Laurence Juber, GRAMMY award winning guitarist, solo performer, recording artist, composer, and arranger loves The Beatles. So much so that this collection is his third album of Beatles songs played on solo guitar. Hey, everyone loves The Beatles, right?
No. I respect The Beatles and I’m not so daft as to deny their significance in the evolution of contemporary music. They broke all the ground, for sure. But does this mean I actually feel the need to listen to The Beatles all the time? Ever? No.
If the cover art looks cheesy and the exclamation mark at the end of the title irritates (oh, and it really grinds my gears!), then I’d definitely avoid the inside of the gatefold, which find Laurence and his wife and producer, Hope, grinning mistily into the lens.
Musically, it’s hard to fault: Juber’s musicianship is faultless, and his instrumental acoustic renditions are played with passion as well as technical brilliance. But do we actually need this album, which is little more than restaurant music? No, we really don’t. So, this is not as much bad as entirely superfluous and redundant. It might be that our Laurence can’t stop playing The Beatles, but really, I wish he would.