Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book - though with some annoying flaws
Review: I agonized before buying this book of scores, especially given the strong criticism of some the other reviewers and the rather steep price. I took the plunge and don't regret it at all.The arrangements are virtually perfect and accurate. Yes, there are a few errors, but they're rare and obvious (and it's not like you're obligated to play the incorrect notes!). For a guitarist, having the music, tabs, and chords allows you to invest as much or little effort as you want in learning different parts of each song - the transcriptions compliment each other. Criticisms -- most notably the format is WAY too small given the detailed information. Even though I have perfect vision, I find that a magnifying glass comes in very handy. There is a lot of annoying little stuff which wouldn't have cost the publisher any extra to avoid. There are no running titles (the title is listed only on the first page of the song), so you can't easily thumb thru the book to find a particular song. And even though the songs are arranged in proper alphabetical order, the table of contents lists all titles starting with "The" under "T". Which is really weird. All in all, a wonderful investment. Get it as a gift.
Rating: 
Summary: My ultimate Rickenbacker companion
Review: I bought a 'Hamburg' type Rickenbacker guitar last year. All what I still needed was a 'scores' book as I am not that talented guitar player. To my great surprise it was more complete than I thought as I found not only the rhythm guitar but also the lead guitar parts. I didn't rate it with a fifth star though, because early songs like 'My Bonny' and Harrison's 'Cry for a shadow' are missing.
Rating:
Summary: Beatles songs for pros
Review: This book have all songs officially recorded by the Beatles. It includes songs of others composers, like John Lee Hooker, not only songs written by the Beatles themselves. It doesn't have non-official songs, like the early ones recorded live in Germany. You will find scores and tablatures for most of the instruments used in the record sessions (sorry, no orchestras parts), always including guitars, bass and drums. The songs are very close to the actual recording, and so are a little bit hard to play. You can simplify using the chords shown above the scores, but if you are not interested in solos and perfect playing you should buy simpler material. There are a few typos and the lyrics and notes are very small. Besides that this is the best and most complete Beatles songbook you will ever find.
Rating:
Summary: This Is The Bible
Review: Like many other reviewers I started with the early version of "Beatles Complete", in my case some 20 years ago. So many of these versions were not even in the right key! Any publication 1200 pages long will have errors but I've found nothing obvious yet. I have to disagree about "no reply", this was not written in a minor key. This is a truly amazing feet of dedication that must rival a midday sprint through Death Valley! After years and years of trying to get close to the originals, someones unlocked the door. Whilst others have searched for complexity 4 Japenese guys have unearthed the simple genius of much of the Fab 4's music. Many moderate musicans will be amazed at what they can produce with these scores. If my house catches fire this book will be the fist thing I grab as I run out the door!
Rating:
Summary: Very complete!
Review: I am a good fan of the Beatles and belive me when I tell you that this is a very good book for those who like Beatle music and want to play it. I have some other songbooks of the fab four but this is the better. It is the only one that has so many songs and in the key played on the records. You will enjoy it. The only thing that is not so good about this scores is that the songs are a bit small, but perfectly readable.
Rating:
Summary: the Bible of the Beatles fan
Review: This is the book that all musical Beatles fans (at least those who can read music) have been waiting for. Every song the Beatles ever recorded on album or single. Very accurate, though I have found a few miniscule errors, and easy to read. The inclusion of tablature for guitar and bass is a big plus. The only problem with this book is something the authors had no control over, and that is the many sound effects the Beatles used that are impossible to transcribe on a musical staff. For example, the transcription of John Lennon's sound collage, called "Revolution 9", is almost unintelligible. Of course, "Revolution 9" is also impossible to perform on stage. ***A must-have for any Beatles fan who can play music***
Rating:
Summary: The Complete Scores
Review: Truly the Beatles wrote the best collection of songs that has ever been made, and that still stands today in this current world of less music and more skin/beat. Basically, for the first few days after recieving this book guitarists and even keyboard players can take it easy and just play their favorite Beatles songs in chords. Then you can simply move on to the specifics. You can play every individual part of the song and get them right. I have yet to find an inaccuracy in the book, but apparently other reviews state there are so I'll keep my ears and eyes open for them. This book has been great for my band. We've only had it for about a month, but already The Beatle music has made practice more fun and a lot more colorful. So I highly recommend this book to anybody out there who wants to play great music and doesn't have the time to write it out on their own. As a bonus, it's also a great book for learning other instruments.
Rating: 
Summary: Only a good start towards playing great songs.
Review: The music covered in this book is wonderful, of course, but if you have a good ear you'll find many instances where you won't believe what you see on the page. A fairly simple example is "No Reply." The song is in a minor key, and if you have a trained ear, you know the chords are minor chords - - but the music is written here with all major chords. In addition, on the recording you'll hear sevenths which the sheet music doesn't mention. The format could also be easier - - the songs are ordered alphabetically, but if you don't use the table of contents to find a song it will be difficult: the top margins don't have any key words to indicate the songs on the page. But if you have a good ear, and are adequately suspicious of what you see on the page, the book will be a time saver. And for that, it's worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book of Its Kind - But Mis-Titled As "Complete"
Review: This book is as good as it gets - period. All titles from The Beatles catalog of British & American releases (during the group's career together) are represented. That's the first major plus of the book - you get The Beatles' arrangements of all their covers from Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, etc. They are great fun to play and many Beatles' versions are better-known than the originals. I know of no other source for these arrangements. As mentioned by many other reviewers, you get a pretty heroic stab at scoring all the instruments heard on every song. This admirable attempt gets you on the right track (in the right key signature, etc.), but falls short on detail of all but the simplest (usually from the early years) songs. Clearly The Beatles had extensive use of multiple 4 track machines and eventually 8 tracks as they matured. This book "scores" usually only 5 parts. It would be impossible to score ALL the over-dubs and extremely lengthy to include all instrumentation, notes and George Martin's orchestral arrangements. So, I pick a bone with the authors using the title, "The Complete Scores". To me, that term means something very specific which is not appropriate for these types of recordings. The Beatles, George Martin and his engineers were awsome craftsmen. The layers of sounds we hear on the finished records are a one-time snapshot of their creative process - often with somewhat muddy results. For example, "I Am The Walrus" does have a guitar part - pretty lost in the mix and not represented in the book. I just don't think it's possible to get the "Complete" details on these recordings. To save space, the authors often have you incorrectly play a single part for each verse repeat. I know this is getting picky, but the building bass line is the counter-melody in "Something" and the dualing guitar fills in "The Ballad of John & Yoko" change as the song builds. Both are important to each song's development and resolution... In fact, if you really really try, you can find little errors in many songs; mis-titled chords here, incorrect licks there. The non-standard guitar tuning referenced in "Rain" I believe is wrong...BUT, pop in a CD and open the book - you'll get an extremely good idea of what to play. By scoring all the main parts, the authors make this book good as gold for aspiring cover bands. It may not really be "The Complete Scores", but this book is surely a treasure map to some of the finest and most creative recordings in pop music. I love it!
Rating:
Summary: It's perfect!
Review: If you want a really meticulous transcription of Beatles music, this is the book for you. Buy it! I've played so many times reading from other books... but nothing compares to this. I call it "the Bible"! And it's the only one that has bass, drums and blackbirds (!) transcriptions! I swear, you can find the blackbird's singing on the score! Well, I could never live without. And I think that the authors (four brave Japaneses) are the most patient people in the world.
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