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Ranking The Beatles' official studio albums
15 April 2017
6.26am
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The Hole Got Fixed
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BackInTheUSSR said

gettingbetter said:

If anything, I say swap out Revolution 9 and Good Night for Revolution and Hey Jude.

But how about Revolution 1 ?

Anyway I kind of agree on the 12-Bar Original being 3 years old and not being able to be put on the album, but still (my opinion, please don’t criticize me) I personally dislike Revolution 9 , so I thought it should be replaced.

Why would we ever criticise your opinion? You’re entitled to your own opinion! Besides, I completely agree with your opinion!

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15 April 2017
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BackInTheUSSR said
But how about Revolution 1 ?

We can have both on the album, maybe we can call Revolution 1 Revolution and call Revolution Revolution (Reprise). Also, I prefer the single version to the album version, Revolution just seems like one of those songs that’s meant to be loud, heavy, aggressive, and use electric guitars.

BackInTheUSSR said
Anyway I kind of agree on the 12-Bar Original being 3 years old and not being able to be put on the album, but still (my opinion, please don’t criticize me) I personally dislike Revolution 9 , so I thought it should be replaced.

It’s definitely not their best effort and I think it would’ve fit better on Two Virgins than The Beatles, although I still do like it somewhat.

BackInTheUSSR said
You were right about Hey Jude being on the album instead of Good Night , as they *kind of* say the say message and to the same receiver (Julian Lennon) and it kinda scares me; a lullaby being played after an avant-garde piece.

Finally, someone who agrees with me about Good Night being somewhat creepy. I think it would’ve been great if they kept the album as is but took out Revolution 9 and Good Night and replaced them with Revolution and Hey Jude , it would give it a happy ending instead of a sad ending.

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16 April 2017
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Hypothetically, if the 12 bar original was made a couple years later then I would love to see it on the LP. And I agree Hey Jude and Revolution should have been included too.

I’m a bit confused why you guys chose Rev 9 and Good Night to kick out though. The album, in my opinion, works because of how messy and uneven it is and the transfer from avant-garde to lullaby is a perfect example of that.

I think there are a couple of weak spots in the album that could be filled perfectly by those three songs.

Swap Piggies for the 12 Bar Original maybe, and put Hey Jude at the end of side 1, and Revolution somewhere into side 2.

Oh, and put the acoustic anthology Gently Weeps in somewhere. If Revolution gets it’s three interpretations, then surely the album’s best song gets both as well right?

I would also shunt a couple side 1/disc 1 songs onto side 2, because while I appreciate that it contributes to the messiness of the album (and Rev 9 makes up for 3 songs of disc time), I feel a 16-14 ratio would make it flow much better.

Plus, I just listened to Good Night , what’s not to like? It’s beautiful.

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he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

16 April 2017
5.09am
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I’ve been looking for an excuse to use a poll, so here goes

[sp_show_poll id=”170″]

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16 April 2017
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My vote would go to Not Guilty

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18 April 2017
1.35pm
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agreed, the demo versions of not guilty are both excellent.

Side note, has anybody heard the full White Album demos, as recorded at george’s house in early ’68? Some of them are really great particularly Dear Prudence . The set has a great rawness and jam vibe to it, and you get a real sense of how they’re sketching out their ideas. They sing the guitar solos on tracks like Back In The U.S.S.R

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I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

7 May 2017
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Ranked from bloody good album to universal masterpiece:

 

13. Beatles For Sale

I really like some tracks of it but, all in all, it’s too bad there are covers on it again. However, the Beatles had such a stressful time in 63/64 it’s a miracle they managed to produce such a good album under that much pressure anyway!

12. With The Beatles

I love how this album is just plain good rock’n’roll at times!

11.Please Please Me

What a debut album! Grooving, rocking, whirling around – the perfect start of an exciting journey!

10. Yellow Submarine  

I kind of like Yellow Submarine a lot. It is funny and uplifting. Though it’s not the Beatles, I don’t mind the second side at times either.

9. Help !

Highly underrated album. It contains fantastic and deeply touching songs.

8. Magical Mystery Tour

It really hurts to put this one only here because I love every single song on it. However, I just can’t compare it with the albums because it somehow feels more like a compilation than like an album. Sorry, MMT!

7. A Hard Day’s Night

Only original Beatles songs! And also great ones! Every song on AHDN has the power to be an earworm; they work so amazingly well together to form a certain atmosphere.

