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2.07am
10 August 2011
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No “over-rated” songs for this listener (though indeed perhaps over-played)
Under-rated (i.e. inexplicably unknown to the current general public):
– I've Just Seen a Face
– Because
"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)
2.08pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
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Here every day but not had the inclination to post till now.
Under-rated
You Wont See Me – seen it slated due to the la la la backing vocals being too similar to Nowhere Man (see Revolution In The Head book). Such a fantastic vocal by Paul, so darn good its my ringtone (“when i call you up your lines engaged”).
Here, There & Everywhere – Just listen to the backing vocals and tell me they are not some of the most incredible for any song ever.
Old Brown Shoe – A killer b-side wrongly long neglected.
Long Long Long – Proof that George had become a fantastic song writer and Ringo's drumming. Overlooked every time for While My Guitar (even tho WMGGW is deservedly hailed (Pauls harmony with George
).
No Reply /Im A Loser – Could easily have been singles (passed over for I Feel Fine & Eight Days A Week (US)). 2 of John's best early beatles songs. Heck BFS is way-overlooked in its entirety.
I've Just Seen A Face – Everybody jumped on Yesterday so quickly that this was nigh-on ignored. Criminally. Would put a smile on anyones face and get their toes a-tappin.
What Goes On – Ask anyone for a Ringo song and you'll get the same one standards; with a little help, yellow sub, octopus's garden. Dig a little deeper and you'll find this country stylee that sounds so darn sad yet cheerful at the same time. And yes John and Paul's “ooooooooooo's”.
Within You Without You – Picked out as being the weakest Pepper track. Good lyrics, the indian instrumental section is incredible and we get to hear George laugh at the end. He knew at the time people just wouldnt get it.
I could go on and on. Happiness Is A Warm Gun , Dear Prudence , Honey Don't (you read correctly), Good Morning, Good Morning, Anna…
And a large shout out to the BBC recordings. The beatles really could play. The Beatles doing Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport prove they didnt take themselves or the whole beatle thing that seriously – until the ego's kicked in.
Over-rated (agree that they are not neccessarily bad songs just… i dont see it)
Penny Lane – Strawberry Fields destroys this. Everyone who claims to be a beatle fan throws this out when in reality they only 1 (the album), or maybe the Blue Album . Its not that great. Put down 1, stick Revolver on, collapse in awe to their greatness and go discover the other 11 albums (Yellow Submarine is in truth an EP strung out).
Sgt Pepper / With A Little Help – Have never understood the appreciation for either song, possibily because they are the opening 2 tracks. People hear its the greatest album ever, play these 2, skip to ADITL, and then when asked namedrop (see Penny Lane ). 2 reasons why Pepper aint that brilliant an album. Skip them, find Lucy, move on thru the album and smile.
Across The Universe – Agree with the post that the Let It Be (far too slow and monotonous. why Phil Spector why?) and Past Masters (too fast = John the chipmunk + backing singers who cannot sing (what was Paul doing/thinking getting them off the street) versions are lame ducks. A beautiful song with incredible words and John sings dreamily when played at the right speed. Shame you have to hunt down either Anthology 2 , LIBN or ideally the bootleg mixes (best version out there is the Glyn Johns remix).
Nowhere Man – Goes on too long but gets nowhere. By far the weakest off Rubber Soul .
I will have missed some out.
Edit
Oh. Magical Mystery Tour . A warning sign that the film/tv movie was going to be very hit and miss.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
11.05pm
10 August 2011
Offline Hard to say Here There And Everywhere and I've Just Seen a Face are under-rated!
The former has been a popular wedding song from the get-go, and the latter is lead song off (the American) Rubber Soul .
But yeah, great songs.
What's to like about Penny Lane ?: great, soaring, inspiring melody; great imagery – a series of Norman Rockwell illustrations (if Rockwell had been British); fun bass line, as usual. When you see McCartney in concert and he's got his hand way, way up on the neck of the bass, you know he's about to play Penny Lane . That song always put me in a good mood. Strawberry Fields has a million merits and ranks high on my list, but it's all introspective and can be a bit of a downer. The perfect opposite to Penny Lane (which is why this double A works so beautifully).
With a Little Help has a great, simple message everyone can relate to…
Sgt Pepper was probably never designed to be more than an intro that sets the mood.
"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)
11.29pm
4 November 2010
Offline Hmm…
Underrated/Under Played:
Fixing A Hole : I love this song!
Because : Some of the most beautiful harmonies ever.
And Your Bird Can Sing : Such an amazing song. I sadly had the American Revolver and didn't hear it until I got the remasters.
She's Leaving Home: I love this song, but feel as though it seems to be generally overlooked by those praising Pepper.
Overrated:
Yellow Submarine : My friends love this song. Cute, but plays more like a joke than anything lyrically/musically significant.
Paperback Writer : I feel as though the B-Side, Rain , was much better.
