Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

So the sixties were over and the Beatles were a long time dead with their perfect scrapbook of an endnote had been delivered in the form of Abbey Road, but in 1970 as a final act, under the expert production of Phil Spector the aborted Get Back sessions we're pulled together with other lost classics and a few originals to create the Beatles last album Let It Be. It's sad, it truly is something about this album always feels tragic, it's never quite settled or cohesive, this is the last Beatles album but it never feels like it, and for that reason it never receives the love it deserves. It seems bizarre thinking about it now but Let It Be was realized just seven years after Paul first saw us standing there and kicked of Beatlemania in 1963. Of course Please, Please Me and Let It Be are almost incomparable and it's testament to the mind bending journey that was the Beatles career. Yet while Abbey Road would have been the perfect high note to go out on, Let It Be is somehow more fitting, it sounds like the end of the era, it's full of conflicting emotions, there's great tension, some larking around and a great sense of tragedy and sorrow, but most of all, it's full of these epic concluding ballads. This is the end, we knew it and of course they knew it too.

There's such a tragic but beautiful feel to this record and the tone is set from the outset. Two Of Us starts with John goofing around in the studio before dropping into a chugging old western style acoustic hook, but at the heart of the song is a lust for lost memories. You can feel that Paul really doesn't want the Beatles to end, he's dreaming that everything can go back to the way it once was, but even as the track tries to conjure hope it can't help but feel like a great tragedy with it's pleading chorus "We're On Our Way Home, We Going Home". It feels more like a fleeting dream than anything reassembling reality. The track at first feels simplistic until it kicks into second gear with it's beautiful bridge "You And I Have Memories Longer Than The Road That Stretches Out A Head". Dig A Pony shares a similar fate, it's chronically underrated, it opens almost ploddingly but as the song grows and develops it becomes increasingly epic as Lennon pleads and crys "All I Want Is You, Everything Has To Be Just Like You Want It To", the guitar solo is haunting, beautiful and superbly understated. Both works side by side are intriguing as they both start as chugging country stompers but becomes something more, something deeper and more sorrowful.

While Across The Universe stands out noticeably as out of place, it's clearly from a different time and place than the Get Back session, it fits the mood of album so perfectly. It's beautiful but mournful, it's both lucid and fleetingly, you become absorbed with in its soft but gorgeous texture yet it feels ghostly and ethereal. So three songs in and Let It Be feels like the Beatles biggest tear jerker, it's not as scathing or dark as Rubber Soul but it isn't as fanciful either, this is an earnest and sorrowful goodbye. McCartney also hits his stride delivering two monster ballads. The Long And Winding Road has the soppy sentimentality cranked up to eleven and you almost dread listening to it, but when those gorgeous strings come it you can't help but fall for it all over again. Much better in every possible way is Let It Be it's the ultimate ballad, it bowls you over with it's power and it truly is the perfect coda for the Beatles career. It rises and swells at all the right moments and when the guitar solo kicks in it just divine, it's a song you want to hate, you want to be sick of but you can't it's irresistible, it's too damn good.

My undisputed favourite track on Let It Be and quite possibly my all time favourite Beatles track is delivered by George Harrison, and most bizzarely I dislike at least 25% of the track. I've never cared for the shouty rock and roll shout along chorus but I utterly adore George Harrison gorgeous arrangement and his soulful apocalyptic vocals on the wondrous I, Me, Mine. It's probably their best blend of eastern philosophy into a single Beatles track, the way the orchestra and Ringo's drums pound and swell to a crescendo actually feels like the world caving in under the weight of it's own consumerism. It's a scathing attack on ruthless self interest, yet like the best libertarians Harrison never sounds damning or preachy, instead there's a sense of mourning, people will be people, Harrison can only look on a shed a tear as they consume themselves, and somehow it's ten times more powerful than any racous punk rock stomper. The final verse is simply a work of art a perfect commentary on human nature;

"All I Can Hear,

Elsewhere we get one final Lennon and McCartney collaboration in the form of I've Got A Feeling the combination of two abandoned tracks, and it's not until Lennon's Everybody Had A Bad Year kicks in that the song gains real momentum, yet together as a single work they arise to more than just the some of their parts. Most of all it sounds like the Beatles having fun, and while pound for pound it's one of the albums weaker tracks it's really joyous to hear the two lead Beatles joking around together once more. Elsewhere One After 909 is equally fun but as a little rock a billy tribute but it's rather forgettable. For You Blue sees the Beatles joking around with Twelve bar blues the results are sweet but less than stellar.

Almost ironically Let It Be concludes with Get Back, one last joke, a hopeful upbeat plead for Ringo, George and John to get back to their Beatles roots. Of course we knew it wouldn't happen. The same week Let It Be hit the stores the Beatles would announced their split. So while there's a certain sad irony to Get Back it still feels right, after all the Beatles were a hopeful uplifting band, they put smiles on peoples faces, and through all the tragedy they will always be associated with joy first and foremost. They couldn't have possible left on a tear jerker. So while Let It Be may feel mournful it ends with one last classic sing song. All in all Let It Be may not be the Beatles finest album but it was the right note to go out on. While there are plenty of jokey throwaways and obvious B-sides at it's heart are some of the Beatles most powerful and brilliant tracks and somewhere between Across The Universe, Let It Be & I, Me, Mine you'll get your perfect teary eyed goodbye.

