Deano’s Force Ranked Beatles Albums

The Beatles are my favorite musical group of all time without question.
I wrote about that here: https://deanorolls.com/2020/04/14/deanos-musical-masterworks-the-beatles/

My friends recently did the impossible, we decided to force rank our favorite Beatles songs and the results of that are here: https://deanorolls.com/2022/06/30/beatles-top-ten-songs-from-people-who-know-stuff/

Then we decided to force rank our favorite Beatles albums. My methodology for this was to simply count the number of songs I really liked on each album and let that produce my ranking. More favorite songs on an album mean the album ranks higher on my list.  I understand a flaw in this methodology and how it placed The White Album, a double album, at the top of my list.  But, it works.  That piece of vinyl (or in this case two pieces) introduced more songs into the world that I liked than any other.  I also happen to really like and enjoy the vast differences in the songs on the album (even Rocky Raccoon?!?). Another flaw might be that “musically important songs” and albums they are on might not rank as highly as albums full of “less intellectually important works”.  I don’t really care about all that.  To me, the more campy A Hard Day’s Night is just as fun to listen to as later ones (that are more musically significant).  I like what I like.

My Ranking

So here are the albums ranked (and also the songs on each that helped it attain that rank):

1. The Beatles (“The White Album”) (1968)

1. Back In The U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
6. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
7. I’m So Tired
8. Blackbird
9. Piggies
10. Rocky Racoon
11. Don’t Pass Me By
12. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?
13. I Will
14. Julia
15. Mother Nature’s Son
16. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
17. Sexy Sadie
18. Helter Skelter
19. Long, Long, Long
20. Revolution 1
21. Honey Pie
22. Cry Baby Cry
23. Good Night

2. Abbey Road (1969)

1. Come Together
2. Something
3. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
4. Oh! Darling
5. Octopus’s Garden
6. I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
7. Here Comes The Sun
8. Because
9. Mean Mr. Mustard
10. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
11. Golden Slumbers
12. Carry That Weight
13. The End

3. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She’s Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit For Mr. Kite!
8. When I’m Sixty Four
9. Good Morning Good Morning
10. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
11. A Day In The Life

4. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

1. A Hard Day’s Night
2. I Should Have Known Better
3. If I Fell
4. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
5. And I Love Her
6. Can’t Buy Me Love
7. Any Time At All
8. I’ll Cry Instead
9. Things We Said Today
10. You Can’t Do That
11. I’ll Be Back

5. Let It Be (1970)

1. Two Of Us
2. Dig A Pony
3. Across The Universe
4. I Me Mine
5. Let It Be
6. I’ve Got A Feeling
7. The Long And Winding Road
8. For You Blue
9. Get Back

6. Revolver (1966)

1. Eleanor Rigby
2. I’m Only Sleeping
3. Here, There and Everywhere
4. And Your Bird Can Sing
5. For No One
6. Doctor Robert
7. Got To Get You Into My Life

7. Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

1. The Fool On The Hill
2. Your Mother Should Know
3. I Am The Walrus
4. Hello, Goodbye
5. Strawberry Fields Forever
6. Penny Lane
7. All You Need Is Love

8. Rubber Soul (1965)

1. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
2. Nowhere Man
3. Michelle
4. Girl
5. I’m Looking Through You
6. In My Life

9. Help! (1965)

1. Help!
2. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
3. Ticket To Ride
4. It’s Only Love
5. Yesterday

10. Please Please Me (1963)

1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. Love Me Do
3. Do You Want To Know A Secret
4. Twist And Shout

11. With the Beatles (1963)

1. All My Loving

12. Beatles for Sale (1964)

1. Eight Days A Week

13. Yellow Submarine (1969)

1. NA

BONUS

But wait, there’s more!

I know these are not official studio albums but these would be how I’d rank them into the list (based on “new” songs introduced by each).

Past Masters (Volume 1 and 2) (1988)

NOTE: I realize many of these songs had been released previously (just not on albums). Regardless, this collection in album form would make this my second favorite Beatles album.

1. From Me To You
2. She Loves You
3. I Want To Hold Your Hand
4. I Feel Fine
5. Yes It Is
6. I’m Down
7. Day Tripper
8. We Can Work It Out
9. Paperback Writer
10. Lady Madonna
11. Hey Jude
12. Don’t Let Me Down
13. The Ballad Of John and Yoko
14. You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)

Anthology (1995)

Thankfully some people decided to engineer these songs together and release them. Maybe it is just the nostalgia of these songs being released 1) 3+ decades after the band’s other albums and/or 2) after the band had split and John was not even with us anymore. I don’t think so, however. I thoroughly enjoy these songs.

1. Free As A Bird
2. Real Love
3. If You’ve Got Trouble

Favorite Album Cover – Abbey Road (1969)