6. Let It Be

Oh, how I love this album! Despite the numerous struggles in the Let It Be sessions, it sounds just …  comfortable to me. You listen to the album and simply feel happy because the music warms you from within. Really ironical that this album out of all creates such a feeling of harmony for me.

5. Rubber Soul

What I really, really love about the album are the many harmonies. It had already started with If I Fell but on Rubber Soul the harmony singing reached a new peak. Nowhere Man , The Word , If I Needed Someone … really a major leap.

4. Abbey Road

In the past few weeks, I learned to love that album. The one defining moment is the trumpet part right at the beginning of You Never Give Me Your Money . It is full of passion and confidence and at the same time melancholy about the farewell. If the Beatles career were Sgt. Pepper ‘s, Abbey Road would be the crashing piano chord.

3. Sgt Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band

No words needed. The music really vibrates with creativity and vitality.

2. The Beatles

The White Album is like a casket full of gems in every different colour so that you never ever get tired of looking at it. Additionally, there is not one single song I don’t like at all, though I’m not too fond of Obladi Oblada, but many of my all-time favourites (WMGGWheart). Endless variety combined with extremely high quality – what else could you ask for?

1. Revolver

What a masterpiece! It combines the stylistic variety and experimental aspects of the White Album with cohesiveness. When I first listened to it my head exploded because I was so overwhelmed. Nowadays, it is still mind-blowing every little time I listened to it. I always feel as if I am in a snow globe and when George spookily counts in Taxman the first cracks already begin to show on the glass dome. With every boundary the Beatles break with songs as I Am Only Sleeping, She Said She Said or I Want To Tell You another splinter appears and finally the dome explodes to the sound of Tomorrow Never Knows and you are in some kind of enlightened trance. Like when you see colours for the first time. That’s also the reason I don’t actually listen to Revolver that much. My brain couldn’t bear it anymore after a while.

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7 May 2017
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Martha said

1. Revolver

What a masterpiece! It combines the stylistic variety and experimental aspects of the White Album with cohesiveness. When I first listened to it my head exploded because I was so overwhelmed.

Wait , but if your head exploded, how are you here now? a-hard-days-night-paul-10

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8 May 2017
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That picture is just too funny @WeepingAtlasCedars! I literally laughed for two minutes. paul-mccartney-thumb_gifa-hard-days-night-john-6

However, luckily I’ve got more than one head; you can ask Paul:

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8 May 2017
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My list is going to be a lot different…
(1 being the greatest.)

1. The White Album . (Love it, have always loved it.)

2. Beatles For Sale . (This used to be #1 until a few weeks ago.)

3 A Hard Day’s Night . (Lotta great songs, and it has my favourite of all time (I’ll Be Back .))

4. With The Beatles . (Good rocking rolling record.)

5. Help . (Much in the same vein as AHDN , just more crap songs.)

6. Abbey Road . (The medley is genius, the rest of the songs are meh.)

7. Magical Mystery Tour . (Was once my #1, but that was before I heard their earlier stuff.)

8. Rubber Soul . (Would’ve been more genius if it was combined into a double album with Revolver .)

9. Please Please Me . (Good songs, just too many sappy ones.)

10. Sgt Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band. (If I had the record in stereo, it would be lower.)

11. Yellow Submarine . (Groovy songs, (also has one of my top tens) but the cheesy second side kills the momentum.)

12. Revolver . (I don’t like Revolver , I’d rather die than listen to this every day.)

13. Let It Be . (Awful, just awful. The songs, even though they were trying to ‘get back to the roots’ weren’t working, and still aren’t working for me.)

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16 May 2017
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Evangeline said
My list is going to be a lot different…
(1 being the greatest.)

1. The White Album . (Love it, have always loved it.)

2. Beatles For Sale . (This used to be #1 until a few weeks ago.)

3 A Hard Day’s Night . (Lotta great songs, and it has my favourite of all time (I’ll Be Back .))

4. With The Beatles . (Good rocking rolling record.)

5. Help . (Much in the same vein as AHDN , just more crap songs.)

6. Abbey Road . (The medley is genius, the rest of the songs are meh.)

7. Magical Mystery Tour . (Was once my #1, but that was before I heard their earlier stuff.)

8. Rubber Soul . (Would’ve been more genius if it was combined into a double album with Revolver .)

9. Please Please Me . (Good songs, just too many sappy ones.)

10. Sgt Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band. (If I had the record in stereo, it would be lower.)

11. Yellow Submarine . (Groovy songs, (also has one of my top tens) but the cheesy second side kills the momentum.)

12. Revolver . (I don’t like Revolver , I’d rather die than listen to this every day.)

13. Let It Be . (Awful, just awful. The songs, even though they were trying to ‘get back to the roots’ weren’t working, and still aren’t working for me.)  