So we've finally reached the climax of our journey into all things Beatles, their final two albums, while Let It Be would be the Beatles last studio release, chronologically Abbey Road was the last album of new materiel that they recorded together. Abbey Road was released in 1969 after the aborted Get Back sessions and marks the end of an era in many ways. Being the Beatles of course their last "real" album couldn't be anything but superb, but how does it stack up next to their other greats. It's certainly feels different, the last seven tracks on the album are out-takes and discarded tracks brought together and produced into a seamless end medley and of course the Abbey Road sessions where famed for their tension, John, Ringo and George have all referred to the making of Abbey Road as there most unpleasant and testing experience as apart of the Beatles. So in many ways Abbey Road is a hodge podge, and album without a clear conceptual basis, hell half the songs aren't even finished, yet it never feels like Yellow Submarine it's something different it's an improbable classic.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer, now any Beatles fan upon hearing those words will either cringe or start humming the "Bang, Bang" hook. Whether you love or hate this song one thing is for certain this track will bury itself in your head and refuse to leave. It's a classic example of what Lennon called McCartney's "granny shit", that sweet and sugary waltz timed inescapable singalong. Making this one song tore the Beatles apart, McCartney became obsessed and the other three were driven mad by it, and well for the listener it's...well...it's...okay. It's not as bad as some make out but it really nothing particularly special. McCartney immediately makes up for his sins however with the excellent Oh! Darling it feels like a homage to the Beatles early motown influences complete with the classic McCartney howl circa '63. However the song is more than a little pop throwaway, it's a primal, emotional, bluesy howlathon, it has more in common with Lennon's Yer Blues than a classic McCartney ballad, but Paul does a great job of shredding his voice to capture the tone of the song. It always strikes me as odd because it feels like McCartney doing Lennon with a Led Zep "ah ah aaaah".

Harrison is far more consistent with his offerings; Something is a song of legend, utterly perfect you could not change a single note, it's just gorgeous. Something is contrasted by Harrison's second offering Here Comes The Song another beautiful work, so light delicate and refreshing. It captures the mood of bright summer's day perfectly and effortlessly. It's a real testament to Harrison's song writing ability that he could craft two songs that are practically the polar opposite of one another and yet they could both be judged so deftly. Lennon is on equally devastating form with two songs that are so deep and so beautifully textured. First I Want You (She's So Heavy) a song that sounds like the last few moments before the end of the world, there's so much desperation and so much soul, it's both jagged and smooth. Paul McCartney's bassline and Billy Preston's organ are just sublime. The tracks length is really intriguing at eight minutes, it's a wonderful piece but let's face it on repeated listens it does drag a little. A track that certainly doesn't drag is Because undoubtedly one of my all time favourite Beatles tracks, it feels both mind bending and apocalyptic. It's a really seductive and hypnotic track with the haunting Beach Boys-eske three part harmony and the eternally grinding harpsichord. Because is positively otherworldly and as far as distinctive lyrics go it can't be beaten:

Because The Wind Is High,

So what of Ringo I hear you cry! Well he offers us his second true classic in the form of the wonderfully charming Octopuses Garden and he actually gets his first ever drum solo on The End. I have to say I always much preferred Octopuses Garden to Yellow Submarine it's far more interesting both musically and conceptually.

From here on in we're left with the concluding medley which is both a testament to the amazing production skills of George Martin to bring these little slices of imagination into a coherent and fast flowing conclusion. It's kicked into gear by McCartney's brilliant You Never Give Me Your Money a true epic, a song huge in scope that feels important from the first lyric onwards, it's wonderfully crafted and changes moods and personas at will. From then on in we get Sun King which feels like the successor to Here Comes The Sun a more mellow psychedelic evening come down after a day in the sun. It's bleaker in tone and as a track it's hard to pin down. From then on in B-side start flying at you Polytheme Pam rocks like a mother fucker with Lennon's scathing sarcasm running throughout:

"Well You Should See Polythene Pam,

Polythene Pam pounds thrilling into She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, this whole section of the album is just buzzing with energy and excitement, it feels vibrant, it feels live. McCartney not to be out match conjures this huge pre chorus and some wonderful lines of his own; "Sunday's On The Phone To Monday, Tuesdays One The Phone To Me, She Said She's Always Been A Dancer, Worked At Fifteen Clubs A Day". The track just flows so perfectly that it can switch themes in so swiftly and yet feel so natural, it's a staggering achievement.

The medley concludes in schizophrenic fashion; describing it in words it seems illogical but it works so perfectly, they go to the beautiful wrenching ballad Golden Slumbers to big bouncy wave goodbye sing song Carry That Weight. Carry That Weight itself jumps around suddenly dropping into minor chords to bring back the refrain from You Never Give Me Your Money. The roller coaster ride then settles down and comes to the perfect conclusion in the form of The End, it's pitched to perfection and serves as the perfect end note to the Beatles career "And In The End, The Love You Take, Is Equal To The Love, You Make" a perfect feel good ending to the last ever Beatles album. Of course being the Beatles they screw sentimentality and throw in one last joke in the form of Her Majesty.

