Hi Holden: good idea, even if a) we did this several times before and b) there will be a lot of simultaneous polls on the following months (so maybe the participation would not be as high as it could be). And I don't want to put pressure on you but... have you thought about the presentation on the unveiling of the results? The quality bar that the previous hosts set is very high, see examples coming chronologically from
BleuPanda,
Nassim,
Steviefan13 and
Hymie.
I'm going to participate on this but I think I'll only copy and paste my votes from previous editions, just like I'm going to do right now with The Beatles:
Albums:
1.
The Beatles (1968, my #2 album of all time)
The "White Album" was the great leap forward for The Fab Four. In fact they went so far that planted the seeds of the band disintegration. Many songs were recorded without involvement of the other band members ("Mother Nature' Son," "Julia," "Why Don't We Do It in the Road," "Blackbird" or "Revolution 9"). But this individualism and dispersion miraculously not only was no dead weight but indeed it was its main virtue. They applied the perfect and precise arrangement to every song without caring too much about cohesiveness. If a song needed clarinets ("Honey Pie"), guitar overdrive ("Helter Skelter"), honky-tonk pianos ("Rocky Racoon") or a full orchestra ("Good Night") that was what the song got. All for the Song. And Song for all.
2.
Revolver (1966, #11)
The Fab Four expanded with "Revolver" their music palette and doing this expanded their (our) minds. And their daring but successful forays into classical music ("Eleanor Rigby"), world music ("Love You To") or avant-garde ("Tomorrow Never Knows") were intrinsically incorporated into their own style, now a horn solo as the one in "For No One" is a Beatles-style solo.
3.
Abbey Road (1969, #31)
If we compare the Beatles career with the periods on Classical music we can find Baroque (the first two albums), Classical (the next four), Romantic ("Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper's"), Avant-Garde ("MMT"and "White Album") and Decadence (the last two). But with one major problem, there is nothing more antagonistic to decadence than this album, a really brilliant farewell.
4.
Rubber Soul (1965, #93)
The perfect "bridge" album between the funny but trivial Beatlemania and the innovations of "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper's."
5.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967, #119)
Time may have diminished its impact and smoothed its edges, but it still makes a fascinating listen in all its psychedelic glory.
6. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
7. Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
8. With the Beatles (1963)
9. Let It Be (1970)
10. Help! (1965)
11. Beatles For Sale (1964)
12. Please Please Me (1963)
13. The Beatles' Second Album (1964)
14. Yellow Submarine (1969)
15. Yesterday and Today (1966)
16. Meet the Beatles! (1964)
17. Live at the BBC (1994)
18. Anthology 1 (1995)
19. Beatles '65 (1964)
20. Something New (1964)
21. Anthology 3 (1996)
22. Beatles VI (1965)
23. Anthology 2 (1995)
24. A Hard Day's Night Soundtrack (1964)
25. The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (1977)
Songs:
1.
Strawberry Fields Forever (1967, my #2 song of all time)
Nostalgic vignettes of a misty Liverpool dreamed from the deserts of Almeria. Lennon turned his childhood memories into a psychedelic trip (the song begins like a dream and ends like a nightmare reproducing the LSD effects) where "nothing is real" and "living is easy with eyes closed." Now we know that his infancy was not exactly happy, being abandoned by his parents and having to struggle hard to evolve from the strangest boy of the classroom to the working class hero he would become.
2.
A Day in the Life (1967, #25)
Lennon wrote a song from fragments of newspapers (it was usual for him then), played acoustic guitar and sang with a haunting beautiful voice. McCartney wrote and sang a middle section, played piano and bass and was responsible for the drug references ("I had a smoke and I went into a dream" or "I'd love to turn you on"). Starr played the best drums you can actually hear on a Beatles song. And Martin wrote an orchestral score that sounded like the end of the world. Or like a new beginning.
3.
Nowhere Man (1965, #35)
The Beatles caught in the act of freeing themselves of their bonds, getting over their musical roots and shaking the remains of the Beatlemania to create each time with more freedom. "Rubber Soul" was the turning point of a inquisitive and creative musicians who were about to break the limits. But in that exact point they were able to create songs that would serve to explain to an extraterrestrial what is Pop music. Those three-part vocal harmonies, those jangly guitars, that beat, …
4.
Eleanor Rigby (1966, #181)
Paul McCartney's (and Baroque Pop's) peak. "Jane Asher had turned him on to Vivaldi and it was very good," Lennon said.
5.
