Ranking The Beatles' official studio albums | Page 5 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I like this topic.  We know why they didn’t include the singles on the albums, but boy did they sell their albums short as a result.  Here’s my idea:

With the Beatles would have been transformed.  Add in ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand ‘, ‘She Loves You ‘, ‘From Me To You ‘, and even ‘This Boy ‘ (IWTHYH b-side).  4 new songs is a 1/4 of the album!  Chop out ‘Little Child ‘, ‘Hold Me Tight ‘, ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’ and ‘Devil In Her Heart ‘.  Result – a very good album, at least a big step from ‘Please Please Me ‘.  IWTHYH starts side 1, moving ‘It Won’t Be Long ‘ to start side 2.  SLY 2nd track on side 1.  TB 3rd on side 1.  FMTY end of side 1.  It’s already the best album side ever!  New song listing:

Side 1 – IWTHYH, SLY, TB, ‘Don’t Bother Me ‘, ‘Till There Was You ‘, ‘Please Mr Postman’, FMTY

Side 2 – ‘It Won’t Be Long ‘, ‘All My Loving ‘, ‘Roll Over Beethoven ‘, ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man ‘, ‘Money’, ‘Not A Second Time ‘

Wow – what a great album!!  9 originals and 5 covers.  Good ratio for 1963.

Beatles For Sale would significantly benefit as well.  Add in ‘I Feel Fine ‘ and ‘She’s A Woman ‘, and chop out ‘Mr Moonlight ‘ and ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby ‘.  This album needed anything it could get. I originally thought IFF would start side 1, but I reconsidered given the emotionally mature contact and continuity of the first 3 songs.  They were making a statement with that.  IFF thus ends the album. Much of side 2 is sung by both Lennon and McCartney, so put SAW towards the end of side 1.

Help !s singles are already there.  Add ‘I’m Down ‘ (b-side of Help !), to start side 2. Chop out ‘You Like Me Too Much ‘ (sorry George).

Rubber Soul would be even better – and that’s saying something!  Add in ‘We Can Work It Out ‘ and ‘Day Tripper ‘, and chop out ‘Wait ‘ and ‘You Won’t See Me ‘. (Wait was hurriedly added at the end because they hadn’t written enough songs, so that’s an obvious choice)  WCWIO ends side 1, and DT begins side 2.

Revolver ? Not really.  Unlike WCWIT/DT, ‘Paperback Writer ‘ and ‘Rain ‘ weren’t really that much better than the album tracks.  Maybe add ‘Paperback Writer ‘ and chop out ‘I Want To Tell You ‘.  Add in ‘Rain ‘ and take out ‘And Your Bird Can Sing ‘?  Maybe not.  Both songs would be best in the middle of each side.  Neither feels conclusive enough to ends side 1.  Tomorrow Never Knows can work only as the end of side 2.  ‘Taxman ‘ and ‘Good Day Sunshine ‘ are obvious as the first tracks.

Sgt Pepper – George Martin’s admitted his biggest regret was taking off Penny Lane /Strawberry Fields.  So, yes yes yes.  Add PL and SFF, and chop out ‘Lovely Rita ‘ (doesn’t really fit with the album) and ‘Good Morning’ (John admitted he hated this song).  PL in the middle of side 2, move ‘Kite’ to side 2 as well.  Put SFF at the end of side 1 because of the length and the fade out. Only ‘Goodnight’ could follow that. lol

MMT it’s tough to say.  The UK version was specifically an EP for the movie.  The US version wasn’t tied to the movie as much, so it could include singles for 1967.  If you add PL and SFF to Pepper (see above), you can’t add them to MMT.  Without them, side 2 is short.  Mix up side 1 and a shorter side 2, and you don’t keep the integrity of the movie tracks all on one side.  Without the singles added in, it’s a crappy album.  In short – who knows.

White Album – it’s ‘Hey Jude ‘ for Crissake! Even the Revolution single was great, though I bet John would never have added it over ‘Revolution 1 ‘, and the rest would never have said yes to three versions of ‘Revolution ‘ on the album.  Add in ‘Hey Jude ‘, and chop out the low-hanging fruit ‘Wild Honey Pie ‘.  ‘Goodnight’ is another choice, but what else could follow ‘Revolution 9 ‘?  Imagine ‘Hey Jude ‘ as the last song on side 2?  Perfect!  Take out ‘I Will ‘ and ‘Julia ‘ – place them wherever you want on the 2nd record.  Maybe ‘I Will ‘ in between ‘Savoy Truffle ‘ and ‘Cry Baby Cry ‘ (George/Paul/John on a side short on Paul songs).  ‘Julia ‘ after ‘Mother Nature’s Son ‘, working with the mellow feeling before it picks up with ‘…Monkey’.

