The Beatles Album That Is My Least Favorite, i.e., how a “new” listen dropped it from a 5/5 to a 3.5/5

Look, I've always been upfront about it—The Beatles are my absolute favorites. Pretty much everything they put out was a massive hit for a reason, and I've got their whole catalog on repeat more times than I can count. Lately, I decided to go back and listen to all their original albums straight through, no skips, just to see how they hold up today. Most of them? Still perfect 5/5s in my book. But one dropped hard—from a solid 5 to a 3.5. It's my new least favorite - which one is it?

The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album).

NOTE: This is not my No. 0000001 copy

It still resides on so many “Best Album Ever” lists that I thought maybe my tastes changed, maybe I just wanted to be contrary. So, I tried it again – nope, no difference.

When it first came out in '68, I was hooked on the backstory. The band was falling apart, experimenting like crazy after Sgt. Pepper, and it felt so raw and different. Now, 57 years later, listening fresh, it just doesn't click the same. It's a double album, over 90 minutes long with 30 tracks, and a lot of it feels like filler. The experiments are neat in theory—stuff like tape loops and home recordings—but they drag on. Without George Martin bringing things in as much, you can hear the four of them pulling in different directions. It's messy in a way that's more frustrating than fun these days.

Don't get me wrong, there are still some great, classic Beatles (?) that have aged fantastically - George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is as powerful as ever - John's "Julia" is personal and stripped-down. "Blackbird" is simple and beautiful, "Helter Skelter" has that wild energy, but that’s about it for me.

The misses? "Wild Honey Pie" is goofy but goes nowhere, "Revolution 9" is this endless sound collage that loses me after a minute or two, and a few others just feel like unfinished ideas. The whole thing's too indulgent for what it is—a snapshot of a band unraveling, sure, but not the tight masterpiece I remembered.

This doesn't make me love The Beatles any less. It just means I'm calling it like I hear it now, without the nostalgia blinders. For me, Abbey Road is still my favorite.