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The White Album Could Have Been the Best Beatles Album of All Time
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Dec 21, 2008
- by The_New_Aesthetic
Rating:
When talking about The White Album, it's hard to dismiss how influential that particular album was to music. You could argue that the birth of "sampling," -- much used as a staple in Hip-Hop -- was found here. Take "Revolution 9," for example. It's employment of backward loops, overdubs, and sampling was rampantly used throughout the song. As you might know, there's a steady diet of this in Hip-Hop songs.
+4
While we're still in discussion of "Revolution 9," most critics would say that was the beginning of John's avante-gard period. Music -- at least popular forms -- had always been straight-forward and easy to dissect. "Revolution #9" left no creative stone unturned when it came out. It's not a song I particulary enjoy, but hey, it's not like it was written for the sole purpose of pleasing me.
I personally hold the White Album in high regard. However, I think it's short of a masterpiece, based on all the throw-away songs it contains. It's of my opinion that if you were to cut this double album down to one, you might just be looking at one of the best Beatles albums.
This is the track listing for each of the two albums that's comprise The White Album:
1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence (Perhaps my favorite Beatles song of all time.)
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
5. Wild Honey Pie
6. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (It kind of feels like a Shel Silverstein poem.)
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8. Happiness is a Warm Gun
9. Martha My Dear (Nobody wants to hear about your sheep dog that passed away, Paul!)
10. I'm So Tired (A nice update to "I'm Only Sleeping," from their Revolver album.)
11. Blackbird
12. Piggies
13. Roccy Raccoon
14. Don't Pass Me By
15. Why Don't We Do it On the Road?
16. I Will
17. Julia
2nd Album
1. Birthday
2. Yer Blues
3. Mother Nature's Son
4. Everybody's Got Something to Hide, Except for Me and My Monkey
5. Sexy Sadie
6. Helter Skelter
7. Long, Long, Long (It really feels like you're listening to this song for a looooong time.)
8. Revolution 1 (nice shoobie-doo-wop, slower version of the original)
9. Honey Pie
10. Savoy Truffle
11. Cry Baby Cry (It was sad for me to read John saying that it was a "throw-away" song by him.)
12. Revolution 9
13. Goodnight
As you can see, that was a whole mess of songs right there. Sometimes, a beautiful mess, but definitely convaluted.
If you could pair these songs down to just one album, here would be my estimated track choices:
The White Album (The New Aesthetic Revision)
Back in the U.S.S.R. (Mc Cartney)
Dear Prudence (Lennon)
Glass Onion (Lennon)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (Mc Cartney)
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (Lennon)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
Happiness is a Warm Gun (Lennon)
I'm So Tired (Lennon)
Blackbird (Mc Cartney)
I Will (Mc Cartney)
Julia (Lennon)
Birthday (Mc Cartney)
Mother Nature's Son (Mc Cartney)
Sexy Sadie (Lennon)
Revolution 1 (Lennon-Mc Cartney)
Cry Baby Cry (Lennon)
Goodnight (Starr)
You preserve a nice Lennon-McCartney balance of songs (Lennon has 7 songs, while Mc Cartney has 6), and you throw in the token Harrison tune (really, he deserves more, most of the time, but this is the only one I like on this album), and a Ringo one, for pity's sake. (Sorry, I was never much of a Ringo fan.)
I left off "Piggies" and "Helter Skelter" because....well, because I don't care for them that much, and perhaps Charles Manson would never have heard them. (Apparently, those two songs in particular served the impetus for his crazy mind to go ahead and kill the late Cheryl Tate, her unborn baby, and countless of others.) So, yeah, we don't need those songs.
I included "Back in the U.S.S.R." in the overall tracklist, even though I don't care for it much. I'll have to hand it to the song, because most people do seem to think highly of it. Conversely, I really like "Yer Blues," for some reason. However, it would probably be a dispensible song, in most people's opinions.
So I pared it down to 17 songs -- just as many as the tracks on album one. I really like this album for containing my favorite Beatle song, and having quite a few others in the upper echelon -- "I'm So Tired," "Sexy Sadie," "Blackbird," and "Cry Baby Cry."
As a Beatle fan, it's hard to debate which of their albums would be the best. Rubber Soul, Revolver, Abbey Road, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (especially being the first documented "concept album" by any band), all deserve merit as being the best among them all. But, I think having trouble deciding is actually considered a compliment to the band those albums belong to.
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November 04, 2008
It's impossible to dismiss anything in the Beatles catalog, but it's often a little more useful to discuss how challenging and exploratory some of their albums were instead of just acknowledging them as necessary ingredients in the history of rock. An informed first response to the sprawling double album "The Beatles" (aka, "The White Album") might be that the collection could have used some editing. Rave ups like "Back in the USSR" sit right alongside tender gems like "Dear Prudence", each of which … more
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In 'Forrest Gump,' Forrest's dying mother famously tells her dying son, "Life is like a box of chocolates--You never know what you'll get." Actually, if life were like a box of chocolates, you'd have a pretty sweet life. And, while listening to 'The Beatles' ('White Album') you have an adequate fulfillment to that extended metaphor. There are plenty of flavors--not just "Savoy Truffle"--and just enjoying the assortment is always an adventure--even if there are selected favorites. The … more
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William (The_New_Aesthetic)
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About this album
The Beatles: George Harrison (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, violin, organ, bass, tambourine, firebell); John Lennon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, saxophone, piano, organ, harmonium, bass, 6-string bass, maracas, tambourine, tape loops); Paul McCartney (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, flute, flugelhorn, piano, Hammond organ, bass, drums, bongos, timpani, percussion); Ringo Starr (vocals, piano, drums, bongos, maracas, castanets, tambourine). Additional personnel includes: Yoko Ono (vocals); Eric Clapton (electric guitar); Mal Evans (trumpet, tambourine); George Martin (piano, harmonium); Chris Thomas (harpsichord, Mellotron); Maureen Starkey, Patti Harrison (background vocals). Recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Trident Studios, London, England between May and October 1968. THE BEATLES (generally known as "The White Album" because of its cover) was a sprawling two-record set, highlighting the distinct personalities in the group as they matured and moved further away from eac...
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I don't really care for a lot of McCartney's stuff on this album, but I think this is where Lennon really started coming into his own. "Julia" and "Yer Blues" are both very powerful and emotional and anticipate some of his early solo period.
It is unfortunate that this album is often associated with the Manson family. "Helter Skelter" is probably McCartney's most rockin' song. I wish Bulgiosi had used a different title for his famous book, because it adds a stain to the song that shouldn't be there. It should have made your list, whereas "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" shouldn't have!
Play "Yer Blues" and "Ob-La_Di, Ob-La-Da" back-to-back and you'll see why I think it is such a disjointed album. The partnership was dead and the walrus was Paul . . .