New to the Beatles...?

Question

I never really got into the Beatles. I was always a Dylan man. A Cocker man (no puns please), Jefferson Airplane, etc.
But now I sort of want to 'get into' the Beatles. Preferably their more experimental stuff. (Not the She Loves you Yeah Yeah Yeah stuff)
Where should I begin? Start at the end? Best live albums?

Answer 1

If you want experimental, you should start with their psychedelic albums such as Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour which is in the middle Beatles era. Both of these are amazing albums and have a lot of drugs behind the lyrics/music. Their oldest music is the least appealing, but I suggest after these Abbey Road.



Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Full Album) 1965

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKIKmU1Tc5g



Magical Mystery Tour (Full Album) 1967

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxk2WfdW_o0

Answer 2

Start with Rubber Soul and Revolver and then check out Sgt Peppers and The White Album.

Rubber Soul was inspired by their meeting with Dylan so it has a folk Rock feel To it. Revolver is where they started becoming Psychedelic. Sgt Peppers is were they started with Studio recording techniques to get the sounds they wanted and The White Album is were the started coming apart at the seams and the songs are more individuals than the band.



Rubber Soul - "In My Life"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZpVxLjqXPE



Rubber Soul - No Where Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5PSN01GzWE



Revolver - Eleanor Rigby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xajQUEPXRyg



Revolver - Tomorrow Never Knows - Psychedelic to the core

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a3NcwfOBzQ



Sgt Peppers - A Day In The Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ2AoCUFsjY



Sgt Peppers - Within Without You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4G2RlBKbrM



The White Album - really named just "The Beatles" - Yer Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHqvN5YO9wY



The White Album - Glass Onion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He2EZ6-VOOk



The Beatles only have two live albums.

Live At The Hollywood Bowl can only be found used on vinyl.

Live at the BBC which is really a live Radio Show,

Answer 3

If you wanna skip the pop stuff, I'd start at Rubber Soul and work your way towards Abbey Road.

Rubber Soul is sort of a mix of their old and newer styles, I consider it their first real meaningful album.

If that's still too soft, Revolver really starts their experimentation with "Tomorrow Never Knows" and the like, and from there you'd obviously go to Sgt. Pepper which is major psychedelic.

Answer 4

Revolver sounds like a great place to start. It's a classic, and pretty experimental in some parts, but I think it's more easily enjoyable for a first-time listener than the later ones like Sgt. Pepper's.

Answer 5

I agree with above.

Revolver and The white Album would be good ones to have a listen too.

Just stay away from The number ones or greatest hits coz that will be all the "yeah yeah yeah" stuff :)

Answer 6

You should just own all of their stuff. For a band that recorded for a relatively short time (1962-1970) compared to today's standards, their transformation from pop to folk-acoustic to psychedelic is amazing to hear. And it's all good in my opinion.



If you want psychedelic, look for Lennon's songs in particular. The albums referenced above are good places to start.