This is a nice and welcome surprise from The Beatles, even if John Lennon and George Harrison are no longer with us on planet Earth. Although the original Red and Blue compilation albums (as they are nicknamed) were released back in 1973, there was always a desire to improve some of the tracklisting and some of the versions of songs on it with better sound quality. Enter Giles Martin, son of the late Sir George Martin, the producer of most of the works of The Beatles. It seems that Giles Martin himself wished to create a better listening experience than what was originally just a compilation. These songs, therefore have been remastered and remixed to a higher standard of listening experience, with some extra tracks thrown in onto the compilation for good measure. This was done with painstaking attention to detail, and the Revolver era songs were lifted from the 2022 remaster of that album as well. Yes, this is a double disc compilation album (which is a long listen). Even so, this Red album re-release has been heavily applauded by critics and fans alike. The Beatles were: Paul McCartney (bass guitar and vocals); John Lennon (rhythm guitar and vocals); George Harrison (lead guitar and vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums and percussion). Released on EMI Records and produced by Sir George Martin originally, this is going to be an interesting listen. Let’s hear it.

Love Me Do is one of the older single versions released for this album. It sounds absolutely fantastic, especially through headphones. It sounds like The Beatles in 3D. One can hear each melody and instrument very clearly, along with the group’s effort in sound. This is one of the sweetest and most romantic songs from the Please Please Me (1963) era, this is a simple request from a man’s perspective to be loved by a woman. The harmonica and hand claps throughout are also a nice touch. A very awesome and loveable song that is super sweet. Enjoyable to the full.

Please Please Me is the single from the parent album. It sounds sweet, simple, melodic and classy, from the start. This is one of the early songs by The Beatles that launched a musical revolution and won them the hearts and minds of young people. This remix sounds really fantastic and well done, with some really awesome performances by The Beatles themselves. This was, and is, an amazing listen that has lasted the test of time. The remix sounds fantastic here.

I Saw Her Standing There is the opening track of Please Please Me (1963). It begins with a count-in from Paul McCartney and enters into a sweet and irresistibly good-sounding Pop/Rock tune. This music is really simple, melodic and awesome throughout, and these remastered remixes of the original songs by The Beatles really do sound amazing and fantastic throughout. A catchy and loveable song by the group, this is extremely fun and catchy to listen to. The second half has an awesome Rickenbacker guitar solo to go, and this is a very good album to bop along to. Really sweet and lovely to hear. This is simple yet divine music that will make you smile. A winner and this song deserves its place on this compilation. Very, very good.

Twist and Shout is the final song from The Beatles debut album. Oddly enough, John Lennon had a cold when recording this album, and you can clear his voice under some strain when listening to this album, as it was the final track recorded in a 12-hour session. Regardless, this is another fine cut from The Beatles, and this music sounds good and gloriously fantastic throughout. It progresses along nicely, and the sounds and playing from The Beatles do sound extremely good to listen to, to this very day. This music is timeless. A really top-notch tune to listen to. Fantastic.

From Me To You is a simple and joyously upbeat tune that has some classy and melodic singing throughout. The singing and melodicism throughout are really fantastic. This is one of the non-album tracks by the group but is definitely a case of a treasure of a tune. Less than two minutes long, with singing, guitars and drums, this is a clear winner of a song. Definitely worth hearing, and a pleasant love song. Totally enjoyable.

She Loves You is a simple and memorable song with the catchphrase: “She loves you…yeah, yeah, yeah!” This is a wonderful song sung by John Lennon that has some simple and awesome sounds throughout. The remixes on this album definitely do a great deal of justice to the original mixes, and everything sounds in its right place, at last. All in all, a really great and fun listening experience throughout. This sounds extremely wonderful for what it is. One of the better early songs by The Beatles with some memorable and loveable lyrics and sounds throughout. A great song, period.

