And when I say finally what I really mean is - countless hours of debate and rehashing of classics from our favorite rock stars.
To start my final summer vacation, I set out a goal to answer the ever changing question of how I'd rank my favorite Beatles albums. I've always known number one, but depending on the day number two could be a number of classics.
Well finally after much debate, various research, and some divulging some critically acclaimed reviews, I'm able to rank my top 5 Beatles albums.
But first as always, some ground rules:
- Each ranking is based on amount of quality songs and the presence or absence of songs that rank in my top 10 (for example, Let It Be, In My Life, Yesterday, etc. suffered because some of the songs around it I don't love quite as much even though those three are in my top 10 undoubtedly)
- Albums which have less songs I listen to regularly suffered in these rankings
- I value albums that don't lose steam from start to finish, and that is reflected with this list
- As always, if you don't like my list, make your own then
- Finally, I reserve the right to change these rankings at any time depending on whatever factors influence said re-ranking
Number 5: Rubber Soul (1965)
Rubber Soul gets the nod over Let It Be because there are more songs throughout the project that I enjoy. While Let It Be is probably my favorite Beatles song ever, In My Life is a close second or third. Rubber Soul finally was the project where the Beatles made a leap creatively. From the deeply confessional (Norwegian Wood [This Bird Has Flown]) to the "poignantly nostalgiac (In My Life) the Beatles showed range matched by very few, if any, at the time.
Number 4: 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Club Hearts Band (1967)
When you google, "best Beatles albums, more often then not, this is what will turn up at number one. Sgt. Pepper's is so significant in many ways but unfortunately many of these ways are hard to convey to someone in their 20's. I never have viewed the Beatles as a growing group that jumped on to the scene with their debut album Please Please Me in 1963 to the complete socially aware Sgt. Pepper in 1967. I never saw the growth and culmination that many of our parents did. While I am fairly aware of how important this album is to the entity that is the Beatles as a whole, it ranks only fourth on my list because you need to be a Beatles fan to fully appreciate it. I could not show a friend who "doesn't like the Beatles" (aka: hasn't listened to enough) very many songs off this album and truly turn them in to believers. The intricate production littered throughout Sgt. Pepper's led the way for many artists in the following years. No album from the '60s had the influence that Sgt. Pepper's did and again, it only ranks fourth on my list because I simply don't feel qualified to even understand it fully.
Revolver contains arguably the most famous Beatles song to people of my generation - Yellow Submarine. I have come across multiple people that have formed an opinion simply off Yellow Submarine, and frankly that isn't fair. True Beatles fans (whatever those are) often cast off Yellow Submarine as nothing more then an playful bubbly song that only reached peak popularity because _____ (whatever reason they may believe). Revolver also contains the first Beatles song I truly loved as a kid, (cliche I know) Eleanor Rigby. When I first heard Eleanor Rigby I was sifting quickly through the Beatles #1 album listened only to 10 second portions of each track before changing to the next song. No Beatles song starts out as strong as Paul McCartney's string-guided lament Eleanor Rigby. Needless to say, I didn't jump directly to the next track. In fact, I listened to Eleanor Rigby so many times, I may have never made it to the next track.
Yes, I used the gray picture so that we could see it on the white background of my blog. 'The Beatles' often referred to as The White Album was the first time that the Beatles decided to allow the strengths of each individual member to really shine. The double LP was "each member's declaration of independence." For John Lennon, it was getting personal and weird, for Paul McCartney it was indulging in old-school obsessions, for George Harrison it was finally being allowed to step out of the shadows, and for Ringo, it was the time to finally write his best song. The White Album is a legitimate mess at times, but none the less, a brilliant mess. Some of my personal favorite Beatles songs come from the White Album: When My Guitar Weeps, Back in the USSR, Revolution 1, and Blackbird.
Number 1: Abbey Road (1969)
In my opinion, the Beatles final album was their best. Abbey Road is the ultimate "drop the mic" moment only rivaled by Michael Jordan's buzzer beater (skip to 2:53 if you're impatient) to beat the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals and Eminem's final rap battle where he forced Papa Doc to literally, drop the mic. For me, Abbey Road never skips a beat. The run from Because to the hidden Her Majesty is unmatched by any album I've come across in my entire life. One can not simply listen to an individual song from that stretch but rather must embark on the 20 minute journey of excellence. In addition to the back part of the album, Here Comes The Sun, Something, Come Together, and Oh Darling all are mainstays in my personal top 10. I've always thought it was really sad to see musicians and athletes go out one album/season too late. While I'm well aware of the many problems surrounding the Beatles as the decade turned to the 1970's, one thing is for sure, the Beatles never stayed too long. Abbey Road is proof that there was more great music in there, and it shows with the successful solo careers of each member.
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