1.31am
18 August 2011
Offline Before you slaughter me, remember, these are just my opinions 
Overrated:
Most of the “A Hard Day's Night” album. It really disappointed me. I still think the best album of the early years is “Please Please Me “.
“Yellow Submarine “ – uh, ok, nice. But does it really deserve its popularity?
“Hello Goodbye “ – Ditto for this. It’s pretty, but man, The Beatles did tons of better stuff!!
“Revolution #9″ – for good or worse, everybody keeps talking about this. But I think it hasn't aged well, plus I've heard better tape experiments before and after it. In the context of “The White Album “ it works well, though, but it’s certainly not groundbreaking, sorry.
“Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da” – meh…
“Real Love “ – oh, please, listen to John's own demo of the song: it is great! Then listen to the version assembled for Anthology II. Bad produced, the piano drops out at every line as it couldn't be separated from John's voice (which is a good excuse, but they could have faded it at last, here it sounds chopped) and worse of all it's tremendously sped up! Lennon sounds like Donald Duck! Stick with the original (beautiful) version
Underrated:
“Anna” – possibly the best cover they did. I have to admit I'm partial to this one, as it reminds me of certain things that happened…
“Act Naturally “ – oh, come on! You gotta love Ringo!
“What Goes On “ – far from being “a terrible song” as it's often called
“Run For Your Life “ – not one of the best songs, but it doesn't deserve all the hate!!
“Love You To “ – great melody. Who said a sitar couldn't rock?
“Doctor Robert “ – another song that gets overlooked. I personally love it, and I fail to see why it's considered a lowlight!
“Fixing A Hole “ – great, great, great
“She's Leaving Home” – just beautiful
“Baby, You're a Rich Man” – the bass alone is worth the entire song
“Martha My Dear “ – a masterpiece. Full stop.
“Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey” – it absolutely rocks
“Dig A Pony “ – absolutely beautiful
“I've Got a Feeling” – oh, that riff…
“Free As A Bird “ – in a perfect world it would move a stone to tears. In this unperfect world it often gets called a cash-in and so on…
"Oh no! What a mad blundering, incredibly handsome young nincompoop I've been! "
12.14pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline I think both Free As A Bird and Real Love are pretty poorly done. Johns vocals are terrible, very thin and metally. No idea what they did to the tapes to end up with that. I very very rarely go anywhere near them. A shame as Real Love in particular was a beautiful song in its demo form (see the John Lennon Anthology). There is a very nice remix of FAAB of Johns original recording mixed with Paul and George's harmonies.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
8.39pm
14 November 2011
Offline I can not say that there is a song of Beatles which is overrated.but i can say MANY songs which are really underrated like:
I'm only sleeping
She's leaving home
All together now
….(and many others)… 
And In The End, The Love You Take….Is Equal to the Love……You Make
4.03am
17 November 2011
Offline “Baby, You're A Rich Man” is easily my favorite song from MMT (well, it's up there with “I Am The Walrus ” and “Strawberry Fields Forever “), and it is relatively under-appreciated. It is, however, on an album with a proliferation of overrated songs: “Hello, Goodbye ,” “All You Need Is Love ,” and “Penny Lane .” Also, the third and fourth sides of The Beatles have some great, relatively unappreciated tunes. “Honey Pie ,” “Sexy Sadie ,” “Cry Baby Cry ,” “Long Long Long,” AND “Mother Nature's Son.” Can't beat that album, now, can ya? Happy listening!
6.51pm
18 December 2011
Offline Overrated:
– Hey Jude
– Help !
– Can't Buy Me Love
– Sgt. Pepper 's Lonely Hearts Club Band
– With A Little Help From My Friends
– Get Back
– Back in the U.S.S.R.
Underrated (or rather less know songs):
– She's Leaving Home
– You Can't Do That
– Rain
– Julia
– I'm Looking Through You
– The Word
– Wait
– No Reply
– I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
– Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
– Don't Bother Me
– Please Mr. Postman
– Anna (Go to Him)
– Bad Boy
– I'll Get You
– Baby's in Black
– Abbey Road Medley
– Baby You're a Rich Man
– Revolution #1
– Revolution #9
– Because
– I Want You (She's So Heavy)
– I'm Down
– Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
– I Will
– Mother Nature's Son
– Octopus's Garden
– Boys
– Do You Want To Know A Secret
– You Won't See Me
– Flying
– Dig It
– Piggies
– It's All Too Much
– P.S. I Love You
– Baby It's You
– Misery
– Chains
– Mr. Moonlight
– She's a Woman
– I'm a Loser
– Honey Don't
– It's Only Love
– You're Going to Lose That Girl
– I'll Cry Instead
– I'm So Tired
– I'm Only Sleeping
– I'm Happy Just to Dance with You
– All I've Got to Do
– Matchbox
– You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
– It Won't Be Long
– I've Just Seen a Face
– I'll Be Back
– Rocky Racoon
– Don't Pass Me By
– When I'm Sixty-Four
– There's a Place
– Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
…
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
8.20pm
4 December 2010
Offline meanmistermustard said:
I think both Free As A Bird and Real Love are pretty poorly done. Johns vocals are terrible, very thin and metally. No idea what they did to the tapes to end up with that. I very very rarely go anywhere near them. A shame as Real Love in particular was a beautiful song in its demo form (see the John Lennon Anthology). There is a very nice remix of FAAB of Johns original recording mixed with Paul and George's harmonies.
