Beatlemania Starts Again

"Everyone knows of the Beatles, but there's this whole generation for whom the music isn't personal, it isn't close to them. And for that younger audience we're delivering this incredible music in the most impactful way imaginable."

Another reason the game had to be so painstakingly developed was because it also has to preserve the memory of the two sadly departed Beatles - singer-and-guitarist John, who was assassinated in New York in 1980, and guitarist George, who died of lung cancer in 2001.

The Beatles' incredible career offer gamers the opportunity to experience the incredible creative highs and re-live the historic moments they created. They were far more than a pop group, instead embodying an entire cultural phenomenon.

With albums such as 'Rubber Soul', 'Abbey Road' and 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' the group created in seven years, a body of work which hailed the dawn of white rock 'n' roll, and featured the inventions not only of the pop single, but its opposite, in the concept album, the global superstar, guitar effects which are still in use today and the teenage hysteria which became known as 'Beatlemania'.

It was no bad effort for a group which started out as four working class boys from the dock town of Liverpool in Northern England. After three years as a much sought after live band and a spell working hard playing nightly sets in a in Hamburg nightclub, The Beatles got their first recording contract in 1962, and embarked on a journey which would see them change the landscape of modern culture and what it meant to be a young person forever.

From their first singles, 'Love Me Do', 'Please Please Me and 'From Me To You', The Beatles were unlike anything seen before. As they gained increasing chart success and 'From Me To You' became the group's first number one single The Beatles performances were causing near riots and needing to be controlled by police - and the group were the first to tap a previously largely untouched audience - teenage girls.

Soon after Britain fell in love with the group, America followed, and from 1964 until they split in 1969 (officially in 1970) The Beatles every move, record and song was scrutinised.

Amazingly, during this time they made surprisingly few slip ups, and moved with ease through a multitude of genres and styles of playing recording and writing their songs, spearheaded by the Lennon/McCartney writing team, with the duo sharing vocal duties.

The early records were all recorded quickly and live, the four members of the group together in the recording room for no more than a day to cut the tracks.

Paul remembers: "We were kids who didn't know how you should do it, so it was very exciting to get into the studio. It took all day but that was half the thrill.

"That's what we thought about all the Beatles albums, 'OK, there's a benchmark, now we're going to do better."

While the band's knack for a pop hit endured through tracks such as 'Hard Days' Night', 'Can't Buy Me Love', and 'Help!', the group's thirst for reinvention led them to continually experiment with different genres and unconventional instruments.

By 1965, heavily layered string arrangements were used on 'Yesterday' - still one of the group's most enduring compositions, despite the endless cover versions which have diluted its beautiful simple nature - and then by their next album, 'Rubber Soul' eastern influences were taking hold. 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)' is the first pop western pop song to feature a Sitar.

'Rubber Soul' saw the beginning of what is widely regarded the golden age of the group, where they slowed down - they had produced their first five albums in the previous three years - and took more time to experiment. With 'Revolver' string arrangements sat next to tape loop experiments on 'Tomorrow Never Knows', while the band retained the more traditional pop arrangements in 'Taxman' and 'Yellow Submarine'.

The most famous Beatles album, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' followed in 1967, and has gone onto become the second highest selling album in British history. Although not intended as a 'concept' album, it has an undeniable flow to it, and is regarded as a psychedelic masterpiece, although this by no means detracts from its listenability - in songs such as the title track, 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', 'It's Getting Better All The Time' and of course 'I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends' - anyone who saw Danyl Johnson's storming audition using the same song on this year's 'X Factor' can lay testament to the power such a song holds over 40 years later.

After the height of 'Sgt. Pepper...' The Beatles were faced with the devastating loss of their manager, Brain Epstein, who had been with them since the very start of their career. After a last psychedelic workout on their next album 'Magical Mystery Tour' - which was originally released as an EP to accompany the film of the same name, before singles and B-sides were added to it to make an LP - somewhat lost for what direction to take, the group sought solace in an Indian Transcendental Meditation retreat with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Here they developed the roots of their next album 'The Beatles'.

Known as 'The White Album', it set another benchmark, sporadic in style and structure, the album veered between country pastiche ('Bungalow Bill') to dissonant experimentation ('Revolution Number 9') to beautiful acoustic folk ('Blackbird'). Again The Beatles moved forward, faster than the world could take notice.

By this point The Beatles were masters in the studio - due to the fact they had stopped touring in 1966, due to the fact they could no longer hear themselves play because of the thousands of screaming female fans at their shows - and 'Abbey Road' was their final masterpiece. Recorded after the difficult sessions of 'Let It Be' - where it was evident the band were on the verge of disbanding - it included almost every genre and showcased each member's specific talents. 'Come Together', Ringo's throwaway but sweet children's song 'Octopus's Garden' - sang and written by the drummer - and the glorious George-penned 'Something' are all stand-out tracks. And don't forget the 16-minute medley at the end, eight songs magically woven into one piece of music by Paul and producer George Martin it shows the group calling on all their musical craftsmanship and studio trickery to create an unforgettable listening experience.

'Let It Be' was to become the final album released by the Fab Four. Though the results appeared polished and lushly orchestrated - at the hands of producer Phil Spector (all their other albums were produced by George Martin) - the truth was far uglier. The band was falling apart, and rivalry and jealousy between Paul and John was making it very hard for the group to function.

John once admitted Spector was given, "the s***iest load of badly recorded s**t with lousy feeling ever," to deal with when he took the reigns of 'Let It Be'. This doesn't mean the record is without resonance nor poignancy, however, as tracks such as 'Across the Universe', 'The Long and Winding Road' and the title track (the latter two of which Paul wrote in a single day).

Shortly after the album, internal wrangling finally took its hold and Paul announced he was leaving the group in early 1970, shortly before 'Let it Be' was released. Although the dissolution of the group has long been blamed on Paul, John had long made clear his intentions to leave the group.

Although the band finished, the constituent members went on to have successful solo careers, but The Beatles legacy remained intact, and has to this day been a major influence on generation after generation. You too can enjoy the same journey by playing the game or listening back to the re-masters, probably one of the most fun history lessons you could have - although it could all backfire if your dad gets hold of your games console before you - you could end up having to wrestle it off him.

By Andy Tillett.

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