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Do you have a favorite Beatles Album?
Hi Mona and Lisa
Do either of you or both have a favorite Beatles album, or one that stands out as unique or particularly special among all their albums?
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23 Replies
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Hello to Jung Roe! I have seen you all over the MLT Facebook page, but do not know if I have ever introduced myself. I’m MLT2 Michael, and it is nice to finally “meet” you!
I know the answer to your question, but I know that you wish to hear from Lisa or Mona themselves for the official answer. As of a couple years ago, they had two Beatles’ albums that were tied for their fave. One of them is also my fave Beatles’ album and it is in my TOP 5 ALBUMS of ALL-TIME along with the 2012 and 2017 MLT original albums and 2 by The Moody Blues from the early 70’s.
What do you think, Jung Roe? There is NO ONE to whom we can favorably compare to the MonaLisa Twins, eh? They are INCREDIBLE and AMAZING and every other superlative word we can come up with for them!!! <3 <3
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Hi Mike. It’s great to see you here, and I’ve always enjoyed reading your comments in Facebook. It’s so great to be able to see all the other long time MLT fans here from over the years we see all the time…
If you know the answer, don’t keep us in the dark, and if Mona or Lisa can add their thoughts and insight into why it is their favorite Beatles albums even better!
MonaLisa Twins are the true keepers of the faith as musical artists these days when it comes to carrying on the tradition of the greatest pop/rock music there ever was/is that started back in the 60’s, adding their own unique sound and style. And more than that they are incredibly kind, thoughtful and wonderful people that touch and move people through their music and art. That is why we love them so much.
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Hi Jung, been out all day but this is a great conversation to come back to 🙂
As Howard already said, IF we had to pick a favourite Beatles album (which is tricky, because we love them all for different reasons) it would probably be a tie between Revolver and Rubber Soul. If someone told me they wanted to get into the Beatles but didn’t know where to start, I’d probably buy them a shiny new copy of Rubber Soul (or pick up a battered old copy at the charity shop because the songs are going to sound amazing either way ;-)) and give it a few days. If there isn’t anything on there that makes them want to dig further into their catalog … maybe check for a pulse (or see if the old copy you bought for them actually plays ;-)) -
Thanks Lisa! 🙂
I’ve really gotten into vinyl again these days since receiving the Orange album in vinyl, and since my only Beatles LP is Sargent Peppers, Rubber Soul will be next, followed by Revolver. What better way to start my Beatles record collection in vinyl than with the ones that are your favorites.
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Hi Lisa
I’m not sure how common or easy it is to find original cut Beatles vinyl from the sixties, but found this one, Rubber Soul, in the last used record crate of what felt like the last used record shop I could find in the city today. I came across many new Beatles LPs, but wanted an original from 1965 with all the little pops and scratches, and got this one finally in good condition with no dreaded skips. The owner at the record shop even checked the number on the vinyl on the internet and confirmed this is an original from 1965. Somehow listening to it (even in in mono) sounds like a piece of music history. 🙂
Jung
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Hi Jung and Mike. This is no spoiler as I have heard the Twins mention it in one of their videos so I don’t think they’ll mind me mentioning it here. Obviously they will correct me if I’m wrong or their favourite has changed.
’Rubber Soul’ and ‘Revolver’. I can’t wait for their next cover from Revolver and I hope it is ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ which my money is on owing to the Twins affinity with birds (and also bats now I believe). Probably my two favourite albums too, although I also love the ‘White Album’. Well actually I love all their albums.
I wonder if it would be feasible for MLT Club Members to fund MLT to do a cover of both albums, and at Abbey Road studios. Much more costly than their home studio productions unfortunately though! We could have a competition to decide what the cover album titles should be. Costly to produce with studio hiring as I stated but imagine the publicity that could be generated for them!
The Beatles recorded their first album at Abbey Road in one day (13 hours duration) so I’m confident M&Ls engineering guru papa could have them primed to get in and out of the studio in a couple of days! All that editing and post production stuff that record producers do could be done at home. Pardon my ignorance about the technical stuff, I don’t know much about this side of the music business. Perhaps there’s another behind the scenes video option to take us through the full production process.
Jus a thought!
By the way, can you think of any songs the Beatles have done that have bats in them? I’m not envisaging them cover ‘Bat Out of Hell’ either!
Howard
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Howard,
Nobody loves The Beatles more than I do and nobody loves Revolver more than I do but I’m more than happy with the Beatles and More projects. This takes advantage of their ability to do wonderful covers of extraordinary songs and it allows them to choose songs based on what they like and what they think they can do especially well.
