The Beatles – Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2 / Remastered) (1988)

The Beatles were such an iconic band of the 1960s, and of musical history. In fact, so much so that there were a huge amount of iconic tracks that never graced a typical album by The Beatles. This re-release of the two Past Masters Volumes into one puts an end to the notion that all the good tracks by The Beatles were only on their albums. It is a great listen, so let’s dive into it.

We kick off with Love Me Do – Single Version. It’s an interesting single version of the classic hit, which sounds like it was recorded in mono, not stereo. Still, a nice rendition of their classic song, and good to notice the sonic difference here as opposed to the album version. The handclaps and harmonica here are really infectious. More melodic and beautiful, compared to the album version.

Next is From Me To You. It’s another classic single by the Fab Four which never was put onto an album by The Beatles. Still, it’s a classic song and a great listen. Simple and effective music to please different fans of all musical types. A great listen.

Thank You Girl sounds a little raw and gritty compared to other efforts by The Beatles. Still, it is an amazing listen. The vocals here are amazing and this is another underrated gem in the large back catalogue of The Beatles. An excellent song and fun listening. The pounding drum solo here is really good.

She Loves You should have been put on a proper album by The Beatles, but was not. It is a great song and listening experience. Although the early stuff by the group was pure romanticism, The Beatles deliver another memorable song. Excellent stuff. It’s a time warp back to the 1960s, a simpler and more musical time in the history of the world.

Next is another simple song I’ll Get You. It’s a great song about chasing after a lover who is in someone’s eyes. This album is a great representation of songs that should be on albums by The Beatles. But hey, we can listen along to this beautiful story of loving and caring about a lady. Great stuff.

The superb classic I Want To Hold Your Hand is the classic teenage romance song. There are clanging Rickenbacker guitars, handclaps, and beautiful singing and lyricism to boot. This sort of music made the 1960s a great time to be young, even nearly sixty years later. A great listen and undeniably good music here.

This Boy is a cheerful song about losing a precious lover. It’s an interesting take on romanticism from what you’d usually expect from The Beatles. The guitar work here is fantastic to hear, and the singing is just simply great. A good listen.

Komm gib mir deine Hand is a classic song by The Beatles, in German. It’s interesting to listen to, and likely goes back to the club days in Germany for the group. Good listening if you are open-minded to this sort of thing. Nice to hear.

Next is another German lyric piece Sie liebt dich. It’s the same thing in German as the original (guess which song) and sounds very good regardless. The Beatles undeniably knew their stuff about catering to wide audiences, and do well here.

Following is Long Tall Sally which is a very old school sounding tune with frenetic piano and guitar parts. Ringo Starr is a champion on the drums here too and puts in a stellar performance for this song. Paul McCartney’s screaming soul style vocal is good as well. Superb, a very good listen.

I Call Your Name is a slower and more ballad-style piece which is about heartbreak. It’s another interesting rarity in The Beatles back catalog. Still, just as consistent and good as you’d expect from this album. Brilliant stuff, John Lennon’s vocal fits perfectly here.

Slow Down is a really well-done effort on the piano and guitars. It’s an inspired and well-done piece about taking it easy in love and romantic ideals. There is a scream and then a magnificent guitar solo in the middle of the song. Another nice tune by The Beatles.

Next is Matchbox which is a rhythm and blues sort of piece. It’s an interesting song, sounding really amazing. Once again, the guitar solos are awesome here. The Beatles put in 100% into their music, and it is a great listen indeed. Good old fashioned stuff.

The feedback-laden intro of I Feel Fine kickstarts the classic song. This is one that definitely should have made it onto an album. It’s a semi-psychedelic tune that is awesome to hear, even today. The guitar riffs are awesome. The band was on top of the world, and this song confirms it so. Great listening.

She’s A Woman has a reggae sort of feel to it in the guitar work, despite being a true song in the way of The Beatles sort of style. It’s excellent listening for all those who enjoy The Beatles music and deserves its place on this compilation. The Beatles had so many great songs, and they really shine here.

Bad Boy is another great song that fortunately is on this compilation. It’s about someone who loves music so much that he becomes somewhat a troublemaker with it affecting his school studies. A good listen and interesting lyrics here.

