Music: Beatles Survey- Favorite and Least Favorite Song from Each Album

[YoSoyLalo]

Totally different take on Harrison's top five Beatles songs:

If I Needed Someone
Love You To
Long, Long, Long
Within You, Without You
I Need You

Always forget If I Needed Someone is a George song.
That’s def in my top 5.

Blue Jay Way
Within You/Without You
Here Comes the Sun
I Me Mine

 

[Shareefruck]

Another random George one that I find oddly charming and affecting, despite not being fully realized in any form, is Sour Milk Sea.



I like it a lot more than Savoy Truffle, personally.

Yes!!! My work here is done. Very glad you enjoyed it.

Out of curiosity, which tracks from it would you consider strongest and that I should zero in on more? It is a bit of a tricky album to click with. I love the more accessible tracks like Party Seacombe and On the Bed, but I'm expecting some others to be growers.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Least favorite song on all Beatles albums: Maxwell's Silver Hammer. It's the anti-Annie Hall of Beatles songs.

 

[kihei]

I'm probably in the minority but I like the album Hard Day's Night the best.

It's right up there with me, too....though my top five Beatles albums can be virtually interchangeable at almost any time. Present inclinations:

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts...like an excellent collection of short stories)
2/3) A Hard Day's Night/Help (just so many great songs on both)
4/5) Rubber Soul/Revolver (toss a coin--a virtual tie)

Minority view, for sure: I have never been a big fan of The White Album and I think the Maxwell Silver Hammer/Oh, Darling/Octopus's Garden/She's So Heavy side of Abbey Road is the worst side they ever recorded.

 

[kihei]

Another random George one that I find oddly charming and affecting, despite not being fully realized in any form, is Sour Milk Sea.



I like it a lot more than Savoy Truffle, personally.

Love it.

 

[Eisen]

It's right up there with me, too....though my top five Beatles albums can be virtually interchangeable at almost any time. Present inclinations:

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts...like an excellent collection of short stories)
2/3) A Hard Day's Night/Help (just so many great songs on both)
4/5) Rubber Soul/Revolver (toss a coin--a virtual tie)

Minority view, for sure: I have never been a big fan of The White Album and I think the Maxwell Silver Hammer/Oh, Darling/Octopus's Garden/She's So Heavy side of Abbey Road is the worst side they ever recorded.

I see it very similar, switch the top two and that could be my list. I just think (for me at least) that there is not a single weak song on that album.
Agreed on the White Album as well. Just a very strange mix with some songs that completely miss my taste.

 

[Shareefruck]

I kind of have a weird take on the White Album. While I can somewhat buy into the whole "the sillier tracks fit the liberating attitude of the album" sentiment (more than I think the lighter songs have any place on any of the other albums, anyways), the tracks that hurt it for me seem to be different from what people complain about. I think stuff like Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Bungalow Bill, Piggies, Honey Pie/Wild Honey Pie, and Revolution 9 are perfectly fine in the context of the album, but Birthday and Why Don't We Do It On the Road completely ruin it for me.

 

[Langdon Alger]

It's right up there with me, too....though my top five Beatles albums can be virtually interchangeable at almost any time. Present inclinations:

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts...like an excellent collection of short stories)
2/3) A Hard Day's Night/Help (just so many great songs on both)
4/5) Rubber Soul/Revolver (toss a coin--a virtual tie)

Minority view, for sure: I have never been a big fan of The White Album and I think the Maxwell Silver Hammer/Oh, Darling/Octopus's Garden/She's So Heavy side of Abbey Road is the worst side they ever recorded.

How dare you speak that way about Octopus’s garden.

