I'm Only Sleeping: Ruminations Concerning the Beatles

[Raiders]

To continue the thread, transplanted from the old site:

My favorite band of all-time is one of the most popular and legendary groups of the 20th century. The Beatles were a phenomenon, but the most radical and amazing achievement may be the remarkable creative growth they experienced over the course of only about seven years. To listen to A Hard Day's Night and then listen to The White Album, released only four years later, is a revelation. They entered the United States and signaled a cultural eruption that saw the end of American rock n' roll and the rise of the British, and from that standpoint they grew into an icon of the changing culture and the definitive sound of a generation. Their early music was geared at finding a niche and success, emulating classic rock of the 50s and adding an in-house feel and intimacy perhaps missing from the more standard, generated sound being produced elsewhere and, by 1966 with Revolver and the "studio years," they had grown into an intricate, messy and almost unparalleled quartet who were able to experiment without sacrificing the irreverent pop that made them so famous. In Paul McCartney and especially John Lennon, they had a core writing duo that managed to find humor and profundities in simply gestures and feelings, never going for the over-the-top ballads, but rather eschewing excess in favor of straight and to-the-point ditties. There were more daring groups of the time and certainly the Beatles are never going to represent to true limits of aural possibilities and craftsmanship some may choose as their end all, be all band of choice, but I would argue nobody has gone further than the Beatles in mixing radio-friendly music with innovation and cultural awareness as well as personal feelings, beliefs and idiosyncrasies.

This thread will take the Beatles' thirteen (13) officially released UK albums and break down my own reactions to them, in chronological order,, overall at first and then each subsequent song. I'm not Steve Turner and I don't know the meaning behind each song, nor do I have the capacity of thought to give an analysis of each individual song, but I will attempt to rate each one and on those I feel compelled to write about in depth, I will do so.

The albums in question are (in chronological order):

Please Please Me
With the Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles for Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The White Album
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let it Be

I'll also comment on a couple of their famous songs not found on these albums, like I Want to Hold Your Hand and Hey Jude.

This thread will be very slow moving and won't even be under way for a while. I simply created it now so I could finally pin myself down to actually doing it after planning it for months now. I'll kick it off eventually though, I do promise that. I listen to these albums far too often to slack off. I hope everyone sticks around for the duration.

[Raiders]

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Please Please Me
Released in 1963

Rating: 7

One, two, three, four... and we're off. The very first released album by the Beatles is a rough, scratchy and manic affair. The group knew exactly how to do live performances, and recorded in a single day this album feels exactly like a feverish, fast-paced live show. The Beatles show off their influences with ease in this album's six covers, the best of which is John's all out wail of "Twist and Shout," and in the way they reference quite recognizably other artists from the recent past. But, ultimately, this album feels like a great little punk album, a breathless, sweaty and hard-pushing debut that has little of the tender ballads from the likes of the crooners (like the hopelessly bland Neil Sedaka). The opening single, "I Saw Her Standing There," just may be the best pure pop-rock song the band recorded, Paul's voice finding a powerful clarity at all of 19 years old. It wouldn't be long before the Beatles would become a little weary and tired, but in early 1963 they were fresh, energetic, and hit the rock world like a refreshing slap in the face.

Tracks:

1. I Saw Her Standing There [9]
I love listening to the first lyric: "Well she was just seventeen," and not finding it creepy. They really were this young. They were fresh, raised to write and perform their own music. This song perfectly illustrates the way young love is so other-worldly and life changing, with Paul declaring he would never dance with another person ever since her saw her standing there. The melody is fierce and upbeat. Paul's voice unwavering and powerful. Love just isn't spoken of with this amount of straight-faced tenderness anymore.

2. Misery [7]
Transition straight into an interesting, offbeat song that signals the other side to the young devotion of the first song. His world is crushed.

3. Anna (Go to Him) [8]
I love the beat to this song. It oozes melancholy from the first notes. It doesn't go into woe-is-me balladeering(sic), and even if it does devolve into little more than standard 50s-era pop, it has the tenderness and maturity to consider high school love as an adult dedication and sacrifice. Not an original song, but it fits elegantly into the theme of burgeoning real-world love and devotion.

4. Chains [6]

5. Boys [5]
I'm not much a fan of the whole "bop shoo-wop" style of music. Well performed, but the majority of the album proves them capable of much better. Hearing George's early guitar solos is a plus.

