The Beatles - Past Masters, Vol. 1 (CD)

All Music Guide

When Capitol decided to release the original British editions of the Beatles' albums instead of the bastardized American versions, they were left with a bit of a quandary. Since the Beatles had an enormous number of nonLP singles, some of their greatest hits from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" through "Hey Jude" would not be included on disc if Capitol simply served up straight reissues. They had two options: they could add the singles as bonus tracks to the appropriate CDs, or they could release a compilation of all the nonLP tracks. It should come as no surprise that they chose the latter. In fact, they took it one further, issuing two separate compilations of nonLP tracks, which is fairly appropriate since the Beatles released far more singles and EPs in the first two years of their recording career than they did in the last five. Past Masters, Vol. 1 covers those first two years and, to be fair, there are some cuts that are unnecessary for anyone outside of the hardcore only a handf...ul of people will be able to spot the difference in the alternate "Love Me Do," while German versions of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" aren't even good for a chuckle. Still, the sheer number of astounding singles makes this essential, even with its faults. These 17 songs capture the exuberance of Beatlemania while confirming their talents as popcraftsmen ("This Boy," "Yes It Is") and proving that they could rock really, really hard ("I Feel Fine," "She's a Woman," the peerless "I'm Down"). Apart from the cuts that are merely rarities, this is a nearperfect compilation that captures the energy and spirit of the Beatles' early years. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less