5 Best Beatles Albums

Choosing the 5 best Beatles albums is not as easy as it seems. After all, the group only released twelve albums during its lifetime, not counting reissues and such. However, even from this relatively small catalogue of choices, it's still possible to find five albums you absolutely need to have in your collection.

1. "Revolver" Many people might assume "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the best Beatles album, but they'd be wrong. Granted, it's the one that has garnered the most media attention over the years, but song-for-song, "Revolver" is more of a quality work. For instance, there is no more touching Beatles song than "Eleanor Rigby." With its haunting string section and lyrics about loneliness, this track has a timeless quality. And speaking of timeless, who can't relate to the evil of "Taxman"? Also, "She Said She Said" is, perhaps, the Beatles' best example of psychedelic music.
2. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" "Sgt. Pepper's" is also a good selection of songs, but it's difficult to see how this supposed concept album actually fits together as a concept. If you've ever seen the Bee-Gees' movie of the same name, you'll realize how tough it was to make it all hold up as a single story. But the best of these songs are nevertheless wise beyond their years, including "She's Leaving Home," where the band took on empty nest syndrome, and "When I'm Sixty-Four," which considered aging long before aging would be an issue for any of the group's four members.
3. "Rubber Soul" This album sports many songs that simply stand alone as great. There are few better love songs, for example, than "Michelle." And while there's been much speculation over just who John Lennon was talking about with "Nowhere Man," we've all known such an out-there person in our lives. There's more than enough goodness on this release to put it in the top three on the 5 best list.
4. "The Beatles" (album). This double album might have landed higher on the 5 best list had it been edited down to just a single disc. Anyone who has ever sat through all of "Revolution 9" knows just what a waste of time it is. Chances are good it doesn't make it onto many MP3 players these days. Nevertheless, there's no denying the lyrical power of songs like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun." There is greatness here, but just a little too much junk, too.
5. "Beatles for Sale" This one is the Beatles' only early album to make the list because it reveals Lennon/McCartney's emerging songwriting prowess. "I'm a Loser" is such a vulnerable song, while "Eight Days a Week" is both smart and fun. The Beatles' early albums mostly get overlooked in "best album" lists because there are too many cover songs on them. Lennon and McCartney are such great writers, their work took  the band's music up to the next level.