The Beatle Desert-Island Double Album Dilemma!

[@podecrer81]

You are right. No dilema: Rubber Soul / Revolver. Nonetheless, you could consider Sgt. Pepper / Magical Mistery Tour a masterful double album. Now, as we all know, Tour is a compilation that includes the stand alone singles of 1967. Therefore, to be fair one would have to add the stand alone singles to the other options of double albums: Lady Madonna/the inner light and Hey Jude/Revolution would reinforce the White album, and the Ballad of John and Yoko / Old brown shoe + the B sides Don’t let let down and You know my name would have to be added to the combo Let it be/Abbey road. Considering that criteria, Day tripper/We can work it out + Paperback writer/Rain would give the combo Rubber Soul/Revolver a considerable boost and, in my opinion, confirm its superiority vis a vis the other double albums. But, hey, they are all just fantastic!! We are talking about the 4 greatest double albums in (imagined) history

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Ooh Podecrer! I like the way you think! Now why didn’t I think of that! I’m pinning this comment!❤

[@227716689]

@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine maybe a new poll based on the above recommendations. Very valid points and I would have trouble picking my choice.

[@227716689]

Great suggestions. It would be a challenge to choose.

[@MrKeychange]

Ug! Now I can't choose. I was all-in on Pepper Mystery until you added the singles. Revolving Soul has better individual songs, but Pepper's Mystery Appetizer has more consistency. If I want Day Tripper, Eleanor Rigby & Rain I have to waste a spot on "What Goes On." & "Run For Your Life" It seems almost cruel. 😂

[@frederickbartel2837]

That's a good point, adding the contemporaneous singles.

[@PhilSmithRHR]

If Rubber Soul has a companion, it is Help! Both albums were made in 1965. The song ‘Wait’ was recorded during the Help! sessions. ‘I’ve just seen a face’ was from Help! But used on the US Rubber Soul. Also, both 1965 albums were engineered by Norman Smith. Revolver marked the beginning of the Geoff Emerick period. And both Help! and Rubber Soul were made when the strongest drug they used was marijuana. Revolver was the start of the LSD period. Michael, I love your presenting style. You are very engaging.

[@robbiejohnson554]

Rubber Soul/Revolver . Thanks for the fun!

[@carlgrimsman6683]

The White Album is a treasure chest. Something I wouldn't have minded digging up ON a desert island. Not every song is a gold doubloon, but some of those are palette cleansers, adding tangentially to the collection.

[@royceinthehouse842]

This was a creative way to pair albums to compete with a popular double album. The pairings makes sense for all the reasons you explained. Very entertaining Michael, thank you for sharing this.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Royce brother, you’re up! I thought ya might like this one! BTW folks, Royce streams every Sunday at 6:30 PM Pacific! I’m often on his panel! There’s even a run or I’m on tonight! ❤😉👌

[@royceinthehouse842]

@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine Thanks Michael, great video!

[@niccoolos6297]

White album 4 sure. To fit any mood. A masterpiece. Fav song at the monent. Mather my dear, what a pretty melody. Really lifts your spirits.

[@DoctorInsomnia-qw7us]

Martha was Paul's dog, a saint Bernard....

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

More and more of you are coming forward regarding the White album Niccoolos! ❤

[@kenfrankel3498]

@@niccoolos6297 Revolution 9 is just filler and made this a less than perfect album imo …

[@ericbgordon1575]

If I were subject to this desert island dilemma, I don't know whether I would be able to sacrifice any of these four records to make way for the rest. As I wrote in a previous comment, I rank all four of them, *Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album* and *Abby Road* at number one for my favorite Beatles album because they were the first records I listened to by them before my own personal fandom ignited in 1987.

[@LarryGonzalez00]

I love every Beatles album released, British, American, compilations, even the ones with George Martin music on them. The Beatles (White Album) is my favorite and the one I'd take to a desert island.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

When you are talking album to album, I concur with you Larry! ❤

[@colindeer9657]

Likewise, Michael, Rubber Soul ( plastic soul man) and Revolver. Rock on !

[@DoctorInsomnia-qw7us]

Sgt Pepper's Mystery Tour is the ultimate pairing & rectifies the mistake of removing strawberry fields & penny lane from the pepper lineup to release a single, this way you can hear them both as part of the new hybrid pepper....

