Regarding the individual output after The Beatles, I've recently come to enjoy a lot of McCartney's solo records, Ram and McCartney II being favourites.


Some of you argue that none of their solo LP's are as strong as The Beatles' LP's. Might be true. But in The Beatles, for each album the three/four of them brought their then best songs to the table. Take the first solo LPs by each of them, take the 2-4 best songs off each and put them on an album and you have a collection of damn fine and strong songs.

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leteyer
You can say that you don't like something but why call it shit?...Abbey Road is a fantastic album that you don't like.Don't need to go further.

Well, I`d say "I Want You" has some coolness about it that`s very much of it`s time,which I like, and is very Lennon. Obviously Robbie Robertson of The Band didn`t get that, but it`s always liberating when somebody express your own sense of doubt with a hammer, so to speak.

Not a big Beatles fan, but my short list is the early rockers and Abbey Road.Really good music.
George was the only likable one though.John and Paul were equally annoying.

Great album period

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MKjan
Not a big Beatles fan, but my short list is the early rockers and Abbey Road.Really good music.
George was the only likable one though.John and Paul were equally annoying.

Annoying? Why? I get it that John Lennon annoyed some folks, but Paul, especially during the Beatles years? What was annoying about him, for you?

I love Abbey Road and especially "I Want you/She's So Heavy".

IMHO, not having the others to edit or offer suggestions is to blame for the reduced quality in the solo years (still lots of good stuff though).

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Elmo Lewis
I love Abbey Road and especially "I Want you/She's So Heavy".

IMHO, not having the others to edit or offer suggestions is to blame for the reduced quality in the solo years (still lots of good stuff though).

Does anybody think The Beatles would be held in such high esteem if it wasn't for George Martin their producer extraordinaire?

Sometimes I feel he doesn't get the accolades for making them who they are.

Yes, Reg, he was a very important piece of that puzzle. Maybe 3rd behind Paul and John.

I think George Martin might get a little too much credit. The three song-writing Beatles came up with some of the later arranging and recording ideas on their own, though he did help them realize the ideas by figuring out how to record them. He also arranged the music for parts played by classical musicians. The Abbey Road EMI engineers also deserve some credit.

I love side one, apart from the nursery rhyme songs Hammer and Garden and HATE the Opera on side 2 bar She Came in Through...

I still vividly recall the first time I dropped the needle and heard Come Together. It didn't sound like anything else the Beatles had done and I LOVED it. Still do. One of my all time fave songs.

Rod

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Papo

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MKjan
Not a big Beatles fan, but my short list is the early rockers and Abbey Road.Really good music.
George was the only likable one though.John and Paul were equally annoying.

Annoying? Why? I get it that John Lennon annoyed some folks, but Paul, especially during the Beatles years? What was annoying about him, for you?

You're right,I rushed off that last post. I found John a lot more annoying than Paul.

Half of the songs are great and half are polished shite. Love the album, the production, the grit, the guitars, the bass, the drums etc. But a turd like Carry that weight? Maxwell is not horrible but of course it's crap if im honest. Golden Slumbers gets a lot of praise but to me it's bloated. Paul trying to compete with George on the Sinatra/Elvis number? A good song, melody yes but nah. Too much somehow.
The medley is cool but the songs in the medley are not good songs. Any of them. I like Sun King, the outro of you never give, Mean Mr, Pam and She came in (underrated). Because is a good song. Georges numbers are great of course but i never ever listen to Something. I want you is great. Garden is well written and produced shit. Oh darlin is a well performed but pointless pastiche on what's the name of that song (?). Come together is great. The End solos are cool and the "Love you" part. But the end of the end is horrible schmaltzy crap.

I have to say there is a difference between songs of meaning and expression vs. mere pastiche. These are the departments of this album. That`s why I question this album`s greatness.

