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The Beatles

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1 Review

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Apparently, there was a gap in the Beatles' catalog, after all -- all the big hits weren't on one tidy, single-disc compilation. It's not the kind of gap you'd necessarily notice -- it's kind of like realizing you don't have a pair of navy blue dress socks -- but it was a gap all the same, so the group released The Beatles 1 late in 2000, coinciding with the publication of their official autobiography, the puzzlingly titled Anthology. The idea behind this compilation is to have all the number one singles the Beatles had, either in the U.K. or U.S., on one disc, and that's pretty much what this generous 27-track collection is. It's easy, nay, necessary, to quibble with a couple of the judgment calls -- look, "Please Please Me" should be here instead of "From Me to You," and it's unforgivable to bypass "Strawberry Fields Forever" (kick out "Yellow Submarine" or "Eleanor Rigby") -- but there's still no question that this is all great music, and there is a bit of a rush hearing all these dazzling songs follow one after another. If there's any complaint, it's that even if it's nice to have something like this, it's not really essential. There's really no reason for anyone who owns all the records to get this too -- if you've lived happily without the red or blue albums, you'll live without this. But, if you give this to any six or seven year old, they'll be a pop fan, even fanatic, for life. And that's reason enough for it to exist.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
1 The Beatles 02:20 SpotifyAmazon
2 The Beatles 01:56 SpotifyAmazon
3 The Beatles 02:21 SpotifyAmazon
4 The Beatles 02:25 SpotifyAmazon
5 The Beatles 02:11 SpotifyAmazon
6 The Beatles 02:32 SpotifyAmazon
7 The Beatles 02:18 SpotifyAmazon
8 The Beatles 02:43 SpotifyAmazon
9 The Beatles 03:09 SpotifyAmazon
10 The Beatles 02:18 SpotifyAmazon
11 The Beatles 02:05 SpotifyAmazon
12 The Beatles 02:48 SpotifyAmazon
13 The Beatles 02:15 SpotifyAmazon
14 The Beatles 02:18 SpotifyAmazon
15 The Beatles 02:37 SpotifyAmazon
16 The Beatles 02:05 SpotifyAmazon
17 The Beatles 03:00 SpotifyAmazon
18 The Beatles 03:48 SpotifyAmazon
19 The Beatles 03:27 SpotifyAmazon
20 The Beatles 02:16 SpotifyAmazon
21 The Beatles 07:09 SpotifyAmazon
22 The Beatles 03:11 SpotifyAmazon
23 The Beatles 02:59 SpotifyAmazon
24 The Beatles 03:01 SpotifyAmazon
25 The Beatles 04:18 SpotifyAmazon
26 The Beatles 03:50 SpotifyAmazon
27 The Beatles 03:39 SpotifyAmazon
blue highlight denotes track pick