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A review by lilmatt050
Visualizing The Beatles: A Complete Graphic History of the World's Favorite Band by John Pring
4.0
To check out my reviews: https://dancinginth3dark.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/visualizing-the-beatles-a-complete-graphic-history-of-the-worlds-favorite-band/
I am in love with The Beatles. I remember the first song that I ever heard from this famous band was Twist and Shout and the rest is history. Actually I was late on the Beatles train because I remember during middle school when Across the Universe came out in theaters and all the theater geeks were rocking out to the songs and I was completely indifferent about going to see the film, listening more to the Beatles, and joining in on the fun. That is one thing about me, when everyone is going crazy about something whether it be a book, film, tv show, or music I naturally stay away from it like the plague. I think it is the mentality that if I join with the masses then it loses its special novelty.
A few years ago I finally had enough money to buy the entire Beatles catalogue on iTunes and my life has never been the same. Their music is timeless and even though we are living in the 21st century I can play any album of The Beatles and it would be 1000x better than the crap that is on the radio at the moment. The lyrics are astounding, the harmonies are unique, and deep down they changed the course of history with the definition of what it means to be an artist and a musician. It is no wonder that I admire them and they influence me with my creativity. Hence when I saw this book being displayed at my local library I immediately snatched it up.
If you are a Beatles fanatic then this book might not be for you because it provides a basic history of the Beatles discography, the formation of the group, and ultimately their break up. Every page you get colorful illustrations, maps, and timelines that show how the Beatles were influenced and how their music shaped the culture and how world events were influencing them. I am more interested about the group in the musical aspects so it was interesting to see maps and locations of where they lived, places they visited, and other sites that inspired classic songs like Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby, and countless others.
I wanted to rate this 5 stars but there was some details that lacked in this book and I wish they added more. This book is by no means an encyclopedia of The Beatles and they do not pretend to act like it is. Like the early years of the Beatles most of their albums until the Rubber Soul era consists of some original songs and then cover songs. In this book they tell you how many covers vs originals in each album but they do not tell you exactly which songs are original and which are cover songs from other bands. I wish they could have used some symbols to illustrate this and it would have made it fascinating to see.
One huge thing that I absolutely loved was the songwriting credits for each album. It is known to most people that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote most of the Beatles music with a few exceptions where they let George Harrison and Ringo Starr take a crack at songwriting. In each album, the authors of this book illustrates who truly wrote which songs and I think that is beautiful and mind blowing to discover. You finally get to see which of your favorite songs were written by which member and if they either wrote the entire song by themselves or had a helping hand. If you were ever curious as to the fashion of their outfits, the cover images of their albums then you should buy this book.
The illustrations are phenomenal and I think this is great book to give to kids or teenagers who are starting to get into the Beatles and discover that these four handsome men accomplished a lot in a matter of 8 years and changed pop culture forever. One thing that I am so happy about is that the authors acknowledge that the album Let It Be is not their last album. It is technically their last because it was released when they broke up but recording wise their album Abbey Road was the last album where they officially had their final recording sessions. I think that is crucial information because it changes the entire catalogue and ideology of their sound. I haven't marathon The Beatles catalogue in a few years now but after reading this book I definitely will again.
I am in love with The Beatles. I remember the first song that I ever heard from this famous band was Twist and Shout and the rest is history. Actually I was late on the Beatles train because I remember during middle school when Across the Universe came out in theaters and all the theater geeks were rocking out to the songs and I was completely indifferent about going to see the film, listening more to the Beatles, and joining in on the fun. That is one thing about me, when everyone is going crazy about something whether it be a book, film, tv show, or music I naturally stay away from it like the plague. I think it is the mentality that if I join with the masses then it loses its special novelty.
A few years ago I finally had enough money to buy the entire Beatles catalogue on iTunes and my life has never been the same. Their music is timeless and even though we are living in the 21st century I can play any album of The Beatles and it would be 1000x better than the crap that is on the radio at the moment. The lyrics are astounding, the harmonies are unique, and deep down they changed the course of history with the definition of what it means to be an artist and a musician. It is no wonder that I admire them and they influence me with my creativity. Hence when I saw this book being displayed at my local library I immediately snatched it up.
If you are a Beatles fanatic then this book might not be for you because it provides a basic history of the Beatles discography, the formation of the group, and ultimately their break up. Every page you get colorful illustrations, maps, and timelines that show how the Beatles were influenced and how their music shaped the culture and how world events were influencing them. I am more interested about the group in the musical aspects so it was interesting to see maps and locations of where they lived, places they visited, and other sites that inspired classic songs like Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby, and countless others.
I wanted to rate this 5 stars but there was some details that lacked in this book and I wish they added more. This book is by no means an encyclopedia of The Beatles and they do not pretend to act like it is. Like the early years of the Beatles most of their albums until the Rubber Soul era consists of some original songs and then cover songs. In this book they tell you how many covers vs originals in each album but they do not tell you exactly which songs are original and which are cover songs from other bands. I wish they could have used some symbols to illustrate this and it would have made it fascinating to see.
One huge thing that I absolutely loved was the songwriting credits for each album. It is known to most people that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote most of the Beatles music with a few exceptions where they let George Harrison and Ringo Starr take a crack at songwriting. In each album, the authors of this book illustrates who truly wrote which songs and I think that is beautiful and mind blowing to discover. You finally get to see which of your favorite songs were written by which member and if they either wrote the entire song by themselves or had a helping hand. If you were ever curious as to the fashion of their outfits, the cover images of their albums then you should buy this book.
The illustrations are phenomenal and I think this is great book to give to kids or teenagers who are starting to get into the Beatles and discover that these four handsome men accomplished a lot in a matter of 8 years and changed pop culture forever. One thing that I am so happy about is that the authors acknowledge that the album Let It Be is not their last album. It is technically their last because it was released when they broke up but recording wise their album Abbey Road was the last album where they officially had their final recording sessions. I think that is crucial information because it changes the entire catalogue and ideology of their sound. I haven't marathon The Beatles catalogue in a few years now but after reading this book I definitely will again.