#beatles rankings

[colonelpepper]

Hi! Welcome to my music blog👋 I'm in the process of systematically rating, reviewing, and ranking the discographies of my favorite artists (because why not😂) and am focusing on The Beatles (including their solo careers). This sideblog is essentially just a place for me to write down all my thoughts about the process as I do it, so don't mind me as I ramble into the void!

If you're curious about what I'm doing, I've explained my methodology under the cut. I'm not a professional researcher by any means so it might be goofy but it works well enough for me. I have some music/music theory knowledge, but I don't pretend to be an expert on any of this. It started as an exercise to learn more excel formulas, and now it's just an excuse to listen to music as much as time allows.

Should be fun!🎸🎸🎸🎸

Methodology

For each song, I broke it down into 4 major categories:

lyrics

production

vocals

musicianship

I am giving each song a numerical rating for each category on a scale of 1-10 (1-awful, 10-perfect). I then average those numbers together to find the overall score for each individual song, and then these individual song scores are averaged together to calculate the score for the overall album. 

In addition to the scores, I am also giving each song a rating, which is separate from the score and is determined solely by my reaction to the song, which reflects how much I like it, also on a scale from 1-10. The rating for each song is also averaged together to calculate the overall rating of the album. 

So, the basic idea is, “Score” = how good is this song/album & “Rating” = how much do I like this song/album. There's obviously no way to fully remove subjectivity from the process, so my guess is the scores and ratings will end up being very similar. But I'm just curious to see if there's any meaningful differences.

In cases in which an individual song is determined to be especially influential or significant to popular culture/music history, a 0.5 bonus will be added to the song's score. The idea is to use this sparingly, but I thought that would be an interesting thing to keep in mind when thinking about the Beatles.

In addition to calculating the overall score, I am also calculating the “writing score” and “performance score” for each song (and averaging those together to find the writing score and performance score for each album). The writing score is found by averaging the lyrics and production ratings for each song. The performance score is found by averaging the musicianship and vocals ratings for each song.

My spreadsheet is generating numerous album and song rankings as I go. But the album score, album rating, individual song score, and individual song rating rankings are the four that I'm paying closest attention to.

Idk if any of that was clear to anyone other than me, so feel free to ask me questions!

** all scores are obviously subjective, and should be taken with many grains of salt considering I am not by any means a musical theory expert or professional musician. I am just a silly goofy gal who likes music and spreadsheets 🤙 **

Note: Only studio albums written primarily by (or for) John, Paul, George and Ringo are being evaluated for this project. Live albums and cover albums (such as John’s Rock ‘n’ Roll and Paul’s Run Devil Run and Kisses From The Bottom) were excluded. Some unique songs (by unique meaning not an alternative take/remix) from the Beatles' Anthology series will be evaluated for song rankings, but the Anthology albums will not be included in the album rankings.

[depressedraisin]

someday someone should make a definitive ranking of boybestfriend duos in british rock bands

like we have so much history to unpack so much problematic conjectures to make so much variety as well. for example, we have john lennon and paul mccartney who don't have that many documented gay stage antics but enough personal lore that one could write a thesis on. on the other hand we got miles kane and alex turner who don't have the lore that we know of but were practically fucking each other on stage. and then we have pete doherty and carl barat have copious amounts of both. damon albarn and graham coxon have the stage chemistry and personal lore in moderate amounts but they got the insanest make up story of all time. johnny marr and morissey who, quite unfortunately, it seems like will never have that make up story

not to mention so many duos who i personally am not that familiar with: keith richards and charlie watts, george michael and andrew ridgeley etc etc you get my point

[nyenylon2]

I want to propose a new Tumblr sexyman

[nodirectionhome-ao3]

if anyone's curious — combining their work as The Beatles and their four individual solo careers (including Wings and Traveling Wilburys), John, Paul, George and Ringo released a total of 75 studio albums and 1,005 songs.

Yes, this is how I spent my evening.

