Editing The Beatles (album) (section)

===Genres and length===
''The Beatles'' contains a wide range of musical styles, which authors [[Barry Miles]] and Gillian Gaar view as the most diverse of any of the group's albums.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=315}}<ref>{{cite book|title=100 Things Beatles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die|first=Gillian|last=Gaar|publisher=Triumph Books|year=2013|page=33|isbn=978-1-62368-202-6}}</ref> These styles include [[rock and roll]], [[blues]], [[Folk music|folk]], [[country music|country]], [[reggae]], [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]],{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=316}} [[hard rock]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings|first=David N.|last=Howard|page=31|quote=[The White Album] contained a panoply of wondrous songs that included acoustic numbers, idiosyncratic pop, heavy-duty hard rock, and flat-out experimentalism.}}</ref> [[music hall]]{{sfn|Inglis|2009|p=122}} and [[psychedelic music]].<ref name="Bell">{{cite web |first=Henry |last=Yates |date=30 April 2021 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/50-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-beatles-white-album |title=The Beatles' ''White Album'': 50 Things You Need to Know |website=[[Louder Sound]] |access-date=5 May 2021 |quote=The Beatles' ''White Album'' release marked the coming death of the 60s, but it was also The Beatles’ most psychedelic and surreal record.}}</ref> The only Western instrument available to the group during their Indian visit was the [[Steel-string acoustic guitar|acoustic guitar]], and thus many of the songs were written and first performed on that instrument.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steve |last=Turner |title=A Hard Day's Write |edition=2nd |publisher=Prospero Books |year=1999 |isbn=1-55267-337-5 |page=149 |quote=[B]ecause they had no access to electric guitars or keyboards, many of these songs were acoustically based.}}</ref> Some of these songs remained acoustic on ''The Beatles'' and were recorded solo or by only part of the group (including "[[Wild Honey Pie]]",{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|p=271}} "[[Blackbird (Beatles song)|Blackbird]]",{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|p=256}} "[[Julia (Beatles song)|Julia]]",{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|p=285}} "[[I&nbsp;Will]]"{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|p=276}} and "[[Mother Nature's Son]]").{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|p=267}}

Author [[Nicholas Schaffner]] views the acoustic slant as reflective of a widespread departure from the LSD-inspired psychedelia of 1967, an approach initiated by [[Bob Dylan]] and [[the Beach Boys]] and adopted in 1968 by artists such as [[the Rolling Stones]] and [[the Byrds]].{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|pp=111–12}} Edwin Faust of ''[[Stylus Magazine]]'' described ''The Beatles'' as "foremost an album about musical purity (as the album cover and title suggest). Whereas on prior Beatles albums, the band was getting into the habit of mixing several musical genres into a single song, on ''The White Album'' every song is faithful to its selected genre. The rock n' roll tracks are purely rock n' roll; the folk songs are purely folk; the surreal pop numbers are purely surreal pop; and the experimental piece is purely experimental."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Faust|first1=Edwin|title=On Second Thought: The Beatles – The Beatles|url=http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/the-beatles-the-beatles.htm|website=Stylus Magazine|access-date=18 December 2016|date=1 September 2003|archive-date=23 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223025212/http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/the-beatles-the-beatles.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Martin said he was against the idea of a double album at the time and suggested that the group reduce the number of songs to form a single album featuring their stronger work; the band refused.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=163}} Reflecting on the album years later, Harrison said that some tracks could have been released as B-sides or withheld, but "there was a lot of ego in that band."{{sfn|MacFarlane|2013|p=78}} He also supported the idea of the double album, to clear out the group's backlog of songs. Starr felt that the album should have been two separate records, which he jokingly called "The White Album" and "The Whiter Album". McCartney said that the record was fine as it was: "It was great. It sold. It's the bloody Beatles' ''White Album''. Shut up!"{{sfn|MacFarlane|2013|p=78}}