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After listening to all the Beatles’ songs in more or less chronological order and rating them in iTunes, I rated each album by adding up the number of stars and diving by the number of songs. I was then able to rank them from best to worst.
The results actually surprised me, because it pretty much lined up with my previous “uncalculated” opinion of these albums. I usually claim Revolver is my favorite Beatles album, and it showed up second on my list. I think Sgt. Pepper benefited from this song-by-song ranking system as it had one less song, and therefore shows up at the number one spot.
I must mention my opinion that all the Beatles’ albums are worth owning, or at the very least, listening to. Although I found out that Magical Mystery Tour is the second worst Beatles album in my opinion, it contains some of my favorite Beatles songs ever, namely Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane. Also note that the rank range for all these albums ended up between 4.384 and 3 stars - even my “worst” Beatles album ended up being “average.”
In conclusion, I found this exercise not unlike ranking Picasso paintings. They’re all pretty damned good. And I’m just a Beatles fan, not an expert music critic or anything. Anyways, here are my results, from best to the worst. Beneath each evaluation paragraph is a link to the earlier post in which I break down my opinion of each song.
Note: I’m not including Yellow Submarine or Past Masters 1 and 2 as the first only has four Beatles originals they considered lesser songs, and the latter two are compilations of their singles.
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
4.384 stars
When taken in comparison with the rest of the Beatles’ output, these songs really stand out. There’s a clarity of purpose, the psychedelic noodling is limited, and the four were still working as a group (or at least it sounds like it). The sonic experimentation here is quite awe-inspiring. A few songs like A Day In The Life practically capture the entirety of the Beatles’ legacy.
Webomatica: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. Revolver
![Revolver [UK]](http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000002UAR.01._SCTHUMBZZZ_V1124916543_.jpg)
4.07 stars
I’m glad this album is up here, because it was always a personal favorite. It was the first Beatles album that freaked me out as a kid - with its relatively mature subject matter - that I had to “grow into.” It showcases the diverging Beatle personalities while retaining the “middle period” Beatles beat.
Webomatica: Revolver
3. Abbey Road
3.941 stars
At this point the Beatles were toast, but it’s awesome how they went out on a relative high note. The first side celebrates the Beatles as individuals, while the second half of this album has so many neat melodies and fragments more or less strung together. And of course, the two songs that boost this album up immensely in my mind are George’s: Something and Here Comes the Sun.
Webomatica: Abbey Road
4: Rubber SoulÂ
3.714 stars
This was a Beatles album with renewed vigor. It’s as if they realized they didn’t have to be commercial and could actually have a go at being serious musicians, shedding their cute pop group roots. It also contains one of my favorite Beatles songs ever, Nowhere Man.
Webomatica: Rubber Soul
5. With The Beatles
3.571 stars
I’m kind of surprised this album made it up so high, but I think it’s because it was a sharper version of Please Please Me.
Webomatica: With The Beatles
6. A Hard Day’s Night
3.307 stars
Only 13 songs on this one. Interesting that the early Beatles edges out the later Beatles (White Album).
Webomatica: A Hard Day’s Night
7. White Album (Disc 1)
3.352 stars
There are just too many songs on this average album (17), some truly horrid. Good tracks are Dear Prudence and While My Guitar Gently Weeps while bad ones are Wild Honey Pie and Don’t Pass Me By.
Webomatica: White Album (Disc 1)
8. Help!
![Help! [UK]](http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000002UAL.01._SCTHUMBZZZ_V1124921032_.jpg)
3.285 stars
Average album, but featuring the stunning Help! and Yesterday.
Webomatica: Help!
9. Let It Be
3.25 stars
Average, probably without the chaos, John goofiness, and some bad George songs, it would have ranked higher.
Webomatica: Let It Be
10. White Album (Disc 2)
3.23 stars
Frustratingly varied. A really strong song like Sexy Sadie is held back by the self-indulgence of Revolution 9.