Helter Skelter (1968, #224)
Macca only wanted to sound louder and dirtier than The Who but ended creating the Armageddon, at least for Charles Manson.
6. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (1969)
7. Tomorrow Never Knows (1966)
8. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (1965)
9. Happiness Is a Warm Gun (1968)
10. She Loves You (1963)
11. Hey Jude (1968)
12. I'm Only Sleeping (1966)
13. She's Leaving Home (1967)
14. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (1968)
15. Let It Be (1970)
16. Twist and Shout (1963)
17. Something (1969)
18. I Am the Walrus (1967)
19. Day Tripper (1965)
20. Blackbird (1968)
21. Come Together (1969)
22. In My Life (1965)
23. For No One (1966)
24. Here Comes the Sun (1969)
25. Because (1969)
26. Across the Universe (1970)
27. I Feel Fine (1964)
28. Sexy Sadie (1968)
29. Drive My Car (1965)
30. Don't Let Me Down (1969)
31. Taxman (1966)
32. Penny Lane (1967)
33. All My Loving (1963)
34. I Need You (1965)
35. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
36. Yesterday (1965)
37. The Fool on the Hill (1967)
38. Girl (1965)
39. She Said She Said (1966)
40. I Want You (She's So Heavy) (1969)
41. I Saw Her Standing There (1963)
42. Please Please Me (1963)
43. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (1967)
44. Can't Buy Me Love (1964)
45. We Can Work It Out (1965)
46. Dear Prudence (1968)
47. Soldier of Love (1994)
48. Hey Bulldog (1969)
49. Think for Yourself (1965)
50. Help! (1965)
51. Things We Said Today (1964)
52. I've Just Seen a Face (1965)
53. You Never Give Me Your Money (1969)
54. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
55. Revolution (1968)
56. I'll Follow the Sun (1964)
57. Mother Nature's Son (1968)
58. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (1965)
59. The Long and Winding Road (1970)
60. Here, There and Everywhere (1966)
61. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (1967)
62. It's All Too Much (1969)
63. If I Needed Someone (1965)
64. Do You Want to Know a Secret (1963)
65. Love Me Do (1962)
66. Back in the U.S.S.R. (1968)
67. Get Back (1969)
68. Oh! Darling (1969)
69. All I've Got to Do (1963)
70. Julia (1968)
71. I Will (1968)
72. If I Fell (1964)
73. You Can't Do That (1964)
74. You're Going to Lose That Girl (1965)
75. You Won't See Me (1965)
76. Cry Baby Cry (1968)
77. Rain (1966)
78. Free as a Bird (1995)
79. Love You To (1966)
80. Not a Second Time (1963)
81. Paperback Writer (1966)
82. And Your Bird Can Sing (1966)
83. I've Got a Feeling (1970)
84. I'm Down (1965)
85. I Want to Hold Your Hand (1963)
86. All You Need Is Love (1967)
87. Martha My Dear (1968)
88. Lady Madonna (1968)
89. Two of Us (1970)
90. From Me to You (1963)
91. Ask Me Why (1963)
92. Ticket to Ride (1965)
93. Getting Better (1967)
94. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey (1968)
95. Polythene Pam (1969)
96. Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey (1964)
97. I Wanna Be Your Man (1963)
98. Bad Boy (1965)
99. Step Inside Love / Los Paranoias (1996)
100. Long, Long, Long (1968)
And, as a bonus, the Top 10 albums and Top 25 songs of Beatles solo careers:
Albums:
1. Band on the Run (1973)
2. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
3. All Things Must Pass (1970)
4. Imagine (1971)
5. Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 (1988)
6. Double Fantasy (1980)
7. Ram (1971)
8. McCartney (1970)
9. Ringo (1973)
10. Flaming Pie (1997)
Songs:
1. #9 Dream (1974)
2. Watching the Wheels (1980)
3. Maybe I'm Amazed (1970)
4. God (1970)
5. My Sweet Lord (1970)
6. Handle With Care (1988)
7. Imagine (1971)
8. My Love (1973)
9. Blow Away (1979)
10. Dear Boy (1971)
11. Working Class Hero (1970)
12. Jet (1973)
13. Goodnight Tonight (1979)
14. Mind Games (1973)
15. Junk (1970)
16. Bluebird (1973)
17. Live and Let Die (1973)
18. Mother (1970)
19. Calico Skies (1997)
20. (Just Like) Starting Over (1980)
21. Band on the Run (1973)
22. Jealous Guy (1971)
23. Weight of the World (1992)
24. My Brave Face (1989)
25. Mull of Kintyre (1977)