[canadianstud]

THE BEATLES COVER SONGS RANKED WORST TO BEST

[emily-beatles-blog]

Here’s my ranking of Beatles albums (I don’t count Yellow Submarine):

12: Beatles for Sale — The only Beatles album I don’t like (but I don’t dislike it, it’s just “okay”)

11: Please Please Me — Pretty good!

10: With the Beatles — Most people like PPM more but I think this one’s better.

9: Rubber Soul — Yeah I know, insane take. I just don’t like folk music or Bob Dylan much lol. I AM warming up on this one, it’s just slow.

8: A Hard Day’s Night — Really good!

———— big gap in quality —————

7: Help! — great! Underrated.

6/5: Magical Mystery Tour / Let It Be — it’s a tie, but a mix of the originals and Naked would make Let It Be win.

4: The White Album — a 1-disc white album would be #2 or #3.

3/2: Abbey Road / Sgt. Pepper’s — until very recently, Pepper was 3 and Abbey Road was 3, but now they’re tied

1: Revolver

[69balcony]

Scritti Politti Feat. Shabba Ranks - She's A Woman (1991)

[darkroomalleycat]

after that disaster of a list by rolling stone, i’ve decided to try to make a list of my own of beatles solo songs

here’s my top 20 so far…

1. Maybe I’m Amazed- Live

2. Run of the Mill

3. Jealous Guy

4. It Don’t Come Easy

5. Woman

6. Somebody Who Cares

7. Handle With Care

8. Watching the Wheels

9. Silly Love Songs

10. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)

11. My Sweet Lord

12. Coming Up

13. Any Road

14. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

15. Somedays

16. Photograph

17. Faster

18. Dear Boy

19. Out The Blue

20. Mind Games

It’s not great, probably going to change this a lot, a work in progress

[beancalzone]

So that apple music top 100 albums list huh

[colonelpepper]

At the beginning of my Beatles discography ranking and I have made it through 3 albums. (72 left to go!) I reviewed the first two ages ago so those ratings might need some revisiting but here's where we're at so far. A Hard Day's Night has, as expected, jumped out to an early lead. 🙂

Some interesting variations popping up along some of the categories I'm tracking (lyrics, production, vocals, musicianship), but it's most of the same suspects at the top all around. No big surprises yet, other than "A Taste of Honey" doing better than expected overall.

[thesunsethour]

welcome back to part 3 of eve procrastinating her final exams by ranking her favourite songs by her favourite artists. today it is The Beatles' turn

(as always i must stress this is my opinion only. but i am also very nosey, so please tell me *your* opinions too)

(i'm ignoring songs in different languages, naked versions, and also any cover songs, so focusing exclusively on anything penned by lennon-mccartney or harrison or starr)

(this took me a week and a half. for context my killers' list took two days and hozier took four hours)

without further ado:

189. Wild Honey Pie (spoiler alert: i'm not a white album fanatic)

188.       Dig It (vibey but odd little song)

187.       Maggie Mae (didn't know for years this was a liverpool folk song)

186.       Only A Northern Song (not weird enough to justify itself)

185.       Revolution 9 (it achieves john's goal. still hate it though)

184.       All Together Now (worse precursor to the frog chorus)

183.       It’s All Too Much (i would like to apologise to yellow submarine)

182.       Flying (criminal that this is so far down actually. i only have myself to blame)

181.       I’ll Get You (bit samey)

180.       Savoy Truffle (i wrote down 'harrison's own muzak')

179.       Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey (wtf john)

