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jamesbaldwin View Drop Down
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    Posted: December 17 2018 at 10:37
Which is the best (I dont say the most proggy) Beatles' album? 

Which is the most accomplished, successful, between Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road?

In my opinion Abbey Road is more complete, more adult, more solid.
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If you're going for most accomplished then Sgt. Pepper's. 
That album tackled so many musical aspects that Abbey Road doesn't even come close to emulating.
If you're going for a more straight forward album then Abbey Road.

For me Sgt. Pepper's is like the big bang for everything prog. The Beatles tackled brilliant songwriting and then set off to make every other aspect of the album completely unique and oriignal and given their unlimited budget at this point were successful in pulling it off.

Sgt Pepper's all the way, however that doesn't mean Abbey Road is bad by any means. Abbey Road simply returned to the basics. For me mature isn't better. For me unbridled creativity steals the show everytime especially when the underlying basics of excellent song structures aren't compromised.

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It's close for me but I would give the edge to Sgt. Pepper.
 
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Originally posted by siLLy puPPy siLLy puPPy wrote:

If you're going for most accomplished then Sgt. Pepper's. 
That album tackled so many musical aspects that Abbey Road doesn't even come close to emulating.
If you're going for a more straight forward album then Abbey Road.

For me Sgt. Pepper's is like the big bang for everything prog. The Beatles tackled brilliant songwriting and then set off to make every other aspect of the album completely unique and oriignal and given their unlimited budget at this point were successful in pulling it off.

Sgt Pepper's all the way, however that doesn't mean Abbey Road is bad by any means. Abbey Road simply returned to the basics. For me mature isn't better. For me unbridled creativity steals the show everytime especially when the underlying basics of excellent song structures aren't compromised.

Both are absolute masterpieces. It's a struggle between titans. 
I agre with you that Sgt Pepper is most accomplished: Pepper's songs have a greater variety of style:
simphonic (She's Leaving Home), psychedelic orchestral (Mr Kite), indian music (Within You), swing
(64). And Pepper contains the absolute peak of the Beatles: A Day in the Life.

But in my opinion Pepper shines more for the arrengements than for the depth, the intrinsic thickness of the
individual songs. For example, the second side, apart the first and last song, is made up of weak songs.

Abbey Road is more compact, it has no defects whatsoevere (only one weak song: Maxwell), and presents songs that still touch many musical genres, but above all they reach more emotional pathos (the obsessive and paranoid feelings of Come Together and I Want You, the romanticism of Because, Golden Slumbers). 
But again, it's a clash of titans. 
The question is simply: which one, in your opinion, is the best?
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Personally, I like Abbey Road better. The songs are generally higher quality, and I think it has some of The Beatles' best playing as well, particularly from George and Paul. Really makes me wonder how The Beatles might have sounded if they got back together in the 70s.
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Pepper's started the train rolling and Abbey Road was the final destination.
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Sgt Pepper,  but it's a close call.
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Very tough question for me....I think Revolver , Pepper, White, and Abbey  are all excellent.....to say that one is 'better' than another is hard since they all contain some brilliant songs.
But this is about Pepper and Abbey.....,Maxwell, Octopus, and Sun are all on the light side as songs go so I'm going to pick Pepper as the 'better' one here but that's as subjective as it gets.
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Despite the media hype, I still prefer Sgt Pepper overall compared to the albums released around it. It has a level of consistency that the others lack at times, despite obvious highlights on those.

Like many bands, one album doesn't do full justice to their legacy, and a few truly epic albums could have resulted from cherry-picking the output from Revolver through to Let It Be. I suppose the 'Blue' album reflects that reasonably well - although that has omissions and anomalies too. I always think what the ultimate compilation double album would be from that latter period (including the singles etc.)? I might think about such an iTunes playlist over the Christmas break, perhaps.
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I prefer the White Album to either, but if forced I would say Abbey Road.
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My personal ranking:

1 Abbey Road: 9,5/10 - Five stars
2 Sgt Pepper: 9,5 - Five stars
3 White Album: 9,5 - Five stars
4 Magical Mystery Tour - 9 _Five stars (4 and half)
---
5 Rubber Soul: 8,5 - 4 stars
6 Revolver: 8,5 - 4 stars
7 Let It Be: 8+ - 4 stars
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Thing is, the Beatles were a rock band until the day they broke up.   Sgt. Peppers was a rock album even with all its innovations and art music, and it is that rawness, those imperfections & flaws, that make it a true masterpiece.   Same for Revolver and the White Album.  

