Most Popular Beatles Albums On Amazon
By Marvin Marks on May 6, 2009 in Features
EDIT: New article on the most popular remastered Beatles CDs on Amazon.
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This is a list of the highest selling albums by The Beatles on Amazon as derived by their top 100 selling classic rock albums list (which includes some albums that are definitely not classic rock.)
I find it very interesting to see which albums are the ones that people are buying now, nearly 40 years after the band broke up (40 years!?!!) I’m sure that most of the people buying these albums were not even alive when they were recorded.
#1 The White Album
Nice! My favorite Beatles album is also the #1 selling Beatles album, at least on Amazon. I wonder if they are counting it twice for each sale like the RIAA does (they count each sale of a double album as two sales since it’s twice as expensive and of course all that matters is money!)
#2 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
I’m less certain about what my second favorite Beatles album is, but it very well may be this one. At least it is when I’m listening to it.
#3 Abbey Road
Brilliant album. I recently read a book by Geoff Emerick (engineer for The Beatles from Revolver on) and he wrote about how much differently Abbey Road was recorded from the rest of The Beatles albums and to me it does sound totally different. Much “cleaner” and more “modern” but I’m not really sure that’s a good thing. In a way it is, because it’s something different. But I think overall I prefer the sound of the ’66 through ’68 albums.
#4 The Beatles 1
I’m glad that this is below three of their “real albums” although it’d be even better if it was below a few more. C’mon folks. The Beatles are not a “greatest hits” kind of band. They’re too good for that. In a lot of ways I find the songs on this collection to be among their least interesting songs.
Not that these songs aren’t great (they clearly are) but that they tend to be the more straight ahead “pop” songs and less of the more innovative experimental stuff that I think is most essential.
Plus most of the songs on this collection have been played to death. I get much more joy out of listening to the albums than I do out of listening to a greatest hits collection like this.
#5 Rubber Soul
As many great songs are on this album (and there are a lot) I’ve never really been in love with this album like I have been with some of the others. I think it’s because I got the “Red Album” & “Blue Album” first and it sort of ruined Rubber Soul for me because so many of the songs were included. I think that’s part of the reason that Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album, and Abbey Road were always my four favorite albums; they had a much lower percentage of songs on the Red/Blue sets than Rubber Soul. Although the biggest reason is probably because those four albums are just so ridiculously brilliant.
#6 Revolver
I was actually surprised that this album only one slot above the next one on the classic rock albums popularity list. And yes, sometimes Revolver is my second favorite Beatles album.
#7 A Hard Day’s Night
This is probably the most perfect encapsulation of the early Beatles sound. There are a few clunkers (especially late in the running order) but all in all it’s probably the “most important” pre Rubber Soul Beatles album (although I think Help! is underrated and when it comes down to it I’d probably rather listen to Help!)
#8 Let It Be
Not Let It Be… Naked. I do think the “Naked” version of Let It Be was a great idea and I enjoy it, but in a way the fuzzy haphazard sound of the original fits the music better. Even Phil Specter’s strings fit to me somehow. It’s like they fit because they don’t fit?
#9 Magical Mystery Tour
If I don’t take into consideration that this isn’t a “real” Beatles album and that “Strawberry Fields” & “Penny Lane” were actually recorded a year earlier (originally intended for the album that became Sgt. Pepper then this album definitely ranks quite highly for me. It’s the ultimate Beatles psychedelic album because it’s so over the top with the experimental song arrangements and production. That being said, it’s not as consistent as their truly great albums (like Revolver & Sgt. Pepper) and it lacks a certain cohesiveness (probably because it wasn’t originally put together as an album but as an EP with some old singles stuffed in to fill it out.)
Overall I think this album is underrated. I’m glad to see it at least made the list.
#10 1967-1970 (Blue Album)
I don’t really recommend any of these compilations but they are how I was first introduced to The Beatles. The songs on this thing are incredible and yes there are some songs that you can’t get on any of The Beatles albums. But there’s a solution to that: Past Masters. Right now there’s Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 which includes all of the Beatles songs not included on the albums. If you get that along with all of the albums then you have all of their officially released songs from the ’60s. That’s really the way to go.
BTW, the new remastered Beatles catalog (due out on 9/9/9) has combined Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 into one CD which makes it a no-brainer purchase. Get that instead of any of the “greatest hits” albums.
#11 Please Please Me
I understand the historical significance of this being the first Beatles album but I think Help! is a much better listen (it didn’t make the top 100.) I’d also say I enjoy listening to the second and third Anthology sets more than Please Please Me. It’s a cool album (to complete the collection and to check it out to see what things were like back in 1963) to have but I almost never listen to it.
#12 1962-1966 (Red Album)
See #10.
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Beatles 1 serves its purpose well. As a huge fan born 20 years after the band’s breakup, 1 was what stopped me from listening to the Spice Girls and introduced me to some more exciting music.
Clare | May 6, 2009 | Reply
Clare – I agree about that… That’s the cool thing about these compilations — They can introduce the band to new people with their most catchy hard to resist songs. I just hope people don’t stop at 1 because it’s the albums that have the real magic in my opinion.