I am totally opposed to them taking the time to do remakes of an entire album- I would much rather see them take the time to write and record the successor to Orange. The Beatles are the greatest musical phenomenon since Beethoven. No matter how much Richard Wagner admired Beethoven, to make his own musical mark required that he go his own way. If we believe Mona and Lisa Wagner are as talented as we say- let’s encourage them to write their own music, to make their own great records, to take their own huge chances, to have their own occasional flops so that when they call it a career, they can have their own place in musical history.Also, with how well they make records from their personal studio, why in the world do they need to record at Abbey Road? I think we need to be careful to give the Twins all the room they need to be themselves and not just a band that does incredible covers of the Beatles.
But you know, my friend- as different as our opinions are on this- as you have said so eloquently, the Wagner’s know far better than we do and will make the decisions that are right for them.
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Hi Tim
I like your passion Tim. In one of their interviews Lisa made it very clear they dont want to be stuck as a tribute band and is the reason why they left the Cavern residency to write new original music. In a note from Mona on one of the topics recently she reiterates the same plan for the future, so I dont think we have to worry about that. I think they also realize many of us discovered them and are here because of their incredible covers. I trust in their judgement how they should balance between covers and new original music at this particular point in time.
We all want new original music, as does Mona and Lisa, so we’re all on the same wavelength.
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Thanks for sharing Tim. Don’t take my suggestion too seriously though. Just one of those throw it out there ideas of mine I knew/expected (and hoped) would attract some debate. We are similar in many ways for that and I knew my suggestion was unrealistic but just wanted to show my appreciation for those two albums. As far as ‘why in the world would they need to record at Abbey Road’? Well that was just me speaking from a marketing point of view thinking of all the free publicity that could eventuate and also the reason for my suggestion that some costs be funded by the MLT Club. I also suggested that most of the work (editing etc) could be completed at their home studio.
Don’t worry, as also expressed by others, and myself previously, I much prefer their time and finances be devoted to their original material.
And as for that bipolar thing, you are certainly not alone and we get to appreciate the many diverse thoughts of yours that emanate from both sides of the polar spectrum!
In some ways I feel you are very fortunate, as being just your common, garden variety depressive, I only get to experience the lows and not the many highs that you would. I can only dream of being bi-polar. Keep those thoughts coming and don’t be afraid to question any of my ideas that seem to be a little off target. You may find this hard to believe Tim, but I’m not perfect! LOL!!
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Hi all;
Not that I would answer for them……but I think we can find out more about each other as well if we answer this question. Also, I wonder if anyone else makes a distinction between favorite song/album and best. For example, my favorite Beatles song is one of the songs that started it all, i.e., “She Loves You”. I remember RnR before the Beatles and I actually have 45s for songs like “Hey Little Cobra” and “Sugar Shack”. Those are not necessarily bad songs but when I heard “She Loves You”, it was a musical style that I had never heard previously.
One little sidetrack…….I was listening to the Beatles channel on Sirius and periodically they have shows that last a half hour to an hour and on one show they were discussing why the Beatles were so different and made it so big in the US. One theory was that the state of US RnR was just kinda floundering around for the following reasons: 1) Elvis had gone to the army and when he came back he started to make the same movie over and over with one song from each movie that was a hit and each song was following the same formula; 2) Buddy Holly died in 1959 from the plane crash and it took away a major creative force from US RnR; 3) Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash (I know, he is mostly country) were facing either prison terms or were “blackballed” for various reasons; 4) In the music industry’s hope to recreate success, they were producing the Elvis clone’s (a few Frankies and others), but Elvis was unique. So, enter the Beatles and other English groups who took the RnR and R and B music from the US and put their spin on it. We are still feeling the effects of that new spin today. And to me “She Loves You” was the first one that sounded so different from what was in the US just prior to 1964.
OK.….so “She Loves You” is my favorite Beatles song but I believe their best song is “A Day In The Life”. I have distinct memories of listening to ADITL the first time on the old stereo. It was the last song on Sgt. Peppers and after taking all of the prior songs in, they top it with ADITL.
OK…the same thing happens to albums with me. I cannot really pick a favorite. It falls somewhere from A Hard Day’s Night album through Revolver. In the States we have an extra album in that mix that allowed Capitol to “true up” the changing of songs on the albums in the US vs. the rest of the world (Yesterday and Today) and I would count Yesterday and Today as a potential favorite. But, to me the Beatles’ best album is Sgt. Peppers.
