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Beatles solo albums - the best ones and your favorites
21 June 2013
6.55pm
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Linde
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I feel exactly the same. 

Just realised there are actually quite a few George songs I don’t like…possibly more that I don’t like than that I like.

21 June 2013
7.31pm
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DrBeatle
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Linde said
I feel exactly the same. 

Just realised there are actually quite a few George songs I don’t like…possibly more that I don’t like than that I like.

Same here, at least during the solo years.

 

"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"

 

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21 June 2013
7.42pm
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Ron Nasty
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George’s solo career, after its magnificent start with All Things Must Pass , rapidly passed into mediocrity. Sadly, the majority of George’s best songs were written while he was a Beatle, or in the immediate aftermath. There is a reason ATMP is such a strong album, it’s because George had a backlog of songs that John and Paul didn’t give serious enough consideration to for Beatles albums.

In that way George maybe lost the most with the group’s split, however happy he was to see it. In some ways it seems George was at his best when he was striving to impress brothers John and Paul. When left to his own devices, too often he really wasn’t that interested. As he often said himself, he’d lost interest in being famous, and successful albums involved drawing attention to himself. Maybe that is why the albums he wanted to make, like Cloud 9 and the first Wilburys, worked so much better than the ones where he felt like he was on the treadmill.

George, like John in his last years, was happy Watching The Wheels go ’round and ’round, while pottering around the garden in Henley.

"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty

To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

21 June 2013
8.10pm
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meanmistermustard
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George suffered the same problem as John, releasing music for the sake of releasing music as thats what he felt he was meant to do. And it produced the same results, half decent albums that sound like they were filled for the sake of it, making up the numbers. I rarely play a George album thru aside from All Things Must Past and Clud Nine, the rest are selections or whatever comes up on random. The same can be said for John tho Plastic Ono Band is the only one i ever play thru there, i suppose DF and Milk And Honey  could be included if it wasnt for the Yoko stuff.

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

22 June 2013
7.44pm
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DrBeatle
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mja6758 said
George’s solo career, after its magnificent start with All Things Must Pass , rapidly passed into mediocrity. Sadly, the majority of George’s best songs were written while he was a Beatle, or in the immediate aftermath. There is a reason ATMP is such a strong album, it’s because George had a backlog of songs that John and Paul didn’t give serious enough consideration to for Beatles albums.

In that way George maybe lost the most with the group’s split, however happy he was to see it. In some ways it seems George was at his best when he was striving to impress brothers John and Paul. When left to his own devices, too often he really wasn’t that interested. As he often said himself, he’d lost interest in being famous, and successful albums involved drawing attention to himself. Maybe that is why the albums he wanted to make, like Cloud 9 and the first Wilburys, worked so much better than the ones where he felt like he was on the treadmill.

George, like John in his last years, was happy Watching The Wheels go ’round and ’round, while pottering around the garden in Henley.

Perfect analysis of it. With John, the only ones I listen to all the way through on a regular basis are Plastic Ono Band and Walls And Bridges . With George, it’s only ATMP   and most of LITMW.

 

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22 June 2013
9.31pm
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Funny Paper
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Nobody ever mentions Lennon’s Mind Games

To me, it has immensely enjoyable songs:

Mind Games

Tight A$

Intuition

Out the Blue

You Are Here

Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...

23 June 2013
11.00pm
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WhereArtEsteban
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Agreee!! I love Bringing On The Lucie, I Know (I Know) a-hard-days-night-ringo-6, and You Are Here as well!

I understand the “meh” reactions to Dark Horse but I think it helps to hear it on vinyl and have the LP art and everything. Since I did I’ve come to like it a lot! I just feel like with all of the rough shit going on with Harrison and his life that it’s actually somewhat of a triumph.

"P. P. P. P. S- L. P. Winner."

24 June 2013
12.47pm
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DrBeatle
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Funny Paper said
Nobody ever mentions Lennon’s Mind Games

To me, it has immensely enjoyable songs:

Mind Games

Tight A$

Intuition

Out the Blue

You Are Here

There are some decent songs on there…Mind Games , I Know (I Know), Tight A$, Intuition…but I still find it to be one of his weaker efforts. Above Sometime in NYC and Double Fantasy /Milk And Honey , but below everything else.

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24 June 2013
8.16pm
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Zig
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There’s not a whole lotta love upthread for George’s solo output. Must be a matter of personal taste. I love all of it. As is the case with any artist, there are some songs that I favor more than others, but I can’t think of one album of his that I cannot listen to all the way through.

One of the most avid George fans on this sight, Inner Light, had mentioned once that even he did not care for Dark Horse or Extra Texture as much as the others, so I can definitley understand it.

To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.

4 August 2013
7.01am
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WhereArtEsteban
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Was giving Wonderwall Music a listen for the first time in a long while the other day and…. heart 

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4 August 2013
12.25pm
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robert
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If we’re talking the one best post-Beatle solo album – listening to it from beginning to end with no “well except this . . .” then it’s RAM.