I Want To Hold Your Hand is another classic song based on teenage romanticism. It has catchy guitars, handclaps, thunderous drums, subtle bass guitar and unforgettable singing throughout. This builds up to a really sweet and different climax, which Bob Dylan misinterpreted as “I get high” instead of “I can’t hide” when he introduced The Beatles to marijuana. People have different ears for sound. In any case, this is an amazing and fresh-sounding song, to this very day. A really sweet and romantic sounding Pop/Rock masterpiece. Very simple, and simply awesome from start to finish. It finishes with some crashing drum rolls.

This Boy begins with some sweet acoustic guitar and launches into another good song about romanticism. Specifically, it is about having a lover stolen from one, and it is an interesting tale of sorts in a musical sense. A very simple and awesome John Lennon-sung piece of music with some subtle yet intricate arrangements throughout. A really fine and nicely remastered and remixed tune, this does sound really fresh and good musically. A good song with some interesting sounds on it, all the way through to the fade out.

All My Loving is a song from With The Beatles (1963). It has some frenetic guitar work and some lyrics about being a pen pal with a lover when out on the road. This is a really fantastic listening experience, and the music and performances of this song are fantastic. A really upbeat and joyous tune to listen to, this sounds extremely good for what it is. Yet another classic by The Beatles that sounds absolutely wonderful and brilliant. A great song that you should lend an ear to. Just wonderful.

Roll Over Beethoven is a tongue-in-cheek song title stab at the famous Classical Music composer. The song itself is an upbeat and pleasant song about wanting to hear the Rock Music of the time, instead of more traditional styles of music that preceded Rock Music. In any case, this catchy and wonderful song has some great guitar work and playing on it that sounds absolutely wonderful and excellent throughout. A great song that has some excellent Rickenbacker guitar soloing, The Beatles progressed well in their early songs onwards. All in all, a great listen about rocking out and dancing with girls. Very neat.

You Really Got A Hold On Me is another winner by The Beatles. It is a slower, yet more melodic tune about being so deeply in love with a lady that one is blown away by the experience of love, more so than the person involved. Some of the best single-line lyrics are here: “I don’t want you, but I need you. Don’t want to kiss you, but I need to”, is yet a single example of the legendary songwriting efforts of Lennon/McCartney. All the same, this sounds really neat and terrific listening. A really awesome tune, this sounds irresistibly good to listen to. Another top-notch and enjoyable song by The Beatles. A fantastic listen.

Can’t Buy Me Love is a fantastic statement. It begins with strummed and upbeat acoustic guitars, matching drums and Paul McCartney’s excellent vocals on this song. Indeed, he and the rest of the group could sing amazingly well. The music here is amazing and fun to listen to and looks back to an era where gold digging was less of a prominent thing. The quick and sweet guitar solo also sounds incredibly sweet. A really great song by the group, and an international catchphrase today. A really interesting song.

You Can’t Do That is another great early-era Beatles song. It has an awesome and straightforward John Lennon song about giving a warning to a lover about messing around with another guy. This sounds extremely good to listen to and is matched with some really great guitars, including what sounds like a 12-string electric Rickenbacker guitar. A very catchy song, and totally worth your ears to hear. This is what you need to play to a partner if he/she is playing up. Nonetheless, this music is a winner. Definitely worth a good listen. Awesome to hear.

A Hard Day’s Night begins with that iconic 12-string guitar chime, and quickly launches into another brilliant song by The Beatles. This song is an iconic one, not just a song by The Beatles, but also a theme song for the group’s first film. Nonetheless, this music does sound really gorgeous and excellent throughout. This sounds surprisingly refreshing and different. There is some interesting guitar soloing here as well that is totally worth paying attention to. All in all, a slice of pure musical wonder and genius. The combination of musical styles and sensibilities in The Beatles makes them eternally relevant. A great song. The outro guitars are quite Psychedelic as well.

