2.45pm
26 January 2017
Which disc of the 1968 double-LP do you prefer?
Disc 1 is tracks 1-17, Back In The U.S.S.R-Julia . It notably contains While My Guitar Gently Weeps , Happiness Is A Warm Gun , I’m So Tired , Dear Prudence , Blackbird and Martha My Dear .
Disc 2 is tracks 18-30, Birthday to Good Night . It notably contains Helter Skelter , Yer Blues , Mother Nature’s Son , Sexy Sadie and Revolutions 1-9.
I personally think Disc 1 is superior as it contains more good songs which tend to be more memorable. However it obviously has the advantage as it has more songs.
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5.06pm
26 January 2017
I personally prefer half one because of the sequence starting with While My Guitar Gently Weeps through Blackbird . All are some of the best songs on the album.
Back In the U.S.S.R and Julia are a great opener and closer as well.
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5.27pm
14 February 2016
Sides 3 and 4. Back when that half of The White Album was all I had, I listened to that record twice every single day for 3 months.
It’s imprinted in my head forever.
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5.40pm
17 January 2016
5.46pm
14 June 2016
If I actually had to choose, I might choose sides 1 & 2. It’s a close call, but the opening to side 1 is one of my favorite Beatles album openers.
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6.05pm
Moderators
27 November 2016
I guess the first half. First 4 songs are excellent!
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6.21pm
10 March 2017
This is a hard question, both discs have great tracks on them as well as throwaways, I think I’ll make a list to check this out:
Side A:
Back In The U.S.S.R. (good)
Dear Prudence (great)
Glass Onion (good)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (good)
Wild Honey Pie (throwaway)
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill (good)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (great)
Happiness Is A Warm Gun (great)
Side B:
Martha My Dear (ok)
I’m So Tired (good)
Blackbird (good)
Piggies (throwaway)
Rocky Raccoon (ok)
Don’t Pass Me By (ok)
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? (good)
I Will (ok)
Julia (throwaway)
Side C:
Birthday (good)
Yer Blues (great)
Mother Nature’s Son (ok)
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey (great)
Sexy Sadie (good)
Helter Skelter (great)
Long, Long, Long (ok)
Side D:
Revolution 1 (good)
Honey Pie (ok)
Savoy Truffle (good)
Cry Baby Cry (good)
Revolution 9 (ok)
Good Night (throwaway)
As you can see on the list, side A is pretty good (with the exception of Wild Honey Pie ), side B kind of sucks, with I’m So Tired being it’s best track, side C is ok, and side D starts of pretty good but those last 2 tracks aren’t so, especially Good Night , in my opinion the worst song The Beatles ever released, ironic considering I think this is their best album, although Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road are pretty close up there. I’m going to mess around with the rules to give my answer. You see, some albums such as Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland and The Beatles Rock And Roll Music had side 1 and 4 on disc 1 and side 2 and 3 on disc 2 so people could use it with a record changer, so I am going to treat The Beatles like this, so this is what a record changer version of The Beatles looks like:
Side A/1:
Back In The U.S.S.R.
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Side C/2:
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Side D/3:
Side B/4:
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?
In this situation I would prefer the first half because sides 1 and 2 AKA A and C are better than sides 3 and 4 AKA D and B.
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7.36pm
26 January 2017
Side 2 features my favorite song Sexy Sadie , but Side one is a more impressive side in my eyes. Despite being less musically diverse than side 2, it has a perfect amount of depth and humor.
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8.14pm
8 January 2015
This is such a hard question. It’s been many years since I listened to the album in vinyl format, and I’m a little shocked I can still remember the sides. Double albums are such odd balancing acts. I think the jury’s still out on the White Album in that sense, but I honestly can’t do without either half or sides.
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8.15pm
10 March 2017
The Beatles starts off great, side 1 is really a sight to hear, it’s a shame that Ringo skipped out on the first two tracks, although some sources say that he played a minor role on Dear Prudence .
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4.30am
22 September 2014
Evangeline said
Sides 3 and 4. Back when that half of The White Album was all I had, I listened to that record twice every single day for 3 months.
