Topic: Any Beatles fans here?

[metaldams]

5. ABBEY ROAD*


* If the second side of Abbey Road was an album by itself, I would place it number 1, or at least tied for #1 with Revolver.

OK, look, I know I'm about to catch a lot of flak for what I'm about to say, but I find side two of ABBEY ROAD to be, eeehhhhhhhh, just sliiiiightly overrated.  When I say overrated, I'm talking Beatles standards here, it's still better than what most other good bands can do.  That said, the main culprit is John, and I actually think John would be the first one to agree with me.

"Sun King" sounds like a bad Pink Floyd outtake and "Polythene Pam" and "Mean Mr. Mustard" are just OK, but nothing special.  I know, it's a medley and the sum of its parts are supposed to be greater than the whole, yadda yadda, but throwing a few of Lennon's throwaways in the middle on a McCartney medley just clashes and I truly feel is a sign that perhaps we really are watching a bunch of solo srtists making an album together, except John's forced to work in McCartney's world, and it didn't work, (and please don't view this as a knock on John, a McCartney primal scream album would be much worse).

By the time we get to "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" through "The End," the hairs on my arm are standing like the rest of you, and "Here Comes The Sun" and (John's) "Because" are both brilliant, but when the medley truly begins and we get to John's little section, let's just say side two of ABBEY ROAD is damn good, but not the all-time greatest. 

I'll take the combination of "No Reply," "I'm A Loser," and "Baby's In Black" over most of John's ABBEY ROAD side two anyday.

[RICO987]

OK, look, I know I'm about to catch a lot of flak for what I'm about to say, but I find side two of ABBEY ROAD to be, eeehhhhhhhh, just sliiiiightly overrated.  When I say overrated, I'm talking Beatles standards here, it's still better than what most other good bands can do.  That said, the main culprit is John, and I actually think John would be the first one to agree with me.

I'll take the combination of "No Reply," "I'm A Loser," and "Baby's In Black" over most of John's ABBEY ROAD side two anyday.

Your points are all well taken and I even agree with you to a point.  You probably know your Beatles and I believe I do as well.  I can just hear John “Crap, look at what Paul’s done.  I don’t even want to be a part of this anymore, but I better come up with something or Paul will get all the credit.”    

But, when it comes to music, emotion plays a big part.  And for some reason I cannot even explain to myself (like I cannot explain to myself why I like the Stooges better in Black & White than in color), the entire effect of Abbey Road Side 2 is just plain ear candy to me.  Despite the fact that John’s songs are just OK, they are lifted up by what surrounds them.  They are part of a whole and they benefit from it.  From your perspective, I can see that does not work for you.  And that’s OK because music affects everybody differently.      

Jeff beck, Larry Carlton, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, all better guitarists than George, John or Paul.  But the guitar solos played by all three of them in The End are in such good taste, have great tonal effects on them, and are well played to the point I can listen to their solos in The End as much as most solos by any of the above mentioned better guitarists.

I also have to mention that your combination "No Reply," "I'm A Loser," and "Baby's In Black" is one of my favorites as well.  “I’m a Loser” is I believe one of John’s best from their early period, or actually any period.  It is a great song with a great Harrison solo.  I was happy to see a You Tube of them playing that song live and Harrison actually did a good job of it live, something that in my view he did not always do with his live guitar solos.

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

I'm a fan of some Beatles material, i.e., most of the later stuff. I'm not familiar with most of their early catalog.

My favorite album is THE WHITE ALBUM. I even like "Revolution 9"; it makes for such an effective "nightmare" between the haunting lullaby of "Cry Baby Cry" and the schmaltzily reassuring "Good Night" (one of the few songs that none of them but Ringo could have pulled off!).

I was in college when Lennon was shot. The next day at school I ran into a Beatles-fan friend (who even wore Lennon-type glasses). He simply said "I'm Down" and walked away.

[shemps#1]

1. White Album
2. Revolver
3. Sgt. Pepper
4. Abbey Road
5. Rubber Soul
6. Magical Mystery Tour
7. Let It Be
8. Help!
9. A Hard Day's Night
10. With The Beatles
11. Beatles For Sale
12. Please Please Me

I know Let It Be was the Spector album, but it was still better than any of the early mop-top stuff IMO. With tracks like the title track and Across The Universe I think it gets a bum rap. I found it extremely difficult to rank the top 4, as any of them could have been my #1, but I like this list for now.

[metaldams]

I know Let It Be was the Spector album, but it was still better than any of the early mop-top stuff IMO. With tracks like the title track and Across The Universe I think it gets a bum rap. I found it extremely difficult to rank the top 4, as any of them could have been my #1, but I like this list for now.

LET IT BE is a good album, and there's nothing I particularly dislike on it, but at as an album statement, the whole things feels disjointed.  Some live, some studio, a few throwaway snippets...I think the songs work better individually than as a whole. 

Interestingly, I own three versions of this album.  The original, LET IT BE NAKED, and the bootlegged Geoff Emerick version the band rejected, which I received as a gift years ago.

[shemps#1]

To play Devil's Advocate here, aren't all those mop top albums disjointed adventures? You've got to remember that back in those days the singles were far more important than the albums.

