| 1.
Two Of Us |
SOUND
A |
MELODY
A- |
RHYTHM
B |
ARRANGE
A- |
|
IMPRESSION
A |
PROFUNDITY
B+ |
ORIGINALITY
A- |
PLAYABILITY
A++ |
It feels good with acoustic guitar introduction. Regarding
drums, the main rhythm is kick in quarter note, so it is simple
organized on the whole. The chords in verse are diatonic chards
in G major, and it repeats G->C->Em->Am7. But, in chorus,
it feels to change keys with chord progression Bb->Dm->Gm7->Am->D7.
The construction of this song is little complex because time
signature in chorus is 3/4. In this song, the harmony by John
and Paul is cool. BTW, George do not play the bass guitar but
play bass phrases with his Telecaster's low tones. It is like
George, he sometimes plays obbligato phrases, and these are fine
passages.
|
| 2. Dig A
Pony |
SOUND
A- |
MELODY
B+ |
RHYTHM
A |
ARRANGE
A |
|
IMPRESSION
B+ |
PROFUNDITY
A- |
ORIGINALITY
A |
PLAYABILITY
A+ |
Slow rock in 3/4 time signature. This song is recorded from
the roof top live. So this song is not dubbed and vividness by
one time recording is impressive. Especially triplet phrase in
introduction tells us high tension at live recording. John plays
the guitar chord in distortion sound, and George sometimes plays
obbligato phrases. So arrangement of this song feels like going
back to the start point of the band. Also Paul plays the Hofner
bass guitar. The chord progression is in A major, and is simple,
but sometimes G7 and G are used, and are cool. They are good
at using such non-diatonic chord casually. Drums feels heavy
as a whole because the tempo is slow, but the fill-in right after
"Because..." makes us happy mood.
|
| 3. Across
The Universe |
SOUND
B+ |
MELODY
A+ |
RHYTHM
B- |
ARRANGE
A+ |
|
IMPRESSION
A |
PROFUNDITY
A- |
ORIGINALITY
A+ |
PLAYABILITY
A |
The acoustic guitar is featured but this song is finished
as a symphony with grand orchestra sound in back. The main vocal
is only single part by John, and is also very beautiful. The
chord progression is quite normal, but the sub-dominant chord
Gm is used at the end of the verse in 2nd block, and also the
time signature changes to 2/4, so it gives variation to the melody
phrase. The bass guitar is not used but Paul plays lower tone
with the piano, and he plays D ionian scale skillfully just like
going up stairs with eighth notes. The rhythm is also very simple
pattern of the quarter notes with floor tom or maracas in the
chorus. And Indian musical instruments or tamboura by George
can be heard after a long interval.
|
| 4.
I Me Mine |
SOUND
B+ |
MELODY
B |
RHYTHM
B+ |
ARRANGE
B+ |
|
IMPRESSION
B+ |
PROFUNDITY
B- |
ORIGINALITY
B |
PLAYABILITY
A+ |
Composed by George. This song is heavy rock-waltz in 6/8 time
signature that has impressive distortion guitar sound. However,
the string section is also played in back, so you can find this
song is exquisite in wild atmosphere. The key is A minor and
the chord progression in verse is Am->D7->G->E7->Am
that is a typical progression. After that, continuing Dm->E7(-9)->E7,
then returns to top of vocal melody. But the chord progression
of same phrase at the second time is Am->AmM7->Am7->D9->FM7
that has cliche pattern, it is nice idea. From chorus "I
Me Me Mine ...", the feelings of this song has changed to
4/4 time signature with shuffle. At this phrase, the guitar obbligato
is very wild. Drums are played tightly for waltz. And some fill-ins
prevent dull rhythm as is often the case with a song in slow
tempo.
|
| 5.
Dig It |
SOUND
B+ |
MELODY
C+ |
RHYTHM
C |
ARRANGE
B- |
|
IMPRESSION
B- |
PROFUNDITY
C+ |
ORIGINALITY
B- |
PLAYABILITY
A++ |
This song is very short less than a minute, but is part of
the long session play over 10 minutes. So this should be a record
in their session rather than one of the completed music. Only
the chords of Bb, F, Bb, and C are repeated, also the lyric is
odds and ends with meaningless words. Their performance is very
simple because only chords are played on the guitar, bass, and
piano, also triplet rhythm is simply played on the drums with
no fill-ins. And vocal part is finished as the middle of singing
and talking, and it is nearly recognized that the vocal line
is on melody. In this album, a lot of their chatting are recorded
here and there, it is fun that John is casually introducing the
next song Let It Be with child voice at the end of this song.
|
| 6.
Let It Be |
SOUND
A |
MELODY
A+ |
RHYTHM
A |
ARRANGE
A |
|
IMPRESSION
A++ |
PROFUNDITY
A- |
ORIGINALITY
A |
PLAYABILITY
A++ |
This is the one of the most famous song in the Beatles songs.
The vocal line that moves up and down slightly stands out in
the comfortable piano backing. Only the diatonic chords on C
major are used, so the construction of this song is simple, however
its friendly melody and coolness with arrangement show us that
it is not important only theory but also feelings for music.
And the Billy's organ performance before guitar solo is very
cool. He plays the same phrase as piano phrase played just before
his play, they produce a kind of grave atmosphere. Then George
begins to play his guitar solo right now, the song is getting
into full swing by his going-up melodious phrase. BTW, the arrangement
of this song is different from one of the single record. Here
I wrote down comments about the song in the album arranged by
Fill Specter, you can enjoy another Let It Be with single record
arranged by George Martin.
|
| 7.
