Your Favorite Album

[beatlefreak]

PPM has always been one of my favorites, too.

[8mileshigher]

if thats the case, I'll put in a vote for 'Please Please Me' simply because of the lack of studio multi-track tricks.

Is it arguably the single best one day recording session in rock'n'roll history?

Kent ---- that's a very interesting approach to judging their work

[beatlefreak]

It was an amazing feat - Ten songs in ten hours.

[gregga41]

It was an amazing feat - Ten songs in ten hours.

"Their second album took even longer!"
Sorry, couldn't resist.

[libratune]

Let's keep the votes coming in . . .

Abbey Road does it for me. It's the album I keep coming back to, finding more nuances in the lyrics, the instrumentation, the delivery. It's the Beatles at their finale, with so many tunes on this album portending the end of the road. But there is no holding back, no resignation to "the end" here. Throughout there is a typically JPGR mix of mature reflection, craziness, superb instrumentation, spare but tasty guitar licks and songwriting.

This is the "we are no longer 'the Beatles,' but this is what we do best" album. The album cover shows them crossing a road in single file, but all dressed completely differently. They may be walking together for the time being, but they are each going off to a different place.

In several tunes, the Beatles go full circle back to the roots of "rock" music on this album. Take "Oh! Darling," for example. Judged by structure and lyrics, it is a standard rock tune. But the innocuous vocals get progressively harsher until they are basically screamed, as if to convey to the listener -- "How much more of this can you take?" It's self-parody and a satire fueled by the days of cranking out tunes and rock music "songwriting."

The 2nd last tune, "The End," concludes with that great line, amongst the grand swell of the orchestra and George's great guitar fill, "And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make." But that's not the end of it. After a pause, there's a little acoustic ditty in which Paul sings "She's a pretty nice girl/but she doesn't have a lot to say," etc. ending with "someday I'm going to make her mine" and then an abrupt end. Pretty trite stuff, after the former boffo wrapup. What's up with that? To me, this is a throwback to the state of mind where it all started. It's the 15-year old guy looking at the pretty girl across the room and wondering if he can get up enough nerve to "make her mine" if only he had a "bellyful of wine." Enter playing in a band. The rest is history.

IMO, this album is about the beginning, the end and beginning again for four fabulously talented musicians.

PS I apologize for carrying on here, but I have an excuse. I have read and re-read some of the other posts on this thread and found them incredibly insightful and helpful. Not that this one measures up, but I thought I'd have a go at it.

[apollo11]

Great Review, Ron.
If two songs were not on Abbey Road, it could well be the greatest album in rock history. Even though I like them both, Octopus' Garden & Maxwell's Silver Hammer are not up to the same level, as everything else is stellar. The musicianship is great in these two songs and up to par with the rest, but novelty songs such as these never really last the long haul over many playbacks. Don't get me wrong, though, the songs belong and are as much a part of the album as any other. If, though, they weren't on the album, I think it would be the clear-cut winner as the #1 Beatles Album.

A couple more thoughts about Abbey Road---it has possibly the greatest production in a rock album, and arguably the greatest cover. Of course, every Beatles Album could be classified as one of the greatest covers in rock history. It is funny when considering the Beatles on two fronts----musically they were the greatest ever, and no other group has had the same success with their cover art. It is not a fluke, either, that the ingeniousness of the music matched the ingeniousness of the covers---the music is undeniably that good, and so are the covers. Incredible to think that one band was that iconic on both fronts. Even with all the different cover artists/photographers, the same level of iconic status is achieved with each album cover.

Having said all this, my favorite Beatle album is extremely hard to come up with. I often come back to the White Album for its pure and raw form, and phenomenal musicianship, writing & singing throughout. It is the first album I wanted to hear on 09/09/09, and it is the first one I listened to. However, I love Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, Let It Be (Spector version), Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, Help, Please Please Me....and the list goes on. I honestly can't rank them in the order that I love them. Critically, I could do a fairly decent job of ranking, but not personally.

For post-breakup Beatles' releases, my favorites album is Love....and again, the cover is iconic, even though is only a few years old. Wonderful album, all the way from the outside in.

[harley]

Given that the distance between favorite and least favorite is still fairly small, I'd go with Please Please Me. It has an energy to it that makes it understandable why Beatlemania was so infectious. Following that, would be Revolver and Rubber Soul.

I also want to echo the post that mentioned Mr Moonlight. Over time that song has really grown on me. I'm not ready to call it a top ten candidate but it's worn well.

[Halbert]

For me, Abbey Road would have to be the Beatles I take with me on that proverbial desert island. I guess mainly for sentimental reasons. I used to really have a blast playing the medly on side two starting with You Never Give Me Your Money and ending with The End but also because the Beatles were really having interelational problems at the time but somehow managed to put it all aside well enough to make a truly collaborative album that would continue to be regarded as one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time for decades to come.

But thats just me...

[vynesmusic]

What is your favorite Beatles Album? For the sake of this discussion, let's keep it to the thirteen original titles that were released in the U.K. while the Beatles were still a group. I've put Magical Mystery Tour in there even though it wan;t originally released in Britain in this form (It was a double EP set there).

I know you asked to consider the UK titles, but can a Yank can add his 2 cents worth? ----All of their albums up to and including "Magical Mystery Tour" are gold to me......but the crown jewel for me was the Capitol Records release "Beatles '65", which was around the UK version "Beatles For Sale"......ahhhhhh...."No Reply"...."I Feel Fine".......it's never been better than that

[brammy]

I put "No Reply" as one of their most under-rated songs. Fantastic song.


"I'LL BE BACK" is another one.

[johnnysain]

Has to be 'Meet the Beatles'. First heard as a 5 year old kid in '64. Bought by my 39 year old mother and passed on to me a year later, to be played over and over and over....

[FretlessOnly]

I put "No Reply" as one of their most under-rated songs. Fantastic song.

"I'LL BE BACK" is another one.

I left off anything pre-Help! in my list mainly because while the playing is consistently good, my enjoyment of the first few albums goes from high to low to high from track to track.

But I wholeheartedly agree that No Reply and I'll be Back are top-notch. I'll Follow the Sun, And I Love Her and Till There Was You are also quite good. Funny, most of my favorite earlier tunes lean more toward Paul, whereas my favorites from '66-onward are nearly all John.