Recently the world’s biggest band ever, The Beatles, continued to add to their extensive legacy and made history with the release of a new single. After 57 years they decided to release a new song titled “Now and Then,” a track recorded in 1966 that was never made available to the public. In celebration of this milestone, I decided that there was no better way to honor The Beatles legacy than by ranking their extensive studio album collection from best to worst, and highlighting the essential tracks that any Beatles fan needs to hear.
The Rankings
- Beatles for Sale was the fourth album released by the band in 1964, and it is known for tracks like “I’ll Follow the Sun” and “Eight Days a Week.” I think this album shows The Beatles at their worst, making far too many bland and mediorace doo wop and cover songs that leave the album feeling like it is missing that singnature Beatles flair.
Essential Track: “I’ll Follow the sun”
- Yellow submarine was the tenth album released by The Beatles in 1969 and it only featured six songs that were the soundtrack to their movie on the same name.This album was destined for disaster as the band admitted that any time someone would make a song the band didn’t really care for, they would send it to the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Even though this album is The Beatles at their worst, it is still a fun time. The original tracks like “Hey Bulldog” are a real highlight to the film, but the album is dragged down from half of it being just the score for the movie rather than genuine music the band felt passionate about.
Essential Track: “Hey Bulldog”
- With The Beatles is the band’s second album, released in 1963. This is the first album on the list that I would find myself actually listening to. With The Beatles is an interesting case of a Beatles album because they made it mostly filled with covers, but they still have a unique charm which is shown in songs like “Hey Mr. Postman” and “I won’t be long.” These are some good songs, and all of the original tracks on this album are Beatles classics.
Essential Track: “I Won’t Be Long”
- Please Please Me is the first ever Beatles album, released in 1963. This album was made in one day, but it is hard to tell when listening to the tracks as they seem very fleshed out. This album proved to everyone that The Beatles are here to stay with some of their biggest songs like “Love Me Do”, “Twist and Shout” , and “I Saw Her Standing There.” These are some timeless songs and were essential in making The Beatles into a household name and triggering Beatles Mania, but that being said, many other songs on this album show their age with poor mixing and very average melodies and instrumentals. For these reasons it has to stay at 10, despite being the record that ignited it all.
Essential Tracks: “Twist and Shout” and “Love Me Do”
- A Hard Day’s Night was the third Beatles album released in 1964. This is the first ever movie album that The Beatles would make, but it being made to accompany a movie didn’t lower the quality of it at all. It includes some amazing and fun songs like “ A Hard Day’s Night”, “I Love Her”, and “Can’t Buy Me Love.” This album is amazing from start to finish, and the only real downside is that the album is particularly short, featuring three different themes and only 11 songs in total.
Essential Tracks: “A Hard Day’s Night,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love”
- Help! is The Beatles fifth studio album, released in 1965. This is another movie album, and it has one of the strongest starts of any Beatle album. It begins with the title song “Help!” getting listeners pumped and ready to go, then side one ends with “Ticket to Ride,” another amazing song by the band. In fact all of side one is worth writing home about; it’s just hit after hit. Side 2 is where the album takes a turn with some lackluster songs, such as “Act Naturally” and “Only Love,” which just feel like filler songs for the album. Almost every downside to Help! is forgiven with “Yesterday” which is one of the best songs The Beatles ever wrote. Its soft, nice melody and meaningful lyrics make it a timeless classic and I think this overall album is classic too.
Essential Tracks: “Yesterday” and “Help!”
- Magical Mystery Tour was released by The Beatles in 1967 as a double EP, and is an often overlooked Beatles record. This record accompanied the Magical Mystery Tour movie, and it has some very good songs, including one of their most famous ever with the inclusion of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” It also has many other famous singles like “ Penny Lane”, “I am the Walrus,” and “ Baby, You’re a Rich Man.” Even the songs that weren’t famous like “Blue Jay Way” are still good songs. The only downside of the album musically is the song “Flying,” which is one of the band’s least popular tracks. Another issue for the album as a whole is that the movie it is attached to isn’t very good, which dampens the way modern audiences view it. Overall, I think this album needs to be a bigger part of the conversation about what albums have made The Beatles great.
