Wednesday, September 9, 2009

My Favorite Beatles Albums and Songs

The past few weeks have brought a kind of second coming of Beatlemania. They never really lost their popularity, but the remasters and Rock Band have put The Beatles in the spotlight again. (They even made the cover of Entertainment Weekly.) So I'm giving you my list of favorite Beatles albums (all the studio albums ranked by favorite from 1 to 12) and songs (a top 45.)

You may not like to admit it, but The Beatles are one of (if not the) best and most innovative rock bands ever. They have altered the course of modern pop and rock n' roll, and they continue to be hugely influential to all music. During their early years, they churned out perfect pop hit after hit, setting a precedent for guitar pop for decades to come. In their later period, they balanced the delicate worlds of art and pop better than any other band or artist before or since. They experimented wildly, made intense innovations in the studio, and pumped out brilliant albums pretty much every year (and sometimes twice a year.) Their work was consistently amazing; every single one of their studio albums is worth owning and cherishing. They may not be your favorite band (I wouldn't call them my favorite), but, without a doubt, The Beatles are the world's biggest and most important rock band ever.

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

Songs (Album)
1. Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver)
2. Eleanor Rigby (Revolver)
3. I Am The Walrus (Magical Mystery Tour)
4. A Day In The Life (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
5. Strawberry Fields Forever (Magical Mystery Tour)
7. Love You To (Revolver)
8. Across The Universe (Let It Be)
9. Happiness Is A Warm Gun (The Beatles)

10. Twist and Shout (Please Please Me)
11. A Hard Day's Night (A Hard Day's Night)
12. Hello Goodbye (Magical Mystery Tour)
14. Blackbird (The Beatles)
16. Something (Abbey Road)
17. Lady Madonna (Single)
18. All You Need Is Love (Magical Mystery Tour)

19. Julia (The Beatles)
20. Help! (Help!)
21. She Loves You (Single)
22. Taxman (Revolver)
23. Come Together (Abbey Road)
24. Martha My Dear (The Beatles)
25. I Should Have Known Better (A Hard Day's Night)
26. I'm Only Sleeping (Revolver)

29. Penny Lane (Magical Mystery Tour)
30. Savoy Truffle (The Beatles)
31. Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Abbey Road)
32. I Will (The Beatles)
33. Can't Buy Me Love (A Hard Day's Night)
34. Blue Jay Way (Magical Mystery Tour)
35. Eight Days A Week (Beatles For Sale)
36. I Saw Her Standing There (Please Please Me)

37. Revolution 9 (The Beatles)
39. Dear Prudence (The Beatles)
40. Ticket To Ride (Help!)
41. She Said She Said (Revolver)
42. If I Fell (A Hard Day's Night)
43. Dig A Pony (Let It Be)
44. Drive My Car (Rubber Soul)
45. Let It Be (Let It Be)

That's what I think. Sit back and enjoy these songs, even if you disagree about the order.

3 comments:

  1. i can't belieeeeve julia isn't #1!

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  2. also, you should do this with other classic bands that have released more than 5 (?) albums. and a choice that's a little less obvious...c'mon joe!

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  3. It's Beatles week. When the Kraftwerk box comes out in October, I'll do one for them. If, for some reason, Sonic Youth graces the cover of Entertainment Weekly and gets their own rock band, I'll do one for them. Don't worry.

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