So how do we rate Abbey Road? It's really hard to say, it's staggeringly brilliant, relentlessly creative and it refuses to be defined, it's bursting at the seams with ideas, it really shouldn't work but it just does. What's most surprising about Abbey Road is that the first half of the album loaded up with classic singles Something, Here Comes The Sun, Come Together, Octopuses Garden and Because actually pales in comparison to the unbridled thrill of that concluding medley. The way the tracks blend together at lightening pace is an absolute delight, it's full of surprises and no matter how many times you hear them you'll always surprised by the sheer exhilarating power of that concluding medley. Abbey Road almost falls into the Rubber Soul category, they defy definition, they click perfectly, but they are experiences, you can't describe in words the feeling you get listening to them, you simply have to experience it for yourself. Not a very helpful review ah? But it's true, Abbey Road is the polar opposite of Rubber Soul your not immersing yourself in a single mood your instead being thrust about, and pulled from left to right in a madcap explosion of ideas. It may not work as conventional LP in the way that Sgt. Peppers and Revolver do, and it may not always satisfy but everyone at one time or another should attempt to get their heads around the creative expolsion that is Abbey Road.

Yellow Submarine is hardly a review you get excited by, it's without doubt the least revered and most certainly the least loved Beatles album, and quite frankly for good reason. It's a throwaway album, a soundtrack comprising two recycled singles, and seven instrumental tracks from the Yellow Submarine motion picture. Therefore we can be rather quick and to the point. Yellow Submarine feels confused, stuck between a b-side compilation and a interesting concept. The instrumental half of the album has flashes of brilliance, and George Martin's arrangements are intriguing but rarely exciting, as there is no direction or sense of purpose to tie them together. For example March Of The Meanies is a lovely albeit slightly cliché piece, dark and atmospheric with a sinister cartoonish air. The problem is it feels superfluous, this doesn't reminded us of a beloved movie scene, it's just a neither here nor there orchestral arrangement. There's little to be gained from listening to the instrumental arrangements, there certainly pleasant and creative, but they don't feel like classics, your fully aware that this is not Kill Bill or Last Of The Mohicans, they simple are what they are, and what they are is pleasant but forgettable.

As for the Beatles originals, well there not so original, All You Need Is Love is recycled from both The Magical Mystery Tour and it's release as a single in 1967, and Yellow Submarine similarly featured on Revolver and was also released as a single in 1966. So already with seven instrumental tracks and two rehashed singles Yellow Submarine feels flat and instantly inessential. However there are some buried classics, Hey Bulldog feels like a buried treasure, it recently resurfaced on The Beatles Rock Band video game, and it kicks like mule. It has a great piano hook, a beautiful bouncy bassline and a crunching riff. Best of all Hey Bulldog contains one of Lennon's best scathing vocal performances, he has a real biting sarcastic edge when he sneers "What Makes You Think Your Something Special When You Smile". It's easily one of Lennon's most thrilling tracks. Harrison also offers a gem in the form of A Northern Song, it's very subversive, it's quite abrasive at first but it really ingrains itself into mind and with repeated listens the melody is revealed. It was cut from Sgt. Pepper's... and in that sense is just a throwaway from the scrap heap, but I'm certainly glad A Northern Song wasn't lost to musical history. Harrison's other offering It's All Too Much is less endearing, it has a fine vocal melody, but it never really comes together as a track in a satisfying way. McCartney's All Together Now is equally frustrating, it's one of his cutesy tracks, but this just pushes it too far, it's too simple, too sugary, and while it's certainly catchy it lacks any real charm.

All in all Yellow Submarine feels like an ill thought out throwaway, and that's because it was. While it is technically a soundtrack you still feel short changed, after all A Hard Day's Night and Help! were great fun and entirely original, and Yellow Submarine simply isn't. It's recycled, thrown together, and lacks the love and attention of the other Beatles efforts. It's undoubtedly their worst album and it deserves as much attention as they gave it (which is of course next to none). Do yourself a favour download Hey Bulldog and A Northern Song and save yourself a few quid, this is for completists only.

Unsurprisingly it took me a little while to get around to writing this review, it is a double album after all, but I've been listening during my last couple of gym sessions and I have to say I'd forgotten how much of a joy The Beatles really is. Coming round to reviewing The White Album I thought this would be long and bloated, I only remembered the worst of this album but listening back now The White Album is a wonderfully light refreshing breeze. It truly is a tribute to the Beatles that they could create a record with this much scope and creativity, that's over pouring in every possible direction imaginable and yet it so perfectly balanced, The White Album never feels heavy, it's never a chore, it's just sheer unrepentant fun. Now if we delve into the big book of musical clichés The White Album sits atop the list, the double album, it's ludicrous, it's totally OTT, it's self indulgent to the extreme, it's brimming with creativity and desperately in need of a filter but as I've already expressed this is no bloated mess, this is two albums worth of short, sharp and sublime pop music. This album truly is revolutionary, perhaps more so than any other, not because it's remembered as fondly as Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper's but because this is a landmark in a bands career. When the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's or Even Led Zeppelin dropped their respective double albums, it was their White Album moment. The Beatles invented a rock and roll cliche, this is what you do when you have too many ideas and too much creativity for a regular album, you do a White Album.

