First off, I think we can all agree that a live album from a concert setting best known for screaming girls isn't a good idea, regardless of the greatness of the band. But Capitol decided to do it anyway because they had tapes, there's always demand for a new Beatles album, and something needs to fund record execs' yearly bonuses. To be honest, I believe I heard the vinyl LP only once, but remember the original album cover fondly:
Even though the graphic on the original LP is far too small for the space, it's the original artwork and should have been used on the CD. However, this CD release wasn't so much about the music, but the release of a new documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years. And if the CD artwork with the movie title given top billing above the band name didn't give that away, they put an ad for the DVD/Blu-Ray release in with the liner booklet as well as a sticker on the cover telling you as much:
So if this is no longer a stand-alone release, but a "companion album" to a film, let me briefly mention said film. There's no truth in advertising here, the film covers more than the group's touring years and the film's tag line,"The band you know. The story you don't." is misleading. You know the story; nothing new here. It's oddly sequenced, Americentric, and I'm trying to figure out what Ron Howard was trying to do at the end. That said, it isn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours. The restored visual concert footage is remarkable, there's a few nice personal stories from fans, and you can't go wrong with the music. I'm glad I watched it, but I probably won't watch it again.
The album proves how remarkable The Beatles were as musicians. They probably couldn't even hear each other yet pull off these remarkable live performances. But there's not much difference between the live versions and the studio versions (again, a testament to their talents), so I prefer to hear the studio versions without all the background screaming. There's one exception to that rule: the live version of Things We Said Today has an energy that is missing from the studio version. When the song heads to the chorus and the tonality changes from minor to major, the band kicks everything up a notch and it is spectacular. The liner notes mention the same, so it's good to know I'm not the only one who hears it. Other than that, David Fricke's new liner notes read like a print ad for the film. However, the original 1977 liner notes from George Martin are also included so bonus points for that.
I don't have the income needed to be a Beatles completist, but I'm glad I spent the $11.88 on this one. BTW, the original list price on the 1977 album was $7.98 which is $32.39 in 2017 dollars. Yikes!
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #2 in 1977, #7 in 2016
Tracks: See above.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Watching the movie reminded me that I had the above poster on my dorm wall, alongside Madonna.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Love (2006)
Let It Be... Naked (2003)
Anthology 2 (1996)
Anthology 1 (1995)
1967-1970 (1973)
1962-1966 (1973)
Abbey Road (1969)
The Beatles (1968)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Revolver (1966)
Rubber Soul (1965)
Help! (1965)
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Please Please Me (1963)
Your reviews were pretty much spot on. I was more excited for the doc - they had me at restored footage! - than the album's release and believe I was more impressed with the former than the latter which remains my least favorite Beatles album though I suppose Eight Days A Week is probably my least favorite Beatles doc after The Compleat Beatles and Anthology. (Both of those need to be ported over to blu-ray, pronto!)
ReplyDeleteAs a fanatic and wanna be completist, I'd like to see Love Songs and Rock N Roll Music issued as single discs and welcome the near-certainy of $uper Deluxe Expanded Editions of all of the other studio albums.