Listening to New Adventures in Hi Fi recently I had the startling revelation that it was sprawling, misunderstood at the time, some half-successful experiments, but increasingly seen as one of their very best albums….it was their White Album. Twenty minutes later here’s where I’ve got to.
Pt One
Abbey Road – The ‘make it like it used to be one last time before we go’ one
Collapse Into Now
Let It Be – the bitty and frustrating with moments of magic still one
Monster
White Album – the sprawling at times perplexing masterpiece one
New Adventures In Hi-Fi
Sgt Pepper – the slightly overrated with the famous songs on one
Out of Time
Revolver – the actual undisputed GOAT one
Automatic For the People
Rubber Soul – the quantum leap WTF we’re making art now one
Document
Pt Two
Help! – the highwater mark of phase one one
Life’s Rich Pageant
Beatles for sale – the growing pains one
Reckoning
With The Beatles – The what another album this one feels a bit like a step backwards one
Up!
Hard Day’s Night – the joyous rush of energy one
Fables of the Reconstruction
With the Beatles – the we’re cool one
Green
Please Please Me – the outta nowhere there’s this now debut one
Murmur
Missing the cut: Accelerate, Reveal, Around the Sun (the Beatles didn’t really do mid-career slump). Not considered: Yellow Submarine, Magical Mystery Tour.
A game you play at home of course with any other artist who made twelve studio albums you know well. You can only use each album once.
Love to see someone’s mapping Rush, Neil Young or for the very ambitious The Fall onto the Beatles catalogue.
White Album – it’s the same band, but let’s see what else we can do
Monster
The first half of REMs career would be the best half in my world. Murmur is Revolver and Automatic for the People is Let It Be because Everybody Hurts is their Let It Be and there’s the strings by John Paul Jones, also AFTP is second half career for both. REM have nothing really experimental like Day In The Life but Document is most Sgt Pepper I think, not that anything of theirs is really. Abbey Road? Maybe Out of Time because it has songs that people still listen to, but that could also be AFTP. Or something.
Agree about the White Album/NAIHF similarity.
Monster is Let it Be, back to basics, but in general the songwriting isn’t quite there and it would make a decent EP.
Neil?
Freedom is his White Album, Tonight’s the Night is Plastic Ono Band, his Pepper is probably Harvest. It’s great, but not his best album. Zuma is Revolver
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere = Help?
I almost said Rubber Soul, last song is about killing your girlfriend (or thinking about it)
Pink Floyd
Dark Side Of The Moon = Sgt Pepper. The “where did that come from” moment.
Wish You Were Here = Revolver. Probably the best album according to those who “know”
The Wall = Abbey Road. Most accomplished album made when no-one is really talking to each other anymore.
The Final Cut = Let It Be. “Can we not keep this going for one more album?. I’ll drive”
Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the Decca audition before Pete Best was replaced by Ringo
A Collection of Great Dance Songs = A Collection of Beatles Oldies
Not sure the theory holds up, given that the first 3 Beatles LPs were basically pub rock with little to no progression apparent between them.
The Beatles were Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers in disguise
So “Kings of the Robot Rhythm” = “Help” and “Bongos over Balham” = “Sgt Pepper’s LHCB”?
Bierkeller rockmusik, if you will.
𝕲𝖔𝖙𝖙 𝖎𝖓 𝕳𝖎𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖑!
With the Roogalator = ?
Pub rock? Not sure it existed. Cafes were all the rage at that time. And their 3rd album is a pop masterpiece
You see? They were ahead of the lumpen pop rock hybrid by at least 10 years.
I think there’s strong correlation with REM and Led Zeppelin, myself. New Adventures is SO Physical Graffiti. Out of Time is Zofo. Automatic is Houses of the Holy. Monster is Presence. Up is In Through the Out Door.
Or something.
@Leffe-Gin -I have to ask: what would Zep III be in this strongly correlating schema?
I would put III as Green personally, a revision of the classic formula of the debut into something more varied, setting the stage for flawless sequels.
I was thinking maybe Fables…but I see where you’re coming from…
Yep, III is Green
II is Document.
All previous albums combined are the debut. Because, I think LZ1 is itself a kind of summation of their careers so far and a blueprint for the rest.
Every Led Zep album mapped onto the REM Discography
1 – Murmur/Reckoning/Fables/Life’s
II – Document
III – Green
IV – Automatic…
HOTH – OO Time
Physical Graffiti – New Adventures…
Presence – Monster
In Through the Out door – Up!