I have to say it's hard to know where to start. Take the first side for example the first six tracks; Back In The USSR, Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Wild Honey Pie, Buffalo Bill, While My Guitar Gentle Weeps & Happiness Is A Warm Gun they couldn't have less in common if they tried. Starting out with the raucous rocker Back In The USSR feels like a cruel trick, when you first hear this track with it's clear Chuck Berry and Beach Boys influences alongside it's slick satirical punch you think you've stumbled on to The Beatles balls to the wall rock album but you couldn't be further from the truth. Two songs later Paul McCartney would be doing his best impression of West Indian ragga. Ob-La-Di... is one of those tracks you know you should hate, you should detest it's sugary sweetness and it's goofy charm but you can't it just makes you smile. It's not just McCartney whose on silly form, Lennon's offering The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill is a sheer delight, opening with a flamenco guitar part played completely on the keyboard and featuring vocals from Yoko Ono and Ringo's wife Mauren, the track is just ludicrous. What makes Bungalow Bill so much fun is the fact that song feels like a parody of itself from the word go, with Lennon messing around vocally and the Beatles even applauding themselves at the end of the track. There's a certain thrill to hearing Lennon deliver his epic "And Captain Marvel Zapped Him Right Between The Eyes" line. Now I know you could probably write a whole essay on the socio-political commentary of Lennon's scathing lyrics, but let's face it, this track is too much fun to weigh down with critical thought.

So if you haven't gathered yet The White Album is rather ridiculous and unashamedly schizophrenic, there's far too much to discuss, so let's cut to the highlights. George Harrison really stepped up to the plate on the White Album with the beautiful While My Guitar Gentle Weeps, it's just a perfect track, every inch of it sounds right, it couldn't possible be any other way; from Clapton's divine solo, to the thudding rhythm section and of course George's beautiful vocal performance and ethereal lyrics. Elsewhere John Lennon is on equally electric form. Delivering first the wonderfully subtle Dear Prudence built around a gorgeously plucked acoustic guitar and later the epic Happiness Is A Warm Gun. The latter is one of the true Beatles tracks on this album as McCartney work tightly with Lennon to finalize the arrangement. It's a track that changes moods at will and feels like a true journey, I have to admit that sometimes when it pops up on my ipod I don't actually recognize the track at all from the opening verse. It's staggering that they managed to cram such an expansive musical adventure into just two minutes and forty five seconds.

Not to be outdone McCartney is bringing his a-game to the table, fed up with being labelled a limp balladeer Paul decided to bring some sleazy dirty rock and roll in the form of Helter Skelter. It's seems almost like destiny that the year that Led Zeppelin was born happened to be the year that Paul McCartney wrote the best Led Zeppelin track that never was. Helter Skelter is a visceral thrill ride something distinctly lacking in the rest of the Beatles back catalogue. Elsewhere McCartney was indulging his fascination with music of the distant past with the dance hall inspired Martha My Dear and the gorgeous ballad Mother Nature's Son, the latter feels instantly classic even upon your first listen. Then of course McCartney served up the positively barmy folk-opera parody Rocky Raccoon, it's a track that dares you to take it seriously, it's a critics worst nightmare, dismiss it and you'll look foolish, over analyse and then the joke will truly be on you. Either way it's an undeniable thrill. It seems completely mind blowing that the same guy who wrote Back In The USSR and Helter Skelter also wrote Ob-La-Di... & Rocky Raccoon, it's a total mindfuck, and even more bizarrely there on the same album practically side by side.

Oh and what of that Richard Starkey fellow, well whisper it, but he wrote a really good song, Don't Pass Me By is just a treat. You can relate to it instantly and it's stompy folk meets sea-shanty arrangement just ingrains itself in your cranium. It's like a beautiful nursery rhyme, seriously kids should be singing this stuff in schools, forget the religious propaganda, it's time for some good old fashion capitalism, get them hooked on The Beatles good and early, and damn it Ringo Starr is just the man for the job. Okay enough silliness, in all seriousness, Ringo hadpenned arguably his best song.

Lennon is on fire across this double album Glass Onion is just brilliant, he's clearly having a hell of a time making fun of The Beatles own legends as he references all his psychedelic greats before revealing that their merely Glass Onion. The sentiment is spot on, he's making fun of us for taking everything far too seriously, and turning great pop music into mythical legend (yes I see the irony in all of this). Elsewhere Lennon cranks up the despair and angst on the brilliant I'm So Tired concluding with the piercing cry "I'd Give You Everything I've Got For A Little Piece Of Mind". Yer Blues seems Lennon launching into a classic blues stomper, proclaiming "In The Morning Wanna Die, In The Evening Wanna Die, If I Ain't Dead Already You Know The Reason Why" it feels like more of his biting sarcasm the perfect send up of the over the top blues sentiment. Yet it's so primal an honest it also seems a reflection on Lennon's own inner torment at the time of recording. Yer Blues feels so visceral and fresh you could slap the name White Stripes on this track and half the kids wouldn't know the difference. Lennon sprinkles this album with dark soulful classics in the form of Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey and Sexy Sadie, he really gives The White Album it's soul.