Why Spector didn’t include ‘Don’t Let Me Down ‘ on Let It Be is beyond me.  Chop out low-hanging fruit ‘Dig It ‘.  End side 1 with DLMD.

Of course it’s all subjective.  What do you guys think?

meanmistermustard said

With the Beatles would have been transformed.  Add in ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand ‘, ‘She Loves You ‘, ‘From Me To You ‘, and even ‘This Boy ‘ (IWTHYH b-side).  4 new songs is a 1/4 of the album!  Chop out ‘Little Child ‘, ‘Hold Me Tight ‘, ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’ and ‘Devil In Her Heart ‘.  Result – a very good album, at least a big step from ‘Please Please Me ‘.  IWTHYH starts side 1, moving ‘It Won’t Be Long ‘ to start side 2.  SLY 2nd track on side 1.  TB 3rd on side 1.  FMTY end of side 1.  It’s already the best album side ever!  New song listing:

Side 1 – IWTHYH, SLY, TB, ‘Don’t Bother Me ‘, ‘Till There Was You ‘, ‘Please Mr Postman’, FMTY

Side 2 – ‘It Won’t Be Long ‘, ‘All My Loving ‘, ‘Roll Over Beethoven ‘, ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man ‘, ‘Money’, ‘Not A Second Time ‘

 SLY and It Wont Be Long would clash due to the Yeah Yeah Yeah usage on both, they were right to keep them on separate releases. However thats not possible.

Tho this would get confusing.

Im also not a massive fan of having the hit singles at the start of the album, would keep It wont be long as the opener as it is a natural and place She Loves You on side 2. Lose Devil In Her Heart (George still has two lead vocals) for She Loves You , Hold Me Tight (I Want To Hold Your Hand ), Little Child (From Me To You ) and Till There Was You (This Boy ). Also omitting I’ll Get You and Thank You Girl .

Lots of good points here.  In my example, remodeling WTB would be akin to tearing down the whole house and rebuilding from scratch.  I didn’t consider the formula of 2 George songs per album, and balancing John/Paul leads.  I kept Wanna Be Your Man for Ringo (and ’cause it’s fun).  I’m OK with SLY and It Won’t Be Long clashing if they’re kept on separate sides.  Sometimes leading with the hits makes sense (AHDN , Help !), and sometimes not.  IWTHYH had that feel of leading you into something exciting. It is also strong enough to end a side as well, so it can close side 1.  It Won’t Be Long is definitely an opener-style song, so it can open side 1, moving SLY to open side 2.  Yes please omit IGY and TYG.

In reconsideration, I’d say they shouldn’t add FMTY to the album, as it wasn’t part of the same sessions that produced With the Beatles.   I say this in part because of your point of adding Lady Madonna to The White Album , which really made me think.  An album should be a composite of its sessions in my opinion.  Given this, FMTY shouldn’t be added.  I’d add back Hold Me Tight , as the lesser of three evil, and because Paul needs more solo lead vocals.

From this, WTB could look like this:

Side 1 – It Won’t Be Long , This Boy , Till There Was You , Don’t Bother Me , Please Mr Postman, Hold Me Tight , I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Side 2 – She Loves You , All My Loving , Roll Over Beethoven , You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, I Wanna Be Your Man , Money, Not A Second Time

The singles make this album a whole lot better, for sure!

 

Beatles For Sale would significantly benefit as well.  Add in ‘I Feel Fine ‘ and ‘She’s A Woman ‘, and chop out ‘Mr Moonlight ‘ and ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby ‘.  This album needed anything it could get. I originally thought IFF would start side 1, but I reconsidered given the emotionally mature contact and continuity of the first 3 songs.  They were making a statement with that.  IFF thus ends the album. Much of side 2 is sung by both Lennon and McCartney, so put SAW towards the end of side 1.

You need a George vocal so Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby has to stay.  Would replace SAW with I Dont Want To Spoil The Party as this would mean giving Paul more lead vocals.  

Good point with George.  Cut out Kansas City instead.

Help !s singles are already there.  Add ‘I’m Down ‘ (b-side of Help !), to start side 2. Chop out ‘You Like Me Too Much ‘ (sorry George).

Would kick out Dizzy Miss Lizzie instead of YLMTM.

Good choice.  Dizzy Miss Lizzie doesn’t really fit with Help !.  It’s more of a With the Beatles song.  Help ! was a big statement of growing as songwriters and artists.  DML is out.  I’m Down is the perfect replacement.

Rubber Soul would be even better – and that’s saying something!  Add in ‘We Can Work It Out ‘ and ‘Day Tripper ‘, and chop out ‘Wait ‘ and ‘You Won’t See Me ‘. (Wait was hurriedly added at the end because they hadn’t written enough songs, so that’s an obvious choice)  WCWIO ends side 1, and DT begins side 2.