And I Love Her is one of the sweetest and prettiest acoustic guitar ballads that you will ever hear. There are bongo drums throughout this song as well. This is proof that The Beatles could do music acoustically as well. Paul McCartney’s vocals are fantastic in this song, and he sounds crisp and clear and hits the notes very effectively. A really great piece of music to listen to, the soloing in the second half is heartmelting. All in all, another rock-solid song that sounds absolutely amazing. Very, very good.

Eight Days A Week begins with a nice fade-in of this song, launching into a really great and excellent listen about needing love constantly, i.e. more than seven days a week. This is a fine and fantastic tune and something of a memorable nature from back in the 1960s. John Lennon sings wonderfully here, and the music and sounds by The Beatles perfectly back up his musical mission and statement of the time. Beautiful, interesting sounding and nicely melodic, The Beatles were a force of nature, unbeatable as such. The singing, acoustic guitars, crashing drums, handclaps and descending basslines make this come alive. A great listen from start to finish.

I Feel Fine begins with a single note leading to guitar feedback, and enters into a more drug-influenced and Psychedelic song than you’d expect. Although this is a compilation devoted to the early works of The Beatles, this sounds enjoyably fantastic and there are drug influences already at this point in The Beatles career. The guitars and performances are still amazing and sound, to this very day. Ringo Starr deserves more credit than he gets as a drummer as well. A sweet and powerful musical statement with some nicely layered and semi-Psychedelic sounding vocal parts. Excellent.

Ticket To Ride is the classic mid-1960s era song by The Beatles. It is a fantastic song from the start, with a great deal of guitar riffs, performances, playing and awesomeness throughout. The dual vocals of Lennon and McCartney sound absolutely fantastic throughout this song as well. A very, very good listening experience from start to finish. This is a song with a clever dual meaning throughout it all, and it is an intelligent and interesting listening experience. A really great listen, this is one of the key Pop/Rock songs of the entire 1960s alone. All in all, a really great listen and mix job by Giles Martin. It ends with repeated lyrics, “My baby don’t care!” and a quick fade out afterwards.

Yesterday is the final song on side one of this album release. It is also the most covered song in musical history. It has some sweet and lovely lyrics from Paul McCartney and some excellent acoustic guitar playing and string sections to match. This sounds really fantastic, in any case. A perfect and gorgeous piece of melancholy music, this does not sound happy at all. An instant classic, and something of a historical note from The Beatles. A bittersweet and sad listen, this is a good way to end side one of this rather lengthy but fantastic compilation.

Help! begins side two of this compilation with some excellent guitars and a plea for help in one’s love life. This music sounds sweet and is a realistic reminder of the troubles that a relationship can bring. A literal cry for help, John Lennon articulates the insecurities and uncertainty that a young man can experience in love. The mixing of this song is really excellent as well. The 12-string acoustic guitar chimes nicely away on this song and sounds really great. All in all, an awesome piece of music. Worth hearing. It ends with some smooth singing.

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away is another distressed relationship reminder of the difficulties that one can experience with women, especially when in the limelight. This is another quintessential John Lennon listening experience from The Beatles. Another superb and interesting tune, this sounds simple and incredible with vocals, acoustic guitars and soft brushed percussion to match. A glorious listening experience from start to finish. There is a horn solo at the end, which sounds nice. Another good effort.

We Can Work It Out is the flipside to the other songs about love troubles. It has a sweet acoustic guitar, and an organ that sounds a lot like an accordion and sounds really awesome as a tune. A nice ode to patching things up with a lover, both John and Paul take lead vocals at different points of this music. All in all, a short, sweet and simple piece of music that sounds A Grade, to this very day. The song and construction of the song sound very, very awesome. A worthy addition to this compilation. Fantastic.

Day Tripper is obviously about LSD use. It begins with a fantastic and memorable guitar riff that is nicely layered, and has The Beatles singing away fantastically about a lady who is a “day tripper”. Awesome stuff. This music is really interesting and amazing for its simplicity, and it is a really golden tune that sounds a little Psychedelic. There is a key change in the midsection, followed by some cool harmonies and returning back to the regular key with the eternally awesome guitar riff. A really fantastic tune to hear and to listen to. A winner of a tune, every guitarist should know how to play this awesome and excellent tune.