6. Ask Me Why [5]
A somewhat paler, more standard version on Misery and Anna.

7. Please Please Me [8]
I get a kick out of the insinuations of this song and in its declaration of not love, but lust and in its plea for satisfaction. An early triumph of song-writing for Lennon and McCartney, capturing the restlessness of those late-night drive-ins. The obvious homage to Roy Orbison is nicely played.

8. Love Me Do [6]
Good melody, but repetitious and rather bland is comparison to some of the more chaotic, colorful and introspective songs the album has to offer. An obvious choice as a hit single, but in comparison, it lacks much pull.

9. PS I Love You [4]
Not much interesting musically and the lyrics really stretch thin the angle of young, high school level wooing. The letter-as-song rarely works and the Beatles, at least at this stage, were not Leonard Cohen.

10. Baby it's You [6]
Working from a song written by Burt Bacharach, it has a decent set of lyrics and the melody is properly sad and remorseful, but it is more or less a relatively standard song.

11. Do You Want to Know a Secret [7]
I like this song mainly for George's terrific guitar work which works perfectly in tandem with his own vocals.

12. A Taste of Honey [5]

13. There's a Place [7]
With this song, John was already perhaps beginning to delve into the introverted, mind-bending thoughts he would tackle full on in a few short years. Here twisting the standard love song to a more subjective, wishful haven of his own mind.

14. Twist and Shout [8]
Recorded last in the session because John had a cold and producer George Martin wanted to make sure his voice would last the rest of the songs. It worked perfectly. His scratchy, pained and almost agonizing wails fit perfectly with the lyrics of a man obsessed by the moves of a woman constantly teasing him. It's a terrific rendition of a classic song and a wonderful closer to an excellent set...er, album.

[Raiders]

With the Beatles
Released in 1963

http://home.att.net/%7Echuckayoub/With_The_Beatles.jpg

Rating: 6

With the first five songs, which are all original songs, I was really impressed and ready to declare this a better album than its predecessor. But it slowly drags on, becoming progressively less interesting, particularly as the covers begin to pile up, none of which can rival either Twist and Shout and Anna from their debut album. As for themselves, the writing is likely an improvement, particularly with George's first recorded effort. But, rushed into production, released only four months after Please Please Me, this is an album suffering from too little fresh material and a weaker selection of previously written songs to choose from. It is worth noting that when this album was released it went straight to #1, replacing Please Please Me and by the end of its run, the Beatles had experienced 51 straight weeks at the top spot. Ultimately the most memorable thing about this album is likely its expressive cover which, with the exception of Abbey Road, probably has the most well recognized image of the group. The image was shot by Robert Freeman in a hotel hallway using the natural light streaming in from a nearby window. Due to the album cover layout, all four could not be placed properly in a row, so Ringo because he was last to join the group, was placed a level lower.

Tracks:

1. It Won't Be Long [8]
The opening is a wonderful back and forth between Lennon and McCartney, a raw and energetic intro to a good song that eventually develops into a nice stage for Harrison's riffs, especially the shifts into major and minor that give the song an off-balanced and angsty vibe. The lyrics resolve themselves a little too pat and easy, as is the tendency for the early Beatles music, but overall a strong effort.

2. All I've Got to Do [8]
Songs like this remind me that even in the early stages the Beatles went far beyond the cutesy lovelies like "I Want to Hold Your Hand." This is a rather frank declaration of attraction, showing the confidence which with he sees his lover's attraction to him and vice-versa, and once again the Beatles find the right amount of mood and economy for the key and riffs, never overproducing (George Martin was a genius even in 1963).

3. All My Loving [7]
Not as interestingly lyrically as either song before or after it, but it keeps the bittersweet harmonies alive that makes the Beatles, even in their supposedly "fluff pop" days, so much more enjoyable.

4. Don't Bother Me [8]
George's first recorded single may very well be my favorite song on the album. As usual with George, the song is much moodier and more cynical in its lyrics. The whole song boils down to one man forcing himself to not cope with a break-up and George offers no easy resolution which immediately seems to separate the song from almost all others being produced at the time.

5. Little Child [6]
A fun little song, but for an album that had managed to seem through the first four songs more mature and less enamored with high school affections, even only four months later, it is a little disappointing to see them revert to such petting.

6. Till There Was You [2]
Not a style of music the Beatles do particularly well and the arrangement's sparseness seems a little uncomfortable as though they didn't know what to do with the song other than give a beat and sing the rather tame lyrics. Just about the Beatles worst song.

7. Please Mr. Postman [3]
More 50s-era reverting that at this point seems entirely unnecessary, especially since the song is just a standard retread of another artist's song.