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

I so agree with you Doc, I still can’t Believe George Martin & Brian Epstein removed them for the single! ❤

[@djreid]

What about pairing up Help ! and Beatles For Sale. What about pairing With the Beatles and Live at the Hollywood Bowl. You can get more interest in the earlier albums, too, such as the great album A Hard Day's Night with early Singles mixed and matched, like the Past Masters mixed with early albums. This would be a great combo too !

[@catherine6653]

Ob La De Oh La Da is really fun to play on the piano 🎹 "They say it's your birthday!" The Beatles wrote a new birthday song 🎵 It's hard to pick the best Beatles album. Own them all!

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Excellent examples Catherine! I am currently rebuying all of them on vinyl, but own them all on CD and digitally! I am hopeless! ❤

[@TheodoreWeiser]

Re names: The Mysterious Sgt Pepper, Rubber Revolver, and The Long and Winding Abbey Road. (I know that last one is a stretch)

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Ooh! Nicely done Theodore! Especially on Abbey Rpad! I love it! ❤

[@GlennMcloughlin-y5r]

Hi Micheal,I hope you are well. Yes I agree that the White Album holds up! It’s a eclectic album,many styles,should it be a single album because of a bit of filler? Nah no way! Cheers Glenn Sydney 🍺🙏

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Well said Glenn! George Martin always said it should’ve been a single LP, but he never actually said what he would have taken off! Like Paul McCartney said: “It’s the Bloody Beatles Whit Album!” ❤

[@dawnofthefrank7712]

Rubber Soul/Revolver definitely a double Album!❤

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

I’ve always kinda felt that way Dawn! ❤

[@dawnofthefrank7712]

Abbey Road definitely my favorite! Revolver 2nd!

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Abbey Road is certainly their best ‘produced’ album IMHO Dawn! Either way, a masterpiece! ❤

[@markrothery5720]

Tomorrow never knows (and especially being the last track on the album)was a real preview of what was to come with strawberry fields and sgt pepper's, revolver is my number 1 Abbey road 2 great video as always Michael ❤

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Thanx brother! Can’t argue with your #1 & #2 for sure Mark!❤

[@MichaelWarchol]

I agree that Sargeant Pepper / Magical Mystery Tour is the perfect combo , because the soundscape is so similar. The same cannot be said of Rubber Soul/ Revolver/ or Let It Be / Abbey Road. These combos are just too different in sound. In my opinion, a more likely combo would be Help/ RubberSoul. They are very similar in sound, and frankly I would listen to that double album over the White album any day of the week. And yes, I’ll say it. The white album should have contained 14 songs.

[@Gino65]

White Album numero uno ,👍👍👍 Alleluia

[@drmusic3641]

I REALLY like the SP/MMT combo! Since SFF and PL shouldve been on Sgt Pepper like George Martin once said. "Let Abbey Road Be" is actually a much better title than "Let it Be Naked"! LOL

[@YaHashaWha]

If I was stuck on a island the white album hands down.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Outta the choices, I think it would wear much better over tie YaHashaWha! Good to hear from ya! ❤

[@PeKe999]

Hi My favourite album, way beyond, is the White Album. It's my favourite album ever released. The best run of 2 albums, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Or the US Rubber Soul and Revolver. I think the US Rubber Soul is better because Drive My Car isn't on it. I cannot stand that song. But my desert album, for sure, is The Beatles aka the White Album. Take care

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

There IS a contingency of fans who thouroughly agree with you concerning Rubber Soul PeKe! The US version is a nice version! ❤

[@c.7610]

Great thought experiment. Loved this video! “Revolving Soul” for me.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Thanx so much C! And yeah, me too! ❤

[@nelsonmaud1]

Myself myself has always been rubber soul so it would be rubber revolver you do but i was of the age of beatles for sale a triple so thats my choices

[@kenfrankel3498]

Rubber Soul / Revolver. Hands down.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

My picks too brother!Be sure to vote Ken! Thanx for your input! ❤👌

[@kenfrankel3498]

@ And for best single 45….how about WE CAN WORK IT OUT/ DAY TRIPPER ?