I’d like to hear others’ thoughts on best versus favorite and what is their favorite/best if you have the time. Mike
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Mike, I always mention 4 albums as my favorite/ the best. Sgt. Pepper is the greatest album ever (by the Beatles and everybody else) but sounded a little dated and overproduced mostly because it was done on 4 tracks and involved a lot more production than Revolver. and then they released the deluxe, remixed version and it’s slipped back into number 2 on my list of favorites. Revolver is the second greatest album ever and my 3rd personal favorite. The White Album is the 3rd greatest album ever (and maybe we can argue Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, Dark Side of the Moon and some other great albums by other artists) and currently my 4th favorite. My personal favorite is Abbey Road though on the greatness scale I rank it behind the first 3. I don’t think it had quite the influence those other albums had but I love every track so much other than Maxwell. The most overrated Beatles album to me is Rubber Soul. I prefer the American version that has a more folk rock feel to it but I think some of the compositions are fairly weak- Wait, Run For Your Life, It’s Only Love- by Beatles standards I find them very uninspired. I much prefer Help to Rubber Soul.
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You’re not going to fool me, Howard with that I’m not perfect thing. I know better, my friend!
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Mike. I would be interested more in knowing Mona and Lisas favourite Beatles album.
Tim. Your take on Rubber Soul is interesting. Apparently it is the album that moved Brian Wilson so much it inspired him to answer back with Petsounds. And rumor has it Sargent Peppers is Beatles response to Pet Sounds.
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Correct Jung, and ‘Sargeant Peppers’ sent Brian Wilson to his sand pit for quite a while. He never really recovered and they had to replace him in their touring band (Glen Campbell joined for a while). ‘Rubber Soul’ was significant as it was a departure from the albums they were producing while touring extensively. With ‘Rubber Soul’ they spent more time in the studio experimenting. I admit it hasn’t held up as well as ‘Revolver’ and the ‘White Album’, but still a very significant album in my opinion.
As for my favourite album and what I consider their best, well that keeps changing for me. One day it could be ‘Revolver’ while another day it could be the ‘White Album’ or ‘Abbey Road’. Sometimes it just depends on my mood or perhaps the way the stars are aligned!
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Hi Howard
If Brian Wilson had kept it together, I wonder where the one upmanship rivalry between Brian and the Beatles would have led. Maybe the musical plateau would have been even higher than what it is. I guess we will never know.
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Good call Jung. A big pity it was so competitive for him. I blame his father who put unreasonable demands and expectations on his sons. Also sold them out by selling their music cheaply without their knowledge at the time. If Brian was just able to focus on his work without worrying about what other people were doing I’m sure his contribution would have been much more significant.
I saw him live a couple of years ago at our annual Byron Bay Blues Festival. Graham Nash was also there and the original Fleetwood Mac lineup with a brilliant singer/lead guitarist in place of the awesome Pete Green.
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I love the Beach Boys but personally, I believe the competition between them and The Beatles is pretty overrated. The Beach Boys were a terrific band- The Beatles were immortals. Brian Wilson was an awesome talent. John and Paul were the two most talented guys of a generation brimming with talent.
There are very few guys who continue to have impact on the music scene beyond a 5 or 6 year run and I think the tragedy of Brian lies more in how drugs, mental illness and a greedy therapist took away many good years of his life rather than it stole away his chance to make a perfect album. Pet Sounds is a practically perfect album anyway so mission accomplished. Just my opinion. -
I don’t think John and Paul felt the competition from Brian was overrated. They noticed Pet Sounds, and decided they needed to up their game and did Sargent Peppers.
I agree with you completely about the Beatles music being immortal. They indeed tower above the rest.
Enough of that, time for all to go and listen to the new MLT albums again.
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So I got the Beatles albums Rubber Soul and Revolver this weekend.
I’ve listened to many of the songs on both albums individually over the years, but there is something more meaningful about listening to the album in context with all the songs together.
Listening to Rubber Soul, I can just imagine how out of the world it might have been in 1965 hearing Drive My Car, Norwegian Woods, Michelle, Girl, and In My Life for the first time. That classical instrumental part in In My Life, the beautiful guitar lead in in Norwegian Woods. Like no music before it’s time.
In a 2014 tweet, Brian Wilson wrote:
@BrianWilsonLive: “I listened to Rubber Soul, and I said how could they possibly make an album where the songs all sound like they come from the same place?”
And here in an interview with Brian Wilson published in 2018, he expresses his admiration of the Beatles and how inspiring they were to him, just as they would touch and inspire so many great talents throughout the ages to follow, like our beloved MonaLisa Twins. The MLT version of “She’s Leaving Home” touches me the same way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbheV5Wavjs
…And now onto Revolver for me.
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