They say success ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, and Beatles For Sale might as well be Exhibit A. After a year-plus of all-out Beatlemania, what do the Fab Four have to say for themselves? “I’m A Loser.” That one’s sandwiched by the rejection anthem “No Reply” and the intensely morbid “Baby’s In Black” (which scans as especially ironic in the context of an ecstatic Shea Stadium). More than any other Beatles album besides Let It Be, it’s a bummer!  Then comes an aggressive spin through Chuck Berry’s “Rock And Roll Music” which, like the trifecta of negativity before it, is spearheaded by the ever sardonic John. He keeps up the gloom-and-doom later in the form of the miserable “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party.” Paul is just as rowdy but not nearly as salty (naturally) on the raging covers medley “Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!” and even he’s feeling blue on “What You’re Doing,” a thematically downcast number buoyed by George’s exceptionally bright 12-string guitar lead. Ringo’s Carl Perkins cover “Honey Don’t” keeps up the mood of disenchantment. 

But there’s also the placid Buddy Holly cover “Words Of Love” (the one that just got a video) and “I’ll Follow The Sun” and “Every Little Thing,” mild-mannered tunes that contrast sharply with Beatles For Sale’s initial dark tone. The ebullient “Eight Days A Week” is in there too. On balance, it’s evidence of a maturing band but also one that’s growing tired of its shackles. You can hear it when Lennon addresses the crowd in that Shea Stadium clip: Even he couldn’t keep track of all the repackaged and reshuffled Beatles LPs on the market at that point. He had reason to be irritated; Beatles For Sale suffers from that slapdash, label-assembled approach. Later on they’d stitch together wildly disparate songs with panache, but on this early offering, the variety only makes a disjointed mess of some otherwise excellent songs.