For such a historically significant and influential band, it’s pretty wild to consider the fact that theBeatlesonly existed for a decade, forming in 1960 and officially disbanding in 1970 (and subsequently never reuniting). That’s admittedly mitigated by the fact that they did a lot within said decade, recording and releasing more than 200 songs and a dozen albums (though that latter number can differ, depending on what you define as an album).
What the following ranking aims to do is highlight the single biggest, well, highlight on every single album the Beatles put out.One thing that should be pointed out: this is going by their UK albums, rather than the sometimes different US albums, butMagical Mystery Tour(as a whole album, rather than an EP) will be included, while the oddYellow Submarinewon’t be included, as it’s arguably more of a compilation/soundtrack album. Oh, and the albums will be gone through chronologically, which also helps to highlight how the Beatles continually changed up their sound throughout their musical career.
1"Please Please Me"
From ‘Please Please Me’ (1963)
The Beatles hit the ground running with their debut album,Please Please Me, even though it was, by no means, anywhere close tothe best thing they’d ever make. Like, it’s really good, and exceptional by the standards of early 1960s pop/rock, but this is also just a taste of things to come. And hey, one of the songs here is also called “A Taste of Honey,” but it’s not a highlight.
Instead, the best song onPlease Please Meis the title track. It’s one of the band’s best and earliest earworms, using harmonica and harmonies expertly throughout.The Beatles have a particularly high level of synergy here, with everyone’s strengths on display, and the simple lyrics shining alongside some straightforward and no-nonsense instrumentation and melodies.
2"All My Loving"
From ‘With the Beatles’ (1963)
The story around whatthe Beatles were doing in the early 1960sis sometimes more interesting than the music they put out around this time. That kind of becomes clear when you listen toWith the Beatles, which is a lesser album of theirs but does at least still contain “All My Loving,” which is a highlight of the first half of the Beatles’ career.
This is one of many love songs the Beatles put out early on, and honestly,even when they got more adventurous musically, plenty of their songs still focused on the ups and downs of love. “All My Loving” is just another simple love song, but also a great one, and the simplicity works when the theme is as undoubtedly universal as love is. All of that loving, you know?
3"A Hard Day’s Night"
From ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (1964)
Like with “Please Please Me” fromPlease Please Me,A Hard Day’s Nighthas its best track also being the titular one.This one also happens to kickstart the album, and is a pretty great summation of the Beatles and the position they were in early on. They were a phenomenon, but also seemingly unable to take any sort of break.
The days and nights were indeed equally hard, the former defined by recording songs in studios, and the latter defined – at least in part – by all the concerts they had to perform early on. Oh, and making the days and nights even harder,A Hard Day’s Nightis also the name of apretty great musical the Beatles all starred inat this time, with the album of the same name being, in part, a soundtrack album for said movie.
A Hard Day’s Night
4"Eight Days a Week"
From ‘Beatles for Sale’ (1964)
Okay, this one is a bit of an extension of “A Hard Day’s Night,” considering “Eight Days a Week” also has a title that suggests being busy and stretched thin. But then again, it’s also a love song and the idea of loving someone eight days a week, even if technically impossible, isundeniably romantic. Maybe, then, it even goes beyond giving someone all your loving.
The way the song fades in is also pretty great, and instantly ear-catching in a way most of the songs onBeatles for Salearen’t, since this might well be the weakest of all their main albums. Still, from this point onward, pretty much every Beatles album was great, andBeatles for Salecan’t be considered worthless if it has a track like “Eight Days a Week” on it.
5"Ticket to Ride"
From ‘Help!’ (1965)
Another year, anothermovie starring the Beatles: 1965’sHelp!This one is weirder thanA Hard Day’s Night, and maybe technically not as good, but it’s got the better album attached to it.Help!, the album, isn’t entirely a soundtrack album, considering some songs here didn’t show up in the movie, but the title track did, of course, as did what might well be the album’s best song: “Ticket to Ride.”