 

[montreal]

damn how could I forget Long, Long, Long as it's another great song from the White Album. I don't know all their albums as I only have a couple but I love the White album. Julia, I'm So Tired, I Will are songs that I just took to the first time hearing them. Plus you have Ringo ending it all with Goodnight, a perfect way to end the album.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

It's right up there with me, too....though my top five Beatles albums can be virtually interchangeable at almost any time. Present inclinations:

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts...like an excellent collection of short stories)
2/3) A Hard Day's Night/Help (just so many great songs on both)
4/5) Rubber Soul/Revolver (toss a coin--a virtual tie)

Minority view, for sure: I have never been a big fan of The White Album and I think the Maxwell Silver Hammer/Oh, Darling/Octopus's Garden/She's So Heavy side of Abbey Road is the worst side they ever recorded.

I’m similar as to the White Album. It has too many songs I’m not a fan of. I’ve always really liked a lot of their early stuff as well.

If I had to pick five, I’d go with these in order but I can’t decide between Help/Hard Days Night for the fifth:

1. Sgt. Peppers: I wore that one out when I first heard it. Just blew me away and it still does today. Hard to believe that they wrote Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane at the same time. George Martin said his biggest mistake was not including those two songs on Pepper. That would have been even more amazing! I think both would have fit the mood really well.
2. Revolver
3. Rubber Soul
4. Abbey Road. The only song I really dislike is Maxwells Silver Hammer. The second side is sublime.
5. Help/Hard Days Night.

 

[Mimsy]

I mentioned something similar in a previous thread, but...

In the Anthology documentary, Ringo remarks that the White Album would have been better had it been released as a single album. He's right. You can remove a lot of filler and have what is arguably among the best Beatles albums. I'd still take Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver over it (A Hard Day's Night, too), but a single White Album release, in retrospect, might have ranked above Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. As is, it's a somewhat directionless album. Lennon once said (paraphrasing) that it was four solo albums cobbled together as a Beatles record. It's more like three solo albums, but yeah.

I recall several posters coming up with 10-song lists of what would make a strong single-LP White Album. I was forced to cut a few good songs, but the listening experience was better for it.

 

[kihei]

I'd fit 14 songs from The White Album pretty easy. This would be my revised, single-side White Album.

Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Martha, My Dear
Blackbird
I Will
Julia
Mother Nature's Son
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Savoy Truffle
Cry, Baby, Cry
Revolution #9 (good, offbeat way to end it)

Tried to get more Lennon in there, but he has a lot of weak songs on this album, I think.

Still not a great album, but I could live with this easier than the double album.

 

[Sentinel]

Least favorite song on all Beatles albums: Maxwell's Silver Hammer. It's the anti-Annie Hall of Beatles songs.

Probably that's why I love it so much. Wouldn't want it to have anything to do with "Annie Hall." Yikes.

I just relistened to "MSH" again today. Never gets old with me. In my top 10 Beatles songs. The Hammond is priceless.

But your troll job is duly noted.

 

[Sentinel]

Not a fan of Sergeant Pepper OR White Album. SPLHCB only has three songs that I like: "64," "Rita," and "ADitL." White Album is mostly garbage, but "Back in the USSR," "Dear Prudence," "Glass Onion," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Piggies," "Obladi," "Blackbird", and "Helter Skelter" are all good to fabulous.

 

[Mikeaveli]

Top 5:
Strawberry Fields Forever
She Said She Said
Help! (Anthology 2 version)
I'm Only Sleeping
If I Needed Someone

Bottom 5:
I'm Looking Through You
Matchbox (Studio version. Live at the BBC version is good)
I Will
Birthday
Maxwell's Silver Hammer

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Another random George one that I find oddly charming and affecting, despite not being fully realized in any form, is Sour Milk Sea.



I like it a lot more than Savoy Truffle, personally.Out of curiosity, which tracks from it would you consider strongest and that I should zero in on more? It is a bit of a tricky album to click with. I love the more accessible tracks like Party Seacombe and On the Bed, but I'm expecting some others to be growers.

Sour Milk Sea is indeed a little gem I wasn't myself thinking about. As for Wonderwall Music, to me it's really something I'll listen to from start to finish, but if I had to isolate a few, I think my favorites would be:

Microbes
Red Lady Too
Drilling a Home
Greasy Legs

Those are all 10/10 for me. After that would come Guru Vandana and On the Bed, and after that 6 or 7 others I just love. Party Seacombe is one of my least favorites on the album, don't know why, it kind of reminds me of Flying, not that it should necessarily be a bad thing.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

All that crap about the White Album I missed today...