8. Roll Over Beethoven [2]
Completing what may be the worst three song stretch in their entire canon, all covers no less, is this really unimpressive, jumbled and joyless retread of a Chuck Berry classic. I've never been Berry's biggest fan, so this only makes things worse.

9. Hold Me Tight [5]
Paul's vocals really grate on me in this song and I've never been much for hand-clapped rhythms, but I'll admit that after the previous three songs, this is a welcome song. Still, it's an annoying song that even Ringo's noticeably pro drum beats can't help too much.

10. You Really Got a Hold On Me [7]
The best cover on the album is thanks again to John's wonderful vocal interpretation. His depressed, expressive and wailing intonations make a decent song into a good one and show why he would eventually be the first to really tap into the more intriguing melodic and lyrical structures.

11. I Wanna Be Your Man [7]
A fairly straight ahead rocker that has a lot of energy and the mid-song breakdown with the group screeching in the background seemingly looks forward to rock groups like Led Zeppelin. Ringo's first lead vocals are noteworthy. In the end, they seem to enjoy the song as the fun continues on through the fade out.

12. Devil in Her Heart [5]

13. Not a Second Time [7]
With a haunting little piano melody that acts as the driving bass line for the song, John Lennon gives one of the more musically proficient and endowed of the early Beatles songs. It has a grace and intriguing pessimism about it that just shows how far ahead musically and creatively the Beatles really were from all the pale covers they had to use to fill out the albums.

14. Money (That's What I Want) [5]
Considering the rushed production on this album, which could have benfitted from more original creative input from the group, this is an amusing album closer. As a song, it is merely mediocre, with the vocals here nicely grizzled but are nothing compared to the more scratchy and pained vocals of Lennon on "Twist and Shout."

[Raiders]

A Hard Day's Night
Released in 1964

http://home.att.net/%7Echuckayoub/A_Hard_Days_Night.jpg

Rating: 8

Well, here it is, the first fully original Beatles album. The first seven songs of the album were used as a soundtrack for the first Beatles film of the same name, directed by Richard Lester. I saw the film before ever listening to the album and I think seeing the manic energy and the restless, ever moving verité style Lester and the group employed, the album works so much better than having not seen the film. I think this was the Beatles at their peak in the early years, on a creative high likely spawned by the film and reaching that ultimate point right before the sad decline that would mar their next album which in comparison sounds like a group of depressed and almost comatose young men. This was very much a John and Paul centric album however, allowing no room for George to give his writing and voice a chance to grow the way it would eventually. With this album all the influences and disparate elements that had seemed somewhat disjointed in the first two albums became more of one piece, forming that classic Beatles sound. This album was Beatlemania.

Tracks:

1. A Hard Day's Night [8]
I'm a little biased on this one. The missus, being a nurse, sometimes works many night shifts and whenever she gets home in the morning, I play her this song. It is a frantic song, both tired and hyped, and it fits well to describe the sort of tiresome hours and adrenaline rushes that fueled the band in its early years. Just listening to the song, one can already see the impending decline and ultimate shutting down of the touring to focus only on the studio sessions.

2. I Should Have Known Better [7]
Exuberant and fun, and I dig the harmonica as well as the slightly dissonant sound between John and Paul, eschewing the perfection and adding a little edge to the song. It isn't one of the album's best, but the melody sure is catchy.

3. If I Fell [8]
To me, the lyric in this song "I found that love was more than just holding hands," is a noticeable turning point for the group. Its tender, flowing lyrics and melody are great, but it signals a maturity that began to move the group in a newer, fresher direction. It is just a shame it took them until Rubber Soul to really capitalize on this.

4. I'm Happy Just to Dance With You [6]
Decent song, but I have to agree with Paul's own declaration that it was more or less a formula song. It reverts to the more innocent lyrics of their debut album, though the melody itself already shows the polish they had gained.

5. And I Love Her [10]
My favorite Beatles song until Rubber Soul's release changed things. It is a remarkably mature song for a group only one year removed from its wet-behind-the-ears debut album. The Mediterranean beats and Paul's soaring vocals are simply a gorgeous confection. George's tenderly played guitar solo in the middle is likely among his finest work to date. McCartney's ability to turn love ballads into haunting little melodies is damn near unrivaled in history and this is certainly among his best work.

6. Tell Me Why [5]
Meh. A filler song for the most part that feels as though it was needed to counter the more foreign, ethnic beats of "And I Love Her" and to make sure the shallow Beatles groupies got what they wanted. Not a bad song, but nothing special. And what's up with the odd little crescendo in the middle that sounds like a bunch of adolescent girls chiming in?