Webomatica: White Album (Disc 2)
12. Please Please Me
3.214 stars
I’m a bit shocked to see the album so low on the list, but not really. It’s chock full of covers and hardly any 5 star songs.
Webomatica: Please Please Me
13. Magical Mystery Tour
3.090 stars
I really wish this album ranked higher on my list since it contains two of my favorite songs ever: Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane - but the lesser songs are so terrible that they sunk this album down to second worst. Even with only 11 songs, I dealt out so many 1 and 2 stars this album couldn’t carry the weight.
Webomatica: Magical Mystery Tour
13. Beatles For Sale
3 stars
This album was a low point for the Beatles. Supposedly they were tired of the constant pace of touring and filled this album with some pointless covers. The only songs truly worthy of the Beatles’ name is Eight Days A Week and No Reply - That’s it. So it’s my vote for the worst Beatles album.
Webomatica: Beatles For Sale
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But did you rank my “Smack Album”?
It features both Wild Honey Pie and Revolution 9.
http://www.soundbag.com/musictest/default.asp?q=f&f=%2FThe%5FSmack%5FAlbum
And Revolver was always my personal fave.
Smack Album… alright I’ll bite and let you know. Is it something like the grey album
Mr. Benson… you are an evil genius. I chuckled at the Please Please Me rendition. You know smack fu…
What software are you using…?
Stumbled across this - thought you might be interested in a project I did this spring - ranking all the Beatles songs. It’s linked in as my website.
Abbey Road is my favorite, Revolver #2, with Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour not far behind. And I agree Beatles For Sale is probably the bottom, though still pretty good.
Cheers.
Thanks Charles… I’m interested to read other people’s experiences doing something similar.
As for me, I find it difficult to rank them objectively. I’m old enough to remember some of these albums when they were first released, so some are tied in to my memories and experiences, which makes them seem more important to me than something released before I was aware of the beatles.
For instance, I know that “hello goodbye” isn’t that great of a song, but it was playing on the radio when I gave away my pet dog and cried all the way home. So that song means something more to me than just a song.
Anybody else old enough to remember when these albums were first released?
Well…. they were all released during the sixties … between about 1963-1970 or so. Maybe I should add the dates…
The worst is that one of the very best songs — Paperback Writer — was never released on LP during their time. I guess it was good enough on its own.
Hey snapple - yeah some of their best songs were singles only and didn’t make it onto the albums. “Rain” also comes to mind. I think this was largely because the music industry was still single-driven and the concept of the album of the focus of attention was a new idea. However, these days it seems the attention is back on the single songs in this day of iTunes and mix and match playlists.
[...] far, I’ve done two music artist series on the (The Beatles and http://www.webomatica.com/wordpress/2007/01/14/the-bangles-albums-best-to-worst/) where I [...]
Absolutely right, far too many songs/b-grade dross on the White Album, but try this configuration out for a totally kick-ass single-disc, lp-length version:
‘Side One’:
Back In The USSR/I’m So Tired*/Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da*/Cry Baby Cry/..Me And My Monkey/While My Guitar Gently Weeps/Happiness Is A Warm Gun
‘Side Two’:
Birthday/Yer Blues/Sexy Sadie/Blackbird/Piggies/Helter Skelter/Good Night
* Demo versions from the ‘Anthology 2′ album
The Fab Four have their best album, plenty of offcuts for b-sides, film soundtracks etc. and Manson’s still gonna be inspired. Also, lose ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ and ‘She’s Leaving Home’ from ‘Sgt. Pepper’, substitute the originally-scheduled ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and you’ve got a truly great album instead of a merely good one. Cheers.
Slammerworm - I think I’ll test out that configuration - luckilly iTunes makes it easy to do such things. That does sound good since that includes some of my favorite White Album Songs.
That is a good game to play with double albums - try to see what songs you’d include on a single album to make it better - alternative history kind of game. I might have to do that with the White Album in a future post.
Interesting exercise but I don’t really think this is how an album should be ranked. There’s more to a great album than the sum of the songs. I also think you highly underrate the White Album & Magical Mystery Tour.