Entertainment & Media

The Beatles are the Best Band: A Look at All Their Albums

Olivier Therien

If there was a term that meant the opposite of a one-hit wonder, The Beatles would undoubtedly be the first band worthy of the title. They have so many fantastic songs that shaped multiple generations of music, recruited hundreds of millions of fans, and changed what it meant to be a band. But it’s not like this is breaking news to anyone who knows anything about rock. Or pop. Or music. Today, I just wanted to look back at the albums. The Beatles were not only famous for their quality of music, but also for the quantity of music they were able to produce in seven years. There were thirteen Beatles albums, meaning they made an album almost every six months. Due to the sheer amount of content that they put out in such a short amount of time, it’s fair to say that a lot of their albums flew under the radar when they were first released. 

13. Yeah… Yellow Submarine has to be the worst Beatles album. There’s really only two great songs in the whole thing: “All You Need is Love” and “Hey Bulldog”. Both of them closely resemble the amazing hits the Beatles had produced years prior. But the titular “Yellow Submarine”? Absolute garbage. If you consider yourself a Beatles fan and you think that this is the best one… you clearly haven’t listened to any other album. “Pepperland”? “Sea of Time”? “Sea of Holes”? Their names alone turn me off and the songs themselves do little to make up for them. I hate starting this article on such a sour note, so let’s just move on. 

12. A Hard Day’s Night… kind of let me down. I mean, it’s still a Beatles album, so it’s not bad. However, this album is undoubtedly the most boy band-like the Bealtes ever got. When I listen to most of the songs on this album, it’s difficult not to imagine a bunch of screaming teenagers, especially with songs like “Tell Me Why”. That has to be one of the most stereotypical boy band hits I have ever heard. So, when looking at all the Beatles albums side by side, this one was put here by default. Honestly, I don’t care for it that much.

11. Compared to everything the Beatles would come to create, their first album, Please Please Me, is quite an outlier. Today, it sounds like a pretty generic 60s greatest hits medley, but it's definitely one of the best that came out during that time. The melodies that came from this album were often fantastic, but they were missing the interesting experimentation the band would later be known for. It just contains the amazing charm that the Beatles always had. To me, the highlights are “Love me Do” and “Boys”. “Love Me Do’s” bridge still influences blues and pop music made today, and Ringo Starr’s vocal take in “Boys” is as explosive as it is iconic. Surprisingly, it’s the best in the album. Some other notable hits from this album include “Please Please Me”, “Baby It’s You”, and “I Saw Her Standing There”, all of which are simplistically beautiful. 

10. What I’ve found after listening to a lot of these albums is that many of them can be lumped together, especially the earlier ones. With the Beatles came out right after Please Please Me, and they are pretty comparable as a result. The only difference to me is that the songs in this album are just… better. “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “All I’ve Got to Do” are really the only underrated ones here, but the most famous song in this album is definitely “All My Loving”. Even though the Beatles are not usually the best lyricists, that song is definitely an exception. The smooth voice of Paul McCartney comes through really well in that tune. These songs were really great for their performing potential, but they aren’t really that special compared to the band's later output. 

9. Beatles for Sale didn’t seem to leave much of an impact, which is surprising because it’s better than a lot of the Beatles’ earlier output. I guess by this point even the band’s die-hard fans were starting to grow tired of their great melodies, and they hadn’t done anything particularly unique yet. Still, while the album isn’t talked about often, “No Reply” and “Eight Days a Week” are some of the best songs of that genre that they put out. I love how energetic the whole album is, and unlike the album Hard Days Night, there’s something in the instrumentation that is so unique without being trite.

8. The album before Rubber Soul, Help! includes quite possibly the most iconic songs in the Beatles’ discography, besides Abbey Road. Obviously. The songs, however, are not as interesting, and it’s pretty apparent that the Beatles were just getting started with their experimentation. They were trying to move away from performing at this time, and they were therefore less worried about getting perfect live takes. "I’ve Just Seen a Face, for example", has so many difficult syllables that I feel like it must have taken them forever to get a take as good as it was on the album. 

7. The Beatles, or “the white album”, as it's commonly known as, is a monstrous thirty songs long! That’s like watching a six-hour movie! Still, it’s hard to deny what a lasting impact a lot of these songs had on the rest of the world. In many ways, these songs foreshadowed the Beatles’ next two albums, Yellow Submarine and Abbey Road. Half of them are weird, less-than-a-minute-long “songs” like those that would be found all over the Yellow Submarine album, and the other half are fantastic, Abbey Road precursors. This is especially true for the best song of this album, “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. This style of a song—having three different parts and naturally combining the three of them together—would later return in the style of “You Never Give Me Your Money”, and would be the inspiration for the song “Overture Piccante” by Freddie Mercury, the best song of all time. 