178.       Thank You Girl  (harmonica has been utilised better)

177.       Every Little Thing (pretty okay)

176.       You Like Me Too Much (george still in songwriting training)

175.       I Want To Tell You (the beginning of george's 'i don't know' refrain in his songs. keep an ear out)

174.       The Inner Light (SO very george)

173.       Her Majesty (i'm irish so this had to be this low)

172.       You Can’t Do That (great john vocals here tbh)

171.       Honey Pie (you can so clearly hear the music hall inspiration. very paul)

170.       When I Get Home (bit samey but catchy enough)

169.       There’s a Place (better harmonica)

168.       I Need You (lovely harmonies)

167.       Not a Second Time (i always forget this song exists sorry to john lennon)

166.       It’s Only Love (i always think this ones on rubber soul)

165.       I’ll Cry Instead (conversely this is very beatles for sale coded i think!)

164.       Little Child (i am a sucker for the harmonica it has to be said)

163.       You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (really campy ad-libs. a fan)

162.       I’m a Loser (john's voice is so deep in this one??)

161.       I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party (little foot tapper of a song)

160.       Piggies (george had been reading orwell! good for him)

159.       Don’t Pass Me By (ringo! hello!)

158.       I’ll Be Back (solid enough)

157.       Doctor Robert (one of the earliest examples of 'we will sing a song about a little random man')

156.       If I Needed Someone (solid george effort)

155.       Why Don’t We Do It In The Road (apparently about two monkeys fucking. okay paul)

154.       Baby’s in Black  (clever little lyrics)

153.       It Won’t Be Long (adore the coming home line)

152.       All I’ve Got to Do (sweet enough little thing)

151.       Hold Me Tight (classic paul asking for love. a staple of the genre)

150.       What Goes On (hiiiii Ringo!)

149.       Yer Blues (my notes say 'proto-morrissey-esque, but worse)

148.       Good Night (reminds me of a musical song. also originally thought this was a paul song)

147.       She’s a Woman (really dynamic paul vocals)

146.       What You’re Doing (solid paul job)

145.       No Reply (i cannot think of this song without hearing the bloopers of YOUR FACE)

144.       Happiness Is A Warm Gun (i may get killed for having this so low. reminder that this is only my opinion)

143.       Don’t Bother Me (i *think* this is the first album song that george ever wrote!)

142.       P.S. I Love You (he loves his epistolary songs does Paul)

141.       I’m Just Happy to Dance With You (another solid foot tapper)

140.       Any Time At All (love the piano in this)

139.       I’m So Tired (same)

138.       Birthday (i hate the beginning of this song with a visceral passion. rest is grand)

137.       The Night Before (very '50s)

136.       Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (the only bad thing about this song is that it means the album is over)

135.       Another Girl (bitchy little paul song)

134.       Tell Me What You See (song gets better as it goes on i think)

133.       The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (hello yoko)

132.       Long, Long, Long (reminds me of my sweet lord)

131.       Ask Me Why (real jazzy like)

130.       Rocky Raccoon (i'm not mad on this song but the middle is so catchy it reels me in)

129.       Old Brown Shoe (ringo reference check!)

128.       Revolution 1 (not as good as revolution the single)

127.       Cry Baby Cry (love paul's little jaunty section)

126.       Yes It Is (sexy)

125.       Dig A Pony ("everything has got to be just like you want it toohoohoohoohoohooo"

124.       The Word (reminds me of grease)

123.       Hey Bulldog (some bits of music here remind me of 'Across the Universe')

122.       I’m Looking Through You (GREAT guitar)

121.       Sexy Sadie (can't remember which journalist said that AM's 4 out of 5 has this vibe and YEAH)

120.       I Me Mine (i will always adore the "flowing more freely than wine" lyric. thank you george"

119.       Things We Said Today (paul's so good in this one)

118.       Tell Me Why (catchy bop)

117.       Run For Your Life ("that's the end" SO good)

116.       Good Day Sunshine (nicely jaunty)

115.       Rain (love the instrumentation in this one)

114.       I Will (quintessential mccartney this)

113.       Love You To (making this list and hearing george's improvement as a songwriter was amazing actually)

112.       Octopus’s Garden (bless ringo)

111.       I Feel Fine (SO catchy)

110.       With A Little Help From My Friends (ringo's very best)

109.       Martha My Dear (i'm scared of dogs but i'll let this one go)

108.       Drive My Car (the beeps beeps always annoyed me as a kid)

107.       For You Blue (it is what it says - sweet and lovely)

106.       Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (love the laughter in it)