It’s imprinted in my head forever.
I guess this is when you know you are a die hard Beatle fan.
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10.49am
27 February 2017
For me, it’s the opposite to sir walter raleigh, the first half features my favourite While My Guitar Gently Weeps but the second half I like more as a whole.
I just love how many different styles are intertwined. Every song completely contrasts the following and the preceding song. When you listen to the whole side it’s like an adventure with many unexpected turns.
Additionally, Birthday is one of my favourite openers to a side of a Beatles album in general because I love how crazy and full of energy it is. Good Night is also a nice closing song IMO, though I probably am nearly alone with this opinion, because it is funny on the one hand and on the other hand it also spreads a message of peace.
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4.53pm
11 April 2016
Martha said
For me, it’s the opposite to sir walter raleigh, the first half features my favourite While My Guitar Gently Weeps but the second half I like more as a whole.I just love how many different styles are intertwined. Every song completely contrasts the following and the preceding song. When you listen to the whole side it’s like an adventure with many unexpected turns.
Additionally, Birthday is one of my favourite openers to a side of a Beatles album in general because I love how crazy and full of energy it is. Good Night is also a nice closing song IMO, though I probably am nearly alone with this opinion, because it is funny on the one hand and on the other hand it also spreads a message of peace.
You’re not alone on that one, Martha! I think Good Night is an excellent closer; it’s nice to have a calm, quiet ending to a rather adventurous album.
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3.01am
24 March 2014
4.22am
26 January 2017
Wow, I’m honestly surprised Good Night gets so much hate. I don’t particularly love it, but to me it’s certainly not the worst thing the ever released. @Dark Overlord have you listened to What Goes On recently? That’s pretty awful in my book. Since I don’t hate anything on this album, I’ll just list the 7 best songs from each side and the 3 worst ones.
Disc 1
Best
Back In The U.S.S.R
Worst
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?
Disc 2
Best
Worst
Honestly this side doesn’t have anything that bad on it. A lot of people hate Rev9 but I don’t mind it.
In conclusion then, disc 1’s best songs > disc 2’s best songs, but it has more bad songs.
Agreed?[sp_show_poll id=”183″]
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.
11.19pm
15 March 2017
Disc 1 is my favourite but I do think it goes a little downhill after Blackbird and it starts to become more filler tracks. I do enjoy Disc 2 but I think it has a lull in the middle but in my opinion it starts and ends well.
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7.16pm
10 March 2017
3.31am
19 January 2017
It’s too difficult for me to say which of the two disks so i’ll list my favourite sides in order alongside some key tracks from each.
My list:
Side 1 – Has the bulk of the best songs on the album (Dear Prudence , Happiness Is A Warm Gun , Glass Onion , While My Guitar…)
Side 3 – This is close to being my favourite since I like every song. It’s the rockier of the four sides (Yer Blues , Helter Skelter , Sexy Sadie , Everybody’s Got Something …)
Side 4 – Great closing side to the album and the most strange. Really not a fan of Honey Pie though (Rev 9, Rev 1, Cry Baby Cry , Savoy Truffle )
Side 2 – The patchiest of the four sides and the one with the most ‘filler’ tracks. Still some gems though (Julia , I Will , Blackbird , I’m So Tired )
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5.29am
14 November 2017
I actually prefer Disc 2, (although both are great) but Disc 2 edges it for me. I really like Monkey,Helter Skelter ,Cry Baby Cry ,Long x3,Sexy Sadie from this album,so that’s why I’m going for Disc 2. I adore While My Guitar Gently Weeps also, and wish that was on Disc 2.
Simple solution to that: make a playlist on my iPod
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7.09am
Reviewers
14 April 2010
This question made me realize that I did not break down the White Album by halves until I owned the cassette tape. Until then, I broke it down by album Side, or quarters (criteria = how many times did I have to get up and change the Sides?).
If forced to choose one half, I would go with the first. That is no easy decision when considering the only track on this album in my Top 10 is Yer Blues .
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