There is simply too much to discuss on The White Album seriously I don't even think I've covered half the tracks on this LP, or even a quarter of the musical influences and genres that are on display. The White Album is just bursting at the seams with creativity and inventiveness, everyone will have their different favourites, and there are certainly a fair share of clangers and failed experiments, but it's so well balanced musically, that it feels like a breeze and nothing dwells long enough in the mind to dampen the mood. George Martin must be given a healthy dose of praise for managing to make this album sound so cohesive and hang together so well, because more so than ever The White Album was truly the sound of four solo artist playing together rather than a cohesive unit. Yet it never feels like too much of a good thing, it's certainly overblown and more than a little silly, but it's too brilliant to dismiss, this is the sound of the Beatles let loose to do whatever the hell they wanted, no matter what the end results, and never quite knowing what's around the next corner is part of the fun. Quite simply this is the most complete and harmonious collection of totally random and unrelateable songs ever tabulated, okay I lied, that was hardly simply was it, but it was alot of fun.

It seems like a contradiction in terms but Magical Mystery Tour has to be one of the most underrated albums of all time. So why is that statement a contradiction in terms? Well first off it's not really an album, its two EPs stuck together and released as an album in the US (making it the only US version of a Beatles album to be better than the UK edition). The Beatles never felt pressurized to produce an album, there's no big overbidding concept, it's short, light and breezy almost a hodge podge. Now secondly I called the Magical Mystery Tour underrated, well that's a pretty bizarre thing to say as I've never actually seen a review of this album below ten out of ten or five out of five. However the reason I consider Magical Mystery Tour to be among the great underrated albums is that despite endless glowing reviews it feels like it's been lost, no one ever talks about this record, it's a side note, that's how The Beatles treated it, and that's how it's been remembered but it deserves so much more than that.

Split into two halves the Magical Mystery tour feels like two separate entities. The first EP forges this beautiful musical atmosphere that feels like an unexplored landscape. Nobody ever talks about these beautiful works, and the second EP is an incredibly greatest hits collection. We'll start with the first of side, and I have to say it's my favourite and one of my favourite stretches of any Beatles album. It's starts with this grand joyful musical opening in the form of the title track, it doesn't work as a stand alone piece, it's more this perfect trippy piece to be played over a tv show's opening credits before the curtain arises and the show begins. The horns are so vibrant and so full of life, it's glorious and fun filled and McCartney makes a simple promise "We've Got Everything That You Need, Satisfaction Guaranteed" and he isn't kidding. The arrangement really is wondrous using so many different elements switching moods with ease, it's one hell of an opening, the only question is what comes next?

It's immediately followed by the first EPs undisputed highlight The Fool On A Hill, it's introduced by the end of Magical Mystery Tour which concludes with sad bluesy piano line before McCartney's gorgeous lonely sorrowful ballad begins. Like the album opener it seems to balance these contrasting moods so deftly, The Fool On A Hill at times feels hopefully and light like a barmy waltz in a meadow on a sunny summers days. Then it will suddenly shift and feel ominous, hopeless and sorrowful but the transition is handled with such remarkable fluidity it's simply gorgeous. The transition into the instrumental follow up Flying is equally seamless, led by the melotron and the hypnotic chanting of the Beatles it feels so light ethereal and gorgeous. This is the first time since Rubber Soul where the Beatles really created a mood and an atmosphere, but here it's taken to a new extreme with lush instrumentals and gorgeous spacious soundscapes rather than lyrical imagery. This whole opening feels like a collage of dreams weaving together, culminating in the hazy and beautiful Blue Jay Way that feels almost nightmarish but stops short and instead feels like a thick hypnotic haze. The whole track is encapsulated by the first line "There's a fog upon L.A" and the listener feels like he's lost in this thick oppressive yet beautiful musical fog.

The most interesting part of the LP comes when you emerge from this deep atmospheric dreamlike haze that's been created with the first four tracks into this bizarre jaunty dance hall singalong Your Mother Should Know. It feels like a successor to When I'm Sixty Four but in these surroundings it's mind warping, it feels like a weird irony laden dream. There's something beautiful about the arrangement, it's a stark juxtaposition, musically is sad and sorrowful but McCartney's vocals are charming and light, compared to the epic ghostly piano line that seeps in and out of the track. It feels altogether more menacing than When I'm Sixty-Four and it's a real surprising thrill.