7. Can't Buy Me Love [7]
Set apart by great work from George on guitar, I also love the way the Beatles neglect a typical intro by starting right off the bat, shouting the title in perfect harmony. It has some good edge to the song.

8. Any Time at All [7]
I love the stark contrast between the way the chorus is sung as opposed to the verse, with John showing his range that extended far beyond the majority of singers of the era and still today.

9. I'll Cry Instead [8]
I love the anger in this song that is essentially a very laid-back, western groove underneath the fury of the vocals. George's guitar line and Paul's bass playing makes for a splendidly subversive undertone that the lyrics shake up the foundation.

10. Things We Said Today [7]
I was almost sure this was a George song until I read that it was actually Paul who wrote and composed much of the melody. A somber effort, very elegant and flowing that sort of relinquishes the don't worry about the future vibe of the more optimistic first two albums by thinking ahead and realizing that today's actions will shape that future.

11. When I Get Home [5]
Good vocals by John, but the lyrics are too disposable. It's a rather aggressive rocker, but far less than the more idiosyncratic Beatles were capable of at the time. By now, expectations were beginning to be raised, and this song just doesn't quite cut it.

12. You Can't Do That [8]
In comparison to the song before, this is a much more varied, interesting song and Lennon's vocals are far more energetic and spirited. George's 12-string guitar licks are splendid and the lyrics playfully bleak and rather demonstrative in their insinuation of control and threats.

13. I'll Be Back [9]
I had to actually read it before recognizing it, but the lyrics are matched perfectly by the melody in the song. The lyrics describe a state of bittersweet uncertainty in a man's decision to go or stay and the song itself fluctuates subtly by beautifully between minor and major chords. A clever, deftly executed and haunting album closer.

[Raiders]

http://www.dance-lyrics.com/ama/beatles_for_sale_b000002uai.jp g

Bealtes For Sale
Released in 1964

Rating: 4

Four albums in two years and countless tours and concerts, as well as the pressure of being the biggest band in the world, seemed to finally take its toll. The band's fourth album is full of songs that seem weary, tired and not as energetic or emotional as found on the first three albums. It points directly to the coming expressive and inner songwriting that would define the band in the second half of the 60s. Tired of singing filler covers and touring endlessly, they would inevitably shun those duties for excess inside the studio (and with drugs). This album, as well as its follow-up, show the strains of coming transition.

1. No Reply [7]
A good opener, somber and seeming to try and distance a little from the more positive love sentiments, showing a failed connection.

2. I'm a Loser [8]
John's vocals continue to be the strongest of the group, here showing a great range. The song also begins to point in a different direction, focusing more on the self rather than a "he loves her-she loves me" monotony. A little rawer and edgier than previous work.

3. Baby's In Black [4]
A weird song that has little to no range at all and a pretty poor audio transfer on the album that hurts clarity. The guitar's ring too much and the song is just a void of energy or variation.

4. Rock and Roll Music [3]
Whenever you cover, you place yourself in direct competition with the originals. The Beatles never were or really could be Chuck Berry and their limitations in that arena show greatly here. It was songs like this that prevented them from advancing forward until they finally realized the mirror was the wrong outlet for growth.

5. I'll Follow the Sun [7]
Like the whole album, this is a more lackadaisical and somber song, but it has a terrific melody and lyrically a nice metaphor for avoiding the nastiness of a relationship.

6. Mr. Moonlight [2]
Wretched. John's lyrics wail all over the place with no focus, and the guitar warbles are cringe-inducing. A horribly ill-conceived cover that had awful lyrics to begin with.

7. Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey [6]
A fairly decent rocker and good medley. Paul's vocals were always a little better than John's at the more straight rock songs. Though ultimately it is a combo that seems more suited to Little Richard than the fab four.

8. Eight Days a Week [7]
Likely what the Beatles felt like they were doing, constantly moving and touring. It is a love song, naturally, but it is a nice centerpiece to an album that so clearly showed a growing weariness under the grind of touring and recording so feverishly. There's a moment in the song where everything stops, indicating a potential rest, but Ringo's drum kickstarts it all again. There is no rest allowed. The elevating guitar chords that open and end the song are a nice change from what was expected.

9. Words of Love [4]
A faithful Buddy Holly adaptation, though it lacks any Beatles flavor and is completely forgettable.