[@charleswells8453]

Rubber Soul and Help would make a far more coherent pairing. Both dating from 1965. Revolver represents a quantum leap improvement in studio wizardry over Rubber Soul. Sgt Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour could have been a double album as all the tracks date from 1967 and flow well together. Not sure if Spector’s Let It Be and George Martin’s Abbey Road would flow well as a double album. Interesting discussion.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

You’re the 1st to pair HELP and Rubber Soul Charles! Nicely done! My only concern are the covers on HELP, but as far as a coherent sound I agree with you! ❤

[@AshleyReynolds-vc6ly]

What is the difference between a double album and two sequential single albums? Obviously the White Album is a double, whereas Rubber Soul and Revolver are two separate albums even if you consider them part 1 and part 2. My point is - if Revolving Soul is to be considered a double album but still plays in the same sequence, then it is just two albums paired together. But if you mix the tracks up then it could arguably be regarded as one double album, but would that destroy or improve the flow and ambience of the originals? Sgt Pepper/MMT is an interesting case, as the latter is an EP with singles thrown in. Many consider that Penny Lane and SFF should have been on Pepper anyway, so its not too much of a stretch to include the other MMT tracks as well (and perhaps even the four unique Y Sub songs?). But again, do you retain the original track list and therefore have Pepper with effectively a lot of 'bonus tracks' added on? Or do you mix them up to make it all one big album bookended with the title track/With A Little Help and reprise/A Day In The Life, and either ruin or improve the flow of the original? Let Abbey Be could work very well - both albums are, to a point, cut-and-paste jobs. Let It Be is the mixed bag of 'live' studio Get Back tracks with Across The Uni thrown in, and the second half of Abbey is a bunch of unfinished songs swept up and stitched together. A carefully arranged track list mixing up both albums could be very effective if done properly.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Nice critiques here and very well said Ashley! That desert Island is looking better and better! I’m about to book myself a ticket! ❤

[@Supremor-tj9dv]

Hands down the best pairing is Sgt Pepper/MMM. I’m usually not a huge fan of double albums. Invariably there’s a lot of filler and self indulgence. If you took the best of the best from the White Album and made it a single disc of 12-14 songs, it would be their best album. But the double album is burdened with dreck like Revolution #9, Rocky Raccoon, the shuffle version Revolution(the single version is head and shoulders better), Honey Pie, Wild Honey Pie, Good Night(puts me to sleep), Piggies, etc.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Interestingly George Martin agreed with you Supremor! He thought the exact same thin! But he never actually said what he would’ve deleted! ❤

[@daytripper9222]

Rubber Soul/ Revolver definitely. Being a first-generation Beatles fan I remember all the years where Sergeant pepper was always the number one album but that is no longer the case. My number one choice is definitely The White Album. I agree with you Michael about pepper and mystery tour. Also Abbey road and let it be. One thing that's bothered me over all these decades is I wish that they would have put only a northern song hey bulldog or it's all too much on either pepper or The White Album. Great video Michael.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Thanx DayTripper! I want them to canonize the Yellow Submarine Songbook! So many problems would be solved with that one little move brother! 👌❤

[@daytripper9222]

​@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLineI agree.

[@51monalisa]

almost impossibilty to choose if you pair them up 😂

[@adamfindlay7091]

Good morning-ah!I listen to Rubber Soul for good songs/ Revolver as well for these specific highlights. W/ White lp i just put it on and roll where the 'boys' run to following them all the way to the edge of that cliffs edge of that misty dez isle!

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Absolutely perfectly said Adam! Spot freakin’ on brother! ❤👌🏆

[@kjeldpedersen666]

From the early years: “Please, with The Beatles” and “A hard days Sales(-job)”. Or maybe: “With The Beatles on A hard day” and “Help on Sale”…😆 That’s the UK discography…don’t know how you’d put it in the US. I get your point. The Beatles were so productive and pressed for new songs. No wonder that they had difficulties separating their work in terms of albums. They just made the songs in between the constant touring. And thinking in terms of albums were more a matter for the marketing people back then. Some singles hits and some filler songs. That’s more obvious on the US discography in the early days… Later the concept of “an album” became more of a thing in rock and pop music. Not a totally new concept, but more a thing they did in jazz music, and a man such as Bob Dylan was also a forerunner in this area.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Early on you are absolutely right KJ! It was the Ribber Soul album where they changed their whole approach in recording their albums! ❤

[@dawnofthefrank7712]

Imagine if Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were included on Sgt Pepper!!

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

They were supposed to be on Peppers, but Brian E[stein & George Martin decide to pull them for a double A side single! George Martin later said he felt this was a mistake!