Next comes Yes It Is which is a deeply romantic song about desiring a lover that one has in mind. It’s about the clothes a lady wears and the emotional impact of doing so. Interesting and easy listening here.

Up after that, I’m Down arrives with Paul McCartney screaming in a soulful manner. The almost twangy guitar parts in the middle are fantastic. It then bursts into an organ solo that is played in a frenetic way, along with bongo beats. Great to listen to, once again.

Day Tripper is an ode to LSD. It kicks off with a double-tracked memorable riff and some great singing. This is where rock music became drug-influenced, for better or worse. It’s a great song in the back catalog of The Beatles. A must listen.

We Can Work It Out is another classic tune by The Beatles with accordion sounding keyboard about fixing love based issues. It’s simple, effective, and brilliant to listen to. A good song on this compilation.

Next is the single hit Paperback Writer which tells the tale of a man wishing to write novels for a living. Sounding rather psychedelic, it’s a good listen to hear about such an experience. The vocals have some wonderful tripped out effects on them, a nice touch. Paul’s bass playing is great here.

After that, we arrive at Rain. It is a great lost piece of brilliance by The Beatles and sounds just great. The drums really pound on this one, and John Lennon’s vocals sound really good here. Yes, this is a very good Revolver era psychedelic goodness. Wonderful stuff. It’s a fantastic listen with loads of interesting sounds galore.

Lady Madonna has such a great piano riff powering through this song. The rest of the song is just as good, a brilliant sounding multi-instrumental piece and a strange ode to music itself, listen carefully. It’s a great story about a lady with too many kids, rather witty.

The Inner Light is Indian music territory by George Harrison. The Beatles were heavily influenced by Indian music in their later period and this is really shown here. It’s a story about finding inner peace and happiness. Great to hear, an underrated gem about the power of the human mind.

Next is the lengthy piece Hey Jude. It’s a great piece devoted to John Lennon’s first son, Julian Lennon. A nice piano-driven piece that sounds great to this day. Although it is not on any of the regular albums by The Beatles, it is an often-quoted song by them. Quite lengthy, without being boring. A nice song indeed. The harmonies sung throughout the song are really catchy, great stuff.

After that, we have the raw and rockier version of Revolution. It sounds very different from the album version, certainly more uptempo. John Lennon sounds rather menacing here, and it is a good way to show off the song in a different light. Excellent stuff. A good uptempo song that is about political madness.

Get Back is from Let It Be. It’s a great song about travel and pursuits whilst traveling. A great listen, and definitely worth hearing if you have not heard it already. The music of The Beatles is definitely timeless.

Don’t Let Me Down comes next. It’s a John Lennon piece about a lover, possibly inspired by his love for Yoko Ono. It’s a little repetitive, but nice to hear all the same. There are sexual references throughout, which make it interesting.

Next is The Ballad Of John And Yoko which is a good uptempo song, although it obviously was written by John Lennon in a very self-centered way. Still, it is pretty catchy regardless and some of the lines of the lyrics are very humourous. A good song nonetheless.

After that, we have Old Brown Shoe which is a strange listen in itself with banging keyboards and interesting guitar riffs. It has distorted vocals, which make it hard to understand what is being sung. Still, a very good song. Worth hearing.

Across The Universe – World Wildlife Fund Version starts with birds chirping and children laughing, before launching into a pitch-shifted version of the classic song on Let It Be. It’s a different listen compared to the album version, but still good regardless. There is some additional instrumentation here, which makes it sound different from the original.

Let It Be is the title track from the last album by The Beatles. It is a glorious sounding piece with beautiful sounding choirs and piano. A great song, and one often overlooked by fans of The Beatles. Excellent listening. Classic tune.

Lastly is the nonsense jam You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) which is a good way to finish off the album. It’s a strange sort of piece of music. Great to hear though. Many different sections are here in this jam. It’s really wacky listening.

The Beatles were likely the finest band of the 1960s, and definitely one of the most influential bands to this day. Their music will last forever, and this is a great release of theirs. Seek this compilation out, if you can. It’s very, very good.

9/10