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.

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This was the last album the Beatles recorded, but the second to last released. After the relative disaster that was Let It Be, Paul supposedly asked long time producer George Martin if they could record album like the old days. In that sense, perhaps it’s the production skill of Martin that improved this album’s music immensely. Yet, some of the Beatles’ most stunning songwriting is on display here, most notably George Harrison’s awesome Something and Here Comes the Sun. The second stellar idea is the second side’s near-seamless song cycle of tunes that run together, culminating in the buoyant The End, effectively shutting the door on the Beatles on a high note.

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This CD is a compilation of Beatles’ singles from the years 1963 to 1965. They were in the habit of releasing singles that were not included on the upcoming LPs - pretty amazing if you think about it. Therefore, some of the best Beatles songs are hanging out in single form.

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This album was recorded before Abbey Road but released after. So unfortunately, the impression is that the Beatles fell apart before their break-up, fragmenting into solo careers. The “true” career ending album is Abbey Road.

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At this point in the Beatles career, they were constantly on the verge of breaking up. Each Beatle had a distinctive songwriting style and diverging interests (George India, and John Yoko), so the White Album is frustratingly difficult to evaluate. It’s almost like three or four albums smashed together. There’s undeniably some tripe and trash, but sometimes the contrast between the good and bad is what makes for interesting listening. On this disc in particular, if you can stand listening to the cacophony and nightmarish imagery of Revolution Number 9, you’re treated to the contrastingly innocent Good Night.

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At this point in the Beatles career, they were constantly on the verge of breaking up. Each Beatle had a distinctive songwriting style and diverging interests (George India, and John Yoko), so the White Album is frustratingly difficult to evaluate. It’s almost like three or four albums smashed together. There’s undeniably some tripe and trash, but sometimes the contrast between the good and bad is what makes for interesting listening. The jump from Happiness Is A Warm Gun to Martha My Dear is psychotic but part of what makes the album mesmerizing - you know that the Beatles’ days are numbered when you hear such flowers after calculated rage.

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After listening to Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, hallucinogenic drugs might sound like a blast, but this unbearably meandering album is the downside, a confused, muddled, burned out mess.

Who knows what really happened during the making of this one, but it wasn’t good. After the all-around success of Sgt. Pepper I suppose it was inevitable the Beatles would falter.

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This album shows up on so many “best albums of all time” lists that it’s a cliche. I have to admit there’s a temptation to give these songs less credit just to seem contrary, but I can’t. These tunes are awesome, and I still listen to them occasionally. Several are pop music milestones. There are no two or one star songs this time out.

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This was the seventh Beatles’ album, and showed a new commitment to experimentation in the studio at the expense of touring. There were also heavy doses of “tea” that were manifesting themselves in the music in varied, enhancing ways.

As a kid, Revolver frankly, freaked me out, as I couldn’t get a handle on the serious subject matter - how could the cute Beatles be talking about being “screwed in the ground” and some girl who knew “what it was like to be dead”? And Tomorrow Never Knows - what the heck was that all about? But as I got older, this admittedly forward-thinking collection became my favorite.

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This is album number six for the fab four, and the one where the extra time in the studio and away from touring made a huge difference. The sound is finally moving from the straight-ahead rock and roll into something… different. The subject matter of the songs, although still mostly girls and love, also shifted - to metaphors about girls and love.

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