[@NelsonMontana1234]

I see the Beatles as a continuation of greatness with steady progression throughout their tenure. (Though it's fair to speculation that Strawberry Fields obviously belongs on Sgt Pepper and Within You Without You does not.) I'll take Rubber Soul and Revolver a double album. They're close enough, though I do see more virtuosity on Rubber Soul. As for the WHITE ALBUM, even when it came out, a lot of people thought it was bloated with indulgence, excess, inside jokes, and filler. But, it was the 60's and people were open to such things. And, it was the Beatles! I'm a producer and did an edit of the album to a tight 47 minutes. That makes it a perfect album. Pure unquestionable masterpiece . ( Though it can't be played on KZbin due to copyright infringement). But none of us can un-hear Revolution No.9. John could have just well recorded toilet Bowls flushing. He was influenced by the avant garde movement, and he was high as hell and that's what we got. It was the beginning of Lennon's artistic decline, though when "forced" to come up with material for Abbey Road, his genius showed through once again.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

You brought up another can of worm Nelson! If The Beatles had kept Strawberry Fields & Penny Lane for SPLHCB, what would be taken off! Hmm… ❤👌

[@NelsonMontana1234]

@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine Just Strawberry Fields. Penny Lane should have just been a single. I mentioned that "WIthin You Without You" doesn't belong on Pepper. It could have been the "B" Side to Penny Lane. Problem solved! LOL

[@KevinHallSurfing]

Still have the Magical Mystery Tour 7" double EP. That's six songs so is that not a double album? 😆👍 Luckily. still have Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road and The Beatles on white vinyl. Probably the white album ... or ... Electric Ladyland. 🤩

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

I’m jealous Kevin! Especially for the double EP brother! ❤

[@chaffsalvo]

The problem with the Beatles catalogue is its consistently good album to album and then there are 2 disks of SINGLEs that aren't on the albums. 16 total disks. How can I choose just 2 when every other disk has 4-6 songs that I would desperately miss - 70 classic songs never to hear again? Give me the whole catalog and let me choose between food or water.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Well said Chaff! Either way, we would loose out n a LOT of great Beatle material! ❤

[@gerrylambert5225]

My age dictates my choice Abby Road Let it Be

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

We all have our golden moments Gerry, and seriously both are truly great albums brother! 👌❤

[@lpquagmire3621]

If I'm to be stranded on a desert island for the rest of my days I'm going to need a "pick me up," and as a Beatles fan, the album that best exemplifies that quality is A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. It's quite possibly the happiest album in all of popular music, and, unlike traditional favourites PEPPER and REVOLVER, it's a gimmick-free effort, placing the success or failure of the album squarely on the songwriting -- and there's not a duff track to be found (and early Beatles albums are ALWAYS underrated). As for the four albums cited in the poll, while it's pretty hard to quibble with ABBEY ROAD and REVOLVER, I'd readily take RUBBER SOUL over both PEPPER and THE WHITE ALBUM...

[@Riz2336]

I would easily go Rubber Soul + Revolver

[@TigerRogers0660]

Michael, no question it's Rubber Soul / Revolver. My main point here is Bang For Your Buck. The White Album has that - but as i said before it contains a few very substandard tracks. So count that one out. Sgt. Pepper / MMTour: well MMTour is short on tracks - so not good bang for your buck here. Abbey Road / Let It Be: same thing - Let It Be is short on tracks. So count both of them out. The Beatles always wanted to give the fans maximum value - & unfortunately had no control over the release of MMT. They also had little control with what happened with LIB.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

You and I are on point regarding Rubber Soul & Revolver Tiger! For decades I would have said the White album but about 12 years ago I REALLY listened to the 2 R’s and changed y mind brother! ❤

[@dalehoustman4737]

Spinning Soul Rubber The Magical Sergeant’s Heart Tour It Be a Road

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

That’s the spirit Dale! You are first to take up my challenge! ❤

[@NorsePJ]

The "Sgt.Pepper..." album is not even in my top 6 Beatles' albums. I do love it, but love others far more.

[@DrGerard66]

Unfair pairings. Throwing "Let it Be" in with Abbey Rd is barely an improvement on Abbey Road by itself. I'd still vote for it though. Abbey Rd is *that* good. Life without it isn't possible. That said, being stuck on a desert island with "Revolver" would provide valuable motivation to build the raft and get off.....

