The List

The Best and Worst Song From Every Beatles Album of the Psychedelic Era

The most loved and most hated Beatles songs are all a matter of personal taste. And when it comes to the bandโ€™s psychedelic era, there are a few amazing Fab Four songs that deserve all the loveโ€ฆ and others that just donโ€™t meet the mark.

For this list, I made two potentially controversial omissions. Rubber Soul from 1965 does have psychedelic elements, but to many a music historian, this album is more of a โ€œtransitionalโ€ album between the Fab Fourโ€™s Beatlemania era and their psychedelic era. Likewise, I also skipped the White Album. While that record does have psychedelic jams throughout, I find that it was the band stepping away from the psych-heavy sound of the mid-1960s toward the avant-garde and more eclectic rock music.

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Best Song on โ€˜Revolverโ€™ โ€” โ€œTomorrow Never Knowsโ€

This is the easiest entry I could have written. This song is absolutely amazing. And, personally, Iโ€™m a big fan of this cut take of โ€œTomorrow Never Knowsโ€.

Worst Song on โ€˜Revolverโ€™ โ€” โ€œYellow Submarineโ€

I know this song is a retrospective classic. And while I appreciate the bandโ€™s attempt to dish out childrenโ€™s music, I canโ€™t help but think that โ€œYellow Submarineโ€ sticks out in an immature way on any otherwise trippy and forward-thinking album.

Best Song on โ€˜Sgt. Pepperโ€™s Lonely Hearts Club Bandโ€™ โ€” โ€œA Day In The Lifeโ€

Someone once said that this song sounds like the final song that plays during the end credits of oneโ€™s life. Iโ€™m inclined to agree. โ€œA Day In The Lifeโ€ is unbelievably gorgeous.

Worst Song on โ€˜Sgt. Pepperโ€™s Lonely Hearts Club Bandโ€™ โ€” โ€œGood Morning Good Morningโ€

Considering Sgt. Pepperโ€™s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the Fab Fourโ€™s best album according to many fans, picking the worst song was a heavy process of elimination. โ€œGood Morning Good Morningโ€ is the worst song on the bandโ€™s best album, meaning itโ€™s still honestly a fantastic song in the end.

Best Song on โ€˜Magical Mystery Tourโ€™ โ€” โ€œI Am The Walrusโ€

From the US LP (i.e. the filmโ€™s soundtrack), Iโ€™ve always been so fond of how odd and unique โ€œI Am The Walrusโ€ sounds. Itโ€™s one of John Lennonโ€™s finest, honestly. I really canโ€™t think of another song from 1967 that sounds anything like it.

Worst Song on โ€˜Magical Mystery Tourโ€™ โ€” โ€œYour Mother Should Knowโ€

Perhaps a controversial choice, but this Paul McCartney-penned track just doesnโ€™t hit the same way the other songs on Magical Mystery Tour do.

Best Song on โ€˜Yellow Submarineโ€™ โ€” โ€œHey Bulldogโ€

Yellow Submarine isnโ€™t my favorite Beatles album, but โ€œHey Bulldogโ€ has always been the one song to stick out to me. Lennon is a bluesy delight throughout this song, and his lead guitar riff will put some stank on your face.

Worst Song on โ€˜Yellow Submarineโ€™ โ€” โ€œAll Together Nowโ€

It was between โ€œSea Of Holes and โ€œAll Together Nowโ€ for this entry, both of which are songs that arenโ€™t bad by any stretch. If anything, both of them, especially โ€œAll Together Nowโ€, are just not particularly memorable compared to other songs on Yellow Submarine.

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