I have a very difficult time ranking Beatles albums....each of them is special in its own way. But I shall try.
1) Revolver- In terms of the band's initial enthusiasm married to studio experimentation, this is their best in my book. They are still very much a group at this point, firing on all cylinders.
2) Rubber Soul- The signs of great things to come are here on "Rubber Soul", but because of touring, they were not yet allowed the time to explore them fully. George begins to really write some great songs here.
3) The White Album- This album plays like an artist's mural, many great themes on the same canvas. Not every track is a winner, though, and the cracks in the band are beginning to show.
4) Sgt. Pepper- Much praised for the quantum leap in studio craft employed on it, rightfully so, but hasn't aged as well as others for me. Personally, it seems like their drug habits are taking the 'edge' off of their muse.
5) Magical Mystery Tour- I've come to think of "MMT" as an extension of "Sgt. Pepper"....heck, some of the songs came directly from the same sessions, right? A few of the tunes here do not reach the same height that those on "Pepper" do, but still the same vibe.
6) Abbey Road- Would have been number one if I'd been making this list before the Lads broke up, but knowing what had gone on before this one was made and what would transpire shortly after make it hard for me to listen to sometimes. George wrote the best songs on it...
7) Please Please Me- This is Genesis....not the band! This album has everything the world would fall in love with: Good songs, great playing and tons of energy. The sound of a band getting their shot and absolutely knocking it out of sight.
With the Beatles- Almost interchangeable with "Please Please Me, except for the fact they spent more time on it. Beatlemania has not yet caught up with them completely and they are still digging it.
9) A Hard Day's Night- Kudos for having written all the songs on it, John particularly. Bears some hallmarks of having been written on the run, though....copying yourself is ok in their case.
10) Beatles For Sale- I think The Lads were getting quite tired of Beatlemania by this point and maybe what they needed was a break for a little while. Back then, this was not the way it worked, so they soldiered on....I still like it a lot.
11)Help- This one feels a lot like "Beatle For Sale" MK2....many of these song sound like they were written to order, on the fly and in a great hurry. But these guys could do that and still sound spectacular.
12)Let It Be- A VERY tough one for me to listen to....to this day, I have only watched the film once. It's just not enjoyable to watch your favorite group coming apart in this way. There are still some fine tunes on it, in spite of all the rancor.
13) Yellow Submarine- There are so few new tunes on this one, it had to rank at the bottom. I admit that "It's All Too Much" still sounds like a coda for the Summer of Love and might have slotted nicely of "Pepper" or "MMT".
There we have it...This list does shift from time to time, but not much. These albums are still the bar that all since have had to measure up to. To have done all this in the space of just about 8 years is astonishing. That's about 2.5 albums these days. Still the Greatest Band Ever.