[@richardchubb8504]

The White Album is full of great songs but with no production. Which makes it hard to listen to. Abby Road and the White Album? I'd choose the Beatles For Sale and the Beatles Hey Jude.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

You do have to be in a very organic mood for the White album Richard! ❤

[@richardchubb8504]

@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine I've been a Beatles fan since 1970. I've bought every album multiple times and listened them many times. I heard the same old comments and arguments way too many times. Everything out today is just a money grab. It's getting boring. How about a full production done on the White album? It's almost 2025. How about using a different guy to remix and produce the albums? No offense intended. I've just had enough of the same old same old. It kind of feels like beating a dead horse. Repackaging the same product is lame.

[@diviningdragon]

You have heard me before, Michael--I like the idea of 'expanded version' of these classic releases. It is impossible for me to play Rubber Soul and NOT include Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out...or Revolver without Paperback Writer/Rain. Perhaps even Pepper with Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane. Including the four baubles from Yellow Submarine then on Magical Mystery Tour...The reality is, the pairings--when they include the accompanying singles from those albums, often gives a special punch to the parent albums. EVERY one of your suggested pairings was stellar. For me, it comes down to moods. Do I want a softer folk enhanced ambience followed by a bite of baroque? Definitely Revolving Soul. Pure psychedelia? Sergeant Pepper's Mystery Tour (with the Yellow Submarine extras). Do I want my avaunt garde encyclopedia of pop rock? White Album and accompanying singles for sure. And if I want my Let It Be (Naked) and Abbey Road (yes, I DO sequence the songs so THE END is actually 'the end.') This gives us the most honest sense of 'development' followed by finished panache and polish in production we could ask for. Each one of these pairings deserves a place at the table, frankly. In my own life, I've seen myself favor each album (or pairing) for different reasons at different times. I bet many here would experience the same fluctuations of favor. Because they are all so good, switching one for another isn't a problem. And if you revisit your survey a few years from now, I'm willing to bet some of your followers would have switched their selections around as their lives changed. (But to be honest, how many of us would tolerate being stranded without the entire collection of Beatles work at our fingertips? I mean, really...) Thanks for sharing, Michael!

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

LOL! I was kinda hopin’ I wouldn’t get searched while boarding at the dock Dragon! 😉 My chest would only be filled with essentials! No, really! 😂❤🌴

[@227716689]

I always preferred Let It Be Naked over the original. If paired with Abbey Road I would pick that. But Rubber Soul/Revolver is also a great pairing. Could I take them both along with the White Album? lol. Thanks Michael for a very interesting video.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Amd Yeah me too 2277, but despite our obvious good taste, most still tend to choose Let it Be! Hmm… Maybe a poll’s in order! 😉❤

[@frederickbartel2837]

2R's for me. Let Abbey Road Be --> hilarious.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

LOL! And I agree your choice would be mine as well Frederick! ❤

[@b.christophergordon9562]

Rubber Soul?

[@christopherhahn6728]

I think the Pepper/MMT double pack could work but I think Rubber Soul and Revolver are too different from each other - Revolver is much more psychodelic whereas Rubber Soul sounds like the greatest of the Beatles old style.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

And yet Rubber Soul has Norwegian Wood & Nowhere Man Christopher! Both are very psychedelic to my ears brother! ❤

[@christopherhahn6728]

@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine That's true. Those two are the most "advanced" on the album. I'm having trouble picturing What Goes On next to Tomorrow Never Knows, though.

[@matthewblanchard9301]

Rubber Soul and Revolver, No! They don't mix. The same with Abbey Road and Let It Be, they don't mix. As to Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour, Yes a case can be made to make them a double album. BUT! None of these albums would be what they are if you changed anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Not even to get an extra LP for your island adventure Mathew?😉 Seriously though, ultimately you are so very right brother! ❤👌

[@Matias-music-71]

White Album could have used at least 6 songs cut from it .., then it may be a decent album .., even then , Rubber , Revolver and Abbey surpass it , even Pepper

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Your criticism is many other’s as well Matias, so you aren’t alone in your analysis! Thanx! ❤

[@thejoyofthemusicinmylife7897]

The top four, well you leave out Rubber Soul and A Hard Days Night. It is ranking but in my Beatle world Revolver does not outrank Rubber Soul nor does Rubber Soul out rank Revolver. When it some to quality of work this great, rankings are silly.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Nor in mine Joy! Both are equal to any of the albums I mentioned tonight. I covered albums that usually hit the Top of lists these days. I remember when Rubber Soul was ranked higher! ❤

[@thejoyofthemusicinmylife7897]

@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine While Lennon and McCartney song writing was always amazingly high prior to Rubber Soul. they even up the bar in that area with Rubber Soul. They were no longer writing love songs that appeal to teenage girls. Good Video.

