For completists only

At first glance, to the unaware buyer anyway, the two Past Masters CDs (Vol 1 & Vol 2) might appear to be some sort of half-baked Greatest Hits compilations. They are in fact a compilation of all the non-album singles, B-sides and alternative mixes of tracks not available on the original albums. When EMI transferred the Beatles LPs to CD in 1987 they were left with a batch of previosuly released songs that had not been included on the albums so they compiled these two CDs to. For that reason alone these CDs can only be seen as filling in the gaps and therefore can't really be regarded as true Beatles albums (or even Greatest Hits albums for that matter). Also, there's nothing new here - all the songs included on theses two CDs had been previously available on vinyl format in some form or other but obviously not on CD until these albums were compiled. Therefore I would only buy these CDs if you're a Beatles completist and already own the entire CD Beatles catalogue. Despite this CD's inclusion of a lot of the group's hits post-1965, if you're looking to start your Beatles collection with a compilation CD start with the Red and Blue CDs - "1962-1966" and "1967-1970" respectively.

It will leave you smiling

The tracks on this album are incredibly hard to find. This is the Beatles as they really were, not after the polishing or adjusting for various markets. A classic is 'You Know My Name', I heard this played constantly when a bartender in a pub in Salisbury, it was a forgotten memory until today. It reminds you that the Beatles did not always take themselves seriously. Or take Rain, possibly the best ever single released by the Fab Four. You could go out and buy the Blue Album which has most of these tracks, however the packaging and selection is better on this, plus no self-respecting Beatles fan owns either the Blue or Red album.

For the die hard Beatles fan these records are the heart and soul of the band. If you ever tire of hearing the hits, this will liven up your soul and leave you smiling, for a long time

There's gold in them hills

For casual Beatles listeners the 'Red' and 'Blue' compilation albums are better value for money; however, those with a deeper interest in the group won't want to miss out on the gems hidden in this album and its sister volume. And hey, guess what - you'll also get back-up copies of all those Beatles songs which you already have in your CD collection! (Record companies get rich this way. Sigh.)

I've always thought 'Rain' is perhaps the most underrated song in the entire Beatles catalogue. Listen to the interplay of Ringo's drums and Paul McCartney's bass on this track - stunning stuff. 'The Inner Light' is probably George Harrison's most successful foray into Indian music (although he copped the lyrics from an Asian philosophical text.) 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)' demonstrates the Beatles' enduring love of parody and their fundamental inability to take themselves too seriously. John Lennon's ad-libs at the end still make me smile every time I listen to this song.

Aaaaaaah, go on. Record company executives need to eat too, you know.