Essential Tracks: “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny lane”
- Rubber Soul was the sixth album by The Beatles, released in 1965. “ Positioning Rubber Soul as the sixth best album is probably my most controversial opinion on this list, as many people consider it a top three all-time Beatles album. I rank it lower than most Beatles fans because, while I think the album is great, it has some flaws like the song “Run For Your Life” which is the final song on the record, and leaves the listener with a closure to the album that just leaves a sour taste in my mouth because of the songs outdated and sexist lyrics. Another criticism is that many songs on this album drone on for too long. That being said, Rubber Soul is still ranked quite high for a reason, as it has many songs that I would say are a classic, such as “Michelle,” ”Girl,” ”Drive My Car,”, and “Nowhere Man.” Those are more classic songs than most bands will write in their entire career, but The Beatles managed to squeeze them into one album, which is just one of the many reasons they’re the greatest band of all time.
Essential Tracks: “Michelle” and “Girl”
- The Beatles (The White Album) is the ninth studio album, released in 1968. Some Beatles fans might stay it is blasphemy placing the White Album this high, as some believe it has some of the worst Beatles songs on it. While I agree that songs like “Wild Honey Pie” and “Revolution 9” do bring this album down, it also boasts some of the best Beatles songs ever written. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is in contention as one of the best songs ever written by anyone, with its amazing guitar, vocals, and haunting solo at the end performed by one of the best guitarists to ever live, Eric Calpton. The record also features songs like “Julia,” which is a beautiful track that is deeply personal from John Lennon as the song is about his dead mother. The song is just him and his acoustic guitar, and I think it is the best acoustic track ever produced by The Beatles. The White Album is an absolute peak for John Lennon, and Paul McCartney isn’t far behind, with songs like “I will” which has an interesting bass line with it being simply Paul’s voice and no instrument. All of his songs on this album are some nice little restful songs that compliment Lennon’s contributions well. They all have a folk feel to them, which I like a lot, which is why this album lands in the number five spot for me personally.
Essential Tracks: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Julia”
- Let it be is the 12th studio album from the band, released in 1970.This record is the last ever made by The Beatles, and is the topic of two important documentaries Let It Be and Get Back. Both show The Beatles making this album and the internal conflicts the band endured with making it, but you wouldn’t be able to tell because this album is one of the best of The Beatles with songs like “Let It Be,” ” Across the Universe,” “Get Back,” and “The Long and Winding Road.” While these are the hits of the album, the other songs are also on the same level of quality. The album is often considered by critics to be overproduced, but I think it works on most of the songs, and I think it increases the quality of the record overall, which adds to its argument as one of the all time great albums.
Essential Tracks: “Across the Universe” and “Let It Be”
- Abbey Road is the 11th studio album by The Beatles, released in 1970. This is considered by many to be the best Beatles album, and it is easy to see why. This album has a bunch of the classics like “Here Come the Sun,” “Come Together,” “Something” and many more. It also has the famous Beatle Melody, which is 20 minutes of continuous songs flowing one after the other that makes up the bulk of side 2 of this extremely famous album. This comes together to make the perfect ending to what many believe is their most important work.
Essential Tracks: “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”
- Revolver is the seventh studio album, released by The Beatles in 1966. Revolver and Abbey Road change spots everyday in my mind, but as of today I am more of a fan of Revolver, due to its amazing songs like “Tax-Man,” and “For No One,” which I think is probably the best song they ever made, with its hauntingly beautiful lyrics and sound. Also it is one of the first Beatles albums where they ventured more into rock and experimental music. Some of their more psychedelic influences started here, which really set them apart from other artists at the time.
Essential Tracks: “For No One” and “Tax-Man”
1.Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the band’s eighth album, released in 1967. This in my opinion the best Beatles album because it is one of the most influential albums of all time, as it is the first ever concept album ever recorded. The Beatles came into their own with this masterpiece, nailing down their own original sound. The album features amazing song after amazing song, and then the finale of the record is “A Day In the Life.” This is considered one of the best songs of all time according to many music critics and I wholeheartedly agree. The track ping-pongs between melancholy vocals from John and a more up-beat melody Paul, before erupting in a giant ending with all the instruments coming to a stop and ringing out together. This song alone makes the album worth listening to, but it is filled with other iconic Beatles tracks, such as “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” and “A Day in the Life.” All together, it makes this a timeless classic and one of the best concept albums of all time, and for that reason, it has to top the list of the best albums ever produced by the greatest band of all time.
Essential Tracks: “A Day in the Life” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
