The Beatles
Parlophone, 1963

The Beatles recorded ten of the fourteen songs on their British debut album at EMI's Abbey Road studio in just over twelve hours on February 11th, 1963. For productivity alone, it's one of the greatest first albums in rock. The Beatles had already invented a bracing new sound for a rock band – an assault of thrumming energy and impeccable vocal harmonies – and they nailed it using the covers and originals in their live repertoire: the Shirelles' "Boys" and Arthur Alexander's "Anna"; the Lennon-McCartney burners "There's a Place" and "I Saw Her Standing There." John Lennon finished up by shredding what was left of his vocal cords on two takes of "Twist and Shout."