This commentary on the Beatles' discography details the musical progression achieved when the Beatles turned from live performance to recording. Tim Riley examines the personal, political and global influences on their song-writing and reflects on each album as a whole as well as the individual songs and patterns. This book explores the Beatles' influence on the popular music of the time and the author argues that they transformed the popular culture and gave it life. Tim Riley's music criticism has appeared in the academic journal "Popular Music", "The Christian Science Monitor" and on national public radio in the USA.