The Best Beatles Album

[onejayhawk]

I see the middle period is dominating the voting, ie Revolver to The Beatles.

As to musicianship, only Paul stands out as really talented, though John was versitile. Ringo's contribution was simply in being able to get allong with the others. When they went to the studio, they wouldnt come out for days.

J

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by Mescalhead
No. You NEED a good drummer. The only band that got away with mediocrity in the rythm dept. is The Stones. The White Stripes blow.

EDIT: Paul Cook was just a reincarnation of Charlie Watts, so put the Sex Pistols on the list.

Its a matter of opinion. I think the White Stripes are good, as well as the Beatles and they both have bad drummers. Other bands I like have medicre drummers, and they're still good...

As long as they can keep a beat, they're fine with me.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Maybe I shouldn't have included the terrible Mystery Tour and Yellow Sub albums... nobody's going to vote for them anyway and they're screwing up the graph.

I never saw Ringo [or drumming in general] as an integral part of Beatles music-making. George Martin's piano has a far bigger part to play in most of their songs. Yes, if you wanted to be condescending then you could say that made them a "childrens' sing-along band", and songs like Yellow Submarine, When I'm Sixty-Four, etc would certainly partially justify that conclusion. But you don't count Hey Jude, Helter Skelter, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and A Day In The Life as rock icons of the era?

For all their cool rocker image the Beatles were never a hard-rock band and stunts like Mick Jagger playing concerts naked would have been unimaginable coming from them, so it's really unfair to judge them based on a persona that they just didn't have. I agree that when they stretched beyond their normal styles [Glass Onion, Yer Blues, Sgt. Pepper, Tomorrow Never Knows] they generally failed [Magical Mystery Tour, for instance, was a flop, and if not for the imagination of the lyrics Sgt Pepper would have flopped too]. And if you listen to their pre-drugs works, they uniformly suck. So maybe they WERE over-rated. But still you can't deny that between Help! and Abbey Road they wrote some pretty kicking songs.

 

[Murr88]

Originally posted by Mescalhead

Ringo was always very bad, in fact, he didn't drum on the original single for Love Me Do. Ringo later said that he did, but George Martin remembers different.

Ringo played tamborine on Love Me Do.
A good drummer is nice but not nessisary. I can't think of any Beatles songs which are bad because of the drummer. The point is Ringo could stick with the group the other three were basically the ones responsible for the break-up.

I think the story with Ringo was that Brian took them down to have an audition with George Martin. He thought they were ok but had doubts about Pete Best. They kicked him out and Martin told them they could have any other drummer. They knew Ringo from another Liverpool band and Martin said somthing like 'ok, but he couldn't do a drumroll to save his life.' Anyway the point is Ringo was solid.

 

[onejayhawk]

True. The Beatles were a vocals driven band, with good melodic content and groundbreaking lyricism, though it seems tame now. In comparison The Animals were MUCH better musically. In a real sense, the modern taste for melody and phrasing was defined by the Beatles. They were that significant.

J

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

"The modern taste for melody and phrasing"? If only! But these days hip-hop and rap are ruling the music scene Sometimes it seems like the only contribution from the rock era that they've kept is the minimalism, and that they've overdone. Still, it's a testament to the significance of the Old School Bands that despite billion-dollar marketing campaigns, DEAD musicians like Elvis Presley continue to outsell "this year's hottest star".

Hmmm, the Animals, haven't listened to them yet. Will now

 

[cgannon64]

Rock does kinda suck now.

Everyone is either a heavy rock group with too big a rap influence (i.e. trying to be terrible versions of RatM) or whiny emo confession rock...

I still hold out hope. Some great bands still exist.

I still wonder...why can't pop music be synonymous with good music any more?

EDIT: Um, back on track...seems Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the White Album are tied. I'm surprised Abbey Road only got 1 vote...

 

[Yago]

Well, for me, beatle's songs as coverversions are quite interesting, yet beatle's songs by beatles are often questionable. But they surely made a recipe out having a catchy refrain and a line that sticks.

 

[Stapel]

Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour!

It holds Lennon's best (that is subjective) and most discussed (that is objective) song: Strawberry Fields. Furthermore it has the Walruss.

Lady Madonna, Penny Lane, All you need is love....
Not too bad either. Also the cover is brilliant.

 

[cgannon64]

I don't think the Beatles failed when they went outside their "genre".

I like the intro to Sgt. Pepper. Yes, he tried to write it as a Hendrix song, and not surprisingly Hendrix covered it 3 days later and turned it into an amazing song. They may not have been able to play the "outside their genre" songs but they could write them.

Or, for example, they tried to write a louded dirtiest rock song (oneupmanship with the Who, I think, I forget which song they tried to outdo but it seems tame now IIRC - tame even by standards of the time), and they did pretty good with Helter Skelter. Not their greatest, but its still a good song.

You can't even say the Beatles had "one" genre anyway. When you say a typical Beatles song, I can't think of one...

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by Stapel
Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour!

It holds Lennon's best (that is subjective) and most discussed (that is objective) song: Strawberry Fields. Furthermore it has the Walruss.

Lady Madonna, Penny Lane, All you need is love....
Not too bad either. Also the cover is brilliant.

Hello Goodbye is also on it!


About the genre.......

The Beatles, overrated or not, are not just famous for a lot of hits. From a musical aspect, it is reallly something. The diversity of instruments, the diversity of bar types (that is really unique in pop music!), the absolute maximisation of studio possibilities are very special. Apart from that, they simply created many tunes that Johnny Average Music Buyer wants to spend money on.

It is not one genre! You can't just push the beatles into a specific genre.
And would we want to do that anyway?

 

[thestonesfan]

Abbey Road edges out the White Album for me, although I used to say the White Album was better. Lots of good music on it, but more than a few bad tracks.

As for going "outside the genre", (if you can even say they had one) I think that's when they really shone. Especially Lennon, and especially his later stuff with the band. "Yer Blues", one of my favorite Beatle tracks, is supposedly a knock at the heavy Zeppelin/Cream style blues that was starting to dominate the music scene, but you can't say Lennon's tortured howls were anything BUT real. If you'll listen to the Dirty Mac's(a 'supergroup' of Lennon, Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell) version on "The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus" it's Lennon that brings all the fury to the song and it sounds like blues vet Clapton is the one going through the motions.

That's just a reflection on my taste in music, though. I don't go for the "Strawberry Fields" stuff. I can appreciate it, it just doesn't have any 'bite'.

One more thing. Pontiuth, I don't think Jagger ever did a concert naked...why be naked when you can get away with wearing a one-piece sequined jumpsuit, complete with sash?

 

[Thorgrimm]

Since i had to vote for one on the list i voted for Help, mainly for these songs, The Night Before, Yesterday, Another Girl, and i know Ringo is being dissed on this thread, but i loved his song on this album Act Naturally.


Now if i had to pick my favorite one it would be Beatles 65. For these songs, No reply, I'm a Loser, Rock & Roll Music, I'll Be Back, and who could forget, She's a Woman.


Cheers Thorgrimm

 

[Brewster]

My vote went to Abbey Road. It took everything the Beatles learned on their earlier albums and elevated it to the next level. I'd love to sit down and listen to the album right now except one of my former roommates stole it from my collection when he moved. If I ever find him....


I disagree with Pontiuth Pilate's statement that all early pre-drug Beatles music was crap. Twist and Shout (the song, not the record) is one of their best works!