# Abbey Road - Greatest Beatles Album? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544 "2003-10-30T23:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Brad\_Pittiful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Brad\_Pittiful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_Pittiful)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/21 "2003-10-31T03:27:35Z")
_Relvolver_ and _Rubber Soul_ are my all time faves…id go _Let It Be_ then _abbey road_ for me ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/22 "2003-10-31T04:01:09Z")
I am another _Revolver / Rubber Soul_ man. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/23 "2003-10-31T04:45:55Z")
Here’s my prioritized list: [http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/AHardDaysNight.html](http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/AHardDaysNight.html) [http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/RubberSoul.html](http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/RubberSoul.html) [http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/LetItBe.html](http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/LetItBe.html) [http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/revolver.html](http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/revolver.html) [http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/White.html](http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/White.html) [http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/AbbeyRoad.html](http://justinjenkins.org/extras/Beatles/AbbeyRoad.html) ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/24 "2003-10-31T06:10:02Z")
I agree w/ producer GMartin that the white album should have been reduced to one stellar album-too many just OK cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/25 "2003-10-31T12:31:23Z")
My vote: Pepper. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/26 "2003-10-31T12:44:34Z")
Damn, how did I miss Pep? Hmmm, have to put Pep between Let It Be and Revolver. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/27 "2003-10-31T12:57:03Z")
Abbey Road and the White Album are somewhat depressing to me. Give me them when they were peaking and just destroying everything in their path, '66-'67. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/28 "2003-10-31T13:02:14Z")
Overall I prefer Abbey Road, but Revolver is a very close second. To be fair I haven’t listened to White, Rubber Soul, or Let It Be yet. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/29 "2003-10-31T13:16:26Z")
Judged as an album, not just a collection of songs (i.e. the complete listening experience you get from playing it through from beginning to end): yes. Yes it is the greatest Beatles album. Some of its songs, especially on Side 2 (remember sides?) wouldn’t work by themselves, but the whole thing is sheer genius. The Beatles went out at the top of their game. Maybe I’m biased because Abbey Road is the first Beatles _album_ I ever listened to (as opposed to songs, greatest hits collections, etc.), and I was blown away by how the whole thing came together (no pun intended). Even today, Abbey Road is on the very short list of albums I have absolutely fallen in love with (and one or two of the others on that list have been strongly influenced by it). ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/30 "2003-10-31T13:17:37Z")
It is a good album, but I would have to say that _The White Album_ is a better one. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/31 "2003-10-31T15:56:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Some of its songs, especially on Side 2 (remember sides?) wouldn’t work by themselves, but the whole thing is sheer genius. The Beatles went out at the top of their game. Remeber sides? I listened to it on vinyl yesterday, and I’m 16! ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/32 "2003-10-31T15:57:10Z")
Abbey Road. No question the best of all the Beatles" albums. Side two ranks number one as the best album side of all time. ---
**Author:** ![BizarroRonJeremy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@BizarroRonJeremy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BizarroRonJeremy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/33 "2003-10-31T16:08:01Z")
Sgt Pepper’s was great in terms of WHEN it was released. In fact, it was so great at that time that it made Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys insane. Story is, when Brian first heard the album he went into a deep deep deep depression. He knew he’d never ever outwrite the Beatles. I think that Revolver is a better album and it came out before. Taxman is a great song and Tomorrow Never Knows is sheer brilliance. Eleanor Rigby? Man, what a mood-setter! Great strings. The White Album is by far my favorite album. I find that the lyrics on this album are sublime. Great little stories. This album would be better if we didn’t have to switch sides or change CD’s. Just one long listening loop… Abbey Road is also very good (sort of a compact, more focused version of the White Album). Golden Slumbers/The End rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/34 "2003-10-31T16:44:30Z")
I’m the only one who likes _Meet the Beatles_? Maybe because I am very very old, and this was my first introduction to them. It’s got I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND, DON’T BOTHER ME, I SAW HER STANDING THERE, TILL THERE WAS YOU, IT WON’T BE LONG, HOLD ME TIGHT, I WANNA BE YOUR MAN, ALL MY LOVING . . . Hard to beat. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/35 "2003-10-31T17:04:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Knighted Vorpal Sword \* > \*\*Abbey Road. No question the best of all the Beatles" albums. Side two ranks number one as the best album side of all time. \*\* That’s my beef against _Abbey Road_. Side 2 is way superior to Side 1, so it can’t possibly rank as the best Beatles album. But with “Sun King” on it, it can’t rank as the best album side ever, no matter how much I love the medley. The best album side ever, back when that meant virtually everything, is side 1 of Van Morrison’s _Moondance_: And It Stoned Me Moondance Crazy Love Caravan Into the Mystic Just builds from strength to strength, with no fewer than two of the greatest rock songs of all time. (Moondance and Into the Mystic, to spell it out.) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/36 "2003-10-31T17:41:55Z")
**Revolver** all the way. _AR_ side 2 starts and ends great, but I’ve always thought the middles was a bigger mish-mash than the (superior) White Album. I’d also put _Rubber_ and _Pepper_ higher. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/37 "2003-10-31T18:11:43Z")
There are _Abbey Road_ people and there are _White Album_ people, just as there are _Dark Side of the Moon_ people and their counterparts, _The Wall_ people. It’s diagnostic. Of something. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/38 "2003-10-31T18:13:30Z")
My vote is for Abbey road, with Revolver being a very close second. “The End” always mesmerizes me. The musicianship is top notch, the composition is brilliant. I just can’t ever get tired of it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/39 "2003-10-31T19:35:50Z")
I think Pepper and the White album were more significant in terms of the group stretching boundaries, songwriting techniques and so on, but for the execution of concepts and production, Abbey Road is the superior work. I’d use the same argument for Revolver vs. Rubber Soul. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544/40 "2003-10-31T19:50:30Z")
I’ve given up trying to rank Beatles albums. Each one as been my favorite at one time. Now, my favorite one is the one that’s on the stereo. How’s that for a non-answer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-greatest-beatles-album/210544.md?page=3)