Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Sometime when your reviewing a record you have to put real thought into it, you have to consider every last inch, it's influences, it's effect and you have to draw comparisons, to some extent you have to use your own reference points. You have to have your own internal dialogue you'll say "this albums pretty damn good but is it as good as The Queen Is Dead", you have to consider whether a record has any deep meaning or whether it's simply and immediate thrill, you think about it's place in history even if it's not even in the shops yet. When it comes to Rubber Soul all of these thoughts and considerations are just thrown straight out the window, about a minute into Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) you come to the realization that you are listening to something truly beautiful, not without out influence yet completely unique. You don't compare Rubber Soul to OK Computer or Autobahn you simply sit back and become absorbed in the music, it weaves delightfully through your cranium, it intertwines with your soul, it's a record that makes you smile, cry and laugh all at the same time. It's a special feeling, it's a vibe that you only get from certain records, other albums will affect you in different powerful ways but the feeling of listening to Rubber Soul is completely unique to itself, it's beautiful, it's light, it's trippy, it's subversive and it's utterly gorgeous.

Now I'm sure quite a number of you are thinking; "hey hang on a minute that sounds an awful lot like a conclusion not an introduction", and of course you'd be right. However you can't start a review of Rubber Soul in any other way. Rubber Soul is a unique album, it's an incredibly affecting album, a scene had to be set, it had to be made loud and clear that this record bears no comparison. Is it the best album of all time? Probably not. Is it the best Beatles album? Nah not necessarily. But this is completely beside the point, because Rubber Soul is a record that you feel, it's special, it sits in a separate category. Now that's awfully vague but I'm afraid that's the truth, everyone who listens to this record will experience it in a different way, for some it may totally pass you by, but for most it will have a power and an effect like no other. Adjectives truly fail me, it's so hard to put a finger on this album, how do you describe it? It's so perfectly balanced, almost unexpectedly so. I can't begin to imagine how the Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys must have felt when they heard this record for the first time. Could anyone have seen this coming? Help! suggested the Beatles had more to offer than just slick pop but who could have foreseen this?

Enough abstract contemplation let's get down to business. Rubber Soul is kicked into life by Drive My Car, undoubtedly the albums most conventional track, it almost feels like a mirage, a dastardly trick by The Beatles. They throw out one last perfect pop single to start the album, it's like Help! all over again, but it isn't. It's feels detached from the rest of the album, but it grabs your attention, perfectly. Drive My Car is the natural progression of The Beatles song writing it buzzes with real energy, the main riff from Harrison is slick and dirty at the same time, the use of the piano is superb and the wink and nod flirty lyrics are a delight. Yet while it's probably the most well known of Rubber Soul's fourteen tracks it's easily the least interesting. It's thick gorgeous well composed power pop but it's so passée compared to what was to come.

So after a brief pop detour the album is suddenly kicked up to a whole new level with Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown). Taking the eastern influence demonstrated on Ticket To Ride to the extreme George Harrison plays wonderfully on the sitar and compliments Lennon's bare acoustic guitar strumming. The song winds and soars with delicate beauty yet as the Lennon's lyrics begin to take affect and become less abstract and more antagonistic the arrangement takes this darker more sinister tone before dropping down into a more reflective and spiritual vibe as Lennon lyrically comes to terms with his rejection. It's a staggering work, it sounds so distinctive, and gorgeous on each and every listen, the music is so rich and brilliantly crafted yet like all the best Beatles work it retains a natural even effortless quality. Norwegian Wood is a track you can listen to again and again, in different moods and in different states of mind and take something different from each and every time. The lyrics are so opaque and Dylanesque you really can draw whatever reading or lessons you want from the track, but it remarkably never feels vacant. Reading now on Wikipedia, McCartney suggested that the end of the track was meant to imply that Lennon burnt down the girls house in her absence, I have to admit this never occurred to me, it's certainly not what I took from the track. I took a more fleeting nihilistic apathetic and less vindictive reading of the track. Yet the song is so opaque and inspiring even knowing it's inspiration I still stick with my own personal reflections.

When it comes to the real stand out tracks and the real musical advances this is Lennon and Harrison's record. While McCartney had been taking these great strides forward as a balladeer, on this record he's in back seat and contributes these charming light slices of divine pop and takes a back seat to the darker and more expansive song writing of John Lennon. Rubber Soul is stacked with now classic Lennon, Nowhere Man brims and shimmers, Harrison's guitar work is subtle and his brief solo fits the tone of the track perfectly, the rhythm section is almost hypnotic, the arrangement is simply sublime and it allows you to become completely lost in Lennon's lyricisms. Similar to Norwegian Wood it's incredibly affecting and evocative, even if no one is quite sure what Lennon's message was. Nowhere Man feels deeply philosophical, it oozes detachment with a real sense of being lost and direction less with the world at your feet but no belief, no passion and no conviction to drive you. Yet it also feels like an attack, you can't help but feel that Lennon detests the Nowhere Man you can imagine all these greedy soulless nowhere men ruling the world. However of course Lennon always claimed the song was deeply personal, about his frustration to find song writing inspiration and direction. Well the simplest explanation is usually the right one, but the song is so brilliantly written and the music is crafted so expertly that it just creates this atmosphere where you can happily derive your own conclusion, or just sit back and enjoy the sweet hypnotic sound.