105.       Good Morning Good Morning (the guitar here is simply too cool for this song. elevates it greatly)

104.       You’re Going To Lose That Girl (beach boys vibes?)

103.       She Said She Said (john and george buddies and pals)

102.       Wait (john and paul's voices go SO well together do you ever get emotional)

101.       Think For Yourself (ANOTHER great foot tapper)

100.       I’m Down (well *somebody* thinks they're elvis)

99.         Misery (just. great structurally)

98.         I Should Have Known Better ("this could only happen to me" oh, john)

97.         Can’t Buy Me Love (one of the more Lennonesque mccartney songs)

96.         One After 909 (how did paul not know what this was about for over a decade)

95.         I’ve Just Seen a Face (absolutely gorgeous guitar)

94.         This Boy (thaaaasss boyyyy)

93.         You Won’t See Me (fab little chorus)

92.         Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (BANG BANG MAXWELL'S SILVER HAMMER CAME DOWN UPON HER HEAD 🔨 🔨🔨)

91.         Dear Prudence ("the clouds will be a daisy chain" is a line i've always adored)

90.         Yellow Submarine (i remember being 6 and our teacher playing this for us on her guitar)

89.         Mean Mr Mustard (love when john does a bit of narrative songwriting)

88.         Revolution (superior revolution version)

87.         Now and Then (cried on the tram on the way to college listening to this when it came out. as you were)

86.         Polythene Pam (love when their accent peaks through)

85.         Baby, You’re A Rich Man (a true lennon-mccartney collab with john not finishing something and paul adding his two cents, or rather, ten or twenty cents)

84.         Hello, Goodbye (i love the end of this song so so much)

83.         Mother Nature’s Son (soft and sweet, poignant but not sappy, one of the most underrated beatles songs of all time)

82.         Free As A Bird (cried listening to this too)

81.         Glass Onion (intertextual metanarrative: the song)

80.         Taxman (baby's first political song <3)

79.         I Wanna Be Your Man (hiiiiii again ringo)

78.         From Me To You (harmonica time again baby!)

77.         Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite! (i think of this as a spooky halloween waltz)

76.         Within You Without You (quintessential george)

75.         I’m Only Sleeping (underrated on revolver methinks)

74.         Your Mother Should Know (these songs WERE a hit before my mother was born)

73.         All My Loving (pure vintage mccartney)

72.         Do You want to Know a Secret (baby george and his fab vocals)

71.         Here Comes The Sun (okay nobody kill me. stop looking at me like that. its been winter for seventeen months george i can't fucking see the sun)

70.         Julia (so beautiful)

69.         Love Me Do (how were they pop song professionals already?)

68.         I Saw Her Standing There (paul loves a good scream in the middle of a song)

67.         A Hard Day’s Night (most iconic beginning of any song ever)

66.         Magical Mystery Tour (he loves a bus does paul)

65.         And Your Bird Can Sing (john's vocals are GREAT here)

64.         Sun King (the superior sun song on abbey road)

63.         Please Please Me (just. iconic)

62.         Eight Days a Week (for how good it is i can't believe paul didn't play it live till like 2013 or smth)

61.         Real Love (i never knew this was a beatles song when i was a kid!)

60.         The End ("the love you take is equal to the love you make"... yeah...)

59.         Back in the USSR ("my-my-my-my-" very billy joel actually)

58.         Ticket to Ride (mouth-watering guitar)

57.         For No One (the wario of 'And Your Bird Can Sing' no i won't explain further)

56.         All You Need Is Love (the she loves you yeah yeah yeahs at the end...)

55.         Blue Jay Way (so wonderfully eerie to me)

54.         She Loves You (love the long and powerful held note on the last "glad")

53.         I Want To Hold Your Hand (they were children my god)

52.         Across the Universe (some of my favourite vocals)

51.         Carry That Weight (paul going through it, writing bangers)

50.         Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (desmond and molly jones are close friends of mine at this stage)

49.         Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (overrated a bit imo but still simply iconic)