Like kihei, it changes quite frequently, but I'll go against you all:

Favorite album: Magical Mystery Tour
Best album: White album

Yes, there's a few weaker songs on the White album, but the only one I'd cut is Birthday.

 

[Shareefruck]

Sour Milk Sea is indeed a little gem I wasn't myself thinking about. As for Wonderwall Music, to me it's really something I'll listen to from start to finish, but if I had to isolate a few, I think my favorites would be:

Microbes
Red Lady Too
Drilling a Home
Greasy Legs

Those are all 10/10 for me. After that would come Guru Vandana and On the Bed, and after that 6 or 7 others I just love. Party Seacombe is one of my least favorites on the album, don't know why, it kind of reminds me of Flying, not that it should necessarily be a bad thing.

Thanks. Really like Red Lady Too and Greasy Legs as well. I'm a little surprised by Drilling a Home, and I actually like Flying.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Thanks. Really like Red Lady Too and Greasy Legs as well. I'm a little surprised by Drilling a Home, and I actually like Flying.

It might be in the context of the album too, following In the Park (another one I love), and the structure that makes it kind of relentlessly uplifting, through the rain or the breaks where you'd think it'd go elsewhere but only goes back at it. Just love it.

 

[Mimsy]

I don't remember exactly what songs I included in my previous hypothetical single LP White Album (14 songs is more consistent with other Beatles records, as opposed to my 10-song suggestion). My list reflects something that the four might have agreed was releasable (i.e. you'd have to include a Ringo song and limit George to his usual two tracks per album):

1) Back in the USSR
2) Dear Prudence
3) While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4) *Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (not a fan, prefer "Mother Nature's Son", but think Paul would insist)
5) Happiness is a Warm Gun
6) Martha My Dear
7) Julia

8) Helter Skelter
9) Revolution 1
11) Long, Long, Long
12) I'm So Tired
13) Blackbird
14) Good Night (Ringo would likely campaign for "Don't Pass Me By")

"Glass Onion" and "Sexy Sadie" are better songs than some I've included, but in the interests of democracy...

 

[peate]

The Rick 12 has a learning curve, especially for a 12-string novice with little patience. The strings are spaced closer together than other 12-string brands. You also need to be handy with a pick. I'm not, and refuse to learn. I'm not a "throw it on ebay" person, so I'm stuck with it. At least Rickenbackers don't depreciate in value, but mine may no longer be as near-mint due to gross neglect

Aren't they strung with the octave string below instead of above? I never tried that, I'm curious though.

 

[peate]

Probably that's why I love it so much. Wouldn't want it to have anything to do with "Annie Hall." Yikes.

I just relistened to "MSH" again today. Never gets old with me. In my top 10 Beatles songs. The Hammond is priceless.

But your troll job is duly noted.

Here's a special version for you.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

My single White Album with 15 songs:

Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha, My Dear
I’m so Tired
Blackbird
I Will
Julia
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Cry Baby Cry

Those are my top 15 songs but if I was making an album I think I’d add Good Night by Ringo as it is a really good ending song. So I’m cheating and picking 16.
Of the three singer songwriters I think George was the guy pulling ahead as While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Long, Long, Long are the standouts here imo.

 

[peate]

My single White Album with 15 songs:

Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha, My Dear
I’m so Tired
Blackbird
I Will
Julia
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Cry Baby Cry

Those are my top 15 songs but if I was making an album I think I’d add Good Night by Ringo as it is a really good ending song. So I’m cheating and picking 16.
Of the three singer songwriters I think George was the guy pulling ahead as While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Long, Long, Long are the standouts here imo.

That's pretty much my list too, but replace Cry baby cry with Rocky Raccoon.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

This is you proposing cuts to the White Album... Blasphemers!