# What's the weakest Beatles album? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455 "2018-07-23T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/1 "2018-07-23T17:56:40Z")
Poll coming. I’ve limited the poll to the UK canon of Beatles releases, except for including the Magical Mystery Tour album as it was released in the USA. It was released in the UK later. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/2 "2018-07-23T18:02:07Z")
That’s easy. Yellow Submarine. With the exception of Hey, Bulldog, most of the tracks are fillers, and YS itself had been released two years before. Will you be including a track listing or at least a link with your poll? ---
**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:** [July 23, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/3 "2018-07-23T18:07:53Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > That’s easy. Yellow Submarine. With the exception of Hey, Bulldog, most of the tracks are fillers, and YS itself had been released two years before. Will you be including a track listing or at least a link with your poll? Yep. Four new Beatles songs (which, except for “Hey Bulldog,” are not among their strongest), two re-runs, and a side of instrumentals. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/4 "2018-07-23T18:26:34Z")
I always thought Magical Mystery Tour was a failure, mainly due to the crappy T.V.special. I like nearly every song the Beatles put out, so aside from the Music the album was a bust, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/5 "2018-07-23T18:42:13Z")
_Yellow Submarine_ had three good songs: “Only A Northern Song,” “Hey Bulldog,” and “All Together Now.” “It’s All Too Much” isn’t bad, but side two of the album has nothing of interest. The songs on _Magical Mystery Tour_ were uneven, but “Magical Mystery Tour,” “The Fool on the Hill” and, of course, “I Am the Walrus” are classic pieces of the group’s legacy. I did like the TV special because it was the first time I actually saw the Bonzo Dog Band perform. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/6 "2018-07-23T18:57:49Z")
I’ll go with Yellow Submarine – but (nitpick) since it has an entire side of songs not performed by the band I don’t really think of it as a “real” Beatles album. BTW, The restored Yellow Submarine movie is available on Amazon Prime Video. It looks and sounds great. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/7 "2018-07-23T19:11:02Z")
I voted for Beatles for Sale, although it is still a good album, it’s just dragged down by some very tired covers. Yellow Submarine is a tough one, I’ve always enjoyed the George Martin music on side two. In the USA, A Hard Day’s Night and Help! both also had film music added but it has been forever since I’ve heard the USA versions. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/8 "2018-07-23T19:28:26Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I’ll go with Yellow Submarine – but (nitpick) since it has an entire side of songs not performed by the band I don’t really think of it as a “real” Beatles album. > > BTW, The restored Yellow Submarine movie is available on Amazon Prime Video. It looks and sounds great. Except for the fact that none of the actual Beatle voices are in the movie. But it was a fun if rather silly romp. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/9 "2018-07-23T20:58:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _Yellow Submarine_ had three good songs: “Only A Northern Song,” “Hey Bulldog,” and “All Together Now.” “It’s All Too Much” isn’t bad . . . If a group of today put out an EP containing those four songs, it would be the best pop record of the last 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/10 "2018-07-23T21:15:23Z")
_MMT_ is one of my favorite Beatles albums. (And not just for the singles on the US version, the soundtrack songs are great or nearly so.) The critics also [liked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Mystery_Tour#Critical_reception) it. Compare to the [ratings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Submarine_(album)#Critical_reception) of _YS_. But I’ll give _YS_ a pass given it wasn’t intended to be a regulation studio album. The real sad sack is _Let It Be_. Given the era and being last “real” Beatles album released it is a disappointment. Even the remastered version sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/11 "2018-07-23T21:42:16Z")
Yellow Submarine, because it is only half an album with 2 previously released songs. I do like all four of the new ones, but that is pretty thin. After that, Let It Be, since it got trashed by Phil Spector. I was in a lab the summer of 1973 where someone played top 40 radio, and “The Long and Winding Road” was on every 15 minutes. How I hate that song. Let It Be Naked is far superior. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/12 "2018-07-23T21:54:39Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The real sad sack is _Let It Be_. Given the era and being last “real” Beatles album released it is a disappointment. Even the remastered version sucks. That may be true, but the gig at the end of the movie was pretty great. One of the very few bands that went out “on top”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/13 "2018-07-23T23:01:34Z")
Never heard Yellow Submarine but since I generally dislike early Beatles more I feel confident in giving the thumbs down to With The Beatles: while the standout track All My Loving is more urgent and relevant than their previous offerings, the totality of the rest of entirety of the songs on Please Please Me edges that out by a hair. That said, I wouldn’t even play either album more than once or twice even if I were given it for free so they are pretty much tied. The rest of their later albums besides Yellow Submarine are so great that even the ones I have not heard all the way through have such standout singles that they supercede their first two by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/14 "2018-07-24T15:56:59Z")
The White Album has the fewest good songs considering its length, so it gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/15 "2018-07-24T16:13:11Z")
[\*\*You forgot One \*\*](https://images.bonanzastatic.com/afu/images/0d9c/73b1/b003_4479049614/il_fullxfull.440670301_3aoz.jpg) You forgot to list this album. I only thought of it because it is part of my daddy’s complete collection that my brother cherishes to this day. I always thought it pretty gross: the cover, not the music. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/16 "2018-07-24T16:36:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The White Album has the fewest good songs considering its length, so it gets my vote. It has more good songs than Beatles for Sale. I couldn’t bring myself to disrespect that one, though, because it has “Eight Days a Week.” (I voted for Yellow Submarine, like everybody else.) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/17 "2018-07-24T16:37:13Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You forgot to list this album. I only thought of it because it is part of my daddy’s complete collection that my brother cherishes to this day. I always thought it pretty gross: the cover, not the music. LOL American release. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/18 "2018-07-24T17:25:27Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > [\*\*You forgot One \*\*](https://images.bonanzastatic.com/afu/images/0d9c/73b1/b003_4479049614/il_fullxfull.440670301_3aoz.jpg) > > You forgot to list this album. I only thought of it because it is part of my daddy’s complete collection that my brother cherishes to this day. I always thought it pretty gross: the cover, not the music. LOL Well, at any rate, it probably qualifies as the most _expensive_ album. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/19 "2018-07-24T17:32:59Z")
Although I like all of their singles, I’ve never bothered to buy some of the early Beatles albums, such as the first two and _Beatles for Sale_. However, I own and semi-regularly listen to all their middle-to-late period albums. Except for one: _Yellow Submarine_. So count me in with the majority. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455/20 "2018-07-24T18:14:31Z")
While Yellow Submarine’s relative dearth of new actual Beatles material is disappointing…they are all good songs (Only a Northern Song is actually one of my favourites), and IMO, even counting the second side, the album a better ratio of Strong New Actual Beatles Material than With the Beatles (where, IMO, aside from It Won’t Be Long and All My Loving, all the best ones are covers). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-weakest-beatles-album/818455.md?page=2)