Wow! This may be the most diverse and different Beatles album ranking I have ever seen. Totally agree with you on With The Beatles .

23 July 2017
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25 July 2017
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A very reasonable ranking, @Dark Overlord . I hadn’t realised you were such a White Album lover. 

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

25 July 2017
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QuarryMan
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Re-doing my ranking, since my opinion has changed a lot.

note that I don’t count Yellow Submarine or Magical Mystery Tour as albums. 

11. With The Beatles – their only album I don’t really like. Has some nice songs like All My Loving but is generally boring and scrappy.

10. Beatles For Sale – The worst album title of all time. It’s slightly better than WTB, but not much. 

9. Help ! – Has some brilliant songs like You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away , Ticket To Ride and Yesterday . Some tracks like Dizzy Miss Lizzy are awful though. 

8. Please Please Me – Lovely, energetic bubblegum pop. Special points for Do You Want To Know A Secret and Anna (Go To Him). 

7. A Hard Day’s Night – Their first all original album and a true landmark. So much energy and excitement – you can really feel their potential bubbling to the surface on the title track, Any Time At All and And I Love Her

6. Let It Be – Vastly underrated. It’s uneven and messy but song-for-song, it’s a masterpiece. Only The Beatles could make a ‘disappointing’ album with 3 number one hits, and album tracks like Across The Universe , I Me Mine and Two Of Us .

5. Rubber Soul – What a lovely, relaxing album. Basically The Beatles’ Pet Sounds. In My Life is my favourite ever, and other tracks are similarly great. Shame that a couple are beyond terrible (What Goes On I’m looking at you). 

4. Revolver – As I’ve said before, it’s just like a mini White Album . There are masterpieces on here, but it doesn’t get any higher because it just feels like a showcase for what they were going to do next rather than an actual project. 

These 3 are interchangeable. 

3. Abbey Road – Some days I think this is their best, with fantastic album tracks like Here Comes The Sun and I Want You (She’s So Heavy), one of their best singles and the incredible medley. Near perfect. 

2. The White Album – It’s flawed, it contains bad songs, and it came at a bad time for the band. But these things are what make it so amazing. This album defines what an album could be. It’s a fascinating record and a true experience.

1. Sgt Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club  Band – Song-for-song, it’s not nearly as good as other entries, but it’s still amazing. What gives it the top spot is that it feels like an arrival. It’s the band putting all their talents, experience and expertise into one ambitious and unprecedented project and succeeding on virtually every level. 

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

25 July 2017
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Great list, i see i’m not the only one who doesn’t count Yellow Submarine and Capitol Mystery Tour. Also, it’s true that i’m a big fan of The Beatles AKA White Album . As you may know, i am one of those people who believe that The Beatles got better as they progressed throughout their career until 1968 where they peaked with this great double album. Sure there are tracks Wild Honey Pie and Good Night that are among the worst Beatles songs but there’s far more great tracks than bad. Also, i love it when Paul plays guitar and out of the 30 tracks Paul plays guitar on at least 11 tracks, possibly more:

Back In The USSR

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Wild Honey Pie

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (unsure)

Martha My Dear (unsure)

Blackbird

Rocky Raccoon

Why Don’t We Do It In The Road

I Will

Birthday

Mother Nature’s Son

Helter Skelter

Cry Baby Cry

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25 July 2017
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You know a lot about this, so correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t there only two guitars on WMGGW – Eric and George? That is, only two people playing, but overdubbing multiple sections. 

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

25 July 2017
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I know you weren’t asking me, @QuarryMan, but no.

If you’re asking about lead guitar, that was all Eric. If you’re asking about guitars overall, George plays an acoustic, John rhythm, Paul fuzz bass, and Eric lead.

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25 July 2017
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What do you know, while i was answering Quarryman’s question, Ron Nasty beat me to it.

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26 July 2017
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So Paul didn’t play guitar then? 

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

26 July 2017
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Ron Nasty
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He played a fuzz bass guitar.

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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

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