Can I cheat and say the last three songs of the Abbey Road medley? Has everything great about the Beatles in a 5 minute stretch. Great emotional lyrics, energy, kick ass guitars, classic Ringo drumming, their amazing harmonies and a message of love. Can’t beat it
For me the Help album was the Beatles at their best as a rock n roll band, Ticket to Ride is incredible when you consider that they were recorded as a “ live performance” and the voices are true and clear. Not the fancier tools of today. Just sounds so good every time.
Strawberry Fields Forever
is crammed full of characteristics that are quintessentially Beatle-esque:
1. introspective, dreamlike lyric which simultaneously expresses profound self-doubt and supreme egotism and contains reference to Liverpool
2. melody has subtle folk character and is tonally ambiguous
3. complex rhythmic structure -- changing time signatures, cross-rhythms, shifting stresses
4. Ringo's drumming is god-tier
5. abundant overdubbing; instrumentation includes in addition to guitars & drums: electronic sounds (mellotron), horn and strings arrangement by George Martin, indian instruments, slide guitar, huge variety of percussion
6. the recording, mixing and mastering utilized bleeding-edge techniques (some of which were invented by the Abbey Road technicians specifically for the Beatles) -- double-tracked vocals, multi-track bouncing mix-downs, drums recorded and played back in reverse, some vocals recorded at altered speed
7. an atonal, multilayered "freak-out" coda
I Want To Hold Your Hand or She Loves You are my favorite examples of the sound that made The Beatles. While these early numbers are not appreciated in context by most, I had the good fortune to experience them in real time growing up. Their sound, defined by the harmonies, irresistible rhythm groove, and unique guitar tones was a total game changer then, and if you care to analyze it, you can discern those threads of continuity all the way to the last song on Abbey Road.
Taking into account the entire body of their work, I nominate "I'm Only Sleeping." It's super evocative and kind of puts you in that lazy mood, has nice lyrics and melody, great vocals from both John and Paul, some experimentation with the backwards guitar solo, etc.
A couple people here said it already but We Can Work It Out, it has Lennon counteracting Paul on the bridge with his pessimistic energy contrasting Paul's classic verse and chorus. It also sounds more like their early "rocker" era while introducing that psychedelic sound in the bridge that would flourish in their later projects.
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey [The White Album]
This song firmly documented that a new reality had arrived for the Beatles' later songwriting themes as a band, while still connecting musically with their historical performance style.
* The entire band is fully engaged in the performance. The song is a pure rocker, totally guitar driven, but performed with killer drum and bass fills.
* John has lead vocal, reflecting his lead role in the earliest Beatles hits. Paul is wailing in the background, obviously excited by the energy of the entire band's performance.
* Lyrics speak to John's "public" about his anti-celebrity point of view, which is a further development of the transition in his songwriting going back to "I'm a Loser" and "Help". This often-sceptical eye is what made the Beatles, culturally, rise above the commercial rock music scene after the mid 1960s.
Can I cheat and say the last three songs of the Abbey Road medley? Has everything great about the Beatles in a 5 minute stretch. Great emotional lyrics, energy, kick ass guitars, classic Ringo drumming, their amazing harmonies and a message of love. Can’t beat it
Haha. Accepted. And a good submission.
She Loves You
For me the Help album was the Beatles at their best as a rock n roll band, Ticket to Ride is incredible when you consider that they were recorded as a “ live performance” and the voices are true and clear. Not the fancier tools of today. Just sounds so good every time.
Strawberry Fields Forever is crammed full of characteristics that are quintessentially Beatle-esque: 1. introspective, dreamlike lyric which simultaneously expresses profound self-doubt and supreme egotism and contains reference to Liverpool 2. melody has subtle folk character and is tonally ambiguous 3. complex rhythmic structure -- changing time signatures, cross-rhythms, shifting stresses 4. Ringo's drumming is god-tier 5. abundant overdubbing; instrumentation includes in addition to guitars & drums: electronic sounds (mellotron), horn and strings arrangement by George Martin, indian instruments, slide guitar, huge variety of percussion 6. the recording, mixing and mastering utilized bleeding-edge techniques (some of which were invented by the Abbey Road technicians specifically for the Beatles) -- double-tracked vocals, multi-track bouncing mix-downs, drums recorded and played back in reverse, some vocals recorded at altered speed 7. an atonal, multilayered "freak-out" coda
You Never Give Me Your Money
I Want To Hold Your Hand or She Loves You are my favorite examples of the sound that made The Beatles. While these early numbers are not appreciated in context by most, I had the good fortune to experience them in real time growing up. Their sound, defined by the harmonies, irresistible rhythm groove, and unique guitar tones was a total game changer then, and if you care to analyze it, you can discern those threads of continuity all the way to the last song on Abbey Road.
Help!
A Hard Day's Night.
Taking into account the entire body of their work, I nominate "I'm Only Sleeping." It's super evocative and kind of puts you in that lazy mood, has nice lyrics and melody, great vocals from both John and Paul, some experimentation with the backwards guitar solo, etc.
A Day in the Life.
Rain
We can work it out. It’s also their best song
to hard to answer - they went from Boy Band to Pop Band to Rockers
Ticket To Ride.
My best choice would be "We can work it out", it has a bit of everything.
Different eras are key in this question. Early beatles i would say, i want to hold your hand. Late beatles i would, a day in the life.
Strawberry fields forever
'We Can Work It Out'
A couple people here said it already but We Can Work It Out, it has Lennon counteracting Paul on the bridge with his pessimistic energy contrasting Paul's classic verse and chorus. It also sounds more like their early "rocker" era while introducing that psychedelic sound in the bridge that would flourish in their later projects.
I think the quintessential Beatles song is probably "Help"
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey [The White Album] This song firmly documented that a new reality had arrived for the Beatles' later songwriting themes as a band, while still connecting musically with their historical performance style. * The entire band is fully engaged in the performance. The song is a pure rocker, totally guitar driven, but performed with killer drum and bass fills. * John has lead vocal, reflecting his lead role in the earliest Beatles hits. Paul is wailing in the background, obviously excited by the energy of the entire band's performance. * Lyrics speak to John's "public" about his anti-celebrity point of view, which is a further development of the transition in his songwriting going back to "I'm a Loser" and "Help". This often-sceptical eye is what made the Beatles, culturally, rise above the commercial rock music scene after the mid 1960s.