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RollingFreak

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JumpingKentFlash
Its a great album. That said their best work was behind them at that point. As Harrison said in Anthology: It’s like everything is going in a circle and they’d gone up and up and up, until it started slightly going down. And then they quit. I wouldn’t want to be without Abbey Road or LIB though.

Well and its also amazing, although I guess this depends on everyone's own personal opinions, that they never made an album as good as a Beatles one after they broke up. Now listen, I love John Lennon's solo albums, I harbor an irrational love for Paul's Ram that I just adore, but there was just so much more "meh" material as opposed to knocking it out of the park every time with the Beatles. Was it that they didn't have each other to work off of and make things better? Did they just burn out. Paul is great but I think the dropoff after the Beatles is truly staggering. I like that first solo album, but its essentially a collection of demos... and then there's Maybe I'm Amazed which is one of the greatest songs ever. It seemed like there was this never ending well with the Beatles that was then depleted once they went solo. Although I'm not sure if thats just cause it wasn't called "The Beatles" so everyone looked at it harsher. Lennon's solo discography I thought was pretty consistent, but still overall I think its amazing that they went solo and a LOT of that creativity just was gone.

I had literally never listened to Paul's first two solo albums until three days ago. I now absolutely love Ram.

I also revisited Plastic Ono Band -- remembering it in my mind as better than it played the other day. I had always been in the John is cool/Paul is schmaltz camp until hearing Ram. Now, I give Paul more credit.

George clearly trumped them both with All Things Must Pass.

But, imagine sequencing the 4 best of each into one album. Damn fine record that would be.

T@3

While not my favorite album by The Beatles, Abbey Road is their apex of their career as a band. Firstly, their musicianship on this album is astounding. All four bring it with a passionate totality. And while some whinge about Maxwell Silver's Hammer and Octopus's Garden they both have some very innovative and grand musical moments. MSH has fantastic moog on it, along with great harmonies. OG has a killer rockabilly solo from George. The rest of the album is pure gold and very innovative. Sun King and all of Side two clear captivated Pink Floyd. Us and Them is Sun King... I Want You was a groundbreaking melding of blues and progressive rock. It is epic and one of my all-time favorite songs. This album was and is a passionate farewell to their fans. They knew the writing on the wall and after the dismal time they had recording Let it Be they wanted something new and a final statement. With George Martin at the helm. Brilliant album.

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Papo
Regarding the individual output after The Beatles, I've recently come to enjoy a lot of McCartney's solo records, Ram and McCartney II being favourites.


Some of you argue that none of their solo LP's are as strong as The Beatles' LP's. Might be true. But in The Beatles, for each album the three/four of them brought their then best songs to the table. Take the first solo LPs by each of them, take the 2-4 best songs off each and put them on an album and you have a collection of damn fine and strong songs.

All Things Must Pass is better than most of their LPs, I'd say.

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DandelionPowderman
Let It Be is a weak album, imo, but Abbey Road is masterclass.

You ever heard the naked version of the vinyl? So good.

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schwonek

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DandelionPowderman
Let It Be is a weak album, imo, but Abbey Road is masterclass.

You ever heard the naked version of the vinyl? So good.

No, but I reckon it is indeed. Great songs remain great, no matter how they're «dressed»

All Things Must Pass is a masterpiece, no doubt. But my all time favorite solo album is the Plastic Ono Band. However if George could have condensed all that genius into one album that would win in my opinion. Ram is great too!

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TeaAtThree

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RollingFreak

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JumpingKentFlash
Its a great album. That said their best work was behind them at that point. As Harrison said in Anthology: It’s like everything is going in a circle and they’d gone up and up and up, until it started slightly going down. And then they quit. I wouldn’t want to be without Abbey Road or LIB though.

