[Adder]

"then quit on a high note with the peerless Abbey Road."

No, they had the forgettable "Let it Be" album.

The "against" guy is all wet. Measured aganst the absolute wasteland of the '60's music the Beatles were a shining star: fresh, innovative, extremely listenable. Give 'em a 85 because you could dance to it.[You old fogies know what that means...]
There were others coming like the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane...but they weren't there yet. The Beatles were there first.

You poor guys and gals who were born in too late...you missed something special thats hasn't happened since.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

No, they had the forgettable "Let it Be" album.

If I remember correctly, wasn't most/all of that recorded and on the shelf before Abbey Road? Then Spector came in and slapped L.i.B. together with his "wall of sound" approach?

[drjimmy]

"then quit on a high note with the peerless Abbey Road."

No, they had the forgettable "Let it Be" album.

Actually, Abbey Road was recorded after Let it Be but released before it. So that makes the Abbey Road song "The End" (if you don't count the 23 second "Her Majesty") the actual end of the Beatles.