10. Honey Don't [5]
A fairly sparse song, but I've never been a big fan of Ringo's vocals and he lacks much personality to his voice, though in this song I'm not sure he could have added too much. It's a nice song, but again just winds up being completely forgettable.

11. Every Little Thing [6]
Some nice tonal shifts and vocal elevations in the chorus elevate this song slightly from the rest of the mediocrity that populates this album.

12. I Dont' Want to Spoil the Party [7]
I like this one. It's actually a rather sad song, with Lennon refusing the show his sadness of being stood up by leaving the party rather than staying and moping. Though I think if this had been written in three years, his answer may have been much different.

13. What You're Doing [6]
A little shrill in places, but the melody is nice, a little tight and jazzy. Supposedly dedicated to the strains of McCartney and Jane Asher.

14. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby [5]
George was always a moodier vocalist and lyricist, but his cover of this song tries to combat that sensibility, and it turns out a little weary and emotionless sounding. This is one perhaps better given to John or Paul.

[Raiders]

http://www.dance-lyrics.com/ama/help_b000002ual.jpg

Help!
Released in 1965

Rating: 7

I'm going to throw a little bone to Kurosawa Fan here: Bob Dylan (and marijuana) was probably the best thing that ever happened to the Beatles. OK, so maybe it is really Al Aronowitz who deserves the credit for getting the Beatles and Dylan, who thought they were superficial, bubble-gum pop (and he wasn't really wrong at the time) to meet in a hotel room on August 28, 1964. But as Al himself quipped, the Beatles were great for their sound, Dylan was great for his lyrics. After the meeting, both sides came away with something as the Beatles would go on to delve deep into themselves for lyrics that went beyond telling love stories and Dylan invented folk rock. Of course, equally important may just as well be the drugs which took the boyishness of the group and turned it into a more careless and experimental flurry. The first album to come after this monumental meeting is a heavily flawed, scatter-brained transitional album that revealed an edgier, more open form consciousness that would become crystallized over the next two albums. Help! may be merely a good album, but it points to the greatness to come.

Tracks:

1. Help! [8]
Knowing of the help and direction that caused the band to begin veering away from the content of their first four albums and the exhaustion that caused them to stumble, this is a very confessional song. George's low guitar riffs hint at an underlying sadness and desperation that John's wailing lyurics accentuate nicely.

2. The Night Before [6]
A good rocker, but lacking much dynamicism. Paul has the reputation of being the band's middle-brow, and though he is responsible for some of their best songs, songs like this make it hard to argue against.

3. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away [9]
Bob Dylan? The influence is evident, but this is a song that Dylan himself would have been proud of. An ambiguous ode to the duplicitous and difficult nature of love (Lennon's pet theme throughout his career) that is a great precursor to the simple, elegant perfection of "Norweigian Wood."

4. I Need You [7]
The interesting guitar rhythms, helped by the unusual for the time use of a foot pedal guiat, and melodies highlight a fairly standard song, though it points to the emergence of George as a key player in the Beatles' best years.

5. Another Girl [5]
Paul disappoints some on this album, and this surprisingly stale, weary and energy-free song is best left forgotten. George's guitar work keeps it respectable.

6. You're Gonna Lose that Girl [7]
John steps up to deliver a good, perfectly sung and catchy song that may not linger in the mind but features some of the album's most well-rounded musicianship and shows just a bit of edge to a song that otherwise could have been on previous albums.

7. Ticket to Ride [8]
The 12-string guitar accents this well executed song that features some good writing by John, lyrically describing a break-up. His vocals sound a little drunk and slurred, the perfect sound for such a bitersweet and sad song, finalized by his high-pitched wails of "my baby don't care."

8. Act Naturally [4]
A lot of people seem to like this cover song, sung by Ringo. He admittedly does an OK job, but the melody is aggravating as hell, good-natured as it may be. It resembles a strained, bizarre folk/western song about becoming a film star by simply being yourself. Maybe Will Smith took this song to heart.

9. It's Only Love [6]
I can accept Lennon's own hatred for the lyrics of this song, but the melody is prety great stuff, switching minor to major with style. It lacks much energy or emotion, but it is still a decent song in the end.

10. You Like Me Too Much [5]
I don't really understand this song, neither in construction or lyrics. George was being a little ambitious here with form, the piano and guitar conversation is nice, but the result is decidely mixed and not worth remembering.

11. Tell Me What You See [7]
Good imagery in Paul's lyrics, but surprisingly it is his vocals that disappoint a little, staying mainly in lower register. But, the structure of the song is a relative winner, especially the chorus crescendo that is always broken with a little folk riff.