[@thejoyofthemusicinmylife7897]

@@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine For me Beatle albums are like having children. I do not love one over the other more. Yes Beatles for Sale may grow up to be a plumber and Revolver grows up to be a Nobel Peace Prize winner in Physics but no matter the occupational level that each child reach, you love them equally.

[@EricSchultz-zs8hz]

Speaking of pairing up records, Beatles albums often had a single released of 2 songs that were from the very same recording sessions, but not put on the album. If I were in charge of vinyl releases of the albums, I would include the companion single. For example, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with With the Beatles, "I Feel Fine" with Beatles for Sale, "Strawberry Fields Forever" with Sgt. Pepper, "Hey Jude" with the White Album and so on. For CD releases, I would include an extra disc of those single songs. For the Help! album, they could include (on a separate disc) "Yes It Is" and "I'm Down," since those were the flip side songs of the 2 singles from Help!

[@lionheartroar3104]

To contrast your discussion I think Let It Be is extremely underated.

[@MDE128]

The Fab Four double albums representing each Beatle: Rubber Soul and Revolver (George Harrison) Sgt. Pepper’s Magical Mystery Tour (Paul McCartney) The White Album (John Lennon) Get Back to Abbey Road (Ringo Starr) The reason why I stated this is because Rubber Soul and Revolver are George’s favorites, Pepper is Paul’s great idea and his favorite, the White Album is John’s favorite, and Abbey Road is Ringo’s favorite. My favorite Beatles album is the White Album, but Rubber Soul and Revolver as a double album is slightly better which is why I'd choose that to take to a desert island.

[@zlonxman]

I never thought of Rubber Soul and Revolver as parts 1 and 2 of the same album as you and George have stated. I clearly see Revolver as a natural progression from Rubber Soul though. John Lennon's songs in particular have a very specific commonality on Revolver; they are all psychedelic rock songs, usually with fuzzy guitars. (Rubber Soul's Lennon songs, by comparison, sound more traditional and collaborative with McCartney.) Also, both albums have a different sound production-wise to me, probably because they used Norman Smith as the engineer on the first album and Geoff Emerick on the second. Paul's bass is punchier on Revolver too because of his switching to the bigger-sounding Rickenbacker bass. Ringo's drums kick harder on Revolver. As far as my pick for double album greatness, I'm sticking with the White Album.

[@judmcc]

I

[@judmcc]

Those are great pairings - makes it hard. But I think that I would still pick the white album. But pair Abbey Road with MMT or with Sgt. Pepper and I'd go with them instead.

[@Rickpa]

In honor of the lame (to me) 2024 Beatles releases, I took my "The Capitol Albums" and burned them into CDs with just the mono mixes. In my youth, I didn't care for Beatles VI through Rubber Soul as much as all the rest, and I was surprised to actually hear these in their Capitol incarnations now. The songs from Help! on VI made be wonder if I had scrambled the order of appearance hearing Help! cuts interspersed with Beatles For Sale tunes. As far as Rubber Soul and Revolver being a double album, this experiment really shot that down for me. From Beatles For Sale to Rubber Soul, the Fabs were heavily and consistently on an arc that was heavily laden with Folk Rock that reached perfection with Rubber Soul.... especially the US Rubber Soul which had most of its Rock shunted away to different places! Revolver is so different with a lean back into Rock, as well as more orchestration from the strings of Eleanor Rigby and horns in Got To Get You Into My Life and For No One, and of course the nascent psychedelia of Taxman, She Said She Said, and Tomorrow Never Knows. While Rubber Soul was grounded in 1965 Folk, Revolver had NONE. If you could take the original songs from Beatles For Sale, Help!, and Rubber Soul... that would be a much more consistent unitary piece than doubling Rubber Soul with Revolver!

[@CharlesWalsh-r7p]

Out of the fake double albums aren’t pepper/magical mystery tore is the most believable and works the best. I kinda think they should’ve just made it one album.