1 - Beatles (The) > Reviews > 'One' has its faults, but better than most

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Almost every Beatles UK single on one disc
Disadvantages:	Questionable omissions [see text]

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

'27 No. 1 singles on 1 CD', proclaims the sticker on the front of this record. Given that the Beatles had only (only!) 17 UK chart-toppers, unless you count the double A-side 'We Can Work It Out' and 'Day Tripper' as two and adjust the score to 18, fair enough. They had 20 in the US, the last being 'The Long and Winding Road', which never was a single on these shores.

A few basic points are difficult to argue with. I can appreciate the views of those who think the Beatles are over-hyped, and might lament our never-ending obsession with them, but they did kick the door of rock'n'roll wide open for this country, sell records on a scale never equalled before or since, and that their back catalogue has always sold well can't be put down solely to EMI's marketing skills. If their records weren't that good, they would have hardly shifted so many units.

Let's get to the record in question. Accepting that all compilation CDs are exploitative to some extent, this does a better job than most. Take any major group from the 60s or 70s, go to your nearest high street shop (or Amazon.co.uk, etc.) and you'll find a bewildering catalogue of their 'best ofs', 'greatest hits' and the like.

The Beatles have also seen a number of unnecessary compilations issued since they disbanded. Several of them, thankfully, only made it onto vinyl and cassette, and had long since disappeared by the time the CD format was established. The only others still available are 'Past Masters', a 2-part series which tidied up matters by issuing odds and ends like the A- and B-sides which had never appeared on non-'hits' albums already, German language versions of two, plus oddities like EP tracks; plus the (in)famous red and blue sets, '1962-66' and '1967-70'. The two latter, in my opinion, offer poor value for money, particularly the red set with its ungenerous playing time. I suspect the people who object most to the recent appearance of '1' are probably recent purchasers of the red and blue sets.

As a compilation of the group's hits, '1' is not perfect. 'Please Please Me' is missing, and as others have rightly pointed out, the omission of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' is highly questionable. "It wasn't a No. 1," say EMI. "But it was the best single they ever made!" is the oft-heard retort.

That apart, consider the following. With 27 tracks, and a total playing time of over 79 minutes, more or less maximum capacity, it offers much better value for money than the previous Beatles comps. The booklet also gives you the recording dates and chart-topping history, a nice touch in my view, and also reproduces various original picture sleeves from around the world, a definite bonus.

EMI wasted no time in letting us know it sold massively around the world. You can find the statistics elsewhere (try dotmusic.com for starters), but despite widespread cynicism, it outsold every other album in the UK for a couple of months over the Christmas period, knocking off Westlife (do I hear a cheer?) and keeping the Spice Girls' third at bay (not difficult, admittedly). To quote Slade's Yuletide anthem, "Does your Granny always tell you that the old songs are the best?". These songs may be between 30 and 40 years old, but they wiped the floor with the competition.

Enough said?