Rubber Soul (1965)
Filled with pleasantness, harmony, and earnest singing, this mediocre album only rises above the level of generic pop nonsense on about half the tracks. And most of those are overrated and not particularly close to the brilliance that this group (supposedly) possesses. Exception to the rule – “Norwegian Wood”, which combines beautiful music with rather interesting lyrics.
(“Norwegian Wood”)
Grade: B-
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Think of it as an inferior prequel to ‘Abbey Road’…which isn’t an insult since ‘Abbey Road’ is a great album.
(“A Day In The Life”)
Grade: B+
Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
They keep getting better and better. The second side is brilliant.
Grade: A-
The Beatles (The White Album) (1968)
Having somewhat conquered my fears of looking like a complete idiot by trying to grade The Beatles, when I sat down and listened to this double album for a while I wasn’t afraid to think that it sounded horribly mediocre, especially for the group that spawned it. The best song on here was written by George Harrison. Normally, enough said. But that’s not fair to George. He did perform quite nicely on ‘Abbey Road’, and he comes up with a good tune now and again. At least on this album, he’s no weaker than the Lennon/McCartney team. A lot of soft, pleasant cr@p with psychedelia and some soft, pleasant music. Horrible by their standards, mediocre by mine.
(“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”)
Grade: C+
2010: What was I thinking? Very good stuff…experimental, but that’s what made them great…strange, yet still catchy. Grade: B+
Abbey Road (1969)
I’m at a bit of a loss to grade The Beatles. I feel a bit of awestruck fear, as a fighter coming face-to-face with the best there is and knowing he doesn’t have a shot. But, fighting through the panic, I manage to look at the songlist, rate every song, and compile it here for your reading pleasure and use. Let me just say that I love the song suite that comprises most of side two. It flows together seamlessly and beautifully. The individual songs on side one are pretty much a 50/50 split…the kind of thing that usually gets a B+. And that’s the WEAK side. Granted, the song suite is rather short and the individual songs don’t linger on for very long before another one breaks through. But this is definitely a pop music classic. I’ve always preferred the Stones, but this album could hold its own with the Stones’ best.
(“Something”, “I Want You(She’s So Heavy)”, “Sun King”)
Grade: A
2010: Brilliant, really…nothing’s perfect, right?
Grade: A+