At some point, someone had the idea that people might be more apt to buy an album full of singles as opposed to a bunch of seven inches. For me, that is completely true. I would much rather sit down for twenty minutes and then have to get up to flip the disc than to sit down for three minutes. And when a group has as many non-album singles as the Beatles did, a singles compilation could be a legitimately rewarding listen. So many great songs litter each side: Lady Madonna, Revolution, Paperback Writer, Don’t Let Me Down, and, of course, Hey Jude, which everyone knows.

Despite spanning the whole of their career, the songs on here are rather consistent in quality. Even the Beatlemania anthem Can’t Buy Me Love holds its own against their more measured later material. George’s Old Brown Shoe betrays his admiration of Bob Dylan, with whom he would later work on the excellent All Things Must Pass. Don’t Let Me Down is impeccably arranged, and even more impeccably performed despite featuring some of the most complicated rhythmic twists and turns in rock music (tech metal not included).

Also, how does no one talk about how Rain is one of the best Beatles singles ever? And how was it a B-Side to Paperback Writer? It’s so clearly superior, with it’s droning guitar arpeggios, Eastern influenced vocal coda, and one of Paul’s greatest bass performances ever. Rain was arguably their first psychedelic song, foreshadowing the greatest three album run (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, MMT) of their career.

By the nature of this release, it’s not surprising that it’s not a completely cohesive listen. But, it suits its purpose of being a short and enjoyable collection of short (except Hey Jude) and enjoyable songs. And in the grand scope of music history, it’s an important reminder that the Beatles didn’t need to be making an album to release great songs.