As The Beatles’ last song, Now and Then, makes it to Number 1 on UK’s Official Chart, The Federal takes you down memory lane to revisit 5 of their albums that made them a cultural phenomenon
All ye fans of the Fabulous Four, this one's for you; it’s time to talk about yesterday once more. The occasion, you ask? Well, the Beatles are back. To rule the charts. Last week, the English rock phenomenon, more than six decades after their debut single, released its final song, featuring all four original Beatles, which has ‘languished’ (Paul McCartney’s word) for all these years: Now and Then, featuring vocals from John Lennon (from an old demo recorded by him) — extracted with the help of AI. The song has made it to the Number 1 on UK’s Official Chart, which features the country's biggest songs of the week, based on audio and video streams, downloads, CDs and vinyl, and put together by the Official Charts Company. Their first song in 54 years, it has become the Beatles’ 18th UK Number 1 single; their last UK Number 1, The Ballad Of John And Yoko, was released in the summer of 1969. The Federal takes you down memory lane, with five albums by the Beatles that furthered their cult:
1. Please Please Me (1963): The Beatles’ debut album, recorded in almost one day (10 of its 14 tracks) at Abbey Road Studios, set the stage for their meteoric rise to global stardom. Bursting with youthful exuberance and raw energy of the band’s early years, it features a mix of original compositions and cover songs; the Beatles’ versatility, and their ability to put their unique spin on classics, is on full display — think songs like Boys, Anna (Go to Him, and Chains. With George Harrison’s signature lead guitar, Ringo Starr’s solid drumming, John Lennon’s distinctive harmonica and Paul McCartney’s driving bass line, the Beatles infused them with infectious sound.
The album opens with the title track, Please Please Me, a high-energy number that would become one of their early hits; while it was not initially released in the US, it was a huge commercial success in Britain, where it spent over a year in the Top 10, an unprecedented feat for a debut album. Songs like I Saw Her Standing There and Twist and Shout are hooky, catchy and impossible to resist. Early Lennon-McCartney compositions such as Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You hint at the songwriting wizardry that would later make them legendary. Please Please Me may lack the artistic experimentation and sophistication of the band’s later work, but it bears a stamp of their incipient vitality. The album unleashed Beatlemania around the world; its critical reception cemented its place in music history. Rolling Stone ranked it 39th on their list of the ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time.’
2. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967): Often considered one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band not only pushed the boundaries of what was thought possible in the realm of rock and roll, it also forever changed the way albums were conceived and produced. It was a landmark work of British psychedelia and a progenitor to progressive rock. A departure from the Beatles’ previous work (in fact, one can argue, a quantum leap in their artistic trajectory), this concept album (where each track seamlessly flows into the next, creating a sense of thematic unity; a cohesive artistic statement of sorts) introduced the fictional band ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ al an alter ego for the Beatles. It explored themes such as youth culture, counterculture, and mysticism — the era’s cultural and musical zeitgeist.
Its songs like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, A Day in the Life, and the title track have, over the years, become the classic rock staples. The cover art became a visual representation of the album’s eclectic and ambitious content: designed by pop artist Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, it features a collage of famous figures from history and pop culture, surrounded by the Beatles’ wax figures, all dressed in colourful military-style uniforms. Sgt. Pepper’s provided inspiration to countless artists and bands, pushing them to explore new sonic territories and expand their creative horizons. The first Beatles album to be released with the same track listing in both the UK and the US, it won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive the honour, in 1968.
3. The Beatles/The White Album (1968): Formally titled The Beatles, it is commonly known as The White Album due to its minimalist, plain-white cover, which featured only the band’s name embossed, and barely visible. Recorded over a period of several months between May and October 1968 (and produced by George Martin, who anchored many of their previous albums), primarily at EMI Studios in London, it saw the Beatles move away from their core and switch to an amalgamation of genres — from rock and roll, folk, and blues to avant-garde and experimental music. Each member of the band had the opportunity to shine as a songwriter and vocalist, resulting in a collection of songs that feels like a solo project for each member at times. One of its tracks, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, is among the band’s masterpieces, produced when they were at their peak — that have withstood the tests of time. If John Lennon’s Revolution, a piece of musique concrete, questioned the revolutionary spirit of the era, Blackbird was seen as a reflection of the civil rights movement in the United States. One of the best-selling albums of all time, its 50th-anniversary edition was released in in 2018, featuring remastered versions of the original tracks along with a wealth of previously unreleased demos, outtakes, and alternate versions of the songs, which gave Beatles loves new insights into the album’s making.
4. Yellow Submarine (1968): Its title track, Yellow Submarine, originally released as a single in 1966, is undoubtedly one of The Beatles’ most recognisable and beloved songs; it was included in Revolver, and quickly became a fan favourite with its catchy melody and whimsical, playful lyrics. The other tracks, both old and new, complement its distinctly quirky soundscape. The other songs include the cheerfully infectious All Together Now, the somewhat-surreal Only a Northern Song, the rollicking Hey Bulldog, the trippy It’s All Too Much, and the universally uplifting (which has offered succour and solace to people in love) All You Need Is Love — all crafted or re-recorded specifically for the full-length animated feature by the same name. Yellow Submarine, a light-hearted, sing-along tune was written primarily by Paul McCartney, with some creative input from John Lennon; it centres on a cheerful, imaginary voyage in a yellow submarine. The residents of Pepperland, a music-loving paradise, are under attack by the Blue Meanies, who despise music. The Beatles are enlisted to help save Pepperland, and they set out in the Yellow Submarine to do exactly that.
5. Let It Be (1970): Their final studio album, it was released just about a month after the band’s very public breakup. The release coincided with a documentary of the same name, with the whole project emerging from Paul McCartney’s idea to rekindle the band’s creative spark by returning to simpler rock ‘n’ roll configurations after facing mounting tensions among the group members. The album, which owes its inception to the rehearsal sessions for the film, features some of the songs recorded during the rehearsals, including the title track Let It Be, Get Back, The Long and Winding Road, and Across the Universe. The album’s production was handled by Phil Spector, who added orchestral and choral overdubs to some of the tracks, a decision that sparked controversy and disagreement among the band members.
The release of the album, which topped the charts in several countries, including both the UK and the US, marked the beginning of the end for The Beatles. Following Let It Be, the band members pursued their own solo careers, officially announcing their breakup in April 1970. In 2003, McCartney led the release of Let It Be... Naked, an alternative version of the album that removed Spector’s embellishments and restructured the tracklist to its original plan. In 2021, an updated edition of Let It Be was released, coinciding with The Beatles: Get Back, an eight-hour documentary series covering the January 1969 sessions and rooftop concert.