Plastic Ono Band comes very close but it can get tiresome.

All Things Must Pass loses because of the Apple Jam 3rd LP (like I said you have to include everything).

RAM is the album that once the last track has played I could start the album over and listen again.

Yup RAM

 

"She looks more like him than I do."

7 August 2013
2.07pm
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WETSRoosa
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The first solo album from any Beatle I ever got was George’s 33 1/3 (got it on cassette at a flea market for $1!) so I’m partial to that, though All Things Must Pass & George Harrison are excellent as well. I love Ram , but when it comes to Paul, I tend to reach for McCartney II more often than not (“Waterfalls” never gets old for me). For John, it begins and ends with Imagine . As for Ringo, I can listen to Beaucoups of Blues or Time Takes Time all day long.

All in a matter of preference, I guess.

"There's no such thing as bad student... only bad teacher."

7 August 2013
5.19pm
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acmac
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I’m more the mixed-playlist type when it comes to solo Beatles. The only albums I ever listen to straight through (more or less) are RAM, Electric Arguments, McCartney II , Plastic Ono Band, and All Things Must Pass (the first three sides, anyway).

Some tracks to kick off your hunt for mixed playlist fodder, should you so desire:

John: “Nobody Loves You when You’re Down and Out,” “(Just Like) Starting Over”

Paul (soooo many songs): “Growing Up Falling Down,” “After the Ball/Million Miles,” “Mr Bellamy,” “Calico Skies,” “Lovers that Never Were,” “Summer of ’59,” “Junk,” “I’m Carrying,” “Tomorrow,” “Shake a Hand” (cover), “Summertime” (cover), “More I Cannot Wish You” (cover) … I could go on and on, but I’ll stop.

George: “Be Here Now,” “Blow Away,” “Any Road,” “Dark Horse ,” “Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (cover)

Ringo: “I’m the Greatest” :D  

7 August 2013
5.54pm
MKR
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As far as quality goes the following albums are up there amongst the ranks of beatles releases:

All Things Must Pass , Plastic ono band, Imagine , Ram , Band On The Run .  Ringo falls just short, but it’s still really good and definitely on the list of best beatle solo records.

the one thing i’ll say is that i’m pretty surprised that nothing George released after ATMP comes close to it.  That one is really a masterpiece and it could never be equaled – not even close. 

And i’ll also give Mind Games a shout out.  It’s a really solid album.  Lots of very good songs on there and one of my favorite Lennon releases. 

I don’t know what the general concensus on here is about Menlove Ave , but i think it’s really really good too.  Often i hear mixed things about it, but it’s one of my favorite John Lennon ‘albums’.  The Walls And Bridges songs sound much better in their menolve ave versions.

7 August 2013
10.51pm
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meanmistermustard
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Cloud Nine deserves a mention as a fantastic solo beatles album brilliantly bookending George’s pre-death catalogue before the posthumous Brainwashed which was reworked and completed by Jeff Lynne and Dhanni Harrison.

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

7 August 2013
10.51pm
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Linde
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There’s not a single solo album I could listen to all way through not to mention on repeat. 

9 August 2013
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Maxwell Edison MD
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John: Imagine

Paul: Band On The Run

George: All Things Must Pass or Brainwashed

Ringo: (Unknown Because I Haven’t Listened To A Ringo Album In Full)

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”  John Lennon “Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It’s not the time that matters, it’s the person.” The Tenth Doctor, The Lazarus Experiment.

13 August 2013
1.23am
RingoStarr39
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Two albums I can’t believe haven’t been mentioned are Wings At The Speed Of Sound by Paul and Gone Troppo from George.

Both are underrated but have some really good songs in my opinion:

WATSOS: The Note You Never Wrote, She’s My Baby, Beware My LoveWino Junko and obviously Let ‘Em In and Silly Love Songs

Gone Troppo : Wake Up My Love, I Really Love You, Greece, Gone Troppo Mystical One

13 August 2013
1.48am
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Von Bontee
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Gone Troppo has a bit of a bad reputation, doesn’t it? I’ve heard it’s got tracks that have been described as “goofy”.

OTOH, that’s what people said about McCartney II , and I’ve always liked that one a bit more than the majority of Beatles fans, it seems. Maybe I’ll give it a try someday. I like goofiness better than boringness!

Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.

         

13 August 2013
1.59am
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WETSRoosa
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Von Bontee said
Gone Troppo has a bit of a bad reputation, doesn’t it? I’ve heard it’s got tracks that have been described as “goofy”.

OTOH, that’s what people said about McCartney II , and I’ve always liked that one a bit more than the majority of Beatles fans, it seems. Maybe I’ll give it a try someday. I like goofiness better than boringness!

McCartney II is not for everyone, but I love it. It’s got one of his 5 best solo songs (“Waterfalls”) and this cool electronic vibe that sounds fresh still even today- it’s like Paul knew this was where music was going and he foreshadowed it. If “Front Parlour” was to be released now, it’d probably be a hit.

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