A Hard Day’s Night

A few weeks back, I asked everyone for an album recommendation. I got… a few. Thanks! In a moment of optimism/malice, I have decided to review each of these as I listen to them.

Some background: Sometime around 1992, I borrowed my dad’s collection of classic rock and copied it to CDs. Then, in ~2002, Mark introduced me to the Lilith Fair crowd. That — plus the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack and a 2-disc set of Les Mis I had on repeat for a year — is the sum total of what I know about music. So this series of posts will have all the sophistication of an eight-year-old reviewing pre-1900 Russian literature. If you don’t enjoy a good face-palm, just keep scrolling.

You were warned.

A Hard Day’s Night

First up is Van’s recommendation, because he’s a good sport. Dad has been trying unsuccessfully to get me into the Beatles since I was 12. He’s pitched A Hard Day’s Night, their third album, from 1964. Wow, these boys spend a lot of time thinking about girls. Given the lyrics, it’s literally all they think about, but they don’t think very hard about it. The songs are all sub-3:00, and Weird Al was not wrong in his parody, “This Song Is Just Six Words Long.” Some takeaways: Girls are great. No, seriously, they’re really something. But they will break your heart. But you’ll be back, probably? If you were more motivated, you could totally get revenge… but you’re not. There’s definitely some music stuff going on here, like harmony, and a greater instrumental diversity than we usually enjoyed in the 90s? Which I could appreciate a lot if there were just a little more lyrical depth. My favorite track is probably “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which sounds like it was a lot of fun to play. All in all, this album is easy to listen to, if a little vapid.