Drive My Car is the first song from the Rubber Soul (1965) album, which is much more in the midsection of The Beatles output in their career. It launches into an awesome song with some pseudo-Soul Music vocals, piano, interesting guitars and bass guitar. The Beatles obviously knew how to craft superb and well-crafted tunes, this one about women who want to be famous and be the chauffeur of one’s car, and life. An interesting musical idea, this is an absolute winner of a listen. A really top tune, this music is absolutely fantastic from start to finish. It fades out with vocals stating, “Beep beep, beep beep, yeah!”

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) is a simple, acoustic guitar-driven piece with sitar thrown in for good measure. Very much a killer tune, this has a large and wonderful variety of different instruments and storytelling lyrics, penned by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This is a much better song than one would come to expect, the mixture of more traditional sounds and playing makes this song come alive. A really awesome and powerfully inspired listen by The Beatles.

Nowhere Man begins with some awesome Psychedelic and treated vocals, launching into a really great and awesome musical listening experience that is the first non-romanticism-based song by the group. It has some really gorgeous and fine singing by The Beatles, with a chiming and excellent-sounding Rickenbacker guitar solo. This sounds really fresh, and there is a neat harmonic note at the end of it. A great tune, this sounds excellent, fresh and magical to this very day. A really awesome and great piece of music, the harmonies on this song are absolutely delicious to hear. Fantastic song, worth repeated listens.

Michelle is a gorgeously simple acoustic guitar ballad that sounds extra sweet. There is some awesome bass guitar, pleasant acoustic guitar playing, sung French words, soft swinging percussion and a very different musical feel to the proceedings. The genius of The Beatles is ever present in songs such as these, and Paul McCartney expresses his best vocal and performance qualities in this song. There is a Jazzy, muted-sounding guitar solo that is really awesome and sweet to hear. A really great listen, and one of Paul’s best moments in his long musical career. Purely excellent. It fades out with the recurring guitar solo.

In My Life is the next piece of Beatle genius. This has some sweet singing by the group, over a swinging proto-Disco beat and some awesome yet subtle guitar parts. This proves that The Beatles had many great tricks up their sleeves. An awesome and top listen, this has some quirky processed electric piano as a solo section in the second half. Inventive throughout, this is a real winner to hear. A nice yet simple tune to hear.

If I Needed Someone has some chiming Rickenbacker guitars and launches into a really excellent song of loving devotion throughout. All in all, it does sound really top and great, although it is a fairly simple piece of music with some basic Rock Music instrumentation. Despite that, this is another classic tune with some amazing vocals, cool guitars, interesting sound effects, deep bass guitar and sturdy drumming. The Beatles were untouchable in many aspects of their music, and this album is a fantastic listen. Worth every second of hearing.

Girl is another Rubber Soul (1965) era song that oozes character. This is a simple but enjoyable song by John Lennon with a memorable chorus. The acoustic guitars and other instrumentation here sound really fine and fantastic and are a great supporting measure for the songwriting and singing at hand. A really fantastic and enjoyable tune, this is a good reminder of the love that one can experience, the ups and downs of it all into an excellent acoustic guitar-driven Pop masterpiece. An excellent listen throughout.

Paperback Writer begins with some layered vocals, a loud electric guitar and some excellent drumming. This is a fantastic song that all writers can understand and to be reckoned with. Be it the best of non-fiction or the most imaginative of fiction, all those in the writing community will get this. An awesome song with some spacey delayed vocals throughout, which sounds really amazing to hear. A very thoroughly cool listen, as The Beatles shifted from their early-era music to their later-era music. A fantastic two-minute-long song for authors of the world.