12. I've Just Seen a Face [9]
Brilliant little country/western riff that starts with a different, evocative guitar and quickly becomes a quick-paced, energetic and confident country song that outdoes most anything attempted today. The chorus is beautifully built upon his upper register vocals which are almost always perfect.

13. Yesterday [8]
Paul's biggest departure on the album is perhaps a little more respectable than John's if only because it manages to avoid the obvious Dylan comparisons while being completely different than anything he had attempted before. This is one of their most recognizable tunes (named by Rolling Stone as the greatest rock song of all-time). It isn't among their absolute best, but considering how unique it stood for the band and the time, and its lyrically powerful depiction of absent, misunderstood love, makes this one rightly touted.

14. Dizzie Miss Lizzie [4]
I have no idea why this was made. Its fine, but what a useless way to end after the sparse maturity of "Yesterday."

[Raiders]

http://www.dance-lyrics.com/ama/rubber_soul_b000002uao.jpg

Rubber Soul
Released in 1965

Rating: 8

For many, this is likely where "The Beatles" really began. With the growing pains of Help! out of the way, they slowly moved into more esoteric work, both instrumentally, rhythmically, and perhaps most importantly for this album, lyrically. This album contains what is likely the very first Beatles song to not reference love, lust or relationships in any way in John Lennon's "Nowhere Man." It also shows some darker, more playful corners of the band's mind in the closing "Run For Your Life." And with "Norweigian Wood," the Beatles reach perhaps their very first pinnacle, a perfection they would go on to master. This is the sound of a ruthless, restless band seeking out a different niche in the changing cultural landscape.

Tracks:

1. Drive My Car [8]
Paul generally lagged behind John in terms of maturation and experimentation, and he opens this album with a relatively straight-ahead rocker. Yet it is in the lyrics that he shifts expectations. Paul was always a great storyteller, and his shift of perspectives, having the woman use him as a chaffeur and being the one in control, is a riotous quirk that makes this a great little song.

2. Norwegian Wood [10]
Again Bob Dylan's influence is noticeable in this folkish melody that also shows the band's (and rock n' roll's) first usage of the sitar, an instrument they would go on to use with much success. The lyrics are perfect ambiguity, describing a one-night stand through images of a barren, identity-free house. It is a sad and frustrated song, describing an unconsummated one-night stand, one that ends with the girl leaving, and Lennon left to burn down the house.

3. You Won't See Me [6]
Paul still seems stuck in the past with this standard back-and-forth between him and the underlying harmonic background vocals. It is a serviceable song, but one that could have appeared on almost any previous album.

4. Nowhere Man [8]
The first Beatles song to really focus not on romance, but the self. I have read this is not a very topical song, but I think there's a direct response to perhaps what Lennon saw as an unpolitical, unmotivated and uncaring attitude in society that would eventually wake up by the late 60s, to which we can likely attribute no small amount to music like The Beatles.

5. Think For Yourself [9]
I love this song. I used to think of it as a middling Beatles number until I listened to it again, and again, and again. George seems to really be striking out against a lot of institutions, namely the government, but I love the line "you're telling all those lies, about the good things we can have if we close our eyes."

6. The Word [8]
A funky, catchy melody drives this song which is starkly religious in its texture. John is preaching about love, his own devine temple, and trying to spread the word as far and wide as he can. It is a song about both acceptance and love. It itself triggers the shift in perspective the band had, with John preaching (and starting just like the good book) "In the beginning I misunderstood, now I've got it..."

7. Michelle [8]
Paul gets it right with this sad, affectionate and slightly humorous song of a love getting mixed up in translation. Paul croons for a French girl to whom he can barely communicate. The simple, twangy melody is beautifully composed, and I love Paul's triplets that add energy and urgency to his pleading.

8. What Goes On [4]
I hate to constantgly rag on Ringo, but this is another middling, lackadasical country riff that doesn't have the catch or energy to really stand out. His monotone lyrics have an appeal in the right song, but I just can't get behind him here.

9. Girl [8]
John's vocals are what make this such a great song, as well as the lyrics that both praise and smack down the titular girl. There's even a phrase where John equates pain and pleasure and Biblical agony just to earn some rest from the woman and labor. Right before the second "girl"in each chorus, John makes a hissing, pained sound that is absolutely perfect in a song both alluring and agaonizing.

10. I'm Looking Through You [7]
A similar song to the Beach Boys' "Caroline, No" which is among my favorite songs. Here, the melody is not as winesome and meloncholy, but Paul eloquently estimates the difference in this girl that shows itself only on the inside.

