The Beatles' Top 10 Songs That Pushed Boundaries and Reshaped Music History
If you grew up as a teenager or young adult in the 1960s, you had the privilege of experiencing a band that changed the course of popular music more than any other. It was, of course, The Beatles.
In this article, we're ranking The Beatles' songs based on how they redefined music through experimentation and innovation, and how each song broke new ground technically, artistically, or culturally, including "Strawberry Fields Forever" and many other revolutionary hits.
Understanding Musical Innovation in The Beatles' Era
In the early 1960s, studios primarily served as venues to capture live performances on film. The Beatles, however, took a completely different approach from other artists. With their first album, Please Please Me (1963), they set out to replicate their energetic live nightclub performance and went on to record the full release in under 12 hours.
They were at a turning point when recording studios became creative laboratories, where, thanks to multitrack recording technology, musicians could now add, remove, and manipulate musical elements. The Beatles, alongside producer George Martin and engineers such as Geoff Emerick, took full advantage of this and transformed Abbey Road Studios into a place destined to create masterpieces.
From songwriting to microphone placement, they innovated at every step, making writing original material a creative expectation, not an exception. As a result of their innovations and unique music style, the band held the No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for a total of 59 weeks.
Source: wmgk.com/Rob Baird