6. This is probably the least controversial placement on this list, as Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band isn’t really considered to be one of the Beatles’ best, nor one of their worst. However, because they’re such a fantastic band, this is still an awesome album. It’s kind of akin to Magical Mystery Tour, in that the songs are supposed to be listened to in order on the album first, and then listened to individually after. This connectivity in albums was very popular, because it made the albums feel less like conventional music and more like a headlining experience. This is the same reason that the album The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is so universally beloved. 

5. Everytime I list anything, there’s always a placement that surprises me by being way higher than I expected. For this list, I was not expecting to put Magical Mystery Tour so high, probably because it was the album I was most unfamiliar with. Looking back at some of the songs from this album, it’s abundantly clear that I took way too long to check these songs out. “The Fool on the Hill” was always a song that I was aware of, but I had never properly listened to it. Now that I have, it’s beautifully uncomfortable. “Strawberry Fields Forever” has such a hypnotic sound to it that I’m immediately drawn to. This is a case where the strange overdubbed vocal take actually works for the tone of the song, unlike in something like “I’m Only Sleeping”. Plus, the synthesizer part is iconic. The only dud in this album is “Baby, You're a Rich Man”, only because there’s too much happening. However, once you peel back the layers, the melodies are still pretty good. Other songs, like “Penny Lane” and “I am the Walrus”, are fantastic and underrated as well. 

4. Is there a more iconic album cover than Abbey Road? I mean, even Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon isn’t quite as famous. Oh, and this album is also amazing. As if that needs to be said. This marks the period after the Beatles’ weird drugged songs, where their songwriting started to become a lot more grounded and normal. Even though music itself hadn’t changed that much in the time they were together, the band itself changed every year it was together. I suppose that’s how they were able to affect so many different genres of music. They definitely weren’t completely finished with their strange output— the last song on this album was 25 seconds long—but compared to their last album (Yellow Submarine), this album marks quite a drastic change. The Beatles had kind of returned to their Revolver/Rubber Soul mentality of creating songs with a touch of strangeness while retaining the fantastic melodies. There’s a great balance between songs that are meant to be live, and songs that can only be made in a studio, which makes this album so diverse. Also, can you believe that "Octopus's Garden" is on this one and not Yellow Submarine?

3. I had a really tough time deciding between Let it Be and Abbey Road, but in the end, I decided that there were a few more forgettable songs in the Abbey Road album. So, by a hair, Let it Be beats it. Even though the first song, “Two of Us”, is kind of weak, the album grows in beauty the more you go down the list, which is rare for a Beatles album. The second song, “Dig a Pony”, is one of their best. Not only does it combine a great guitar riff and an energetic vocal take, but it’s about digging a pony. That is objectively genius. “The Long and Winding Road” is another fantastic hit that single-handedly proves that George Harrison is just as good of a songwriter as John and Paul (not that I needed confirmation). I also really like “Across the Universe”. Sure, it’s not the most hyperactive song that they made, but it’s really beautiful and the background vocals add a pristine tone they had never attempted before. 

2. Now we get to the top two: Revolver and Rubber Soul. Beatles fans across the world argue every day about which one is better. Me? I like Rubber Soul the best. However, Revolver is almost just as good. The thing is, both of these albums contain the best combination of great melodies and fun experimentation. That classic sound is what makes songs on this album like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Got to Get You Into My Life” some of the Beatles’ best songs. Other Revolver tunes, like “Good Day Sunshine” and “Here There and Everywhere” (probably my favorite Beatles song), experiment much more with chromatic guitar lines and interesting time signatures. I love how these songs break the mold with risky oddball ideas that almost always pan out. Almost. Occasionally this album does dip its toes into the bad side with annoyances in “I’m Only Sleeping” and “Doctor Robert”. “I’m Only Sleeping”’s vocal take is not for me. In many ways, these discrepancies were a hint as to what was to come in the Beatles’ later drug-infused albums. For now, at least, the drugs gave them a unique sound that was interesting without being insufferable. 

1: Yes, Rubber Soul is the Beatles best album, despite what SOME people have to say (I’m looking at you, fellow writer and professional tall guy Isaac). The Beatles were at their best when they made this album, and that shows in the fantastic melodies that they had with every one of their songs. “Girl” and “Michelle” leave such a lasting impact, not because these are the most produced songs, but because the melodies are just that outstanding. A lot of this album’s success is due to the number of songs that are one hundred percent reliant on the melodies, and nothing else. At their core, many Rubber Soul songs are just three or four instruments with a singer on top, rather than something that’s extremely produced and complex. From a musical perspective, that’s difficult to do well. Other songs, like “Drive My Car” and “Wait”, have so many interesting ideas incorporated into them that are impossible to notice on a first listen. Simply counting “Drive My Car”’s opening riff in four-four or trying to hear what the drums do in “Wait” seems impossible. Overall, this album has too many fantastic songs to count, and it is without a doubt my favorite of the Beatles’ impressive discography. 

