The Beatles - best albums

Sarni

nice guy, unassuming, objective United fan.
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So, there we go. I don't listen to them much but I need to buy one or two albums soon. Trouble is, I have no clue which albums are worth it and which are not, I reckon a famous band that has 14 albums released will have some that are exceptionally good and some that are poor. I don't want to toss a coin, so recommend me some please.
 
The usual suspects would be Revolver, Rubber Soul and Sgt Pepper. My favourite is Magical Mystery Tour.
 
Better off working through all of it.

What's the point of only listening to a fraction of their stuff?

It would be Help, Rubber Soul and Revolver for me though...and Abbey Road.
 
I_live_cement said:
Better off working through all of it.

What's the point of only listening to a fraction of their stuff?

It would be Help, Rubber Soul and Revolver for me though...and Abbey Road.
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Too expensive at the moment. If there was 'The Best Of' album, I'd buy it but I cannot afford buying more than two albums for now.
 
I only have 1, a compilation of number ones, strangely. A lot of good songs on it, but it misses out a whole load of other, better songs.

There are a few threads on here which may be of help. One started by elvis not too long ago I think.
 
Revolver, Rubber Soul and "the White Album" for me.
 
Rubber Soul, Revolver and Abbey Road for me too.
 
The White Album. There are a few poor songs, inevitably for such a big, sprawling record. But it's a masterpiece.

Revolver is more perfect but less great, if you know what I mean.

Sergeant Pepper's massively overrated. It has two great songs on it - LSD and A Day in the Life - and a few pretty ones like Fixing A Hole and She's Leaving Home. If they'd bundled all their psychedelic stuff of that period together, and included songs that ended up on Magical Mystery Tour like Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, I Am The Walrus and All You Need Is Love - while getting rid of some of the chaff - it would have been the best album ever:

Sergeant Pepper's LHCB
With a Little Help
Lucy In The Sky
Strawberry Fields
Penny Lane
Within You Without You
Hello Goodbye
I Am the Walrus
All You Need Is Love
Sergeant Pepper reprise
A Day In the Life

I've left the sitars in to stop George getting in a strop, and Hello Goodbye to compensate Paul for taking all his granny music out.

Nearly perfect line-up, though Van der Vaart and Benzema would complete it...
 
Ooops, yeah forgot about the White album.

Basically do you prefer the sound of early Beatles or their later stuff?

If you're not sure then get a sample of each.
 
Interesting that nobody seems to have listened to anything prior to Revolver

As polished mature musicians at the height of their game Revolver is a good place to start but if you want some of the best pure fun driven perfect pop masterpieces in the whole of rock music then A Hard Days Night is simply a masterpiece. Help and With The Beatles is fantastic and of course Rubber Soul. Even the first effort Please Please Me has some excellent tracks

The later albums are of course fantastic too but it has to be said that once the LSD got a firm hold the quality, although often wonderful, can be hit and miss as the White Album and Let It Be show

Still imo the best of them all

For consistency throughout out all their careers together / albums they are imo unmatchable
 
The white album would have been brilliant if they made it a single disk and lost some of the lesser tracks.

Thing is, every beatles album has really top tracks but a few have so many standouts you have to laugh.

I used to have a CD thing for my PC that had every beatles album ever so basically every beatles song and i've heard them all. That was a long time ago and i cant say i listen to them at all anymore but i still consider myself a fan and a guy with a lot of respect and time for that band.
 
FranklyVulgar said:
The white album would have been brilliant if they made it a single disk and lost some of the lesser tracks.

Thing is, every beatles album has really top tracks but a few have so many standouts you have to laugh.

I used to have a CD thing for my PC that had every beatles album ever so basically every beatles song and i've heard them all. That was a long time ago and i cant say i listen to them at all anymore but i still consider myself a fan and a guy with a lot of respect and time for that band.
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Something like:

USSR
Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun (best song ever written?)
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
Julia
Yer Blues
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long Long Long
Revolution

Hmm... Macca wouldn't be happy, that's only about three of his. Maybe "I Will" should be in there.

It would be a class album, but I'd really miss a lot of songs... Glass Onion, Bungalow Bill, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Cry Baby Cry... maybe not absolutely top-notch songs but they add so much to it. That's the thing about the White Album, it feels right as a great big sprawling messy canvas. Kind of like Exile On Main Street and London Calling... I wouldn't really want to tidy them up.

Whereas to me Pepper's always felt like the album that would be perfect if it only contained more good songs and less shit ones.
 
Jopub said:
Interesting that nobody seems to have listened to anything prior to Revolver

As polished mature musicians at the height of their game Revolver is a good place to start but if you want some of the best pure fun driven perfect pop masterpieces in the whole of rock music then A Hard Days Night is simply a masterpiece. Help and With The Beatles is fantastic and of course Rubber Soul. Even the first effort Please Please Me has some excellent tracks

The later albums are of course fantastic too but it has to be said that once the LSD got a firm hold the quality, although often wonderful, can be hit and miss as the White Album and Let It Be show

Still imo the best of them all

For consistency throughout out all their careers together / albums they are imo unmatchable
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A Hard Days Night was the first album i ever actually owned. I was about 11 and it is fantastic!
 
Plechazunga said:
Something like:

USSR
Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun (best song ever written?)
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
Julia
Yer Blues
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long Long Long
Revolution

Hmm... Macca wouldn't be happy, that's only about three of his. Maybe "I Will" should be in there.

It would be a class album, but I'd really miss a lot of songs... Bungalow Bill, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Cry Baby Cry... maybe not absolutely top-notch songs but they add so much to it. That's the thing about the White Album, it feels right as a great big sprawling messy canvas. Kind of like Exile On Main Street and London Calling... I wouldn't really want to tidy them up.

Whereas to me Pepper's always felt like the album that would be perfect if it only contained more good songs and less shit ones.
Click to expand...

I can't believe you missed out I Will. I got married to I Will.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps is the best Beatles song ever, possibly the best song ever. Then possibly Octopus's Garden.

Paul was consistent, but he wasn't a patch on George and Ringo when they had some really good ideas. Or John, even when John had an off day.
 
White Album, Revolver or Sgt. Peppers for me.

If i had to take one to a desert island, it would be The White Album because its got so many great tracks, despite some crap ones. Back in the USSR, Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Blackbird and Revolution are some of my favourite Beatles tracks.
 
Abbey Road, The White Album, Revolver and Let It Be for me.

Closely followed by Sgt. Peppers
 
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