The Word Lennon's next great entry on Rubber Soul buzzes and kicks like Drive My Car but it couldn't be more different, while Drive My Car is flirty and devilish; The Word is abstract, it's the first of Lennon's fist pumping anthems. Of course being Lennon, while it's filled with passion and vigour, you don't pump your fists you hold hands and embrace each other because of course The Word is love. Musically it feels leaps ahead of anything on the Beatles previous five albums, the pre chorus builds up and your expecting this huge crescendo and instead your greeted with delicious harmonies and peaceful sentiment, it's a wonderful contrast and the track's outro is sublime. The Beatles had never felt so cohesive as a band, every member and each instrument was pulling it's weight to create such rich and powerful music.

Lennon even finds himself getting in on McCartney's act with a sombre and powerfully ballad. Unsurprisingly Girl was genuinely co-written by Lennon & McCartney as it certainly feels like a McCartney track. Lennon sings with a beautiful haunting candour which feels reflective and sorrowful. It also contains the Beatles most obvious references to drugs, with the huge sharp intakes of breathe between lines, which of course is a less than subtle nod to marijuana. However Girl is instantly surpassed by the remarkable ballad In My Life, this truly was Lennon at his best, even fifty years on, this track is so incredibly affecting and emotive it still sets itself apart. It's influence can still be heard to this very day, it's one of those tracks that's so important that the musical landscape would be completely unrecognisable without it. The guitar work from Harrison is staggering, so subtle and the mood of the track is judge to perfection but most of all it's so vibrant and fresh In My Life simply refuses to age, it's truly timeless.

It's easy to get carried away with the deep powerful and emotive tracks on Rubber Soul but it's worth reminding that this album saw the Beatles take giant steps forward in the pop department. It seems almost ludicrous to think the world's biggest pop band could write better pop music but the fact is they did. Drive My Car, You Won't See Me, Wait and Run For Your Life are simple sublime, they have such vigour, their irresistible but musically they've become richer and lyrically deeper. Run For Your Life is the best example, it's so sinister the soft irresistible pop only makes the track darker, Lennon sounds simply maniacal and he croons in his best sunflower pop tone:

It's absolutely thrilling, the juxtaposition between jaunty pop and evil murderous rage is just delicious, this is The Beatles like you'd never heard them before. Of course you can't keep Paul McCartney down, the Beatles couldn't release a revolutionary LP without him contributing one slice of utter genius. I'm Looking Through You is the ultimate jilted lovers anthem, it's snarling with rage, yet it's controlled within McCartney's sweet harmonies. After all, he's controlled, he's calm, he's been wronged, but he's not been fooled, he knows exactly what happening, he's not going to throw a fit, he's above that he's disappointed and dejected, he's going to take the morale high ground. Lyrically it's an absolute delight;

"Why Tell Me Why Did You Not Treat Me Right,

Not to be outdone, Harrison not only cranks his guitar work up to eleven on this record but his song writing also takes a giant stride forward. Harrison begins his first attempt at political song writing, while it's never quite clear whether this track is a general call to arms or a reflection on a personal experience, regardless it has untold power.

"And Though Your Minds Opaque,

While the Think For Yourself is vague in direction if not message the fact that it's directly followed by The Word, cannot be coincidence. Together they feel like a call to arms against corruption and lies, to be free, to be yourself and act out of love and compassion rather than any from external pressures or social structures.

The Word and Think For Yourself feel like the appropriate tracks to conclude with, I could go on talking about Rubber Soul forever, I've hardly discussed the new musical techniques or arrangements but this is ultimately beside the point. Rubber Soul is dark, sombre, brutal, detached and has this overriding theme of rejection and dejection, yet when you listen to this LP from start to finish, you don't feel sad or depressed. It finishes with Run For Your Life the Beatles most revengeful evil track to date, but you don't feel angry or depressed you simply can't. All these years later it's the sentiment of The Word and Think For Yourself that define the album, the music is so rich and glorious, and the song writing so emotive and powerful, that the actually lyricism, is not important. This is an album you experience, not an album you understand. I've spent this entire review delving into the tracks but I've reach no concrete conclusions, no definitive understanding, I simply explored the feelings and themes that these tracks evoked in me. Consulting Wikipedia or a Beatles history you'll find like me, that the inspirations for these tracks and the purposed meanings are greatly different from your own personal understanding. This is of little matter, the album as a whole, feels opaque, it's like a hypnotic fog that surrounds you, and what you experience and feel will be totally unique to you personally. Rubber Soul is pure emotion, it's a record you feel, in fact it's a new indescribable feeling completely unique to itself. Rubber Soul may not be the perfect album, but it is absolutely perfect, you couldn't change a single note, or even rearrange the tracks, everything is in it's right place, from the album title and artwork to the last jangle of guitar on Run For Your Life, this album simply couldn't be any other way. Now if you haven't already, stop reading and listen to bloody thing, you'll probably disagree with every word I just wrote, but I bet you'll have a hell of a time doing it.