And as I mentioned – I actually first got into the Beatles through the Blue album set (1967-1970) — Maybe I wouldn’t have become such a huge fan so quickly if I had listened to one of their albums first?
I do think greatest hits albums can be a good way for people to sort of “get their feet wet” with a band they haven’t listened to before. They tend to have the most easily accessible songs. The ones that a new fan can get into right away.
So … uh… Yeah. I guess my point is – yes Clare – you have a good point.
Marvin Marks | May 8, 2009 | Reply
Commonly known as the “Red Album”, the 2LP vinyl set “1962 – 1966″ became an instant classic when it was first released in April 1973 (as did its “Blue” counterpart “1967-1970″). When they were finally reissued onto the new CD format in 1993 however, they caused consternation because of their extortionate full price.
So is this newly remastered 2010 mid-priced 2CD reissue on EMI/Apple 5099990675225 any better – the answer is an emphatic ‘yes’.
PACKAGING:
The first thing you notice is that the clunky double jewel-case of the 1993 reissue has been dumped for a three-way foldout card sleeve. The centre and right flaps picture the photograph on the inner gatefold of the original vinyl double album (St. Pancras Old Church in London, 27 July 1969, The Beatles with the public looking through the railings). It also houses the two CDs – CD1 has the full Apple label (13 tracks, 31:02 minutes) and the 2nd CD has the half Apple logo (13 tracks, 31:45 minutes). The vinyl set is yet to come, the Digital Download versions are available from 25 Oct 2010 and there’s also an issue that lumps both the Red & Blue reissues together as one package in late November.
The left flap houses a new 32-page booklet. The lyrics are intact from the inner sleeves of the original album issue, there’s new liner notes by BILL FLANAGAN the MTV Executive and author of “Evening’s Empire” (a book on Rock in the Sixties) and there’s plenty of superb colour photos from the period – it’s impressively done. Downsides – some complained that the 09/09/09 card digipak sleeves for The Beatles reissues were easy to smudge once out of the shrinkwrap and worse – the inner flaps easy to tear as you removed the disc. I’m afraid these are the same. I suppose I would have been naïve of us to think that EMI would actually listen to the complaints of 2009 about packaging, but they haven’t – the need for these issues to look the same as the preceding ones has overridden all considerations… Having said that, I still think they look great – substantial even…
PLAYING TIMES:
It doesn’t take a particular genius to work out from the playing times provided above that this set could easily have fitted onto 1CD (and even included bonus tracks). But EMI would of course argue that this would fundamentally alter the aesthetic of the original release. At least this time, the reissue is at mid price, so we’re not being charged for the privilege. I think the new price pitch makes the ‘one’ disc argument a mute point. Besides, I like the break, taking out the first disc and putting in the second – it’s how the original 2LP issue was. And better, it doesn’t actually diminish the listen, if anything it enhances it.
TRACK CHOICES:
The compilation itself is basically the A-sides of all their UK 7″ singles releases between 1962 and 1966 in chronological release date order with a few key album tracks thrown in for good measure. Eagle-eye fans would therefore note that as ALL Beatles UK 7″ singles for that period were issued only in MONO, so the tracks on the album should reflect that – the MONO single mixes. But EMI did nothing of the sort. In fact the original 1973 albums stated only STEREO on the labels and only the STEREO code was reflected in their catalogue numbers too. At least this time this new 2010 issue notes that Tracks 1 to 4 on Disc 1 are in MONO, while all other are in STEREO (“Love Me Do” is the album mix and not the single version). Bottom line – I would argue that accuracy’s loss is the listener’s gain, because the STEREO versions used here are awesome.
SOUND:
Although the compilation is copyrighted to 2010 (released Monday 18 Oct 2010 in the UK and 19 Oct 2010 in the USA), the liner notes don’t try to hide that these are the 2009 remasters by the same team who did the much-praised Beatles catalogue of 09/09/09. The sound quality is fantastic – breathtaking clarity on instruments – George Harrison’s sitar on “Norwegian Wood” – the string quartet on “Eleanor Rigby” and so on.
CONTENT:
But what impresses most is the actual listen itself. Even now, it’s truly shocking to hear just how accomplished The Beatles were. Re-listening to each disc in straight order is a gobsmacking experience – and by the time you get to the real song-writing genius of “Ticket To Ride” and especially “Yesterday” (the song that single-handled shut all the begrudgers up) – you’re left with a renewed sense of awe. “We Can Work It Out” and “Day Tripper” were a single for God’s sake – not on any English album at the time of release! “Paperback Writer”, “Ticket To Ride”, “Michelle” – track after track of brilliance… Were they really ‘this’ good – and so early on – the answer is yes – and always will be.
To sum up – the sound on these new reissues is fabulous; the packaging better than the 1993 versions and each is being sold at mid-price – available in most places for less than the price of a single new album. You can’t help but think that millions of people globally will take one look at these beauties on a shelf somewhere and slap them straight into their shopping baskets. And rightly so…
I’ve loved re-hearing these classic Beatles songs in this beautiful sound quality – I really have – and despite some minor packaging quibbles – the 2010 version of the “Red” album is wholeheartedly recommended.
Pouncer | Nov 21, 2010 | Reply