Beatles Albums...

Goodshape

About once a year I seem to have myself a bit of a Beatles month (or two) in which I just constently listen to Beatles music. They seem to have an album to suit most moods and I find my choice of their 'best album' changes with the seasons.

So here's a poll and a thread to see what the public thinks.

At the moment I'm really enjoying 'Let It Be.. Naked'. A lot better than the original I think, but I couldn't really call it the best. Thinking back over the years I'd say The White Album has probably held the top spot in my mind more frequently than any others. There's a good few tracks on it I simply have to skip, but there's also far more than the average albums worth of great songs and I love the raw unpolished sound to it.

Going to have to leave an album or two out of this poll (10 option max ), so sorry to anyone who actually thinks 'Please Please Me' was any good or that 'Magical Mystery Tour' was an album (it was an EP.. although I would have liked to include it as I think it's bloody great).

Karl Hungus

White Album

Why do you even need to ask? Sgt. Pepper's is the album.

mc nuggets

White Album

Karl Hungus wrote:

Why do you even need to ask? Sgt. Pepper's is the album.

Seconded.

Alana

Not a hope in hell of that album coming anywhere near my top 100 albums let alone top Beatles album. IMHO either Abbey Road, or Revolver...hard though

Jimmy_Jazz

White Album

Goodshape wrote:

or that 'Magical Mystery Tour' was an album (it was an EP.. although I would have liked to include it as I think it's bloody great).

That's what I was going to vote for! Anyway, I went with Sgt. Pepper's, but it could just as easily have been Revolver.

garthv

Wheres the option for "The Beatles Suck" ?

grumpytrousers

Let It Be (or LIB.. Naked)

Has to be Abbey Road, by a country mile. Sure Sgt Pepper was brave/innovative/adventurous and fair enough it has 'Day on the life' on it which (as every f*cking retrospective review tells us) is the 'perfect match of john and paul at work'...but to be honest, the whole album for my money is just a little bit on the wrong side of 'twee'.

It's a funny thing; I can't put my finger on what I think might be wrong with it - I think it's just a little bit too much of an attempt at a period piece. Having said that, I do like the album. It's in my top 20. Just not my fave beatles album.

Abbey Road, on the other hand, works on so many levels. I think, most importantly, the fact that here you had a band that could barely talk to each other, but dammit, when it came to plugging in the instruments and singing, they were as good as ever. AR has it all. Cracking opener; two good George Harrison songs, the majestic I Want You and the whole side two symphonic thing going on. Granted Macca does another vaudeville turn with Maxwells Silver Hammer, but lets be honest, there aren't enough nursery rhyme songs about serial killers, now are there!!!

I also absolutely LOVE Hard Days Night - one of the best pure pop albums ever...

quarryman

Let It Be (or LIB.. Naked)

Abbey Road for me. Masterpiece.

Also for the people who chose Sgt Pepper, how many of the rest have you actually heard?

Jimmy_Jazz

White Album

grumpytrousers wrote:

Granted Macca does another vaudeville turn with Maxwells Silver Hammer, but lets be honest, there aren't enough nursery rhyme songs about serial killers, now are there!!!

I love that song!

quarryman wrote:

Also for the people who chose Sgt Pepper, how many of the rest have you actually heard?

All of them. How else would I have made a decision?

Civilian_Target

Let It Be (or LIB.. Naked)

Sgt. Peppers was revolutionary - but Abbey Road is the best. It's my favourite album of all time an has been for at least the last 6 years... The only vague hint of filler is "She's so Heavy" and the second side is superb.

Sgt. Peppers is good, but a bit over-bearing. Rubber Soul is quite fresh today, but it's not that replayable. Revolver gets a bit grating after a while. White Album has some fantastic moments (Helter Skelter, Sexy Sadie, Back in the USSR) but also way too much filler. Abbey Road is eternal.

Goodshape

Abbey Road

I agree with what people are saying about Abbey Road -- except for Civilian's comment about 'Shes So Heavey' being filler... one of the best on the album in my opinion (but then Helter Skelter, Sexy Sadie and Back in the USSR wouldn't be my choices from the White Album either. One of the great things about The Beatles though, something for everyone). Abbey Road is great anyway. I'd say it's their most consistent albums if not their best.. and what a way to call it a day.

Sgt. Peppers I was kind of expecting to lead the poll, but definitely not top of my list. As revolutionary as it was, it's just not as out-and-out 'good' as some of the rest.

Wheres the option for "The Beatles Suck" ?

