Beatles – The Top 100 Reviews

Personal But Not Transcendent.

The Album Where Lennon Bares All Leaves Me Asking — Would I Ever Want to Listen to These Songs Again?

Rolling Stone’s Ranking: #22/100
My Rating:

Many songs on this album are decent, but the big catch is that it’s all about John. These songs are deeply personal and pretty indulgent, a result of some alternative therapy Lennon was getting in California with Yoko Ono. Each song is from the first person perspective. He talks about his life, family, anxiety, politics, and fame. Some of the popularity stems from this — you really get to understand what John is thinking because that’s all he sings about.

This makes the material very awkward to listen to outside of the album, not to mention the duds. There isn’t one powerful single that can stand on its own merits. Trying to add any songs into my mega 70s playlist on Spotify makes little sense.

Continue reading “Top 100 Album Review: #22 – Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon (1970)”

Best Beatles’ Album of All-Time

I’m officially part of the movement to usurp Sgt. Pepper as the apex.

original_449

Rolling Stone’s Ranking: #3/100
My Rating:

Revolver is when things got “weird” for the Beatles. They sped recordings up, layered multiple tracks on top of one another, and hid secret messages that could only be discovered by playing the album backwards. It was also released under some tenuous circumstances, with John Lennon comparing the band to Jesus and some drug-referenced singles being withheld from the American release.

After their break up, many claimed that Sgt. Pepper was the pinnacle point of Beatles goodness. I am going to have to disagree; Revolver beats it out track for track, and if not for the drama, would clearly be cemented as the top work they ever did.

Continue reading “Top 100 Album Review: #3 – Revolver, The Beatles (1966)”