I think what I’ve learned from ranking their albums is just what a consistent band the Beatles were, and how they were able to rip through so many genres. They were open to change while always maintaining their incredible melodies. This band seemed to have incredible melodies pour out of them at all times. Anyway, I’ve been geeking out about this band for about eleven hours, so I should probably end here. Here’s to the best band of all time.

Listening To A New Album Every Month: Indie Rock

Samantha Smith

The Songs: 

“Spiderhead”

After finishing the song, what stuck with me was how surprised I was when there was no bridge. I’m so used to songs having one, but Cage the Elephant  they switched it up and didn’t include one, and wisely so because they didn’t need one. I didn’t notice the absence of the bridge until the end because of how well the song flowed and kept consistency. It's a great, upbeat song that makes you want to get up and move. I’m already pulled into the sound of this album and hope they keep the summer vibe that's going on. 

“Come a Little Closer”

This song has a brilliant chorus and great-sounding verses. I love how they edit the lead singer's voice to sound like it's coming through a radio during the verses and then break out of it when the chorus comes. Then the bridge. The bridge. It was so good, and fits so well with the song. The composition and lyrics are well written and meaningful. It's easily my favorite part of the song and the part where his voice and the music slowly get louder gives me goosebumps. I already have a feeling that this will be my favorite song off the album. 

“Telescope”

This song keeps the album's vibe consistent, which is rare for a lot of albums. Cage The Elephant wrote yet another  catchy and melodic chorus. What I love about Cage The Elephant is how they can create an album with a certain feeling or vibe but not make every song sound the same to the point where it's repetitive. This song is a perfect example of that—I still get that summer energy from the song but it's still different from the previous track. Right now Cage The Elephant is on a streak because so far, I've loved the past three songs and they're already my favorites.

“It's Just Forever (feat. Alison Mosshart)"

The beginning of the song gives me huge old-school surfer vibes, with guitar riffs that sound like the Beach Boys. I like how they're switching it up with a song that is extremely different from the tracks I've heard so far, and the gravelly cracked voice from the lead singer works great with this particular melody. With a very cool chorus and radio voice-sounding verses, this song is definitely a good listen.

“Take It Or Leave It”

As much as I liked the uniqueness of the last song because of the difference in the lead singer's voice, I did miss the usual voice that he does, so I'm glad they went back to that. More good vibes from the album and another great chorus. This isn’t some show-stopping memorable song like some of the others, but it's still a fun and relaxing listen and reminds me of summer.

“Halo”

Another perfect summer vibes song with a great guitar riff. I love the part where he cracks his voice up for “I've said it before, and I'll say it again”, it sounds so cool and adds that extra “spice” to the song. I love the concept of the lyrics with how he “lost his halo”. Definitely a top 5 song on the album, I love everything about this song. 

“Black Widow”

Sadly, I'm not a huge fan of this song. I normally like the unique effects the lead singer puts on his voice in certain parts of their songs, but for some reason when he does it in this song, it doesn't sound as good and the song sounds off pitch and off beat. The background instruments and music just don’t fit with the singing in my opinion and possibly would have been better if they either changed the guitar riffs or the rhythm of the lyrics.

“Hypocrite”

This song’s quite a big change from the previous tracks and it has a much calmer tone. I’m glad they did that though because it's always good to switch it up sometime during your album so you're not continuously repeating the same similar rhythms and sounds. While I prefer their more upbeat songs most of the time, this one is very pretty in a way and still maintains the summer feeling.

“Teeth”

Another big change, this song swings into a more metal-ish sound. As per usual, I love the radio voice they did with the singer's voice, and the song is giving me late 90s/2000s rock vibes. The guitar riff is very similar to The Clash song “London Calling”, and I'm a huge Clash fan so that's probably why I’m enjoying the guitar in this song. 

In an interview lead singer Matt Shutz said, “My friend said that I should stop writing lyrics for the sake of poetry, and I should just write lyrics the way that I speak because that's what's poetic." I love that advice because songwriters should always try new things and see what happens when they break their writing pattern, since it may even be better than what they originally have been coming up with.

“Cigarette Daydreams”

This is the iconic song that introduced me to this band, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's one of my favorite choruses of all time with the perfect lyrics, melody, and voice. Instead of writing a bridge with totally new lyrics, they simply slowed down the chorus and had the lead singer lower his voice which I think was a genius decision. The pretty guitar riff combined with the calm, yet upbeat, flowy lyrics makes this the perfect summer song that never fails to put me in a good mood.

My Thoughts On The Album:

As I said multiple times in my reviews of the songs, this album has the perfect summer vibes to it. Playing this album during car rides on the Cape is a total mood booster and has almost no skips. Almost every track is extremely catchy with great guitar riffs and vocal changes that create a unique sound for the band that separates it from others. I definitely recommend that you give the album a listen if you're a fan of summery-indie rock music!