A.K.A. “The complete list of CDs you have to buy to get all the material the Beatles ever released”

Having bought “Past Masters” volumes I and II today, I was reminded of the confusion regarding the official, complete Beatles discography. Between the myriad non-album singles, EPs, and differing album versions, it’s difficult to tell what exactly makes up the ‘canonical’ list of ‘official’ Beatles releases.

Here, as best I can figure from Wikipedia, it is:

• Please Please Me
  The Beatles’ first album, as released in the UK. Roughly equivalent to “Introducing… The Beatles” in the US.
• With The Beatles
  The second UK release. The tracks in this album were spread over the (despite the title) second and third US releases, “Meet The Beatles” and “The Beatles’ Second Album”, along with several non-album singles.
• A Hard Day’s Night
  The third UK release. One album side contains the film soundtrack, the other side contains songs not featured in the film. The US release had the film soundtrack side, plus several instrumental renditions used in the film.
• Beatles For Sale
  The fourth UK release. Songs from this album could also be found on the US releases Beatles ‘65 and Beatles VI
• Help!
  The fifth UK release. Like “A Hard Day’s Night,” the first side was the film soundtrack, the second side the non-film portion. Also like “A Hard Day’s Night,” the US release featured the film soundtrack side plus instrumental tracks heard in the film.
• Rubber Soul
  The sixth UK release. Roughly equivalent to the US release, but the US release omits some tracks, later published on the US-only “Yesterday… and Today”
• Revolver
  The seventh UK release. Again, the US omits some tracks, which are also on “Yesterday… and Today”
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  The eighth UK release. From this album on, the US versions had the same tracklisting as the UK versions.
• The Beatles
  The ninth UK release, commonly referred to as “The White Album” for its nondescript white cover
• Magical Mystery Tour
  The US release is the ‘official’ version of this album for a change. The UK version was actually a double EP; the US version is a full album, with the EP tracks from the UK plus several non-album singles.
• Yellow Submarine
  The soundtrack for the film, the A-side contains six Beatles recordings (two of which were released previously), the B-side containing George Martin’s instrumental score for the film.
• Abbey Road
  The eleventh UK album, and second-to-last released, though the last recorded.
• Let It Be
  The twelfth and final UK album, though actually recorded during the aborted recording session preceding Abbey Road. John Lennon gave the raw studio tapes to Phil Spector, who mixed a full album out of it. Years later it was remixed into a new version, sans Spector overdubs, as “Let It Be… Naked”
• Past Masters
  Two volumes comprising all singles, B-sides, and other material not released on any of the ‘official’ releases listed above.

Note that this only includes the ‘original’ album and single releases during the band’s tenure, and not the Anthologies, compilations, and other material released years after the breakup.

• The Beatles - Past Masters Volume I
• The Beatles - Past Masters Volume II
• Beatles For Sale
• The Police - Every Breath You Take - The Classics
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits

via Rasputin

• The Beatles - Help
• The Beatles - Let It Be
• Oystein Sevag - Global House
• Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
• Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81

(via Rasputin)

• Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix
• Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape
• Dire Straits: Money for Nothing
• Synthesizer Greatest Vol. 2
• Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty

(via Rasputin)

As always, everything is rated on the Binary Scale.

• Massive Attack - Mezzanine
  Sounds like the bastard child of Rock and Techno. There’s only one track on it that I really like, and I already had it on PureMoods II

  Score: 0
  Choice tracks: Teardrop

• Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
  Early synth-ey new-age music. Very mellow and ambient in some sections, more upbeat in others.

  Score: 1
  Choice tracks: Part IV

• Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
  Heavy metal, though somewhat of a departure from the metal-rap fusion of their previous albums. This is a little less heavy overall, and barely even metal on a few songs. The rap element is almost absent.

  Score: 1
  Choice tracks: Given Up, Leave Out All the Rest

• The Who Sings My Generation
  Their first album, as released in the US (with a slightly different track listing and a few minor edits.) Some early hard rock tunes, while others sound a lot like early Beatles tunes, and a couple are downright bluesy. Overall I liked it better than ‘Sells Out’ but it doesn’t really stand out.

  Score: 1
  Choice tracks: My Generation

• Massive Attack - Mezzanine
• Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
• Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
• The Who Sings My Generation

(via Rasputin’s)

As always, everything is rated on the Binary Scale.

• Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
  Very similar in style to late-pre-breakup Pink Floyd, such as The Wall or The Final Cut. Actually, it’s what late-pre-breakup Pink Floyd would sound like if you replaced David Gilmour with Eric Clapton (who plays guitar on this album)

  Rating: 1
  Choice tracks: “Sexual Revolution”

• Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
  Often billed as “industrial”, Manson just sounds like metal to me. Not constant, cover-to-cover goodness, but enough good songs to make it a worthwhile purchase

  Rating: 1
  Choice tracks: “Great Big White World”, “The Dope Show”, “Mechanical Animals”, “I Don’t Like The Drugs”, “The Last Day On Earth”

• The Who - Who’s Next
  It’s The Who. How far wrong can you go?

  Rating: 1
  Choice Tracks: “Baba O’Riley”, “Bargain”, “Behind Blue Eyes”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”

• System of a Down - Toxicity
  More metal. I like it, but not as much as the other two SoaD albums (Mesmerize, Hypnotize) that I have.

  Rating: 1
  Choice Tracks: “Prison Song”, “Chop Suey!”

• No Doubt - Return of Saturn
  I’ve decided that I don’t really like No Doubt very much. There’s only a few songs, across several albums, that I even remotely like. There’s only one on this album, “Ex-girlfriend”, but I do really like it.

  Rating: 0
  Choice Tracks: “Ex-girlfriend”

• Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
  I’ve had this on tape since I was a kid, but I’ve long since lost the tape and have been looking for it on CD ever since. It finally showed up at Rasputin’s this week. I liked it then, and I still like it now.

  Rating: 1
  Choice Tracks: “Change of Heart”, “Calm Inside the Storm”, “One Track Mind”

• The Best of Santana
  The Latin-rock classics you’re all familiar with, plus some more 80s-rock style tracks.

  Rating: 1
  Choice Tracks: “Evil Ways”, “Black Magic Woman”, “Oye Como Va”

• Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
  More classics, with their distinctive (yet not quite definable) style

  Rating: 1
  Choice Tracks: “Go Your Own Way”, “Little Lies”

• More Abba Gold
  I’ve discovered that I don’t really like Abba either. Between the first “Gold” compilation and this one, there’s only a handful of songs I like.

  Rating: 0
  Choice Tracks: “Eagle”, “Angeleyes”

• The Who Sell Out
  I recant what I said above. There’s only a couple tracks on this one that I really like. Rael, one of the bonus tracks on the remastered CD, features a passage that would eventually evolve into one of the recurring themes in “Tommy.”

  Rating: 0 (Much as it pains me)
  Choice Tracks: “I Can See for Miles”, “Rael 1”

• Kitaro - The Light of the Spirit
  Moody new-age music, a combination of synth, orchestra, and even a tinge of rock.

  Rating: 1
  Choice Tracks: “Sundance”, “Howling Thunder”

Albums:

• Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
• The Best of Santana
• Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
• More Abba Gold
• The Who Sell Out

Songs:

• Good Charlotte - I Don’t Wanna Be In Love

(via Amazon MP3 Store)