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The Top Beatles Albums
The Beatles were only an active recording band for about 8 years. They first started recording in 1962 and the final Beatles recording session was George Harrison working on “I Me Mine” on January 3, 1970.
Although they were really only an active band for rather short period of time, they recorded many of the greatest albums in rock history. In fact they recorded so many great albums that I will have to shave off some really good ones to keep this list at a mere seven greatest albums.
#1 The White Album
The Beatles self titled double album quickly got the nickname “The White Album” upon it’s release in 1968 and the name has stuck even 40 years later. While many find fault with this album due to it’s sprawling nature and experimental tracks like “Wild Honey Pie” & “Revolution #9,” I find the album endlessly enthralling because of these very same points.
It has so many great songs in so many different styles. It’s like taking a walk through popular music history at that time. And when you get to “Revolution #9″ it’s like falling into a black hole or opening up a secret pathway to some strange alternate reality. I think it’s a distant future we cannot yet envision. Some look at the stranger, more difficult tracks on this album as a fault. As reasons why it’s not as great as Revolver or Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I look at them as a strength.
But certainly the album has a lot more going for it than experimental music. It’s got beautiful ballads like “Blackbird,” “I Will,” & “Julia.” It’s got great rockers like “Everbody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey” & the ground breaking “Helter Skelter.”
It’s got one of George Harrison’s most powerful songs in “While My Guitar Gentley Weeps” which features a young Eric Clapton on lead guitar. It’s got “Dear Prudence,” “Happiness Is A Warm Gun,” “Cry Baby Cry,” “Back In The USSR,” & “Sexy Sadie.”
So many truly great songs in so many differing styles. It’s a truly mesmerizing record that only gets better the more you listen to it. In my view it’s the pinnacle of rock music to date.
#2 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
While The White Album is sprawling landscape, Sgt Pepper’s is more like a trip to the carnival. It’s a far more cohesive album. But that’s not to say it’s without it’s unexpected turns, in fact every song on this album is quite different than the one that came before it. The difference is that on Sgt. Pepper’s the songs all somehow feel connected despite being so different from each other.
While the album has more than it’s share of great songs, it’s really the overall feeling of the album that keeps me going back to it. I know it’s become hip to hate on this album and to say it’s overrated but I really feel that the people who say that aren’t truly listening. This is a special album. Every song fits into the whole and more than any other Beatles album in my view, it has no weak tracks. Even Revolver (which I think is their second most consistant album) has “Yellow Submarine” which while a fun singalong does grate my nerves with it’s placement right in the middle of the album.
As far as being “overrated,” in my view any album that ends with the greatest song of all time cannot possibly be overrated. And “A Day In The Life” is exactly that, the greatest song of all time.
#3 Revolver
Revolver is a lot like Sgt. Pepper as far as song quality and the variety of styles without the same feeling of album cohesiveness. It sounds more like a collection of excellent songs. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with a collection of great songs. Some of Paul McCartney’s most unforgetable songs are on this album including “Eleanor Rigby,” “Here, There, & Everywhere,” & “For No One.” It ends with the mind bending “Tomorrow Never Knows” which even 42 years later, still sounds like the future.
My one gripe with Revolver is that at this point I am a bit sick of “Yellow Submarine.” Don’t get me wrong, I like the song for what it is. But it doesn’t work very well as an album track, it grows tiresome with repeated listening. I feel the same way about Ringo’s rewrite on Abbey Road, “Octopus’s Garden.”
#4 Abbey Road
Abbey Road’s second side may be The Beatles greatest achievement. It’s an incredibly smooth but exciting ride. What I like about the suite is that it’s not overdone. It’s not heavy handed. It’s all connected but they don’t beat you over the head with that fact. It done in a more subtle manner and I really think that makes it more enjoyable.
But there’s more to the album than the celebrated second side. The first half has some of The Beatles greatest songs such as “Oh Darling,” “Something,” “Come Together,” & “I Want You (She’s So Heavy.)”
#5 Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour was originally released as an EP in the UK but is now officially an album release in the Beatles discography. It was released as an LP in America using some previously released singles (the great “Strawberry Fields Forever” & “Penny Lane” most importantly) to pad the British EP into a full length album.
Because of this background many people don’t consider it when ranking the albums, and I do think that history does somehow take away from the album somewhat. Psychologically it makes it feel more tacked together.
