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Pretty much agree!
I got a one sided record at an estate sale a few years ago in a box of records I picked up for five bucks. It was in a thick plain white jacket that had “Pepper” hand written on the cover. It had a “Mobile Fidelity” generic label. Turns out it was a test disk for one side of the stamper for side one of Sgt Pepper.
I’ve only played it once. It sounds like a CD - in the good way.
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer is not a bad track....it is a horrible track.
The most overrated band in music, IMO.
As someone who just attended a Sir Paul concert in Philly last night, I can only say that he is STILL at the “top of his game”. I wonder if you have had the pleasure of hearing his latest record “New”. Truly some of the finest music he has ever created!
My opinion, and I am quite unanimous is this . . . is the the Beatles evolved along with their music so that my rankings for their best albums is in line with their chronological releases.
The 1964-66 group could never have created Abbey Road.
And for those that believe the Beatles are overrated it should be remembered that what they did, they did with antiquated equipment - and did things that no other group even dreamed of at that time with what they had.
1) Abbey Road
2) Sgt Peppers
3) White Album
4) Magical Mystery Tour
5) Revolver
6) Hard Day's Night
7) Rubber Soul
8) Help
9) "Hey Jude" ("The Beatles Again)
10) Let it be
I’m a Stones guy but this is interesting - thanks
I pretty much agree with the order. I might quibble and move With the Beatles up a few notches since it was so revolutionary. Abbey Road is a masterpiece - every cut. Abbey Road was their last album they recorded together and the last thing they recorded on that album were the three guitar solos near the end of the 2nd side. Once Paul, John and Guitar practiced a while to figure out some parts they recorded it live in just a few takes. Now THAT is quitting while you are on top!
Personally I would put Rubber Soul at No 1 with Help and Revolver very close to it. Everything else is a tossup but I would go early ahead of late in general.
Rubber Soul is my favorite, but the top 5 are all good. Back in 1974 I attended the George Harrison and Friends concert in Seattle. It was excellent, they did 4 or 5 Beatles songs - Ravi Shankar could have stayed home, but George loved him. The Byrds opened the show IIRC.
The conventional wisdom is ‘The Beatles stopped playing concerts because they couldn’t hear themselves onstage and they wanted to experiment in the studio.’
The first half of this quote is accurate but had they been a bit more patient they would have been able to use the monitor systems that quickly became standard (e.g. Woodstock).
Having to write stage-compatible songs kept them from disappearing up their own backsides, which is why 1965-66 was their real peak.
Sgt Pepper is always overrated in their catalogue as well as that of rock album rankings in general.
From a musician’s perspective, when the Rickenbackers, Epiphones and Voxes went out in favor of the Fenders it lost something.
I’m kinda partial to My Bonnie, remember what was on the flip side?
I'm baffled that anyone could see it otherwise.
1) Abbey Road
2) Sgt Peppers
3) White Album
The only thing I would change is put Abbey Road at #3 and bump the other two up one.
Some songs were released as singles but never on any album, I think, at least in the UK which is now the “official” catalog. They were on albums in the US but not the UK. For example I don’t think “Rain” is on any album. That’s too bad.
I have always thought of the Beatles as a teeny-bopper group or a group who did ‘novelty’ music akin to “The Purple People Eater”, for example. Hard rock? Hardly!
“Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”? A kiddy/teeny-bopper song, for sure. Their music seemed to me to be aimed at teeny-boppers.
There are perhaps only three songs from the Beatles that I could say which I ‘like’.
One that is probably not on anybody’s list is Beatles ‘65. With all the other great albums that year (Rubber
Soul, etc.) it is no wonder that it has been overlooked. I listened to this album until the tracks were so worn that you could barely make out the music from all the noise. While the song list is unremarkable, the tracks demonstrated incredible energy and precision. Could the Beatles’ unheralded recordings be some of their best work?