Day Tripper would be a far better choice than Wait . For WCWIO lose I’m Looking Thru You.

You Won’t See Me vs I’m Looking Through You – personal choice, both valid

Revolver ? Not really.  Unlike WCWIT/DT, ‘Paperback Writer ‘ and ‘Rain ‘ weren’t really that much better than the album tracks.  Maybe add ‘Paperback Writer ‘ and chop out ‘I Want To Tell You ‘.  Add in ‘Rain ‘ and take out ‘And Your Bird Can Sing ‘?  Maybe not.  Both songs would be best in the middle of each side.  Neither feels conclusive enough to ends side 1.  Tomorrow Never Knows can work only as the end of side 2.  ‘Taxman ‘ and ‘Good Day Sunshine ‘ are obvious as the first tracks.

Can’t imagine anything happening to Revolver , the album works perfectly. However Rain should replace Doctor Robert . As for Paperback Writer – i would leave it off.

Yes.  Dr Robert vs And Your Bird is personal choice.  Either is fine.  George has 3 songs, so there’s room for Paperback Writer while retaining 1 George song per side.  It isn’t much better, but it’s better enough to do it.

Sgt Pepper – George Martin’s admitted his biggest regret was taking off Penny Lane /Strawberry Fields.  So, yes yes yes.  Add PL and SFF, and chop out ‘Lovely Rita ‘ (doesn’t really fit with the album) and ‘Good Morning’ (John admitted he hated this song).  PL in the middle of side 2, move ‘Kite’ to side 2 as well.  Put SFF at the end of side 1 because of the length and the fade out. Only ‘Goodnight’ could follow that. lol

At this point track numbers didnt matter so SFF at the end of Side 1. But the track listing would have to be shuffled as Penny Lane would need to be side 2 and 3 more Paul songs in a row is too many. Good Morning, Good Morning -> Pepper (reprise) -> ADITL works with all the crossfades and WYWY would have to be the opener, where else would it go. 

True.  There are already 3 Paul songs in a row on the current side 1.  It does seem a bit much.  There are too many Paul songs on Pepper in general, in part because John didn’t write a lot of songs for it.  To keep a balance, 2 Paul songs could be cut for the 2 singles.  Chop Lovely Rita and maybe Fixing A Hole .  You’re right, there’d have to a some reshuffling between side 1 and 2 to keep flow and balance between Paul and John songs.

Strawberry Fields is a long song, so two songs can be moved from side 1 to side 2 to balance its inclusion.  I originally thought to keep Penny Lane on side 1, versus burying it in side 2.  Replace Getter Better with Penny Lane .  I reconsidered this because side 2 would turn into a meandering set of b-sides.

She’s Leaving Home is too slow and sad to abut SFF, so I’d move it to the middle of Side 2.  

So the new album could look like this:

Side 1 – Sgt Pepper , With A Little Help From My Friends , Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds , Getting Better , Strawberry Fields Forever

Side 2 – With You Without You, When I’m 64, Benefit of Mr Kite, Penny Lane , She’s Leaving Home , Good Morning/Pepper Reprise/A Day In The Life

This provides a better balance with Paul and John songs.  Funny how adding one more John song makes a big difference.

MMT it’s tough to say.  The UK version was specifically an EP for the movie.  The US version wasn’t tied to the movie as much, so it could include singles for 1967.  If you add PL and SFF to Pepper (see above), you can’t add them to MMT.  Without them, side 2 is short.  Mix up side 1 and a shorter side 2, and you don’t keep the integrity of the movie tracks all on one side.  Without the singles added in, it’s a crappy album.  In short – who knows.

Add in the Yellow Submarine songs from ’67 (All Together Now , Its All Too Much and Only A Northern Song ) to lift the numbers and change the running order so its not film songs and others.

Hadn’t thought of this.  It’s All Too Much and All Together Now are OK.  It’s Only A Northern Song hurts my head.  Adding these two onto side 2 is fine.  It gives George one song on each side. While I’m a fan of adding only songs that were part of the album’s sessions, MMT needs all the help it can get.  The only issue is double dipping with the Yellow Submarine soundtrack.  I’m not sure when it was decided that these songs would be on it.