But when forgetting all of that, it’s really an incredible trippy journey. It’s The Beatles at their most purposefully psychedelic. To many they probably took it too far with some of the songs on this album (“Flying” & “Blue Jay Way” for example) but I love the “studio as an instrument” ideal. These songs still hold up today as great pieces of psychedelic music.
#6 Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul has a rather ridiculous amount of stunning songs on it. “Girl,” “In My Life,” “Nowhere Man,” “Michelle,” “I’m Looking Through You,” & “Norwegian Wood” are just some of the great tunes on this album. But that being said, it doesn’t rank quite as high as the albums above
for me because of a few clunkers (by Beatles standards anyway) that bring down the album. In particular I’m talking about “What Goes On,” “Wait,” & “Run for Your Life.”
#7 Let It Be
Let It Be is often looked upon as a failure or as one of The Bealtes worst albums. You know you are doing pretty good when an album that has songs like “Two Of Us,” “Across The Universe,” “Let It Be,” “I’ve Got A Feeling,” & “Get Back” is considered a disappointment.
But it wasn’t so much the songs that disappointed people about Let It Be, it was the haphazard sounding production that turned people off. Personally, I now think that’s very endearing.
But with “Dig A Pony” not being among The Beatles greatest and “One After 909″ actually being one of The Beatles most annoying recordings in my opinion along with George Harrison’s somewhat subpar offerings this time around (“I Me Mine” & “For You Blue”) the album does indeed not stack up as high as the albums I’ve ranked above it.
About the Author
Marvin J Markus is a longtime Beatles fanatic who loves to write about The Beatles and other great music at Music By Day.
Markus recommends that you Learn To Play Guitar like The Beatles instead of like Dave Matthews.
Markus recommends music download websites that don’t cost a fortune to join.
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Tea Sub – Yellow Submarine Tea Infuser $9.96 Tea Sub – Submarine Tea InfuserThis Tea Sub Infuser makes the ideal gift for anyone who loves using loose tea! In a town, where I was born, there lived a man who sailed the tea, and he told me of his life, in a cup of Darjeeling…! This Yellow Submarine should be filled with loose tea or herbs, not Beatles (or beetles for that matter). Simply fill your cup or teapot with boiling water and immerse… |
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Vandor 64285 The Beatles 13-Piece Album Cover Coaster Set with Tin Storage Box, Multicolored $13.95 Beatlemania lives on with this unique coaster set. This 13 piece set includes coasters featuring each of the Beatles 13 albums. The perfect tribute to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr…. |
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Vandor 64186 The Beatles Yellow Submarine Large Recycled Shopper Tote, Yellow $2.50 (14×15) The Beatles Yellow Submarine Large Recycled Shopper Tote… |
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Yellow Submarine [Blu-ray] $22.19 The Beatles’ classic 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, has been digitally restored for DVD and Blu-ray release. The film’s songtrack album CD is also being re-issued.Currently out of print, the film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Due to the delicate nature of the… |
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Yellow Submarine $14.99 The Beatles’ classic 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, has been digitally restored for DVD and Blu-ray release. The film’s songtrack album CD is also being re-issued.Currently out of print, the film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Due to the delicate nature of the… |
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Revolver $10.33 BEATLES THE REVOLVER (EDICION LIMITADA)… |
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Yellow Submarine [VHS] $19.98 This restored, animated valentine to the Beatles offers viewers the rare chance to see a work that’s been substantially improved by its technical facelift, not just supersized with extra footage. Recognizing that its song-studded soundtrack alone makes Yellow Submarine a video annuity, United Artists has lavished a frame-by-frame refurbishment of the original feature, while replacing its original … |
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Yellow Submarine [VHS] $19.98 This restored, animated valentine to the Beatles offers viewers the rare chance to see a work that’s been substantially improved by its technical facelift, not just supersized with extra footage. Recognizing that its song-studded soundtrack alone makes Yellow Submarine a video annuity, United Artists has lavished a frame-by-frame refurbishment of the original feature, while replacing its original … |
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Yellow Submarine [VHS] $10.69 This restored, animated valentine to the Beatles offers viewers the rare chance to see a work that’s been substantially improved by its technical facelift, not just supersized with extra footage. Recognizing that its song-studded soundtrack alone makes Yellow Submarine a video annuity, United Artists has lavished a frame-by-frame refurbishment of the original feature, while replacing its original … |
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The Beatles Yellow Submarine Party Light Set $29.99 Capture the essence of The Beatles’ psychedelic cartoon! String of 10 plastic subs with double-ended plugs for connecting up to 3 sets. For use indoors or outdoors in a covered area…. |
