Best Opener To a Beatles Album? | Page 3 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Now I’m realizing how they where not really as good at openers lol

13) Yellow Submarine (Yellow Submarine ) – I know it’s not that great compared to the rest of the tracks in Revolver , but in an album as unimpressive as Yellow Submarine , it may even be called a highlight. it’s one of the better silly songs by them, one of the most charming Ringo performances, and John’s comedy is well defined on the ad libs he executes throughout the whole narrative. I think it is experimental as any other track on Revolver , it’s just not a banger, it has some value however. that being said… the fact it’s a repeated track and that it’s an opener totally floods any charm the song had inside the context of Revolver . 5/10

12) A Hard Day’s Night (A Hard Day’s Night ) – I like the first chord, but the rest of the song is too much of a early Beatles cliché. and the melodies aren’t good enough to hold it in my list of good openers. taking into account the amount of popularity this track alone has, it’s kind of underwhelming. 5/10

11) No Reply (Beatles For Sale ) – I like how it has a progression and it reaches a pseudo-climatic field. but, it is not one of the best tracks on the album, and this is not much of a ground-breaking album either, so No Reply stands as a bit of a dull point on Beatles For Sale . 6/10

10) Drive My Car (Rubber Soul ) – it is better than some of the early openers, but it doesn’t make justice to the inventive side of Rubber Soul . with such tracks as Nowhere Man , Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) and In My Life packed inside this LP, Drive My Car seems just like an attempt from the Beatles to fool the listener into thinking this will be just another early Beatles album. 6/10

9) Help ! (Help !) – there’s a dilemma I have with Help ! because it’s not a bad song at all, it’s quite decent. but I once heard Lennon say the song was an actual cry for help in disguise, even to him. and that he saw it as a wasted opportunity to make a nice guitar or piano ballad. the incapability of John to realize he could do that speaks for the problems with the album itself. Help ! seems, as an LP, as the Beatles struggling to realize what they were capable to do, and that they would go on to discover with Bob Dylan (Rubber Soul ), drugs (Revolver ) and the Hippie Movement (Sgt. Pepper ). Help ! as a wasted opportunity just seems to be a crystal clear reflection of that impotence. 6/10

8) Magical Mystery Tour (Magical Mystery Tour ) – a little too weird. the progression of the song is fairly interesting and the editing it nuts. so it’s not like they don’t give stuff to look at. it is kind of exciting, because you know there are definitely better songs coming up. one of the reasons I love Magical Mystery Tour as an album is how it holds the best material for the latter part, here exemplified in the opener. 6/10

7) It Won’t Be Long (With the Beatles) – still not a favourite of mine. regardless it is better than the ones mentioned above. it is a She Loves You re-do, not as good as its original, and with not that many unique qualities. still, in the context of With the Beatles itself, it has some of the best melodies on the album, and their energy and crafting is decent. 6/10

6) I Saw Her Standing There (Please Please Me ) – this one’s kind of a significant spot, because even though the song might not be one of the best songs by the Beatles, it expresses nicely the kick of their career being the first song on any album by them. it has energy pace, rhythm. but it is not a career highlight either. 7/10

5) Two of Us (Let It Be ) – even if it is an excellent folk song with Paul’s handwriting spilled all over it. it just doesn’t feel like an opener, and given the excellent material on the Get Back sessions, the album could’ve had an excellent opener like Get Back , Dig It , Don’t Let Me Down or maybe even I’ve Got A Feeling . 7/10

4) Come Together (Abbey Road ) – hard-hitting. I find some of the production aspects to be a bit dry, and the chorus to be kind of a no brainer. but the way it kicks off the album is absolutely fitting, that bass-drum combination is sweet as sugar and hard as rock. the musical tension is unbelievable. to the musical wonder that is Abbey Road , it’s a great little show-off. 7/10

3) Back in the U.S.S.R. (The Beatles) – definitely one of their best opener. it’s witty, it’s silly, it’ clean, it’s fun. and it holds great melodies and harmony. the points on the song that hit hard are fantastic, and even in the indifferent moments, it still sounds great. I can’t help to compare it to such a follow up as Dear Prudence , which just kills this track in quality. but the comparison and the union via sound-wall that this two songs hold is just a taste of the variety that the White Album is so critically acclaimed for. in my opinion an opener should show you enough to get excited but not enough to spoil the album. in that case Back in the U.S.S.R. is perfect. 8/10

2) Taxman (Revolver ) – exciting, upbeat, challenging are some of the words that come to mind when thinking about Revolver ‘s opening track. it is stellar, it is fast-paced, and it really is a change of pace from Help ! and Rubber Soul . I have many tracks on Revolver that I prefer over it, but it is an excellent showcase of what the listener is about to go through. 9/10

1) Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band) – yes, definitely. the energy of this two minute rock tune is unprecedented in the band’s catalogue. how the guitars clash into each other, and then the chorus strikes this amazing vocal melodies to the trumpets that follow that create a sort of circus environment to the shout-out to “Billy Shears” that moves the song to With A Little Help From My Friends , this track is short and simple, but just as good as any other track on Sgt. Pepper , and probably one of the best tracks on the album. 9/10