Maggie Mae |
SOUND
C |
MELODY
C+ |
RHYTHM
C |
ARRANGE
B- |
|
IMPRESSION
C |
PROFUNDITY
C+ |
ORIGINALITY
B- |
PLAYABILITY
A++ |
This song should be also a record in their session like Dig
It. Moreover this is not their original song but an old song
that has been sung in their hometown Liverpool. I cannot understand
why they played this song at that time. As this is session play,
their performance and arrangement are very simple, so it feels
like slipshod. It is hard to write down cool comment for this
song, but I think that they were not getting on well one another
when they recorded this album. So I think they have recorded
such a joke song because they want to divert themselves.
|
| 8.
I've Got A Feeling |
SOUND
A- |
MELODY
A- |
RHYTHM
A |
ARRANGE
A+ |
|
IMPRESSION
B |
PROFUNDITY
A+ |
ORIGINALITY
A |
PLAYABILITY
A |
This song is also recorded at roof top live just like Dig
A Pony.The big feature in this song is made by two different
songs, and they take turns singing these two songs, but at the
end, they sing these two songs simultaneously. The one of these
songs is "I've got a feeling..." by Paul and the other
one is "Everybody had a hard year..." by John. The
simple A major chord is used mainly in progression, and the sound
in full swing atmosphere that is peculiar to the one-time-recording
is condensed in this song. Especially, it is fun that there is
striking contrast between Paul's shouted voice and John's soft
voice. Moreover, the phrase that the obbligato by George's guitar
with chord or strumming his guitar in stressed triplet notes
makes its presence felt is impressive.
|
| 9.
One After 909 |
SOUND
B |
MELODY
B |
RHYTHM
B |
ARRANGE
B- |
|
IMPRESSION
B- |
PROFUNDITY
B |
ORIGINALITY
B |
PLAYABILITY
A+ |
This song is also recorded at roof top live, however, they
have played so old song that was composed before their debut.
The feelings of this song is very old-fashioned rock 'n' roll,
so the used chords are around three chords in B major. At the
chorus, the chord progression is E7->B7->C#7->F#7 so
it has sophisticated sound at that time. The main vocal is the
duet by Paul and John except chorus, and the vocal line just
harmonized with three degree is very cool. The backing performance
is not so complex, but the obbligato or chord backing with Rhodes
piano by Billy is very comfortable, and this should be characteristic
sound in this song.
|
| 10.
The Long And Winding Road |
SOUND
A+ |
MELODY
A++ |
RHYTHM
B- |
ARRANGE
A+ |
|
IMPRESSION
A++ |
PROFUNDITY
A- |
ORIGINALITY
A |
PLAYABILITY
A |
This is the slow ballad with very cool orchestra backing.
This song is quite different from a band sound, however this
is a piano ballad originally, and the organ sound by Billy is
very cool. The chord progression is simple as Cm->Ab->Eb->Eb7->Ab
in the verse, then Ab->Gm7->Cm->Fm7->Bb7->Ebsus4->Eb
from "Will never disappear...", and it repeats this
progression. At the chorus, it repeats Eb->Ab->Gm7->Fm7->Bb7,
then it returns to the verse. You can find that these progressions
are composed by diatonic chord because the key is Eb major. It
seems that Paul likes the song so he often plays this in his
band Wings later. The song by Wings is a piano ballad, and the
trumpet solo is also performed, so Wings' arrangement is different
from this album's. It may be fun to hear with comparing these
songs.
|
| 11.
For You Blue |
SOUND
B+ |
MELODY
B- |
RHYTHM
C+ |
ARRANGE
B- |
|
IMPRESSION
C+ |
PROFUNDITY
B- |
ORIGINALITY
B- |
PLAYABILITY
A+ |
This is the shuffle blues composed by George after a long
time. He plays the slide guitar unusually, and both his performance
and soft voice is characteristic sound in this song. Especially,
George's individuality is found in his slide-up chord sound and
solo phrase. The chord progression is simple blues style, so
only the three chords of D7, G7, A7 are used. Also their performance
is simple, and Paul does not play the bass but piano with quiet
backing. Moreover, Ringo plays only snare drum with brushes,
so it seems that he participated only for the sake of good relations.
I wonder that they played such a song at that time, It might
be a state of mind that they would like to get back to fresh
spirit.
|
| 12.
Get Back |
SOUND
A- |
MELODY
A- |
RHYTHM
A |
ARRANGE
B+ |
|
IMPRESSION
A- |
PROFUNDITY
A- |
ORIGINALITY
A- |
PLAYABILITY
A++ |
This song tells us the shade of meaning that there used to
be good days. Also the song performed on roof top is famous,
because this song is composed aware of a live performance. The
chord progression is mainly A major diatonic, so few complex
chord is used. Only the chord of Ab7(-9) is used in the chorus
"Get back ...", and also only the chord of G is used
right before D at the end of the chorus. However, these two chords
are important factor in this song because they are used as stress
chord. And the rhythm patterns by drums are very unique. Ringo
does not play hi-hat but snare drum, but feelings of beat is
well expressed. This drums sound makes atmosphere of whole this
song tighten up. John's guitar solo and Billy's electric piano
solo are so simple but they are fine passages with well-modulated
phrases.
|