The title track is more of an energetic cry for help, fittingly enough, but “Ticket to Ride” is about a more melancholic sort of uncertainty, being a great breakup song (probably the band’s first genuinely masterful one). It’s a key element in makingHelp!a jump forward in quality,helping contribute to this one feeling like their most emotionally varied to date, at the time.
6"In My Life"
From ‘Rubber Soul’ (1965)
It’s hard to believe thatRubber Soulis now 60 years old, and especially hard to believe that something that sounds as good as “In My Life” is also that age. This stands as easily the most mature song the Beatles had recorded at this point in the band’s lifespan, and could well be up there as the most thoughtful and mature they ever released.
The song is one about looking back and looking forward, and so it being placed right around the middle of the Beatles’ discography ends up being quite fitting. It’s a short and sweet kind of track, butwhat it manages to do – and the emotions it happens to conjure up– within such a small amount of time all make it a remarkable track, and the best single song from an already great album.
7"Tomorrow Never Knows"
From ‘Revolver’ (1966)
Feverish, surreal, and intense, “Tomorrow Never Knows” concludes what’s already a pretty out-there album in a distinct and borderline-nightmarish way. It sees the Beatles at almost their most psychedelic, with the production here very much representing their sound going forward, in the sense that you could only really make something that sounded like this in the studio (and the Beatles had decided, by this point, to stop playing live).
The sound of the song is bizarre, and the lyrics match such a sound by also being mysterious and entirely out-there. Who really knows what “Tomorrow Never Knows” might be about? Itcertainly wasn’t the last song the Beatles put out that was heavily shrouded in mystery and a sense of surrealism, but it does still stand as one of their best in that department, nonetheless.
8"A Day in the Life"
From ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (1967)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bandis sometimes considered to be the best Beatles album, or at least the one that most sums up what the Beatles were capable of. No single album of theirs can encompass everything that made the Beatles the Beatles, butSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bandis probably as close as one could ever come, hence it being considered so important.
It also contains “A Day in the Life,”which is another adventurous closing track, and a song that sometimes gets singled out as the best the Beatles ever made. Again, part of this is surely because you get so much of their essence in one song, best seen by the fact that the song is long and, in turn, isable to have John Lennon on lead vocals for two portions of the song, and Paul McCartney being the lead vocalistfor the remaining “main” portion.
9"Strawberry Fields Forever"
From ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ (1967)
Sometimes considered an album,Magical Mystery Touris another oddity in the Beatles' discography, being partly asoundtrack for a very strange television film, and partly serving as a US album. In the UK, it was originally released as an EP. It’s a bit confusing, but the full-length album version is pretty great, and has its fair share of standout songs, including “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
This one’s great because it manages to be peaceful andalso vaguely unsettling at the same time, with a little edge to the pleasantness that makes it extra interesting. It’s like having a mild amount of spice in an already tasty meal; it creates a contrast that makes the whole thing more appetizing. Also, in the tradition of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” the lyrics are absorbing and also difficult to analyze in equal measure.
10"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
From ‘The Beatles’ (1968)
From an album sometimes known asThe White Album, the 1968 Beatles album is technically untitled, and also sometimes referred to as justThe Beatles. That’s not super important, but it is admittedly odd, and it’s definitely the Beatles album that has the “most” Beatles. It’s a double album, and with such a high number of tracks, one ultimately standing out as the best is no easy task.
It’s not a song that sums up the sound of the whole album, by any means (the whole album is too eclectic for any track to do that), but it is the single strongest one on there.
But here’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which is no ordinary track, and probably just that: the best of the tracks onThe Beatles.It is a George Harrison song through and through, and representative of how great his songwriting skills had become inthe final years the Beatles were together. It’s not a song that sums up the sound of the whole album, by any means (the whole album is too eclectic for any track to do that), but it is the single strongest one on there (out of 30 tracks!).
