Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.

But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.

Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.

We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.

THE BEATLES

No discussion about great discographies is complete without the inclusion of The Beatles. For a band of such influence, it’s surprising to reflect on how brief their tenure was when looking back at their studio albums. From their debut in 1963 with Please Please Me through to their swan song efforts of Abbey Road (1969) and Let It Be (1970). Seven years and thirteen albums were all it took for The Beatles to etch their way across music history.

It’s fitting that their canon begins with Paul McCartney counting the band in with album opener and toe-tapper “I Saw Her Standing There.” Along with fellow Lennon-McCartney tracks on Please Please Me such as “Love Me Do,” “Do You Want To Know A Secret,” and the title track, there’s the birth of the trademark harmonies, catchy yet straightforward songwriting, and strong soul and R&B influences that would shape their next few outings. Recorded in one day, Please Please Me is a time capsule into the lads’ stage show at The Cavern Club before the world became their stage.

Their subsequent releases came at breakneck speed as an insatiable appetite for more, more, more fueled the release of With the Beatles (1963), A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Beatles for Sale (1964), and Help! (1965). Each album spawned iconic hits from “All My Loving” to “A Hard Day’s Night” to “Can’t Buy Me Love” through to “Eight Days A Week,” “Help,” “Ticket To Ride,” and the timeless “Yesterday.” With each new album came further success, but a cycle of touring and recording took its toll on the foursome as they fell into the trappings of fame, being both drawn in and repelled by all it had to offer.

With the release of Help!, the band was closing a chapter and preparing to embark on a whole new book, with Rubber Soul (1965) acting as the threshold that crosses the rock sensibilities of previous releases and broadens their playbook. Beautifully produced to feel intimate and inviting, Rubber Soul is a glimpse of what was to follow, with heightened songcraft and more internal and reflective narratives. The displaced “Nowhere Man” and the memory-tinged “In My Life” are standouts amongst a tracklist that features timeless tracks like “Drive My Car” and “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).”

If Rubber Soul is the “crossing the threshold” album, Revolver (1966) is the new home and sound of The Beatles. Like Please Please Me did just three years earlier, the album starts off with a count-in, but this time everything is different. The band is self-assured, more self-aware, and more willing, if not excited, to explore what they could do in the recording studio. The result is one of the most solid albums in the history of music. From the jittering bass work of “Taxman” through to the epicness of “Eleanor Rigby” to the mind-altering journey of “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Love You To, the album is quintessential latter half Beatles—maybe even more so than its follow-up.

Inspired by their contemporaries, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and even Frank Zappa, The Beatles looked to explore both song and sound with the follow up to Revolver, the needle-shifting Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Deserving as a mainstay of Top Album of All Time lists, Sgt. Pepper’s is a masterpiece that takes you on a musical journey you’ll never forget. From the opening strains of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” to the extended chord finale of “A Day in the Life,” The Beatles run the gamut from vaudeville singalongs in “When I’m 64” to the psychedelic wonder of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” The album’s production was innovative, and the project gave the foursome a newfound focus.

This sense of sonic discovery and rechristening of what a song could be led to the wildly exploratory Magical Mystery Tour (1967). Released as an EP in the U.K. and full-length album in the U.S., Magical Mystery Tour is a carnival spinning feast of musical delights. Who can pass up the heraldry of “Magical Mystery Tour,” the sentimentality and melodic beauty of “The Fool on the Hill” or the acid trip meets stream of consciousness that is “I Am the Walrus.” Throw in the trancelike “Blue Jay Way,” the nostalgia of “Your Mother Should Know” and the cool groove of “Flying,” and you have a diverse yet fulfilling album. Side two cobbled together previous single releases and contains some of The Beatles’ perfectly crafted pop in “Penny Lane” and “Hello Goodbye,” as well as two of their finest moments on record: the surreal dream of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and the seminal “All You Need Is Love.”

For all the complexity of style and production that sprouted during the Sgt. Pepper’s / Magical Mystery Tour era, the follow-up The Beatles (White Album) pushes hard against that grain with a return to stripped-back, more band-focused material. There’s contrast throughout its 30 tracks, from the rocking “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and heavy “Helter Skelter” to the acoustic “Blackbird” and soft and sweet “Julia” to the joyous “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and the melancholic “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Studio trickery still gets a look in with “Revolution 9” and its endless loops, and the band pays homage to its blues influences in “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” The White Album is a crossroads album, with all four members working collectively and individually to define what The Beatles really were. Its breadth showcases the band’s ability to weave between styles effortlessly and also hints at the splintering that was to come.

As a cobbled together piece, Yellow Submarine (1969) is The Beatles most unfocused album, containing only two songs written explicitly for the animated film of the same name: the jaunty “All Together Now” and the rock blues of “Hey Bulldog.” The other tracks were either cast-off recordings from previous sessions given a sprucing or earlier releases. To flesh out the album, George Martin’s score is included on side 2.

The band's final two albums are among their finest. The brilliant goodbye of Abbey Road (1969) plays as the quintessential band effort with personal issues put aside for the greater good. And it shows in the energy of the rocking “Come Together,” the sway of “Oh! Darling” and the beauty of “Something.” Side two with the majestic “Here Comes the Sun” and the trippy “Because” sets the scene for the perfection to follow. With its continuous play from “Sun King” to “The End” the album bounds with energy, switching gears every few minutes as if giving a highlight of The Beatles' whole catalog. Abbey Road remains a thoroughly enjoyable and inventive listen.

Despite being the penultimate recording session, Let It Be is chronologically The Beatles' final album release. Not their finest moment, with the project disbanded before it could be fully fleshed out, Let It Be still holds many gems from the joyous “Two of Us” to the ethereal “Across the Universe,” the sweetness of “The Long and Winding Road” and the rollicking live recording of “Get Back.” And of course, there’s the title track, a song of epic proportions that builds with every passing bar.

Beyond the 13thirteen “official canon” studio albums, there was a slew of notable singles that never landed on albums, including “Day Tripper,” “Paperback Writer,” “We Can Work It Out” and “Hey Jude, all of which found their way onto various compilations post break-up.

There’s no denying the importance of The Beatles' impact on music. Just as they were influenced by the music of their youth and the burgeoning sound of rock & roll and the influence of blues, soul, and R&B, their music, songwriting, and production not only shifted the musical landscape, it created benchmarks that all future music (rightly or wrongly) will be measured against.

The Beatles catalog's breadth means there is something for everyone, from the poppy singalong rock & roll of their early endeavors through to experimental, psychedelic explorations, mixed with beautiful ballads and rousing rockers. Their musicianship, songcraft, and willingness to push the boundaries means their music will always endure. And their song and albums will continue to provide a musical education for generations to come.

Andy’s 3 Favorite Beatles Albums of All Time:

1. Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
3. Revolver (1966)

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