I don’t thoroughly enjoy hearing this early album in it’s 2009 fabulous remastered format nor is it to imply that this album doesn’t have any good songs on it because I do and it does.

I do think that when looking only at the 8 Beatles originals on the LP, it’s probably the worst collection of original songs the Fab Four ever put out on a record (the very underrated Beatles For Sale (1964) has a far better selection of eight originals) on the other hand, the covers on With The Beatles are pretty good (better than the covers on Beatles For Sale.)

My favorite original songs to listen to on the With The Beatles Remastered CDs (stereo and mono) are the first three tracks: “It Won’t Be Long,” “All I’ve Got To Do,” and “All My Loving.” Particularly, I have been loving song number two, “All I’ve Got To Do” in mono. It sounds wonderful.

Another original song that has actually been making an impression on me is track #9, “Hold Me Tight.” McCartney wrote and sang lead vocals on this one and he’s dismissed it as being an album filler. And while I’ll agree the song isn’t perfect, I do think it is a good time.

“Till There Was You” is my favorite cover on the album. It is a very cheesy sickly sweet love song and while I feel I shouldn’t like it, I do anyway. The record’s final track, “Money” is an excellent way to end the album. When I listen closely to the remastered mono version I actually hear the song as much more unhinged than I realized. It rocks pretty darn hard.

In general I prefer the stereo mixes (particularly with the mid to late 60s albums) when it comes to the 2009 Beatles remasters but I do think that this particular album sounds better in mono than in stereo.

Harold Donald Quesenberry recommends buying The Beatles Stereo Box Set and The Beatles Mono Box Set

If you’re anything like I am then you don’t spend time playing video games. Personally, I’m not into them at all. In my opinon they are a complete waste of time. So why am I spending my time writing about this video game? Because to me The Beatles Rock Band (and to a lesser extent the other Rock Band games) is something well beyond just a game, it is a real interactive musical experience.

I’m not talking about the guitar part of the game. I actually think the guitar part of the game is really lame because it has next to nothing to do with playing a real guitar and very little to do with the music. It has zilch to do with playing guitar because playing real guitar is about 1000 times more complex than simply pressing a few buttons and it has little to do with the songs because I have found that the changes in the game rarely change in time with any musical changes in the songs.

The drumming and the singing parts of the game are what I find really interesting and important. Both of these parts of the game have a direct relationship to really doing these things “in real life” and they are also both obviously related to the music that you’re performing

If you sing the song in tune and with the right timing then you’ll do well. It’s true that you do not have to sing the lyrics (you can just hum) but I don’t think that’s a big deal. What is essential is the timing and hitting the right notes. I think Beatles Rock Band Video Game is actually an excellent to improve your singing ability. More so than the other rock band games because it also includes harmonies.

When you do the drumming on the expert level you are really hitting every single drum hit that’s in the real recording! No, it’s not exactly like playing a real drum set, but it is close enough to be pretty effective for practicing. There have even been cases of people moving directly from Rock Band drums into playing a real drum set with barely a hitch in the transition.

I definitely recommend The Beatles Rock Band Video Game an excellent gift for any big Beatles lover along with (obviously) The Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set and The Beatles Mono Box Set.

Harold Kenneth Quesenberry’s Favorite Music Blog includes a lot of articles on The Beatles.