From then on it the rich atmospheric section is waved off with one big crescendo in the form of I Am The Walrus. This is the first track on the album that feels pre-engrained in your psyche before you even hear the first chord, it's a classic and you know it. It's full of brilliant imagery and great lines my favourite has always been "Boy You've Been A Naughty Girl, You've Let Your Knickers Down" the intonation in Lennon's voice when he delivers that line is just tremendous. The rest of the Magical Mystery Tour feels like a greatest hits parade, Hello Goodbye follows, another perfect slice of McCartney pop. Before the two gems of the aborted Liverpool tribute album, Penny Lane and of course Strawberry Fields Forever steal the show, two such different and beautiful pop songs. Penny Lane revels in the ordinary and those wonderful little flourishes of details and well Strawberry Fields Forever is one of the best songs ever penned, full of grand imagery, lush arrangement and wonderful sentiment. It feels like floating in a dreamworld and it's an absolute delight to immerse yourself within. The album closes with All You Need Is Love, I've always considered this track the national anthem of Beatlesland, a joyous loving send off guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

The albums only down note is Baby Your A Rich Man it's by no means awful or even bad but it just doesn't quite come off. It's a wonderful concept and the start of the track is a genuine thrill with Lennon's shrill croon "How Does It Feel To Be One Of The Beautiful People" but the second half can't live up to the early promise and gives it's way to sloganeering and overly simple sentimentality. It feels more like a slog when every other second of this album feels like a sheer delight.

Ultimately what makes Magical Mystery Tour such a delight is the atmosphere conjured in the albums first half. These are not the Beatles most well known tracks, instead they create this wonderful dream like ambiance for the listener to lose himself within. It feels like taking a journey into the Beatles psyche, taking a walk in Beatlesland, it's an utter delight. The second half is crammed full of some of the Beatles biggest and best singles, and some of the greatest songs ever written, and after such a beautifully, light and refreshing listen All You Need Is Love feels like the perfect sentiment to end on, because this has been a beautiful loving experience. It's a testament to the quality of the musicianship that it's that first half and The Fool On The Hill that I keep returning to at the expense of the undisputed brilliance of Strawberry Fields Forever. While Magical Mystery Tour may not be the most famous of Beatles albums you'd be making a terrible mistake if you chose to ignore it even for one second. It stands alongside Rubber Soul, Revolver & Sgt. Pepper's effortlessly.

In my last review I concluded that Revolver was not my own personal choice for the greatest album of all time, or for that matter the greatest Beatles album but I never really explained why. For the most part it was beside the point, Revolver is a brilliant album, there is so much to admire, and next to nothing to criticise, so why bother ranking it? It's part of the reason I don't give album reviews scores, they really mean nothing, what's to be learnt from giving eleven different albums 10 out of 10. Well it struck me when listening to Sgt. Pepper's what it was that Revolver lacked, that Srg. Pepper's has in spades. It's a sense of cohesion. Revolver saw the Beatles really stretching their creative muscles in different directions all at the same time, Harrison, Lennon and McCartney were all experimenting with new sounds and arrangements within their own music, so Revolver never really felt settled, it jumped about, it's a collection of fourteen brilliant tracks but not necessarily fourteen tracks that fit together naturally. Sgt. Pepper's just feels right, there's still this great sense of experimentation, and in fact every track on this album feels like a departure, a revolution in song writing at every turn, but these thirteen tracks blend together magically. The production is sublime and the song selection is unparalleled, it's wonderfully fluid and remarkably cohesive.

Now alot has been written about this record, and it has to be said that alot of it is total nonsense. The old familiar story is that the Beatles wanted to escape being the Beatles so they created the concept of a washed up pavilion band having one last stab at fame and created a concept album around this notion. This simply isn't true Sgt. Pepper's is not a concept album, the concept does not extend beyond the title track and it's reprise. Instead it was a metaphor, The Beatles definitively freed themselves from touring and immersed themselves in the creation of music. Therefore Sgt. Pepper's is more a metaphor, it's a releasing of pressure, allowing the Beatles to shed their stage characters, to be themselves and created the music they always wanted. The results were predictably mind blowing. For a record whose influence is like no other, it's remarkable that when you listen to it now it still sounds so fresh and so distinct, this record could not be by anyone other than The Beatles.

Now returning to that theme of cohesion, the albums opening is just perfect, every single time you hear the transition from raucous goofy rocker Sgt. Peppers to With A Little Help From My Friends it just sounds right. It's an incredibly deft transition, because the two tracks couldn't be more different, the thundering rhythm and the slick guitar licks of Peppers... and the charming sing song hook of With A Little Help... should be totally at odds with each other, but their not, their perfect partners. It's a stark contrast to Revolver where the beautiful Here, There And Everywhere carelessly drops into Yellow Submarine. There's a really charm to the way the music comes to this huge crescendo after this thrilling opener and it drops into the soothing tones of Ringo Star. Ringo was a perfect choice for With A Little Help... because it's a simple and heartfelt song, and that perfectly matches Ringo's character and the tone of his voice.

