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Surrender to thevoid99 20 Beatles Favorites W/OSep 13 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line 20 Beatles Favorites from the Enfant Terrible, v 2.0.
John, Paul, George, & Ringo. Is there anything new to say about the Fab Four? Not really. Still, saying they're one of the greatest pop groups of all-time is worth repeating. Early on, they went from perfecting and crafting catchy pop tunes that everyone can sing a long to while creating scandal with their mop-top hairdos. Then as their music evolved, introspective lyrics, jangly riffs, unconventional experimental approach towards pop music, and sonic production courtesy of the real fifth Beatle, George Martin. There, the landmark 1965-1967 trilogy recordings of Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band became the pinnacle of British pop music which led to Beach Boys mastermind to respond with his own masterworks of Pet Sounds and the finally, released lost album SMiLE. Since their break-up in 1970, the death of John Lennon in 1980, and George Harrison's passing in 2002. Everyone still listens to the Beatles and cites them as a profound influence. There is still a Beatle melody, riff, or lyric that is ripped off and most recently, Danger Mouse mixed the Beatles' 1968 chaotic landmark double-album known as The White Album with rapper Jay-Z's The Black Album into the bootlegged The Grey Album. What it proved is how far the Beatles have gone into their contribution to not just pop music but all kinds of music all over the world. Everyone can remember how they can introduced, even from a distance. The Beatles were the first group I can remember being really into and buying their CDs when they just came out like A Hard Day's Night, Please Please Me, With The Beatles, and my all-time favorite Beatles album Revolver. While the early recordings from 1962-1965 all have some great and memorable pop songs, it was the stuff during Help! that I think is what makes them into the innovators of pop music. John Lennon got more into introspective songwriting, Paul McCartney became the melodic craftsman, George Harrison introducing the world to Indian music, and Ringo Starr being one of the first rock drummers to take the spotlight. I also enjoyed watching the Beatles cartoons when they were on the Disney Channel back in the 80s. Bring them back, they were cool! If there was a way to make the ultimate Beatles compilation. It's damn-near impossible. Just simply buy the studio recordings (which needs to be remastered, especially the early albums in hi-definition state-of-the-art recording), particularly Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, and their last studio release Abbey Road. Let It Be is also essential, only if you can get past some of the production of Phil Spector, otherwise there's a few moments in the stripped-down mix of the recordings in Let It Be... Naked which features a far superior version of The Long & Winding Road without all of those strings and choir backgrounds. Also worth checking out for the fans are the films. A Hard Day's Night is classic cinema which is done in a documentary-like style from Richard Lester and remains one of the most seminal rock features in cinema. Help! is less cinematic when compared to A Hard Day's Night but it's all more fun and entertaining with the band just playing and going on wild adventures. The obscure mini-film Magical Mystery Tour is very campy but dated though the animated feature Yellow Submarine is a pure classic. The documentary for Let It Be though has remained to be unseen over the years while it's worth checking out through the footage in the Beatles Anthology DVD box set. Ok, now it's time to come for my list of 20 Beatles classic that I love and it wasn't easy: 20 Favorites by the Beatles (in no particular order) 1. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away Recently covered by Eddie Vedder for the I Am Sam soundtrack, this was purely a wonderful acoustic ballad with some of John Lennon's most introspective lyrics. Inspired by Bob Dylan (who introduced them to dope), this song has a bit of mystique in the idea that it might be a love song or something metaphorical in its acoustic setting. What I love about the song aside from its lyrics is the flute solo in the coda, it's one of my favorite tracks from Help 2. Ticket To Ride When I hear those jangly riffs, I definitely know what song that is. Lennon singing the track with some wonderful, catchy pop lyrics and George Harrison bringing all of that jangly chords to the song as Paul and Ringo bring that nice back beat rhythm. The song starts off smooth and then gets a bit faster with Harrison's guitar solo and Ringo's swaying beats. Some called this the first heavy metal song. Well, maybe since it does rock. 3. Nowhere Man More jangly riffs and Lennon's introspective lyrics are aboard. I picked this basically because of the jangly riffs that Harrison produced which became the sound that the Byrds would rip off and do so well at it. I can't say enough but it's a great song. 4. Michelle Now Sir Paul McCartney comes on board with this wonderful love song with a nice melody and French-like lyrics along with a nice bass solo. It's a great love song and who better to write a love song than Mr. McCartney who actually came up with the much-hated Silly Love Songs which is really a subtle f*ck you song. 5. Norwegian Wood Another personal favorite of mine but the real genius is George Harrison who brings the sitar into the mix though with its simplistic riff. The brilliance is a simple pop song from the Lennon/McCartney writing team with Harrison introducing Indian music to the mix in a traditional pop song. Though Harrison's infatuation would continue later on, this is where Indian-pop music really began in the West. 6. Paperback Writer If Nirvana ever was going to do a cover of a Beatles song, I think they would've done this since it has some nice, droning riffs, power-hitting drums, and loopy bass lines. It's one of those great songs that has what I like in a pop song and in a rock song. Catchy, introspective lyrics, drums you can do air-drums to, droning riffs, and Paul doing a great bass line. Also, it had a great video that was shot in the garden. 