Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hard Days Night, the excitment, wow. But I have go again Rubber Soul-Revolver. It always felt like part one/part two to me.

Let it Be...I don't really know why, but I've always loved the "rawness." The "naked" version is a lot better, though.

Wow, no one picked Sgt Pepper.

This is always ridiculously hard for me because as soon as I pick one, another one looks at me with puppydog eyes...

But with that said, Revolver.

Oh man, now Rubber Soul is giving me that look! I'm sorry...

erm gotta be Rubber soul!

The UK Rubber Soul was as good an album as Revolver, IMO, but the US version didn't include "Drive My Car or "Nowhere Man"

rubber soul

even though i love ALL of them,yeah,yeah,yeah, my 3 favorites,without question,are rubber soul,revolver,and abbey road. the first two were just the beatles in exciting new territory,songwriting-wise,great playing and fantastic ideas,the last one was the greatest swan song lp ever released,so many of my favorite beatle songs on there and just another great example of the eclecticism (SP?) of the individuals talents. honorable mention goes to macca's re-release of let it be..naked. taking phil's contribution out of the mix greatly improved my appreciation for that record.

Thanks for your explanation for you picks. I'm going to let this thread run for a week, then I'll post my pick.

lyle_from_minneapolis wrote:Wow, no one picked Sgt Pepper.

This is always ridiculously hard for me because as soon as I pick one, another one looks at me with puppydog eyes...

But with that said, Revolver.

Oh man, now Rubber Soul is giving me that look! I'm sorry...

This is a great summary of how I feel...

It seems to be a toss-up between Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers and Abbey Road. Let it Be Naked gets a look in too....

If Peppers had included Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane as originally intended, it would be a shoe-in. I'm tempted to go with it just for the final piano chord in A Day in the Life, but for me it's Abbey Road. The first side is a great album in itself, and the medley is a wonderful tour through the Lennon-McCartney parts bin. Paul's bass playing is probably at its peak too, with Come Together, I Want You, and Something as stand-outs.

Abbey Road
Sgt Pepper (I include Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane in here)
Revolver
Rubber Soul
White Album
Help
The rest are a toss-up for me.

beatlefreak wrote:Interesting! You placed BFS higher than I would have. But you didn't give a reason.

I put BFS where I did because I really like George's playing and tone on this album, and some of the songs are quite good too. I think Help had a lot more lousy songs on it than this album, though most people would pick Help over BFS I'd guess.

Greg

1) Rubber Soul - To me, this is the height of their "Rock and Roll" creativity. There isn't too much experimentation, just good, solid song writing and sound. Nowhere Man, Girl, Norwegian Wood, In My Life and Wait (yes, I really like that one-the vocals are outstanding) make it my favorite. The great bass playing doesn't hurt either. Rubber Soul seems less dated than Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour.
2) A Hard Day's Night - This one had gone up on my list in recent years. The raw power of Lennon and the sound still excite me. What other album would have I'll Be Back as the last track? Tell Me Why and When I Get Home are the only weak spots I can think of.
3)...? I don't really know, Abbey Road and Revolver would be pretty high, though.

I honestly think The Beatles is pretty low on my list. I know a lot of people list it as their favorite, but it seems a bit disjointed to me. I think it should have been an exceptionally strong single album instead of a double LP. My least favorite album is probably Help. It starts off really strong with Help and The Night Before but gets really weak in the middle. I like Beatles For Sale and The Yellow Submarine Soundtrack better (what can I say? I love Hey Bulldog and It's Only a Northern Song).

A "bad" Beatles' album is still better than most band's best album.

I'm often asked, when people find out my interest in The Beatles, "What's your favorite song?" And, inevitibly. "What's your favorite album?"

I don't have a favorite Beatles song - I have two 75 minute CD's filled with my favorites! I can't really say that I like I Feel Fine more than I like Dear Prudence (Just two of my favorites). Picking a favorite album is a little easier (13 albums as opposed to over 200 songs), but there's still not one clear favorite. I'll think I've finally settled on one album, only to discover six months to a year down the road that I have a different favorite!

That being said, there is one Beatles album that time and time again I keep returning to, and with good reason. My all time favorite Beatles album (at least for right now) would have to be A Hard Day's Night. This was the Beatles at the top of their game as a performing group, and at the height of Beatlemania. From the opening chord which introduced the Rickenbacker twelve string to us all, to the haunting harmonies of I'll Be Back, this album meant business. The one-two punch of the title track and I Should Have Known Better showed us that John Lennon was destined to be a great songwriter. The classical guitar sounds on And I Love Her showed us yet another side of The Beatles. Thirteen Lennon-McCartney originals - The first album by the group that contained no cover songs. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You was given to George to sing, and it's not a throw-away song either. The good songs weren't just limited to those used in the movie - Other standouts include Anytime At All , You Can't Do That, If I Fell and Tell Me Why.

The album followed hot on the heels (within a month) of the Long Tall Sally EP. Along with the title track, I Call Your Name, Slow Down and Matchbox fit right alongside the album seamlessly. I still find it amazing that The Beatles put out such a high quality album in a year that included the aforementioned EP of previously unreleased songs, another album, a 45 of new music, a movie, at least 170 concert performances, plus numerous radio and TV performances, and scads of interviews. (Whew!)


The most votes went to Rubber Soul, with Revolver coming in second.
The least votes (no votes) were for Beatles For Sale, Help!, Sgt. Pepper's, Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine.

Can't pick one... I put them in tiers. No particular order, and I might add that even their 'lesser' albums are better than many groups' best moments.

The best:
White Album (there's so much to love, breadth, scope, great playing and singing)
Abbey Road (side two is probably the best single side of any LP ever)
Revolver (so many songs that haven't been overplayed yet and absolutely KILL e.g. Tomorrow never Knows, For No One...)
A Hard Day's Night (first album that they did it all and the perfect evidence explaining Beatlemania)

Second tier:
Rubber Soul
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour
Sgt. Pepper

Third tier:
Beatles For Sale
Let It Be
Help

White album no doubt. Why? I dunno. There's "Helter skelter", and that would be enough already, but there's also "While my guitar gently weeps" and many more, including "Cry baby cry" which is probably my third favourite of all their songs.