There are so many stand out tracks on this album, every second sounds unique but it's hard to ignore A Day In The Life. Let's face it, it's the best Beatles song, now that wasn't to contentious was it? But it just is. When that opening chord sequence chimes and Lennon comes in with the unmistakable opening gambit "I Read The News Today Oh Boy", you just know it's going to be the perfect track. It's judged to perfection, the use of the big clumsy thuds of piano is divine, and the drums pound perfectly. It highlights the best of the both the Beatles lead songwriters; Lennon's verse is gorgeous and heartbreaking and McCartney's is earthy, charming and instantly relatable. The arrangement is remarkable, there's just so much going on it's truly staggering, every time I listen to this track I hear a new scratch here or a bounce of bass there it's just doesn't get old. The uses of the orchestra is perfect the tracks conclusion sounds like a earth shaking thunder storm, like a surrealist nightmare come to life, it's beautiful and grotesque, and most of all it's truly original, nothing before or after A Day In The Life truly compares.

However A Day In The Life may shine above others but it's merely the biggest star in a bright sky. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is perhaps the definitive psychedelic track. When I think of psychedelia today that hazy swirling hypnotic guitar line immediately fills my mind. The arrangement is remarkably complex and only the chorus is in traditional 4/4 timing, but as wonderfully trippy as this track sounds, it's not the music but the lyrics that steal the show. The imagination of this track is beautiful, Lennon captures the mood perfectly and it's the opening gambit that always captivated my imagination:

"Picture Yourself In A Boat On A River,

The song creates a mood so beautifully, it's so dreamy and hypnotic, the first two lines set the scene and that final punchline is incredible, the image of a Girl with kaleidoscope eyes is just wonderous. I don't know exactly why I find it so affecting but even though it's nonsense, I know exactly what he means, and there's something beautiful about that.

In between all the mind blowing song writing, irregular song structure and experimentation, the Beatles managed to sneak in some of their sweetest and most immediate pop music. Gettin' Better feels almost hypnotic with it's thudding piano line, catchy chorus and the subliminal drone of Harrison's tambura. The track feels jolly and light but it has a dark twist lyrically;

"I Used To Be Cruel To My Woman,

And I'm Doing The Best I Can"

Gettin' Better is so light and charming you almost forget what it's actually about, yes Paul McCartney did just croon that he used to beat is girlfriend, this is no throwaway thoughtless pop delight it's so much more. Speaking of a light throwaway When I'm Sixty-Four is delightful, it's so unexpected, the arrangement is just designed to make you smile, it's so subversive. I can't imagine how people responded to it at the time, it's feels so ironic and charming at the same time. Lovely Rita flirts with folksy-show tunes and is utterly irresistible and for such a simple and charming song the arrangement is fascinatingly deep.

She's Leaving Home is another clear standout, it's so soulful and melodic and the contrast between McCartney's sorrowful verse and Lennon's ghostly chorus is truly beautiful. It's also notable as the Beatles don't play a single jot of music, it's all sung over a beautifully crafted orchestral arrangement. It's reminiscent of Eleanor Rigby, it feels equally tragic but more personal, Rigby feels like a ballad for a world a lost souls, She's Leaving Home feels intensely intimate with it's single narrative, a family trauma and an internal awakening. Musically it's so mature and meticulously crafted it's simply staggering how much McCartney and Lennon had evolved into in just four years! Its followed by Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! a Victorian circus freak show come to life. It feels both nightmarish and charming with the grinding accordian and the brutish harmonica, it draws you in, it feels utterly surreal and incredibly captivating, and it shows the extreme depth and breadth of the Beatles creativity and their talent as composers.

It's almost unimaginable that three such different, beautiful and brilliant tracks as She's Leaving Home, Mr. Kite... and Within Without You could possibly fit side by side so organically, let alone even be on the same album as each other, or be forged by the same band. Within Without You is Harrison's only entry on Sgt. Pepper's... but it easily matches up to it's peers. George Martin's string arrangement is wonderful and it seems amazing that they managed to trim this track down as it started at over thirty minutes in duration. Lyrically the track is fascinating, incorporating Hinduism and Indian philosophy sublimely into pop music, just as the music bends and swirls this is a track that will warp your mind and is a fascinating, contemplative listen;

I've always found those last few lines incredibly touching and affecting, but even if you think it's all gobbledygook it doesn't matter, as you can just sit back and enjoy the wonderful swirling arrangement.

Srg. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band really holds a special place in music history, it changed everything but I'm not here to give you a musical history lesson, what's truly important is how fresh, vibrant and unique this album still sounds today. Every track on this album feels utterly unique and totally Beatles, no other western pop bands has ever done anything like this. Sgt. Pepper's is a master-work, it channels all these divergent ideas, all this unending creativity and these deeply contrasting musical styles and brings them together divinely. Unlike Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's is more than the sum of it's parts, it's one fluid perfectly weighted album, and it's a pleasure to listen to, and best of all it contains some of the greatest and most creative pop music ever forged. Whether you want to bend you mind with Lucy In The Sky... and Within Without You, or whether you want to have a fun charming sing a long there's With A Little Help and Lovely Rita, or if you'd rather cry there's She's Leaving Home, if you want to rock there's Srg. Pepper's itself, and hell if you want a surrealistic Victorian waltz they've got that to, and best of all if you want some transcendent genius there's A Day In The Life. For too long now there's almost been a backlash against this album, it's too cliche to say it's amazing, well it's about time we all grew up because guess what, it is one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, and it always will be. Is it the Beatles finest moment? That's too tough to say, Rubber Soul is such a unique experience but this is the most creative, cohesive and important album the Beatles ever released.