48.         Penny Lane (sorry paul, john won the MMT round w strawberry fields but its okay this song still is a bop)

47.         Tomorrow Never Knows (fucking well done on this one lads. love it)

46.         Getting Better ("a little better all the time" v "it can't get no worse" is just. peak lennon mccartney)

45.         Got To Get You Into My Life (INSTANT banger)

44.         Michelle (i am a sucker for french as long as its not spoken by french people <3)

43.         Lovely Rita (i always loved this one because paul says "book" like how my nanny says it)

42.         Helter Skelter (loud, fast, and brilliant)

41.         Get Back (billy preston the man that you were)

40.         She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (best of the abbey road medley)

39.         I’ve Got a Feeling (i LOVE paul's deep voice)

38.         When I’m Sixty Four (i love paul's granny music. sue me)

37.         Come Together (john was so good at writing these nonsense songs)

36.         The Fool on The Hill (adore the "ohHhHhHhHhHhh")

35.         Fixing a Hole ("when i'm wrong, i'm right" is so very paul)

34.         Girl (BRILLIANT middle)

33.         Help! (vulnerable without overdoing it. just fantastic)

32.         Day Tripper (unashamedly sexy)

31.         And I Love Her (i love basically everything about this song. ranking got so hard from here)

30.         You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (john was ON IT for Help!)

29.         Nowhere Man (my brother thinks this will be the name of john's biopic)

28.         Lady Madonna (my favourite genre of paul songs are songs where he voyeuristically imagines someone's life. they always slap)

27.         Paperback Writer (i also write at shitty newspapers and want to be a paperback writer. this song feels too targeted)

26.         In My Life (so pretty. SO pretty)

25.         The Ballad of John and Yoko (imagine the vibes in the recording studio. john. yoko. paul. and yet they made this banger)

24.         Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (my first ever favourite beatles song. has since been demoted but i still adore it)

23.         I am the Walrus (john at his weirdest best)

22.         She’s Leaving Home (i love when they write narratively)

21.         If I Fell (angelic harmonies)

20.         Don’t Let Me Down (fifth beatle billy preston supremacy)

19.         Because ("love is all, love is you"

18.         I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (vocals, instruments, lyrics, vibes, all incredible)

17.         Two Of Us (and if i said this was the best album opener?)

16.         Here, There, and Everywhere (paul says this is his favourite beatles song and you know what? he's so right for that)

15.         Oh! Darling (wario of the long and winding road. no i will not elaborate either)

14.         You Never Give Me Your Money ("OUT OF COLLEGE MONEY SPENT SEE NO FUTURE PAY NOT RENT" that is... me right this actual moment)

13.         Something (george said is anyone else gonna write one of the best love songs of all time? no okay i guess i will. and he did.)

12.         Golden Slumbers (cried to this as well. must stress i am not one to cry)

11.         Eleanor Rigby (the pinnacle of the MVS - McCartney Voyeuristic Storytelling)

10.         A Day in The Life (orchestra used to scare me when i was younger)

9.           While My Guitar Gently Weeps (george's best beatles song hands down)

8.           I’ll Follow the Sun (THE MOST UNDERRATED BEATLES SONG and i will die on this hill

7.           Yesterday (my father's favourite beatles song)

6.           The Long and Winding Road (my go to song to sing in the shower for some reason?)

5.           We Can Work It Out (pure lennon-mccartney baby!)

4.           Let It Be (the first and only song i ever learnt on ukulele and i was so proud of it)

3.           Strawberry Fields Forever (do i even have to say anything?)

2.           Blackbird (everything about this song is so beautifully perfect. paul mccartney is the best songwriter of all time okay. i've spent days upon days at this list and it's now making me emotional)

1.           Hey Jude (there's a reason it tops so many best songs of all time lists. a perfect 10. no notes. iconic. the first beatles song i played on repeat. would die slash kill to experience this live)

[zanderbobs]

Grammy nominations have brought back the nightmare discourse about Now and Then somehow 1 year after it was fucking released fml

[canadianstud]

THE BEATLES WHITE ALBUM SONGS RANKED WORST TO BEST

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

bugs and taylor mashup! if you had to pick only one favorite song by each one of them, which ones would those be?

Hey anon!!!! My favourite Beatles song is pretty unambiguously Eleanor Rigby and my favourite Taylor song is hard to choose but right now I'll say mirrorball and specifically the Long Pond Studio version :)