"You ask yourself, how much more white could it be…and the answer is none…none more white…"

OK, OK, I borrowed it from Spinal Tap, but since they were referring to Tap’s "Black Album" (Smell the Glove), obviously making a reference to this poll winner, well, what goes around comes around.

You know, I find this somewhat surprising, since really The Beatles represents the beginning of the end for the Fabs. In all their recollections about the making of this record, all of the people who were there described it as the first time they treated each other as backing musicians for their individual tracks. As for the tracks – there’s some highlights, no doubt – most of side one (especially Eric Clapton’s great solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), most of side two, half of side three, parts of side four. But c’mon gang – when was the last time you listened to "Revolution 9" in its entirety? I don’t know – there’s some stuff on there ("Honey Pie", "Bungalow Bill", "Revolution 9") that just keep me from considering The Beatles as THE Beatles record, especially compared to the embarrassment of riches to be found in the rest of their recorded output.

That having been said, my favorite quote from the Anthology television series was when McCartney was asked about having released one uneven double record when perhaps they could have released one killer single album – his response? Something like, "Yeah, you know, I hear people say that, but you know what? Fuck you. We’re the Beatles." Then he laughed. And really, let’s face it, he’s right. I mean, I just listened to the sample of Telly Savalas singing "Something" from the Golden Throats Butcher The Beatles CD from Rhino (if you haven’t heard about this, stop what you’re doing this instant and go to amazon or cdnow and listen – the highlight of course is the great "Lucy In the Sky" performed by Shatner) – and not even that prevents a great song from being a great song.

My two cents? Hands down, the greatest Beatles record is Revolver. To me, Revolver captures everything that was great about the Beatles, at the time when they were at the very peak as a band – it has the great songs, the great harmonies, the experimentation (the first song influenced by Indian music), the non-maudlin sentimentality. Plus they could rock and roll – "Taxman" and "Dr Robert", "She Said She Said" – and what some critics consider the birth of heavy metal (I’m not sure I’m with ‘em, but I can kind-of see it) "Tomorrow Never Knows". Plus – they were still a band. They still cared, together. The only song on there that’s ‘iffy’ is "Yellow Submarine", which people either love or loathe. I have kids, so I think it’s great. I didn’t think it was as great when I didn’t have kids. Overall, in my opinion, Revolver is less dated than Pepper, more meaty than the early stuff, and to me just edges out Rubber Soul and Abbey Road as the Beatles record to have. If I could only bring one Beatles album with me to a desert island, Revolver would be the one to bring, although I’d definitely miss my copies of Rubber Soul and Abbey Road.

It’s not the very best though – really, truly, the best Beatles record of them all, the ultimate Beatles record – well, that’s the single Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane.

Flatcat

Poll Topic: Best Beatles Album
The Beatles (The White Album)	26.7% - (126 Votes)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	24.4% - (115 Votes)
Abbey Road	20.3% - (96 Votes)
Revolver	12.5% - (59 Votes)
Rubber Soul	7.4% - (35 Votes)
Magical Mystery Tour	1.6% - (8 Votes)
Hey Jude	1.4% - (7 Votes)
A Hard Day's Night	1.2% - (6 Votes)
Let It Be	1% - (5 Votes)
With the Beatles	1% - (5 Votes)
Yellow Submarine	0.6% - (3 Votes)
Please Please Me	0.4% - (2 Votes)
Help!	0.4% - (2 Votes)
Yesterday ... and Today	0.4% - (2 Votes)
The Beatles For Sale	0% - (0 Votes)
Total Votes: 471