What made Abbey Road appealing was a slight but significant move away from rock 'n roll toward the kind of cleaner, somewhat overgroomed mainstream pop that would have immeasurable influence on all popular and commercial music in general.

I prefer Pepper.
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Pepper.

I always thought, clearly in the minority, that Abbey Road was just okay.  I mean, it's still the Fabs, but if you remove the outstanding Harrison material, I don't think Paul or John had their best songwriting here. 

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Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Abbey Road is more compact, it has no defects whatsoevere (only one weak song: Maxwell)
 
Only one? Not the awful Octopus's Garden then?
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Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Abbey Road is more compact, it has no defects whatsoevere (only one weak song: Maxwell)
 
Only one? Not the awful Octopus's Garden then?

In My opinion Octopus's Garden is a good country-pop song (awful is Dont Pass Me By from the White Album).

Excellent the fender guitar solo by Harrison, excellent the arrangement, valid the melody and the
singing of Ringo.

If I consider the quality, 
It's better than When I'm Sixty Four, Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning (Sgt Pepper) and similar to
She's Leaving Home, which flies higher than Octopus for the simphonic arrangement but (in my opinion) is too much verbose.

Moreover, in the context of the first side of Abbey Road, a light, pop but well-done song is good.

Anyway, I consider the side A of Sgt Pepper slightly better, as a whole, than the side A of Abbey Road.

Sgt Pepper's side A is perfect (conception, quality, sequence, arrangements, total effect) only She's Leaving (if I wanted to be finicky) is not completely successful.


Edited by jamesbaldwin - December 18 2018 at 06:08
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Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Abbey Road is more compact, it has no defects whatsoevere (only one weak song: Maxwell)
Only one? Not the awful Octopus's Garden then?
In My opinion Octopus's Garden is a good country-pop song (awful is Dont Pass Me By from the White Album).
Excellent the fender guitar solo by Harrison, excellent the arrangement, valid the melody and the singing of Ringo.
If I consider the quality, It's better than When I'm Sixty Four, Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning (Sgt Pepper) and similar to She's Leaving Home, which flies higher than Octopus for the simphonic arrangement but (in my opinion) is too much verbose.

Are you out of your bloody freaking mind?   Take the cotton out of your ears and turn off the leaf blower.




Edited by Atavachron - December 18 2018 at 14:35
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erm.......Revolver !!!
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Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Abbey Road is more compact, it has no defects whatsoevere (only one weak song: Maxwell)
Only one? Not the awful Octopus's Garden then?
In My opinion Octopus's Garden is a good country-pop song (awful is Dont Pass Me By from the White Album).
Excellent the fender guitar solo by Harrison, excellent the arrangement, valid the melody and the singing of Ringo.
If I consider the quality, It's better than When I'm Sixty Four, Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning (Sgt Pepper) and similar to She's Leaving Home, which flies higher than Octopus for the simphonic arrangement but (in my opinion) is too much verbose.

Are you out of your bloody freaking mind?   Take the cotton out of your ears and turn off the leaf blower.


Do you think that Lovely Rita or Good Morning, Good Morning are much better?
In every italian forum of the Beatles, and even in the music critics books I have read, they are considered worse.
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Abbey Road
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Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Abbey Road is more compact, it has no defects whatsoevere (only one weak song: Maxwell)
Only one? Not the awful Octopus's Garden then?
In My opinion Octopus's Garden is a good country-pop song (awful is Dont Pass Me By from the White Album).  Excellent the fender guitar solo by Harrison, excellent the arrangement, valid the melody and the singing of Ringo.  If I consider the quality, It's better than When I'm Sixty Four, Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning (Sgt Pepper) and similar to She's Leaving Home, which flies higher than Octopus for the simphonic arrangement but (in my opinion) is too much verbose.

Are you out of your bloody freaking mind?   Take the cotton out of your ears and turn off the leaf blower
Do you think that Lovely Rita or Good Morning, Good Morning are much better?
In every italian forum of the Beatles, and even in the music critics books I have read, they are considered worse.

I couldn't care less about what books or forums say.   And yes I think Rita and Good Morning are better--  they have soul and joy and creativity.   Octopus's Garden is a children's song.   Nothing wrong with that but it's not on the level of anything on Peppers.   




Edited by Atavachron - December 19 2018 at 00:33
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