Don't Laugh: Recommend Me Some Beatles (See Post For Details.)

So, here's the deal. I've never really gotten into the Beatles in the past, but am wanting to now. The catch is that the albums/remasters I buy have to have good sound quality. (CD only, no lp's, as no record player in the home.)

I'm ideally wanting to pick up the whole studio catalog over time. What is a good place to start?

Thanks,

-Ben

I personally really enjoy their psychedelic stuff, so releases with "Rain", "I Am The Walrus", "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" are things I think are really great. I tend not to prefer their earlier "I Want To Hold Your Hand" stuff so much. But this is just me. What kind of music do you like?

"Sergeant Pepper's", "Rubber Soul", and "Revolver" are strong releases, in my opinion.

BTW, although I greatly admire 'em and like some songs, I'm not a giant huge Beatles fan, not one of those rabid fans. Those guys will be along shortly.

I personally really enjoy their psychedelic stuff, so releases with "Rain", "I Am The Walrus", "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" are things I think are really great. I tend not to prefer their earlier "I Want To Hold Your Hand" stuff so much. But this is just me. What kind of music do you like? "Sergeant Pepper's", "Rubber Soul", and "Revolver" are strong releases, in my opinion. BTW, although I greatly admire 'em and like some songs, I'm not a giant huge Beatles fan, not one of those rabid fans. Those guys will be along shortly.

I would add "Magical Mystery Tour" to your list of strong albums. I like the same period you do. Really I find anything from "Help" on to be fun.

I'm one of those huge giant Beatles fans, so I say buy everything in their entire catalog, and you can't go wrong.

I'm one of those huge giant Beatles fans, so I say buy everything in their entire catalog, and you can't go wrong.

Agreed. To see how they developed is quite something. Don't start at the end. Start at the early stuff and enjoy the ride. The Anthology DVD set is very good.

Rubber Soul and Revolver are the albums that exert the strongest influence today. Abbey Road, ironically, is not a bad place for modern ears to start.

Very, very good point.

My favorite Beatles tune by far is "In My Life" from the "Rubber Soul" LP.

"Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" are strong and play super well all the way through. I know a lot of people think that all (or most) of their releases play well all the way through, but these are all opinions...

If the Beatles had recorded lots of cool psychedelic stuff like "Rain" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "I Am The Walrus", they would be one of my favorite bands of all time. As it is, I respect 'em more than most.

I grew up on a steady diet of Zeppelin and Stones, also the Doors and Floyd, not so much the Beatles, and initially thought the Beatles were too "cute" sounding when I was a kid, only coming to appreciate them later in my 20s.

Their development is quite interesting. Definitely an interesting, charismatic band.

As an aside, I really enjoyed that Geoff Emerick book about recording the Beatles. Really interesting take on the creative process, what happened, and their personalities.

I would agree that starting from the beginning and hitting them in order would be the way to go. However, I realize that people who didn't grow up with them may not enjoy all the different phases (you have no idea how painful it is for me to say, and admit that...). So, I'm going to suggest 3 to give you a sense of each phase:

1. A Hard Day's Night (1964) - For me, the peak of the "lovable moptop" stage. The best of the early Beatles singles just grab you at the first chord and don't let go, and the title track, well, does that. As do many of the others on this record.

2. Revolver (1966) - Compare, contrast to the previous album. Only TWO years later. I could have gone with Rubber Soul - I think Revolver's just a bit better.

3. Abbey Road (1969) - Really the end of the journey. Side 2 is a marvel. Oh, on the CD, side 2 starts with Here Comes the Sun.

And, I wouldn't recommend that you start with the White Album. Though, if you get into the Beatles, it could become your favorite.

js

Im one of those weirdos that thinks 'Magical Mystery Tour' is one of their best. I mean you have "I Am The Walrus" and "Penny Lane" on there for starters, ........

whatever you choose, WAIT for the remasters on September 9th.

Or if you don't want to wait, get "Love" which sounds incredible quality-wise and is a more trippy/interesting take on Beatles music to tide you over

Actually, I would recommend Past Masters Volume II to start off with. If you can't get into anything on that, then don't bother with the rest of the catalogue

I went this route: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_Collection when the "Beatles Collection" was first released. The first time they were played they went to reel to reel tape and then went into storage. The next time they were played they went to my computer. If you can find the collection out there at a reasonable number and find a friend to convert then that wouldn't be a bad way to go.

Yep. This is a good idea.

I would first start with Sergent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. If you want to get a good overall mix of the "Psychedelic" period, the compilation called "The Beatles 1967/1970" will cover all of that good stuff with the "hits". I once had almost every Beatle album and some in multiple copies with picture vinyl and colored vinyl. You don't want to know what happened to those.

Dan

I agree with the idea that one should start at the very beginning... with MEET THE BEATLES (1963)

Then cruise your way all the way to LET IT BE (1969).

I would advise against going with just "greatest hits" anthologies... because there are lots of tremendous Beatle tunes that are "sleeper" album cuts of great virtue, such as (let's say)

Yes It Is

Tell Me Why

No Reply

I'm A Loser

I Don't Want To Spoil The Party

It's Only Love

What You're Doing

Every rock musician needs to be familiar with these lesser-known Beatle numbers as well as the "biggies". They've now become Standards which every pop musician should have under his belt, just like the standards of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, etc.

So to summarise:

Wait for the remasters to be released, start your listening journey with the first album 'Please Please Me', and sit back in wonder at how The Beatles developed from there

Yours,

A Beatles fan

This is an endless debate but to me the Beatles became THE Beatles with Rubber Soul so I would start there. You may want to pick up Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper to get initiated. After that, you can dip into their more psycho-delic stuff like Magical Mystery Tour (my favorite), The White Album, etc...

Can't go wrong with the red and blue albums (compilations). Provides a nice sampling of the various phases of their career. Never was a die-hard Beatles fan, but those two records were my first serious introduction. Even had them on vinyl!

I agree!!!

One should buy the the Beatles music the way and order they were intended to be heard. The listening experience is destroyed by the "greatest hits" packages.

Get the british albums. The exception being "Magical Mystery Tour".

Note: "MEET THE BEATLES" is not on the list. Capital repackaged the early Beatles albums so they could trim them down to make more money. Not a good thing.

Please Please Me (Parlophone, 1963)

With The Beatles (Parlophone, 1963)

A Hard Day's Night (Parlophone, 1964)

Beatles for Sale (Parlophone, 1964)

Help! (Parlophone, 1965)

Rubber Soul (Parlophone, 1965)

Revolver (Parlophone, 1966)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone, 1967)

Magical Mystery Tour (U.S./Canada only. Released as a Double EP in the UK) (Capitol, 1967)

The Beatles ("The White Album") (Apple, 1968)

Yellow Submarine (Apple, 1969)

Abbey Road (Apple, 1969)

Let It Be (Apple, 1970

I WOULDN'T recommend Yellow Submarine as your first album, unless you are heavy into Classical Orchestral types of stuff, because the entire 2nd side of that album is just George Martin orchestral movie soundtrack arrangements. (in my opinion) I think that George was just trying to prove something to the classical community. Those orchestral parts were also on the Yellow Submarine movie. Good stuff to relax to.

Dan

Which would be at one of my backyard barbeques with a bunch of friends, where we'd hang out, eat carne asada and drink beer, and hang out. They'd call out songs to their bandmades, smile, and launch into the song. The way the Beatles were meant to be heard, yes.