7. Taxman Beck would later rip off the repetitive bass line for New Pollution from Odelay but this was one of the first tracks where I took George Harrison seriously as a songwriter and guitarist. I just love the wailing riffs he comes up and of course the drum work of Ringo who seems to channel more power into the snare fills. The song now makes sense since we're getting shafted by the Man. Get away from my pocket Bush! 8. For No One Another of one of my favorite love songs by Paul McCartney, it's a lot sadder than most songs since there's a wave of melancholia that I wouldn't have expected from the Cute Beatle. It's got a great piano lead-in and the lyrics are so heartbreaking that is also followed by a French Horn solo in the bridge. It's one of the richest and melancholic songs from McCartney. 9. And Your Bird Can Sing This is another of one of my favorite rocking songs by the Beatles where I do a bit of air-drumming since it's got a great rhythm to it and power that Ringo provides on the drums. Lennon provides some fine lyrics with him and Harrison doing some great guitar work but it's the rhythm that really gets me. Now I know a lot has been said about Paul and Ringo as musicians but I don't think they get enough credit as a strong, solid rhythm section, especially when you compare them to the Who and Led Zeppelin. What I love at the end of the song is when Paul does that vibrato on the bass. 10. Tomorrow Never Knows I have a knack for weird, experimental music or any kind of experiments. This song has one of my favorite lyrics, "Surrender to the void". They're very dark and weird plus it's got all of these weird sounds with Ringo hammering on these drum tracks that would later be sampled onto Setting Sun by the Chemical Brothers. It's got weird tape tracks and keyboards, mellotrons, and fuzzy guitar tracks. This is where I think the blueprint of industrial, electronic music, and noise-rock would start though I also think maybe the Velvet Underground were inspired by it. I just love doing keyboard solos on that track too. It's very freaky man. 11. Strawberry Fields Forever This is probably my favorite of all Beatles songs. It's also one of their darkest with layers of keyboards, drums, bass, and guitars mixed in with Lennon's eerie lyrics. While the song had a great sound during the Summer of Love, its lyrics seems to be a bit more opposite in what Lennon was saying. I just love the way the song intensifies into its dark, demeanor, all the way to its wailing coda. 12. She's Leaving Home Another favorite I enjoyed from the Sgt. Peppers album, this is probably my all-time favorite of the compositions that McCartney has done. It's got a very melancholic feel to the song with its arrangement and most of all, its lyrics. There's a sad narrative that tells the tale of a girl leaving home and her parents reaction. It's that story that I wanted to tell originally into a short story but now, I'm using that narrative as my first act for the script that I'm currently outlining now, Three Actresses: At My Most Beautiful. 13. Fool On The Hill Another of McCartney's darker ballads, the song stood out for me in not just a chorus but a film clip from the Magical Mystery Tour film where Paul is on a hill, jumping around. It's got a lot of the pop melodies that McCartney is known for but there's so much more in what he brings. 14. Revolution This is where the Beatles get really rocking with a bit of feedback, distorted riffs, and hammering rhythms. It's another of my favorites with some very politically-charged lyrics from John Lennon where he plays on both sides where he says, "When you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out, in". He admits, he's not sure which gives the song some humanity. Whether it's the rocking version of the blues version in Revolution # 1, it’s still great. And I do like Revolution # 9, only if it added burps. 15. Helter Skelter I should note that when it comes to covers, U2 aren't a great cover band. They just don't add a lot of power to the songs they cover. That's why only the Beatles or a loud-*ss band should do this song. Written as a response to Pete Townshend's claim into writing the loudest rock song. This song was the Beatles, raw and uncompromised with wailing guitar riffs and power-hitting rhythms as Paul McCartney just goes nuts on the vocals as this is pretty much the closest where the Beatles went into metal and punk rock. 16. While My Guitar Gently Weeps Probably one of George Harrison's greatest compositions, this was also a huge standout in The White Album with a guest appearance from Eric Clapton on guitar. The song is very heartbreaking as Harrison wails on his vocals as Clapton plays that weeping guitar with Paul McCartney accompanying on piano as he had done recently when playing this song with Clapton in several Harrison tributes. 17. The Ballad of John & Yoko One of the more overlooked classics from the Beatles, though it was actually performed by John and Paul when George and Ringo briefly quit, it's also one of the more upbeat songs that Lennon has wrote. OK, as much as we want to blame Yoko for breaking the Beatles up (Paul says it was the Beatles who break up the Beatles), she was a good subject for the song. It's got a nice rhythm, country-like guitars and Lennon singing about his love and troubles for getting married to Yoko all in a catchy, country-rock style. 18. Across The Universe One of the best songs John Lennon has written, it's also the much-debated in terms of its production by Phil Spector. Well, I would say this was one of the few moments where Spector's production works. Lennon brings in some of his most innocent and spacey lyrics with a rich arrangement and his vocals never sounded better. The original is amazing along with some wonderful covers of the song from David Bowie and later, Fiona Apple. 19. Here Comes The Sun Now I know this song has been played a lot but it's my favorite of Harrison's compositions. It's a great love song along with a nice acoustic setting. It's also has a great drum solo from Ringo and one of the earliest synthesizer tracks done by Paul who brings a lot of atmosphere to the track. It's got a sunny feel but no one should cover this song. Those covers suck. 20. Get Back Now we get to the last song and it's one of the more upbeat and catchiest of songs. It's got a nice blues track plus Billy Preston on the keyboards. I chose this not because it's a classic but there was a great parody from the Rutles. The Eric Idle Beatles parody band that also had a fantastic parody called Get Up & Go. I feel that you can't mention the Beatles without mentioning the Rutles. Well, that is all I have to say for the Beatles. I wish I could put more but 20 is enough. So until then, this is thevoid99 signing off.  |
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