Eleanor Rigby is the Revolver (1966) era song sung by Paul McCartney. It is just Paul himself singing and a string section, which sounds completely different to the earlier music that The Beatles recorded. It is a simple, sweet and lovely tune with some interesting lyrics as well. A really great listening experience, having said that. This is irresistable Pop Music that will live forever. A really good yet sad song about death and loneliness. Very unusual for 1966. It may have been based on a real person as well, which is an interesting side note on the matter.

Yellow Submarine is the major childhood song of everyone’s past. It is sung by drummer Ringo Starr, and sounds fantastic from the start, although Ringo himself isn’t the best singer ever. It has acoustic guitars, and keyboards with various noises and launches into a glorious and singalong chorus that many can connect with. The song progresses nicely along with various recorded sounds and samples to illustrate this song in a very Psychedelic way. The breakdown in the second half with the make-believe sounds of a submarine are very awesome to hear. A really cool tune, and something you should play to your kids. Excellent music. It fades out with the chorus chanted at the end.

Taxman begins with some counting in and backward sounds and launches into a fantastic George Harrison-sung song with some excellent guitar riffs and is a rant against the fact that the UK Labour government of 1966 introduced a millionaire’s tax of 95% of personal income. A bit rich of a thing to do, but that indeed did happen. This music is a fantastic listen throughout, and although the government of the time did this, this song perfectly suits any young and inspired political up-and-coming individual. It references both the UK Labour PM Harold Wilson and Conservative Opposition Leader Edward Heath as well. A very sharp and brutal attack on the agenda of the day and a must-listen from The Beatles. A great listen all the way through.

Got To Get You Into My Life is a Paul McCartney ode to marijuana, believe it or not. This song is very brassy and classy, with a horn section throughout it all. This proves that by the Revolver (1966) era, The Beatles were getting experimental. A really great and interesting tune to listen to, this has some sweet, nicely layered and interesting music to match the lyrics of the time. A really excellent and different tune to hear, the music throughout is catchy and really good to listen to. Paul sounds like a Soul Music singer in the faded outro, which is very cool.

I’m Only Sleeping is an excellent song about not getting enough sleep. It has clanging acoustic guitars, excellent singing and harmonies, deep basslines and other great sounds, namely reversed guitars throughout. This is a fantastic and super simply sweet tune to listen to. The whole song is a sonic construction of genius and sounds really awesome. The backwards guitars were an innovation at the time by The Beatles, which is still cool to hear today. A really top listen, this sounds irresistibly fun and enjoyable as a song. The outro sounds Indian and Psychedelic with those amazing reversed guitars to fade out and conclude with.

Here, There and Everywhere is a simple love ballad by Paul McCartney. It is one of the more simple and enjoyable listens from The Beatles Revolver (1966) album. Regardless, this sounds extremely loveable and top throughout and is a great representation of the music that The Beatles easily could make. This is a great song about being so deeply in love with a lady that you need her by your side 24/7. A really sweet and lovely tune with finger clicks and other gentle instrumentation. A genuinely sweet tune.

Tomorrow Never Knows is a futuristic frenzy of a tune. It begins with some keyboard and backwards sounds, pounding breakbeats and John Lennon singing words from the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. This music sounds really excellent and has been extremely influential over the history of time. Backwards parts galore are present throughout this tune, and the guitars in particular sound very tripped out. Nonetheless, an essential song for fans of The Beatles. This sounds very, very wonderful. John Lennon’s voice is put through a Leslie speaker in the second half of the song, and the song concludes with many layers of instrumentation. A fantastic tune overall. This compilation ends here.

This is a great way to get stuck into the music of The Beatles. Obviously, it is not one of the albums by the group themselves. Still, you should never discount a good compilation with some of the best-recorded music in modern history. This updated album release is an absolute treasure to hear and should be listened to as such. There is no questioning whether or not you should hear this album, this is a must-have in your collection.

Fantastically awesome.

9/10