11. In My Life [9]
A wonderful ode to childhood memories that has a tinge of both sadness and regret (some have pointed to John's unhappy childhood) and of the progression of time that wipes away these memories. It is ultimately a love song, but one that recognizes that we are all a compilation of our experiences. The chords and George's wonderful organ interlude make this a truly great song.

12. Wait [5]
A song the group themselves didn't like and had left on the cutting floor after the Help! sessions, but under studio pressure added it at the last minute to this album. Its melody is a little grating and Paul's octaves seem a little uncomfortably pitched between the upper and lower registers.

13. If I Needed Someone [7]
Good use of the 12-string guitar and typical George Harrison lyrics that indicate his freedom and independence from others as he tells a girl to put her number on his wall, and maybe he'll call back.

14. Run For Your Life [8]
John Lennon himself didn't think much of this song, but I think it is a hoot. The melody is upbeat, happy and quick. Yet, the lyrics are a shockingly macabre, bleakly humorous tale of a man's obsession and jealousy forcing him to threaten the girl's life if she is caught cheating. There's a little persecution of religious piety too as John threatens to sermon on his determination that she die rather than cheat.

[Raiders]

http://blouk.com/blog/wp-content/revolver_beatles.jpg

Revolver
Released in 1966

Rating: 10

In less than a year, the Beatles had leapt from exploring new artistic territories to creating, inventing and testing new pop/rock landscapes. This is likely the greatest pop/mainstream album ever released and depicts a band at the height of their artistic creativity, whether it be personal life or drugs. John Lennon and George Harrison in particular were really digging deep into both themselves and rock music to produce sounds and orchestrations previously unheard in bands as visible as the Beatles. Paul McCartney was perfedcting his brand of musical storytelling and even Ringo was becoming a great drummer and finally had a great song written for him to sing. Without a doubt one of the most versatile and artistically tight albums to ever be created.

Tracks:

1. Taxman [9]
George Harrison’s writing takes an immediate leap forward with this album opener. It is a funny and cynical song about the blood-sucking nature of tax collectors. Within seconds, there is a different rhythm to the beats and structure, more layered and edgy. In a parallel to the band’s debut album, the song kicks off with a 1-2-3-4 count from Harrison, and it is interesting to see how a mere three years later, the count this time kick starts a truly amazing pop album.

2. Eleanor Rigby [10]
Paul McCartney was never one to experiment with multi-layered guitar work and tape loops, but here he crafts, with extensive help from producer George Martin, a complex, somber and remarkably mature ode to the destructive power of loneliness. With the band supplying only vocals over the orchestrated background, Paul intones the story of a lonely woman living in a church and the clergyman who works tirelessly there to no avail. The film hints at the lack of comfort in the silence of God and the Catholic church’s inability to connect the individual to the spiritual realm they teach. The orchestration is magnificent (just listen to the way the strings speed up when Paul sings about Father McKenzie darning his socks). Certainly this song is among the band’s finest, and likely one of the first pop songs to use an all-string background and to deal with such subjects in such a serious and unrelentingly bleak manner.

3. I’m Only Sleeping [10]
A personal favorite, John’s first on this song only hints at his intense experimentation and meditation that would close off the album. It used to be a bit of a theme song, but the backward guitar solos perfectly encapsulate the drugged, lazy state in which John’s writing. I love the little yawn that happens right before the final refrain and the song finally ending in a flurry of backward guitars, this song’s signal for another drug trip coming on, the song lost in a flurry of hazy life.

4. Love You To [8]
George continues his love of the sitar on the band’s (and likely pop/rock music’s) first heavy foray into Indian music. The lyrics are a bit less memorable, moralistic and heavy-handed, but display an interesting obsession with love and sex. I do like the line “There’s people standing round/who’ll screw you in the ground…,” which is a pretty direct and unromantic image of corporate America’s harmful effects (“you don’t get time to hang a sing on me”).

5. Here, There and Everywhere [8]
A heavenly little love song that likely should give an uncredited mention to Brian Wilson. The lyrics are tender and display the sensual romance of earlier work with a more philosophical, mature phrasing and structure. The sweeping, hazy guitar work makes the song sound even more dreamy and elevates it along with Paul’s adoration of this girl.

6. Yellow Submarine [8]
Finally a Ringo sung song that I like. It is a classic because of how instantly catchy its chorus is, causing people to sing it over and over again. It is a playful song as written by John Lennon, describing a mysterious vessel in a far off land. It sounds very much like a Barrie fairytale. The breakdown in the center is a riot, and it is one of the most cheerful songs the band ever wrote.

