#42: A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles (1964)

This was the first Beatles album to feature entirely original compositions, and it is the only Beatles album with sole songwriting credit going to Lennon/McCartney. Released during the height of Beatlemania, A Hard Day's Night was the pinnacle of their early releases.

Every morning I wake up to the first track of the first album that I have to listen to that day. When the first notes of "A Hard Day's Night" came out of my speakers at 5:30AM as loud as they did, I thought I was under attack. But, hey, it got me out of bed. 

I'm pretty sure that this was the first Beatles album that I ever purchased (on CD back in the early 90s) and it was on constant rotation in my car. For the most part, this is a near-perfect rock & roll album. There are a couple of misses ("Tell Me Why" and "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You"), but the hits far outweigh them.

I can't listen to "Can't Buy Me Love" without thinking of the 1987 Patrick Dempsey movie of the same name.

Favorite Tracks: "A Hard Day's Night," "Can't Buy Me Love," "And I Love Her" and "I'll Be Back"