White Album – it’s ‘Hey Jude ‘ for Crissake! Even the Revolution single was great, though I bet John would never have added it over ‘Revolution 1 ‘, and the rest would never have said yes to three versions of ‘Revolution ‘ on the album.  Add in ‘Hey Jude ‘, and chop out the low-hanging fruit ‘Wild Honey Pie ‘.  ‘Goodnight’ is another choice, but what else could follow ‘Revolution 9 ‘?  Imagine ‘Hey Jude ‘ as the last song on side 2?  Perfect!  Take out ‘I Will ‘ and ‘Julia ‘ – place them wherever you want on the 2nd record.  Maybe ‘I Will ‘ in between ‘Savoy Truffle ‘ and ‘Cry Baby Cry ‘ (George/Paul/John on a side short on Paul songs).  ‘Julia ‘ after ‘Mother Nature’s Son ‘, working with the mellow feeling before it picks up with ‘…Monkey’.

There is also Lady Madonna , The Inner Light and Hey Bulldog . 3 lp set? Would that have been the first.

This point really made me think, and thus change my ideas for With the Beatles.  Only singles recorded near or during the album sessions should be included in the album. Along these lines, I wouldn’t add any of these to The White Album . because they weren’t recorded as part of the White Album sessions.  Hey Bulldog was probably earmarked for Yellow Submarine by this time.

I do reconsider how I’d move the songs with respect to the length of each side, and how large the physical album would have to be to hold all of their choices.  Supposedly this was a real issue.  Hey Jude is 6+ minutes.  That’s maybe 4 to 5 songs in length.  That’s a lot of reshuffling – but it’s Hey Jude so it’s worth it.  

A good solution would be to cut more songs, even though the group was adamant about keeping everything, and reshuffle some songs to the 2nd LP.  My personal choice to cut is Yer Blues (yuck) and either Cry Baby Cry or Honey Pie .  That’s 6 minutes right there.  I’d really like to take out Long Long Long, but George must have one song per side, so that’s out.

What to reshuffle?  Don’t Pass Me By has to remain on the 1st LP to balance out Good Night on the 2nd.  Blackbird /Piggies /Raccoon have to remain a trio, and thus stay on side 2 of the 1st LP.  Martha’s a great opening, and John needs one song on side 2 with I’m So Tired .

That leaves Why Don’t We/I Will /Julia , which can easily be split.  There’s no perfect place to put them.  I Will and Julia are mellow.  Why don’t we is irreverent.  Side 3 is the more “cheeky” side, so I’d put Why don’t we in between Sexy Sadie and Helter Skelter .  If we cut Honey Pie , I Will can take its place and Julia can follow Cry Baby Cry , and retain the mood that would mix with the “Can you take me back…”  If we cut Cry Baby Cry , then Julia can replace it.  I Will can follow Honey Pie .  Looking at this, I’d pick this scenario.

The White Album is so free-form, there really aren’t any perfect solutions as to how to alter it after adding in Hey Jude .  There are few rules to work with – 1 George song per side, 1 Ringo song per LP.  Bury Revolution 9 , and end with Goodnight.  Other than that – have fun!

Why Spector didn’t include ‘Don’t Let Me Down ‘ on Let It Be is beyond me.  Chop out low-hanging fruit ‘Dig It ‘.  End side 1 with DLMD.

Who knows why Spector lost Dont Let Me Down. Singles wise missing Ballad Of John and Yoko, Old Brown Shoe and You Know My Name. Lose Maggie May & Dig It , include those 4, reshuffle the running order and you have 13 songs.

Let It Be is such a mess that it can easily be the exception to the rule of “recorded in the same sessions”.  Add them all in.  This album is very Paul-heavy, so adding 2 John and 1 George song would help balance it out.  (Across The Universe was added by Spector for this reason).  I can’t come up with a good conclusive album list.

Thanks for your feedback.  You brought a lot of smart ideas into my scenarios.

 

Think of all the songs that have been left in the vaults.

sweetsf said

Sgt Pepper – George Martin’s admitted his biggest regret was taking off Penny Lane /Strawberry Fields.  So, yes yes yes.  Add PL and SFF, and chop out ‘Lovely Rita ‘ (doesn’t really fit with the album) and ‘Good Morning’ (John admitted he hated this song).  PL in the middle of side 2, move ‘Kite’ to side 2 as well.  Put SFF at the end of side 1 because of the length and the fade out. Only ‘Goodnight’ could follow that. lol

I must disagree. ‘Penny Lane /Strawberry Fields’ are superb and fit well chronologically. But IMHO ”Lovely Rita ‘ and ‘GM GM’ are classic vocal performances by John, have great hooks and both fit very well on Sgt Pepper style-wise. And does ‘Lovely Rita ‘ deal with such different subjects than those of ‘Penny Lane ‘? They certainly fit with Sgt Pepper better than ‘Within You Without You ‘ (apologies to George) which might be better on a later album. And at over 5 minutes, removal of WYWY alone might free up enough space to fit both ‘Penny Lane ‘ and ‘Strawberry Fields’.