Ranking all the albums of the Beatles from worst to best

5. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

The Beatles were already massive by the time their third album came out. But with the opening chord of the title track, they showed that the early screaming-girl adulation was not about to stifle these artists. They were plowing forward with music that would rewrite the playbook.

“I Should Have Known Better,” “If I Fell,” “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You,” …. were fresh, energetic, sensational pop songs. And they just kept coming and coming. There were no covers on this one. And if a few of the tracks toward the end aren’t top-flight Beatles, they are decent enough to stand up to all the riches that come before them.

When a strong rockabilly song like “I’ll Cry Instead” or the rocking blues of “When I Get Home” are the weakest tracks on your album, that’s a pretty good sign. “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her,” and the portentous “Things We Said Today” run the gamut of love songs. Really the only criticism you can level against the album is how it doesn’t branch out very far from its basic early rock instrumentation or its lyrical focus on being in or out of love.

But within, those confines, A Hard Day’s Night is about as good as rock & roll gets before 1965. Oh yeah – there was a pretty good movie that went along with the album. The band’s first film, and one of the landmarks of 1960’s cinema.

Best Tracks: “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Things We Said Today”

4. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

I am entirely willing to accept that I may have the Beatles’ most famous album ranked number four as a bit of a backlash. Not that the massive attention it has received is undeserved. Everything about it, from its iconic cover to its astonishing range of musical impulses, makes it a genuine cultural touchstone.

The fact that I simply happen to prefer more of the songs on several other albums shouldn’t diminish its importance or its greatness. I happen to think A Hard Day’s Night is one of the greatest rock albums ever and I have it ranked number five. The Beatles were capable of that.

I’ve never completely embraced the notion that Sgt Pepper is the first important “concept” album, but that really doesn’t matter very much. There is certainly a uniformity of musical texturing that allows for great variety without ever seeming to be messy or unorganized. The more experimental tracks – “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” and "Within You Without You” – seamlessly fit together all those disparate impulses alongside the sweet pop of “Getting Better” and “When I’m Sixty-Four.” The opening transition from the title track into Ringo’s “With a Little Help From My Friends” is perfect.

And the cherry on top, which comes after the apparent coda reprise of the title track, is the epic “A Day in the Life,” finishing with the most famous chord in rock history, played on multiple pianos and one harmonium.

Best Tracks: “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “A Day in the Life”