Well and its also amazing, although I guess this depends on everyone's own personal opinions, that they never made an album as good as a Beatles one after they broke up. Now listen, I love John Lennon's solo albums, I harbor an irrational love for Paul's Ram that I just adore, but there was just so much more "meh" material as opposed to knocking it out of the park every time with the Beatles. Was it that they didn't have each other to work off of and make things better? Did they just burn out. Paul is great but I think the dropoff after the Beatles is truly staggering. I like that first solo album, but its essentially a collection of demos... and then there's Maybe I'm Amazed which is one of the greatest songs ever. It seemed like there was this never ending well with the Beatles that was then depleted once they went solo. Although I'm not sure if thats just cause it wasn't called "The Beatles" so everyone looked at it harsher. Lennon's solo discography I thought was pretty consistent, but still overall I think its amazing that they went solo and a LOT of that creativity just was gone.

I had literally never listened to Paul's first two solo albums until three days ago. I now absolutely love Ram.

I also revisited Plastic Ono Band -- remembering it in my mind as better than it played the other day. I had always been in the John is cool/Paul is schmaltz camp until hearing Ram. Now, I give Paul more credit.

George clearly trumped them both with All Things Must Pass.

But, imagine sequencing the 4 best of each into one album. Damn fine record that would be.

T@3

I love Ram, but I'd never argue its an incredible record. Its got some great songs but its also insanely weird. But I like it way better than say Band On The Run. Too Many People, Smile Away, Back Seat Of My Car. Its such a cool record, but it doesn't hold a candle to Beatles records. I don't think any of Paul's do and thought his songwriting had the biggest dropoff (although Wings Of America shows that over time he compiled enough to make one or two great albums, just not like 8). John's output I thought was far more consistent and on a good day I'd think Plastic Ono Band is one of the top albums ever. Imagine is also insanely solid. Like you say, I do still think the benefit of having other opinions like they did in the Beatles would help the records, but those two are pretty solid on their own. As you say, All Things Must Pass is better than all and it is, although George then never even got close to a great album like that again. Totally blew his wad all on the first shot, but resulted in a magnificent record. And also all fairness to John and Paul, they had to come up with great shit every record. George had a stockpile he was sitting on so to assume Paul and John could write full great albums after everything they did for the Beatles when George already had so much lying around is asking a lot. As evidenced by the rest of his solo career, George really only had two great songs in him each album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-06-20 14:58 by RollingFreak.

Contains one of the most wonderful guitar-solos of all time: George's solo on "Something".

Not a huge Beatles fan, but Abbey Road is a very good record.

Let it be too, for what matters.

C

Even when I was in my Beatles phase I never liked this album. I always thought it was very boring.

Slick and diplomatic record. Dishonest in a way. But still great.

Waiting to hear from Potus43... Are you out there????

I too was thinking about the whereabouts of Potus43, haha. Let me sneak one more in before it's too late... just heard the 2 new Paul songs and I think they're great for 2018. Hope the whole album is like this.

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whitem8
While not my favorite album by The Beatles, Abbey Road is their apex of their career as a band. Firstly, their musicianship on this album is astounding. All four bring it with a passionate totality. And while some whinge about Maxwell Silver's Hammer and Octopus's Garden they both have some very innovative and grand musical moments. MSH has fantastic moog on it, along with great harmonies. OG has a killer rockabilly solo from George. The rest of the album is pure gold and very innovative. Sun King and all of Side two clear captivated Pink Floyd. Us and Them is Sun King... I Want You was a groundbreaking melding of blues and progressive rock. It is epic and one of my all-time favorite songs. This album was and is a passionate farewell to their fans. They knew the writing on the wall and after the dismal time they had recording Let it Be they wanted something new and a final statement. With George Martin at the helm. Brilliant album.

Nicely put.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

McCartney is on TV tonight - the Late Late Show (in the UK) and will be in the Carpool Karaoke feature with James Corden.

Or, you can catch it here on Youtube - [www.youtube.com]

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Manofwealthandtaste
McCartney is on TV tonight - the Late Late Show (in the UK) and will be in the Carpool Karaoke feature with James Corden.

Or, you can catch it here on Youtube - [www.youtube.com]

Sounds good. What channel's that on ?

It's on Sky One