[metaldams]

To play Devil's Advocate here, aren't all those mop top albums disjointed adventures? You've got to remember that back in those days the singles were far more important than the albums.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is pretty cohesive.  In my opinion, all the songs are good to great and the energy is still there because they weren't worn down by Beatlemania yet.  This is also the first rock album to my knowledge where a rock band (I said band, so this leaves out Dylan) composed every track on the album, which gives AHDN a more cohesive feel than the other pre-RUBBER SOUL albums.  The Rolling Stones and The Kinks didn't make their first fully self-composed albums until 1966, so The Beatles were way ahead of their time.

The other pre-RUBBER SOUL albums, while good, are indeed disjointed.  The only reason why I ranked BEATLES FOR SALE ahead of LET IT BE is because I love those first three songs (and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party") so much.  Deep down, I know LET IT BE is a better album.

[stooged and confused]

To play Devil's Advocate here, aren't all those mop top albums disjointed adventures? You've got to remember that back in those days the singles were far more important than the albums.

Back when these albums were made, thought was not given to cohesive projects. In America, LP's were nothing more than a showcase for the singles and the rest was filler. In England, the LP format sold far less than in the States. In the case of The Beatles, the LP's in Britain did NOT contain singles (The Beatles didn't want their fans to have to fork over cash twice for the same product, can you imagine that happening now!?). Any song released in the UK as a single didn't appear on the UK albums.

Granted, some songs during this period were not the strongest material ( There's A Place, Don't Bother Me), but a song like "All My Loving" had number one stamped all over it and was only available as a track on the WITH THE BEATLES album in the UK or the American counter part, MEET THE BEATLES. Another great track, "I Should Have Known Better" from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, follows the same fate.

By the time RUBBER SOUL came out, The Beatles were, indeed, the first pop/rock band to release a full album of material that didn't showcase singles with filler tracks. In fact, none of the tracks on RUBBER SOUL were issued as singles in the UK or the US(and the same went for the Sgt. Pepper album)! When The Beatles met Dylan, he told them that he thought they were great, but they didn't SAY anything. This shook Lennon particularly, so his songs were more introspective (or Dylanesque) on this disc. The competition between Lennon and McCartney at this point was infectious, which more than likely was the catalyst for Paul to come up with "Yesterday".

[stooged and confused]

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is pretty cohesive.  In my opinion, all the songs are good to great and the energy is still there because they weren't worn down by Beatlemania yet.  This is also the first rock album to my knowledge where a rock band (I said band, so this leaves out Dylan) composed every track on the album, which gives AHDN a more cohesive feel than the other pre-RUBBER SOUL albums.  The Rolling Stones and The Kinks didn't make their first fully self-composed albums until 1966, so The Beatles were way ahead of their time.

The other pre-RUBBER SOUL albums, while good, are indeed disjointed.  The only reason why I ranked BEATLES FOR SALE ahead of LET IT BE is because I love those first three songs (and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party") so much.  Deep down, I know LET IT BE is a better album.

I couldn't agree more! A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was the perfect LP for Beatlemania in 1964...the energy, the palyfulness, the originality, and their growth as songwriters were all captured on this disc. The best of the titles before their songs matured into deeper subjects beyond standard pop fare. Once again, they set the trend and raised the bar with great pop songs and top notch LP's like this and a new direction beginning with RUBBER SOUL.

[falsealarms]

Call me crazy, but from top to bottom, my favorite Beatles album is Help! Other albums may have individual songs I like more, but in terms of consistency, it's Help! for me. The hit/miss ratio skews much more towards hit, at least for me.

Thanks in large part to For No One and Here, There, and Everywhere... Revolver probably comes in 2nd.

[metaldams]

Call me crazy, but from top to bottom, my favorite Beatles album is Help! Other albums may have individual songs I like more, but in terms of consistency, it's Help! for me. The hit/miss ratio skews much more towards hit, at least for me.

Thanks in large part to For No One and Here, There, and Everywhere... Revolver probably comes in 2nd.

No way. 

HELP! has some great songs on it.  I like the seven songs on the movie side, but the non movie side, with the exceptions of "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Yesterday," are weak by Beatle standards.  "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" is one of the weaker rock tunes the Beatles do (too straight, no swing), "You Like Me Too Much" and "Tell Me What You See" drag on, and "Act Naturally" is a novelty.

Still a good album, but not even close to the best.

[falsealarms]

All the albums are on YouTube to stream. I can't believe they're still up there -- have been for months. Maybe they're put up officially, but I highly doubt that.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lennmccaharrstarr

[falsealarms]

Ha, after about 7 months that person who posted all the Beatles remasters on YouTube got his account suspended.

[archiezappa]

"A Hard Day's Night" was the best album they made in their early years.

My other favorites are "Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper" and "The White Album."

"Abbey Road" took a while to grow on me.  I originally didn't like it at all.  But I like it better as I've gotten older.

"Help!" is good, but not their best.  Although, I really do like "Dizzy Miss Lizzie," but that may be because it reminds me of a girl I went to school with named (you guessed it) Lizzie.  But, I digress...

[mankey8284]

I am a HUGE Beatle fan, I've liked them for a few years now. My parents are big fans and all they play on the radio and in the car is Beatles lol