It's here.

lodgepole

Rubber Soul

It's such a hard choice...

The best albums IMO are Help!, Rubber Soul and Let It Be. Close seconds to them are Beatles For Sale (I love I'm A Loser), Sgt. Pepper and The White Album.

I ended up voting for Help! because I listen to it more than any other Beatles album.

Rustar

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Revolver, most def.
I saw it as the dividing line between 'early Beatles' and 'late Beatles', and this guy agrees with me. Every song's a classic, except maybe for "Doctor Robert" - I guess that's why they didn't include it on the US release.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote:

All the rules fell by the wayside with Revolver, as the Beatles began exploring new sonic territory, lyrical subjects, and styles of composition. It wasn't just Lennon and McCartney, either — Harrison staked out his own dark territory with the tightly wound, cynical rocker "Taxman"; the jaunty yet dissonant "I Want to Tell You"; and "Love You To," George's first and best foray into Indian music. Such explorations were bold, yet they were eclipsed by Lennon's trippy kaleidoscopes of sound. His most straightforward number was "Doctor Robert," an ode to his dealer, and things just got stranger from there, as he buried "And Your Bird Can Sing" in a maze of multi-tracked guitars, gave Ringo a charmingly hallucinogenic slice of childhood whimsy in "Yellow Submarine," and then capped it off with a triptych of bad trips: the spiraling "She Said She Said"; the crawling, druggy "I'm Only Sleeping"; and "Tomorrow Never Knows," a pure nightmare where John sang portions of the Tibetan Book of the Dead into a suspended microphone over Ringo's thundering, menacing drumbeats and layers of overdubbed, phased guitars and tape loops. McCartney's experiments were formal, as he tried on every pop style from chamber pop to soul, and when placed alongside Lennon and Harrison's outright experimentations, McCartney's songcraft becomes all the more impressive. The biggest miracle of Revolver may be that the Beatles covered so much new stylistic ground and executed it perfectly on one record, or it may be that all of it holds together perfectly. Either way, its daring sonic adventures and consistently stunning songcraft set the standard for what pop/rock could achieve. Even after Sgt. Pepper, Revolver stands as the ultimate modern pop album and it's still as emulated as it was upon its original release.

Pitseleh

The White Album - If only for Helter Skelter.

Sgt. Pepper's... is an over-hyped album that is neither revolutionary nor a concept album per se. Just because the repeat a track with them claiming to be a different band playing a live concert doesn't make it special. Three good tracks, at most.

Revolver... average.

I fail to see what makes these two albums amongst the gratest ever.

tripper

Abbey Road

Its gotta be the white album for me

Civilian_Target

Let It Be (or LIB.. Naked)

Civilian_Target wrote:

The only vague hint of filler is "She's so Heavy" and the second side is superb.

Goodshape wrote:

except for Civilian's comment about 'Shes So Heavey' being filler

OK - filler's possibly the wrong word to use for She's So Heavy, in that it's of far higher quality than the filler in the White Album, it's just definitely not as **** hot as the rest of the album, it ages quicker than the rest of the album, and if you're actually sitting and listening, you're tempted to just get up and turn early....

exiot

White Album

I really love Sgt Peppers, and have Revolver which is great too but Sgt Peppers overall..

Royale with Cheese

Let It Be (or LIB.. Naked)

Own every single Beatles album and it has to be Abbey road for me. The most perfect album I have ever come across. Nothing on this album is filler. Revolver and the White Album are 2nd and 3rd respectively. I don't see what the fuss is over Sgt. Peppers. It may have been groundbreaking at the time but they have plenty of better albums.

Civilian_Target

Let It Be (or LIB.. Naked)

Ah - you can't really judge them until you've listened to most/all of them.

Seriously though - who'd vote for "Beatles For Sale"....

lodgepole

Rubber Soul

Civilian_Target wrote:

Seriously though - who'd vote for "Beatles For Sale"....

It's a great album of the era... Not everybody prefers the psychadelic stuff or the rockier stuff that they moved into. Not that I don't, but you can see why somebody would rate the album highly.

Beruthiel

White Album

Karl Hungus wrote:

Why do you even need to ask? Sgt. Pepper's is the album.

amen brother

Goodshape

Abbey Road

Great album alright (beatles for sale). A testiment to them that an album so good can be past over so easily when searching for 'the best'.

I see on their allmusic.com page, the only studio album not to get 5/5 is Let It Be - which got 4.5/5

Out of 12 albums that's not bad going.