THE Beatles is one of the biggest bands in musical history.
Rising to fame in the 1960s, they quickly became music legends, but how many albums did they make?
The Beatles made a total of 12 UK albums throughout their time as a band.They released their core albums throughout their seven years together from 1963-1970.
The Beatles’ first album was released in 1963 and was called Please Please Me.Eight of the album’s 14 songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.At the time it was unusual for a group to write their own material but they soon proved how talented they were.
The band released their second album eight months to the day after the first.No singles were taken from With The Beatles but it came three months after She Loves You became a smash hit, and just seven days before The Beatles became world famous with I Want To Hold Your Hand.
1964 saw A Hard Day’s Night released which was recorded over nine non-consecutive days.It was the band’s first album to feature all original material.The band had to fit recording around their busy schedule now that they were world famous.
The Beatles’ fourth album was recorded at the height of their fame.The recording of Beatles For Sale began on 11 August 1964, just two months after the release of A Hard Day’s Night.
Although it wouldn’t be released until December, their hectic schedule meant they had to fit it around their other commitments.Help! was the soundtrack to the group’s second feature film.
It contained 14 songs: 10 by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, two more by George Harrison, and a further two cover versions.
Rubber Soul was the band’s sixth album and was released in 1965.As they matured from their earlier music, this album saw The Beatles take on a slightly different style.
Paul McCartney said about the album: “In October 1965, we started to record the album. Things were changing.”The direction was moving away from the poppy stuff like Thank You Girl, From Me To You and She Loves You.”
Revolver signalled the complete change of The Beatles in terms of experimenting in the music studio.It is often considered to be the group’s finest body of work, and showed all four members of The Beatles working together.
Recorded in over 400 hours during a 129-day period, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band kicked off the 1967 Summer of Love.It was instantly recognised as a major leap forward for modern music.They made use of orchestras and other hired musicians, and combined a variety of musical styles.
The White Album
The White Album was The Beatles’ first double-length release.The self titled album was made up of a total of 30 songs.
Yellow Submarine
The soundtrack for Yellow Submarine, The Beatles’ fourth film, was the band’s tenth UK album.It was released in early 1969, just weeks after the White Album.
Abbey Road
Possibly one of their most well known albums, Abbey Road was hugely popular.It is commonly thought that The Beatles knew that Abbey Road would be their final album, and wanted to leave one of the best until last.However, they denied that they knew they would split soon after.
LET IT BE
The Beatles’ last album to be released, Let It Be was mostly recorded in early 1969, before Abbey Road.Despite being recorded before, they chose to release Abbey Road first.
