The Beatles recorded four of the Top 10 Greatest Albums of All Time, according to Rolling Stone magazine, and three of the Top Five. (I’ll ignore the fact that Abbey Road was only No. 14. Blasphemy.) They were ground-breaking pioneers almost from the beginning, being the first group ever to employ feedback in 1964’s “I Feel Fine.” One of their first hits, “A Hard Day’s Night,” features an opening chord so revolutionary that people are still trying to figure out. 1965’s Rubber Soul and the follow-up, Revolver, saw more innovation, from the use of a sitar in “Norwegian Wood” to tape loops in “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Then there are the backwards vocals in “Rain” (a first) and a Moog synthesizer on several songs on 1969’s Abbey Road. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band is arguably the greatest album ever made (indeed, it topped Rolling Stone‘s list). While it doesn’t have the strongest material, the album was a landmark in recording. It popularized the concept album – something that would serve as inspiration to The Who and Pink Floyd. “A Day in the Life” from Sgt. Pepper may have been the crowning achievement of the group – a five and a half minute song composed of two suites – one by Lennon, one by Paul McCartney – that are totally different in sound and texture, yet complement each other perfectly. The song features two cacophonous crescendos from an orchestra, the final one climaxing in a single E major piano chord that lasts 42 seconds. One may not like songs such as “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude,” but they are unrivaled in their popularity, and the melodies are unforgettable. Paul McCartney actually dreamed the tune to “Yesterday.” “Helter Skelter” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” are considered two of the first heavy metal songs. They have 23 of the Top 500 songs of all time, again according to Rolling Stone – the most of any artist. Their iconic No. 1 singles notwithstanding (“Love Me Do”, “From Me to You”, “She Loves You”, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, “I Feel Fine”, “Eight Days a Week”, “Ticket to Ride”, “Help!”, “Yesterday”, “Day Tripper”, “We Can Work It Out”, “Paperback Writer”, “Yellow Submarine”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Penny Lane”, “All You Need Is Love”, “Hello, Goodbye”, “Lady Madonna”, “Hey Jude”, “Get Back”, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, “Something”, “Come Together”, “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road”), some of their best songs weren’t even on any singles or B-sides: “I Should Have Known Better,” “You Won’t See Me,” “For No One,” “Across the Universe,” “Two of Us,” “Dear Prudence,” and “Because” are all just album filler. They revolutionized the science of recording, using multiple tracks instead of playing live. Producer George Martin used varying tape speeds to make Lennon’s voice sound high (“Tomorrow Never Knows”) and slow (“Strawberry Fields Forever”); he also brought in string musicians to accompany certain songs (“Yesterday”). In another session, McCartney utilized bass drums halfway down a corridor to achieve a staccato sound in “Mother Nature’s Son.” In an age where other people wrote songs for the flavor of the day – think the Brill Building songwriters doing all the work for the Shangri-Las and the Dixie Cups – The Beatles surprised everyone by penning their own hits from the beginning. As a result, they helped usher the singer-songwriter movement that popularized the late 1960s. Their ability to cross over from media and teen idols to musical innovators is one-of-a-kind. Their chart success and initial popularity are unparalleled; but despite their initial fame, they managed to continue to improve throughout their career. Their place in popular culture is unrivaled – Their movies, their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (in which they played to 74 million people), the “bigger than Jesus” comment, the refusal to play in concert after 1966, the Maharishi, the painstaking production work, the beginnings of the drug culture and LSD fad, “Helter Skelter” and Charles Manson, the “Paul is Dead” phenomenon, Yoko Ono, the rooftop concert, the cover of Abbey Road, the subsequent solo years, and the hit singles created from rough demos of the late Lennon. They accomplished all this in just seven years. Beat that, Oasis.