"It’s complicated". They were such a cultural phenomenon that it’s hard to judge their music objectively. Everyone likes one period or album(s) more than another, and they progressed through a lot of them. Think how much different they sounded in ’66 compared with ’64! No group put out so much material in such a short period of time as did they, though Prince and Ryan Adams tried.
I love Rubber Soul and Revolver, but not Sgt. Pepper---too many filler songs imo. Magical Mystery Tour is just awful (it wasn’t even an album in England, just an EP), but the s/t white album is pretty amazing, though I agree with George Martin---it would have made a much better single album (Revolution 9? Wild Honey Pie? Lennon and McCartney were better together than alone imo). Get Back/Let It Be is really sad; they were obviously overdue for a divorce. Lots of people like Abbey Road, but I had already moved on by the time of it’s release (and the rooftop set). The Band had moved the bar far higher than even The Beatles could reach ;-) . The end of one era, the beginning of another, as much so as when they had appeared in 1963.
I had mixed feelings about them from the moment I saw and heard them live in the summer of ’65; they weren’t that good, I was disappointed. I had already started going out and seeing local San Jose groups (as we called bands at the time), and wasn’t very impressed by The Beatles AS A LIVE BAND. San Jose was the undisputed garage band capitol of The United States, and I saw them all: People, The Chocolate Watchband, The Trolls/Stained Glass, The Otherside, The Syndicate of Sound, The Count V, many others only locals knew about. None of them had the songwriting of John, Paul, and George, but they were better live bands. Honest! It is my view that they were a fair Rock ’n’ Roll band that evolved into a great Pop group.
