đŸŽ” How Good Are They Really đŸŽ” Solo Beatles Special

Can only assume Ringo Starr’s albums are like listening to the Tellytubbies or something

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It’s on the Deluxe Edition of Pure McCartney too. Absolute shambles, Fuming, like.

I like Lennon’s early heroin-y rockers but find literally everything else he did quite turgid and rubbish. Hold On is a nice tune tho, 2.

Macca is funny because he’s obvs remains the most culturally omnipresent Beatle but a lot of his music teeters in doesn’t exist territory for me - it’s true there is just something sort of off about a lot of it. However, the first 2 “McCartney” records are sweet, and my current housemate has a habit of blasting out Silly Love Songs from his bedroom which I have to say I actually enjoy
 reckon Wings are due a post-ironic reappraisal soon. 3.

George - his backlog of songs written with the Beatles are obviously killer, shame he stopped giving a shit afterwards. Quite like how every 10 years there’s a new version of All Things Must Pass where they’ve sanded off just a little bit more of the Phil Spector noise, but they never quite get there. Maybe one day. 4 for the initial handful of truly Beatles-quality tunes.

I cannot seriously engage with discussion of Ringo’s solo output .

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don’t know most of the songs so had to vote based on their simpsons appearances

ringo - 5, george / paul - 4, john - coward, wasn’t even on simpsons 1/5

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Good system imo

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I think Boyhood was probably over-rated but I’ll always thank it for helping me change my mind about The Beatles and getting into Macca’s solo stuff.

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Honestly none of them are any better than a generous 4 are they? A few great songs each (except Ringo) and a lot of forgettable filler and quite a bit of embarrassing tosh.

Given how epoch-shapingly amazing The Beatles were that’s the best possible illustration possible of the mysterious alchemy that sometimes happens within the mixing of a particular group of people at a particular place and time. Their brilliance came in the points where they met, and they restrained each other’s worst tendencies (McCartney’s sentimentality, Lennon’s self-indulgence, Harrison’s derivativness).

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George, Paul and John have three great solo records each I reckon

George - All Things Must Pass, George Harrison, Brainwashed

Paul - RAM, Wild Life, Band On The Run

John - Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, Double Fantasy

And Ringo’s a lovely boy who probably drummed on most of the above

Interesting that I love both George and John’s farewells, maybe Paul will squeeze out another great one before he pops it. Overall he’s made the most good stuff because of his longevity. And McCartney II probably belongs in the list above but spoils my three each idea

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Haven’t enjoyed any single one of any of their songs

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Correct opinion

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Macca and Ringo get a 5. Macca because there’s some great music there, and even when it’s not that great it’s often interesting at least. Ram is a fucking brilliant album, and Wings have some tunes.

Ringo gets 5 for this - the greatest of all the post-Beatles output

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Paul Mccartney is a ride

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Best George song is ‘Try Some Buy Some’ (from the brilliant ‘Living in a Material World’ though recorded during the ‘All Things Must Pass’ sessions)

Best John song is ‘God’ (Though Cold Turkey & Whatever Gets You Through the Night are bangers & obviously that Marrakesh song that turned out to be Jealous Guy is a tune)

Best Paul - there’s just so much good stuff, even the cheesy stuff is great (like ‘My Love’ & ‘Let ‘em in’)

Ringo - meh

There’s obviously loads of covers of Beatles’ tunes but two of the best solo Beatles’ covers are these reggae reworkings. Just blissful - and quite a reflection on the songwriting skills involved

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Ticket to Ride

“I’d like a Ticket to Ride, a Ticket to Ride Paul McCartney that is!”

Nice Beetles reference

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Yay, so glad HGATR is back, and with a quadruple-header to boot (if you count Ringo)!

Agree that none of them deserve more than a 3, which is a shame considering the sheer quality control and creativity they all had in the 60s.

John’s solo stuff is probably the most interesting to me, as he was writing incredibly candid material from a pretty unique vantage point as a world-famous ex-Beatle - stuff like “God” and “Mother” and “How Do You Sleep” which was in turn vulnerable and absolutely scathing. The man was an arse, admittedly, and his musical output nosedived once the '70s ended.

Paul wrote some bangers but also some of the worst music by anyone ever, never wrote a consistently great album afaik, and even the Best Of tracklisting up-thread is spotty. I am grateful for him occasionally going off-script and coming out with stuff like this though. Also, seems a bit harsh to bring up his embarrassing children in a thread ranking his post-Beatles output :smiley:

George wrote the best post-Beatles album, but I can count his memorable songs after that on the fingers of one hand, it all seems very insular and self-absorbed to me. Happy to be proven wrong here though!

Ringo can have a 3 for Thomas the Tank Engine and Ringo Remembers, but you can’t make me listen to his music.

Best solo Beatle song: Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out

Best solo Beatle album: All Things Must Pass

Worst solo Beatle song: The Girl Is Mine, if that counts

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Seems slightly harsh :joy:

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