I think FAAB was done as well as possible, the original demos weren't great so John's vocal had to sound awful.
Real Love , on the other hand, was ruined. This is my favourite version, John's voice isn't too distorted and it sounds like a song rather than a demo.
I told her I didn’t
9.08pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline I just find that the original demo is a beautiful haunting demo which has a good lennon vocal (its nowhere as near as good a song as Real Love which John worked on and recorded numerous times). To make it into a presentable 'beatle' song work had to be done on the song which unfortunatley turned John's voice into sounding like he's singing down a terribly distance sounding line – something the sound quality of the football world cup commentaries in the 80's. The alternate mix, posted above, which keeps John's original vocal and piano whilst adding just the beatles harmonies sounds 10 times better to me.
I didnt find either (FAAB or RL) to be breathtaking when they were released and still dont; the anticipation was far greater than the actual product.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
1.52am
10 August 2011
Offline Just to be contrarian, I'll state that I have no problem with either FAB or Real Love – in any of the versions out there.
Also glad to see Dizzy Miss Lizzy listed up above as under-rated.
When Beatles VI came out, that's the one song I listened to a hundred times over (though considering my age at the time, the line “girl I want to marry you” sounded a bit odd and uncool)
"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)
2.45am
26 November 2011
Offline probably most underrated song in my opinion is 'I'm Only Sleeping' OR 'Real Love '… most overrated probably is 'yellow submarine' or 'Lady Madonna '?
3.55am
10 August 2011
Offline GlassOnionArchitecture, many people indeed consider “Yellow Submarine ” to be over-rated. You're in good company.
But, IMHO, it was never really highly rated to begin with.
It was simply the “Ringo song” on Revolver . The “Act Naturally ,” “Octopus Garden,” “Don't Pass Me By,” “Honey Don't” … of that album. [although technically part of the double A side with “Eleanor Rigby ,” Eleanor was the song played on the radio – at least initially]
The song took flight two years after its release when it became the subject and title of the cartoon – and it's a catchy little song that kids sing in kindergarten.
I was shocked a few years ago to discover that among those under 30 in my place of work, “Yellow Submarine ” was the only Beatle song a majority could name. So, like it or not, and deserved or not, the song has had IMPACT!
(I would find that slightly frustrating if I were P McC)
"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)
1.18pm
16 February 2011
Offline GlassOnionArchitecture said:
probably most underrated song in my opinion is 'I'm Only Sleeping' OR 'Real Love '… most overrated probably is 'yellow submarine' or 'Lady Madonna '?
Lady Madonna ? I hardly ever hear people talk about it. But I like it, it has a story ( I also like the side story added to it)
1.54pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline When i was in primary school (i think thats 1st -> 7th grade in the US) the only beatles song that was well known amongst us was Yellow Submarine which was given new lyrics – 'we all live in a tub of margarine'.
I rarely hear I want you from Abbey Road being mentioned, its usually either come together, something, Here Comes The Sun or the medley. Maxwell is often highlighted for it being rubbish (not my opinion).
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
8.58pm
1 December 2011
Offline I think it just depends on who you ask for whether Yellow Submarine is an underrated or overrated song in The Beatles catalogue. It appeals to some, primarily kids, but some adults like it too.
The main songs people regard as being overrated (overplayed) are A-sides of singles, or the more popular ones that get lots of air time on the radio, like Let It Be , Something (I don't believe it's the best love song of all time), Yesterday (the most covered song of all time), I Want To Hold Your Hand (this is one song that I never became a huge fan of for some reason), Can't Buy Me Love (I hear it all the time), etc. it would take forever to make a list of the underrated songs because after taking a look at the beatles bassist's list, I have come to a conclusion that nearly every Beatles song is underrated. I'd recommend taking a look at his list if you don't believe me.
10.27pm
14 December 2009
Offline
Well, “Yellow Submarine “, however well recognized, can never be overrated, because it's not usually rated terribly highly. Which means it can only be underrated, or (per MeanMrs.M's clever new thread) “perfectly” rated. Same goes for “Mr. Moonlight” and “Hold Me Tight ” and the other perennial “worst Beatles songs”.
Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.
3.08pm
10 August 2011
Offline I know meanmistermustard doesn't care for the song, but actually, I'd never heard of “Hold Me Tight ” in the same breath as “Mr. Moonlight” as a “worst Beatle song.”
Personally, I love the shuffling rhythm and interplay between the guitars.
"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)
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