7. She Said She Said [9]
A whirling song that recalls a bad trip on acid that John Lennon experienced in the presence of Peter Fonda (he replaced the gender to female to keep it secret). The song is a perfect representation of the leaps and bounds the band had taken, creating an aural masterpiece in the guise of a relatively straight ahead rocker. Most impressive is Ringo’s spinning drumming that threatens to disconnect from the song, but winds up adding another dimension.

8. Good Day Sunshine [7]
A feel-good song that McCartney claims was inspired by The Lovin’ Spoonful. It has a great, catchy melody though in regards to the rest of the album feels a little bit too routine. Still, it is hard to argue that when compared side-by-side to earlier rockers of this type, the composition still impresses.

9. And Your Bird Can Sing [8]
John Lennon once again outdoes Paul McCartney with a sort of “take one-take two” bit in providing an off the cuff, relatively straight-ahead rocker to compare with “Good Day Sunshine.” The guitar runs by Harrison are superb and the entire song feels like one big riff. Its lyrics are circular and cryptic, describing a relationship of disconnect, using the bird as a possession that comes between them.

10. For No One [10]
Paul revisits the theme of his instant classic “Yesterday,” and finds greater artistic returns. The sparse compositions show that artistic growth for the band did not always mean becoming more extravagant. Unlike the relatively monotonous “Yesterday,” this is a song that has a great absence of ornament, and the most memorable sound is a French horn McCartney forced above its normal range. The result is more akin to a pained cry, reflected against the heartfelt, mature lyrics that poetically describe a breakup. McCartney was a masterful storyteller, and here through sparse images of a lingering sadness and the memories of when she did love him feeling more painful each day.

11. Doctor Robert [8]
Considered “filler” by some, but I think it is a glorious and hilarious ode to Lennon’s own “doctor.” I have read that Dr. Robert is actually a speech therapist, but the lyrics prove otherwise. With lines like “take a drink from his special cup” and “if you’re down he’ll pick you up,” the insinuations couldn’t be more clear. Musically it isn’t very ambitious, but its lyrics are riotous.

12. I Want to Tell You [7]
Likely George’s least successful song on the album, but still a wonderful little circular, jaunty tune. The composition is more complex than it might initially appear, the start-stop rhythms indicating the song’s wavering indicisiveness.

13. Got to Get You Into My Life [9]
A glorious platform for McCartney’s stellar vocal range, the song is also notable for its big band background, eschewing traditional rock instrumentation for a large, soulful, Church choir like support. I love the tip to the Stax/soul music of the time where the song quietly fades out while McCartney is blaring away.

14. Tomorrow Never Knows [10]
A remarkable song that was an early entry into the “psychedelic” subgenre of music. Using numerous tape loops and various instrumentation including a sitar and tambur drone, the song is an orchestration of sonic bliss. With lyrics adapted from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and he Psychedelic Experiment, Lennon imagined the process of letting go of reason and enveloping in a dream world. The Velvet Underground imagined a heroin trip, and here Lennon and the Beatles are waxing on the dichotomy between reason and pshycedelia and the Ego Death (a process apparently similar to death). The sounds generated through tape loops is amazing in this song, the elevating sounds simulating a string section; the backward looping guitar solo; the echoing high-pitch chants (used especially effective after Lennon utters “surrender to the void”). Perhaps the band’s ultimate achievement and one of rock music’s most ambitious and stunning songs.

[origami_mustache]

an 8 for Rubber Soul seems a little tough haha.

[Milky Joe]

Dylan, who thought they were superficial, bubble-gum pop.

That's not really true. Dylan knew the Beatles were great from the moment he saw them on Ed Sullivan. There's an interview somewhere where he says as much.

And I still think you're too harsh on With the Beatles. "Please Mr. Postman" was a 60s hit (and my favorite Beatle cover), so I don't know what you're talking about with "50s-era reverting."

[Kurosawa Fan]

That's not really true. Dylan knew the Beatles were great from the moment he saw them on Ed Sullivan. There's an interview somewhere where he says as much.

Not only that, but they influenced him to go electric. Dylan had a great respect for The Beatles.

EDIT: Which I see Raiders eluded to in his original post. Heh.

[SirNewt]

Not only that, but they influenced him to go electric. Dylan had a great respect for The Beatles.

EDIT: Which I see Raiders eluded to in his original post. Heh.

Hmmm. . . is Raiders creaking?