I obviously love lists and rankings. I think what makes this different is that I will strictly be doing full bodies of work. I would like to rank every film by a director or every album by a musician, etc.
What to like about this is that the blog will be more consistent. There will be at least a hint of incentive to come back every so often. It will still be my personal blog and updates on what's going on with me will still appear from time to time. I just feel like it would be pointless to continue the blog as it's been. Not every list I put up here will HAVE to fit this, but it will be clear when I post it that it's different. For instance, the 2008 movie list. By the way, there have been very few additions to that list.
Anyways, to start things off, here's every Beatles album ranked by me!
If you've been following my Twitter you know I've been listening to the 13 albums by The Beatles in chronological order. I'm not trying to make some great original Beatles statements beyond sharing my opinions. Feel free to comment to harass me about this.
1.) The White Album - Most of the songs on this album hold up as well as some of the better songs on Revolver. I think those who just absolutely love the Beatles tend to prefer this album. It's not that it, as a unit, is better than, say, the next three albums, but MORE Beatles is just undeniably a good thing. The only 2-disc release by The Beatles, The White Album is incredible in scope and there's just so much to like. The Beatles were at odds with one another during its making but in no way does it suffer from this. Instead it seems to me like they are trying to one-up one another. Genius + Competition = Wow. This album isn't perfect, but it is the best.
2.) Abbey Road - What a beautiful piece of work from start to finish. This, to me, is your prototypical album. Much like The White Album, this one has just about perfect track sequencing. I know I'm just repeating what everyone has said about this, but I just can't imagine a better note to go out on than this. The perfect end to any career, especially the so-called greatest band ever.
3.) Magical Mystery Tour - This isn't an official Beatles studio album in that some of the songs were not recorded with the purpose of ending up on it but it's better than some that are. It is, in fact, the better SOUNDING album of this mini-era (see: better than Sgt. Pepper). It maybe wasn't as culturally as important as Sgt. Pepper but it sounds like everything I want a 1967 album to sound like.
4.) Revolver/Rubber Soul (tie) - I can't decide which one of these two I like more. As an album, Rubber Soul is wildly better. But the sum of Revolver's parts is greater than those of Rubber Soul. Revolver has some absolutely astounding songs that still hold up today. In between these song
s are punch bowl turds like McCartney's "Here There And Everywhere." This song wouldn't be so bad if it was on a different album, but man is it terrible on this. Plus I never really got in to Eleanor Rigby like others did. Rubber Soul meanwhile has a more cohesive, consistent sound with the epic song Norwegian Wood and some great songs that show the Beatles transitioning from poppish to original rock. It kind of reminds me of Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home as he was switching from Folk to Rock.
6.) Yellow Submarine - Just to clarify, this is the songtrack, not the soundtrack. The original soundtrack had about 6 songs from the movie and the rest was just exerpts of the score. This is kind of a stretch for this list, but the majority of these songs were clearly written with the purpose of being together (unlike, say, the Past Masters releases). Anyways, it's like a who's who of underrated Beatles songs on this one. It takes the better parts of Sgt. Pepper, throws in a few other hits and then it's just underrated great rockers with great sequencing. Not a real album, I admit, but worthy of being ranked here.
7.) Help! - Underrated much? Wow, what a fun album. Nevermind that it has "Yesterday" on it, there's so much Rubber Soul in this album it's unbelievable. Rubber Soul got the cooler cover and a more cohesive sound but the sense of humor and energy and just sound in general are very similar. Just as Rubber Soul is Dylan's "Bringing It..." this is Dylan's "Another Side."
8.) Let It Be - I think this album suffers from the same things that Revolver does. It's got some of the band's greatest songs ever but it's filled with ballad-y crap that doesn't work. I love the way Spector let the Beatles sense of humor seep through in this album. If the list was based strictly on "number of epic songs" then this would be in the top 5, but it just doesn't have an overall feel to put it higher than here.
9.) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Yeah, I know. It's not that I dislike this album, it's just... it doesn't keep my interest from "Lucy" until "Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)." Lovely Rita and Good Morning are decent songs, but really the rest just BORES me. I see what they're doing, I appreciate it, I love the cover art, love some of the songs, especially A Day In The Life, but man, ugh, so bland in the middle.
10.) Beatles For Sale - From start to The White Album, with the exception of Sgt. Pepper, it seems to me like every Beatles album was better than the one before it. Beatles For Sale maybe isn't regarded as one of the better albums or even necessarily as better than its three predecessors but it really is great. I guess as I have grown to love garage rock bands like "The Sonics" I have come to appreciate this era of The Beatles more and more. They were doing less of the sappy covers and more of the rockers and originals.
11.) A Hard Day's Night - The band takes a clear step-up from its first two albums with this, a release to promote the movie of the same name. The movie is the most joyous and wonderful music film ever made and the soundtrack gets bonus points for reminding one of the movie while including a lot of the same attitude the band took on Beatles For Sale.
12.) With The Beatles - The good songs on this album are just as good as the good songs on the one that came before it and after it. What makes it better than Please Please Me is that its sappy covers are better songs. What makes it worse than A Hard Day's Night is that it has these sappy covers to begin with.
13.) Please Please Me - Let me say that if this is your worst album, your band is pretty damned good. There are some absolutely epic songs on this thing it's just that there are a lot of sappy covers that do nothing for me... or anyone else for that matter.So that about does it, be sure and sound off in the comments if you agree or disagree. Coming soon: Ranking the films of Stanley Kubrick (yes, I've seen them all and am rewatching them now), album rankings of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and anything else I can get my hands on. Feel free also to suggest lists for the future.
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