Please see my introduction and explanation about this project here.
Beatles Week 2016 starts off with an examination of Past Masters. This compilation is an official release gathering up various singles, B-sides and E.P. appearances that did not make it onto the other albums. In addition to these songs, I have added the songs from Mono Masters that did not appear on Past Masters (there were, like, five of them) for a total of 37 songs, making it the longest entry.
This was a tough album to work on ranking because the general quality of the songs was high, such is usually the nature of compilations. There are a few songs that I don’t like, but mostly because I am tired of hearing them right now. If I don’t hear a song for a couple of years I don’t mind hearing it when it pops up (“The Ballad Of John And Yoko” is an example of this). Even still, the sheer volume of good songs makes this a tough album to subjectively rank everything in a consistent manner. The middle of this list shifted quite a bit. It will probably continue to shift around in perpetuity.
Presented in order from least to most favorite, in a highly subjective (and subject to change) manner:
“Revolution”
I’m kind of sick of this song, and have been for a few years.
“Rain”
One of the first Beatles songs I stopped liking. It’s grown on me a bit since, but if I never heard it again I wouldn’t be upset.
“I’m Down”
This seems like a waste of a song
“The Ballad Of John And Yoko”
I want to like this song more
“She’s a Woman”
It just seems, I don’t know, pointless
“Old Brown Shoe”
I think this is George trying something and failing
“Paperback Writer”
From here we move into the “middle” section where the songs aren’t bad at all, it’s just that they are not my favorite
“Bad Boy”
Like this one, a decent little rocker, but doesn’t really stand out
“Don’t Let Me Down”
Maybe this one should be a bit further up the list
“Slow Down”
Just an ordinary song
“Matchbox”
A typical Carl Perkins cover
“Only a Northern Song”
Some days I like this song, some days I don’t
“It’s All Too Much”
Same goes for this one
“This Boy”
I didn’t care too much for this song at first, but then in my 20s I grew to appreciate it
“Thank You Girl”
Seems like a nice if weird sentiment
“The Inner Light”
I like the instrumentation on this one
“You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)”
This is a fun number (ha)
“Yes It Is”
Every time I see this song on the list I have to play it to remember which one it is, then I am struck with some of the instrumentation on it
“Across The Universe”
Some people don’t like this song, but I don’t know why
“Day Tripper”
I learned to play this on the guitar
“Long Tall Sally”
This Little Richard cover never fails to deliver
“Get Back”
Some days I like this more, some days less so
“I’ll Get You”
A solid tune, but not terribly special
“Let It Be”
A great song, sure, but not one of my favorites
“Hey Bulldog”
The riff on this one made me almost want to take piano lessons
“From Me To You”
Another decent song
“I Call Your Name”
Just a decent love song
“Lady Madonna”
I have always like this one, and along with Hey Blulldog, tempted me to take piano lessons
“Hey Jude”
I like this a lot, and I’m not sure why it doesn’t rank higher
“We Can Work It Out”
A great example of Lennon and McCartney working with and against each other
“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (I Want To Hold Your Hand)”
It might be artificially ranked high because of the language oddity but it’s the same song and I like it
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
So innocent, but is it?
“Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves You)”
Again, because of the language oddity it is up there
“She Loves You”
One of my first favorite Beatles songs
“All Together Now”
This song has never gotten old, especially when singing along with my kids
“Love Me Do (Single Version)”
I have always liked this one
“I Feel Fine”
One of my all time favorite Beatles songs