Best Beatles album to start out with

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BlueElephantKing
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13 Oct 2012, 9:31 pm

I've always wanted to buy some of the Beatles music, but I can't decide which album to start out with. What album should I pick as my first one?



equestriatola
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13 Oct 2012, 9:49 pm

Introducing the Beatles. :D It's my fave one.


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AliceInAspieland
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13 Oct 2012, 9:52 pm

I brought the Beatles "1" album. I think it had a red cover with a big yellow number one on the front. It was released 2000, so if you want a CD copy. It might be one of the easier ones to track down.

It's a collection of all their number one singles, so you'll know most of them. I not a big enough fan to get into some of their more obscure songs.

As far as famous albums go...I'd probably try Abby Road or Sgt Peppers Lovely Hearts Club Band.

Hopefully this helps.


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musicforanna
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13 Oct 2012, 9:54 pm

I'd probably say I'm more of the Yellow Submarine type.

To each their own.



Rorberyllium
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13 Oct 2012, 10:36 pm

Magical Mystery Tour. Some of their most solid pop songs. You'll probably recognize most of them from commercials.

Abbey Road has the Side B medley which is probably one of their greatest accomplishments.

A Hard Days Night And Help are both fantastic and somewhat underrated.



naturalplastic
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14 Oct 2012, 12:09 pm

Ask any boomer like me who grew up in the sixties and youd probably get the response that its a sacrelige to to do anything but to take the whole journey- and to sample the Beatles in chronological order because their style evolved and grew over time.

They started with as simple adolescent boyish savages imitating Elvis and chuck berry- on their albums of "Meet the Beatles" and "Introducing the Beatles". In fact the beatles were even more spare than their american blues and rockabilly idols of the fifties because they despensed with the saxophone ( a vital ingredient of Fifties rocknroll)- but somehow proved that rocknroll could sound great with only drums and three guitars.

But then they started to branch out and use background strings and horns.

Their midsixties albums (rubbersoul, Revolver, Yesterday and today,)ranged from prerock british dancehall music to american country to forays into east indian raga music.

Then they got full blown psychedelic with Sargeant Pepper, and Magical Mystery Tour. Then went on to other things on the White Album and Abby Road. Then finnished with "Let it Be". Each of the last three albums a musical universe unto itsself.

But if I had to pick one album- probably "Sargeant Pepper".



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14 Oct 2012, 8:00 pm

"Revolver" or "Abbey RD"

my top 7 Beatles Albums:

1. The Beatles (aka "The White Album")
2. Revolver
3. Abbey Road
4. Rubber Soul
5. Magical Mystery Tour
6. Sgt Pepper's
7. With The Beatles (or "Meet The Beatles" if you're American)

(The Magical Mystery Tour film is awful, but I strongly recommend the album!)



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15 Oct 2012, 4:27 am

Well, it depends on what you want to hear. As has already been mentioned, their music went through a lot of evolution and experimentation. Their early work is more pop oriented. So, if you want that side of them, buy something from that period. Later, they went into psychedelic music and experimented with a variety of different instruments. Their first song with a sitar was "Norwegian Wood", off of 1965's Rubber Soul album. Shortly after that they started going in a more experimental direction, culminating in the first themed album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Shortly after that, they were no longer on speaking terms and had stopped touring. If you want a good mix of things then I would suggest either Revolver or Rubber Soul. I wouldn't start with a compilation album though as their work is best experienced as a part of the whole of an album.


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TrainofLove
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16 Oct 2012, 8:26 am

"Please Please Me with Love Me Do and 12 Other Songs" from 1963, then go onto the follow up "With The Beatles".

I personally think their best album is "Beatles For Sale" and their weakest by far is "Sgt. Pepper".



spacebrain
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16 Oct 2012, 9:03 am

Magical Mystery Tour if you're heady.



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16 Oct 2012, 10:30 am

I'd say Revolver. I especially like the Mono remaster that came out a few years ago, unlike the stereo remaster versions that came out shortly after the original Mono versions, it does not sound like it was recorded in a steel drum.


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paddy26
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16 Oct 2012, 7:52 pm

I think I'd have to say the best of the beatles.





Seriously though I would start with "a hard days night" and go through them chronologically or maybe start with the red and blue albums.



MrMacPhisto
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19 Oct 2012, 1:23 pm

I suggest you get both 1962-1966 and 1967-1971. You can hear the evolution of the band



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19 Oct 2012, 1:39 pm

Nonsense ! ! The whole lot of you ! !

You absolutely have to start with the "White Album" aka "The Beatles."
It runs the entire gamut of musical styles and then some. "Rocky Raccoon" is one of the first 'spoken' songs, while "Revolution number 9" is a challenging pastiche. "Savoy Truffle" is a funny confection about nothing more serious than bon bons. The first song on side 1 is a sarcastic, and musically complex challenge to the Beach Boys (Back In The USSR).

Yellow Submarine, bah.


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19 Oct 2012, 2:25 pm

I'd actually say go with Past Masters, which is a 2-disc collection of singles that weren't on their main albums and alternate versions of songs that were. But you get great stuff like Hey Jude, She Loves You, Revolution, Let it Be, Get Back, Lady Madonna, Day Tripper, and so on. It also spans stuff from 1962-1970, so you get the whole range of their style, and being that it isn't a greatest hits type collection, you don't feel like you wasted money rebuying the exact same tracks if you start buying their actual albums.



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02 Nov 2012, 11:30 pm

Quote:
Abbey Road has the Side B medley which is probably one of their greatest accomplishments.

This.