When it comes to breaking the mould, the really challenging albums the pinnacle has to Revolver. It seems strange saying it now because Revolver and The Beatles are a part of the fabric of pop music and British culture as a whole, but back in 1966 this was a brave and bold departure. The world must have still been reeling from Rubber Soul one of the richest and most gorgeous albums of all time, that felt light years ahead of it's predecessor Help! but Revolver, this was something else. It's definitely the same Beatles but somethings changed, Rubber Soul was a dark scathing brutal album that through the wondrous pop craftsmanship of the Beatles felt like an atomspheric delight. But at it's heart Rubber Soul was a deep study into emotional detachment and deep dejection. I don't know what happened in the eight months between records but Revolver was a giant leap forward in eight different directions at once. In fact, I do know what happened, I really shouldn't lie to sound dramatic, the Beatles moved on from Marijuana to the hard stuff, the trippy stuff, and they created the consensus choice for the greatest album of all time.

Aside from a hell of alot of drugs, new studio equipment and a new more sunny outlook the Beatles had one other radical shift in their creative process, they gave up touring. The Beatles retreated in Abbey Road studios and worked tirelessly to produce this record. Even on the earliest recordings of the Beatles you could tell that recording and making music was their real passion, this was a band that loved experimenting and loved working in the studio. Revolver really sounds like and album made by a band at peace with themselves, it feels entirely natural and it's the most peaceful and harmonious the Beatles would ever sound. Revolver saw each member of the band reaching out on their own, without the hassle of touring they could grow as musicians and individuals and experiment endlessly. Yet on Revolver there is still a feeling of togetherness, the record never sounds tense, it's calm, it's natural, it's beautiful and it's about time I started delving into the nitty gritty.

For the first time ever a Bealtes album opened not with Lennon or McCartney but Harrison, with his jaunty rocker Taxman. On Rubber Soul we saw Harrison begin to get political and existential but his work was vague and his lyrics open for personal interpretation, on Taxman, there is no confusion, no room for interpretation. This track is aimed at two men "Mr Wilson...Mr Heath" Harrison pulls no punches, today hearing the record it's easy to assume that this is the classic case of the mega rich complaining about needing even more money (see Lily Allen, she's running into this kind of argument with her war on piracy). However, Harrison had just discovered he was elligable for the 95% super tax on high earners brought in by Wilson's government, and of course he's just a little pissed off. The track is really deft in it's creation, McCartney provides a soft and funky guitar line, and Harrison is not brimming with rage, instead he's oozing sarcasm, his laughing at the pomposity of the idea, and the track itself revels not in the minutia of his individual gripe, instead it forms an everyman anthem;

It's Harrison's most immediate and most traditional effort on the LP. Elsewhere Harrison was pushing boundaries and revolutionizing music. Love To Love You took the eastern themes seen on both Rubber Soul and Help! to a new extreme. Previous the instrumentation had been rooted around a traditional western pop song structure, here Harrison was free to experiment and he is credited with creating the first completely non western pop song. The sitar winds gorgeously, it sounds positively otherworldly and starkly contrasts every other track on the album, like a hallucinogenic trip come to life . Harrison also immersed himself in Indian culture and Love To Love You was deeply philosophical and contains some of his most intriguing lyricism to date: "There's People Standing Around, Who'll Screw You In The Ground, They'll Fill You In With All The Sins You Seek". Harrison's final entry on Revolver I Want To Tell You still contains eastern influences, but it's far more subdued, it's instead a gorgeous slice of pop music, with some wonderfully subtle guitar work and a really slick arrangement. The highlight though is Harrison's lyricism that has come on leaps and bounds, the words are conflicted and confused but seem vaguely hopeful. "But If I Seem To Act Unkind, It's Only Me, It's Not My Mind, That's Confusing Things"; Personally I've always found that a powerful sequence, I can't count the number of times I've had just that feeling and those exact thoughts. I Want To Tell You is deep and light at the same time, it's remarkable, and across three very different tracks it's clearly that Harrison has fully evolved into a world class song writer of incredible depth with a great breadth of creativity.

It's impossibly hard to pick a stand out track on an album the quality of Revolver but if I had to choose just one, it'd have to be Eleanor Rigby. I'm astounded by this song each and every time I hear it. The new remasters have George Martin's orchestral arrangement sounding even richer and more powerful. This was the moment when Paul McCartney caught back up with Harrison and Lennon after their creative break through on Rubber Soul. This would become the hallmark of McCartney, as he began to experiment with orchestral arrangement and delved deeply into his anecdotal social detailing. Eleanor Rigby is a record full of such deep sorrow, it feels piercing, like a heavy downfall of rain the strings jab and pound relentlessly, and lyrically Paul conjures this great sense of hopelessness. All these lives lost to the sorrow and nothingness of the daily grind. The most tragic moment of the track comes when Paul creates the image of "Father Mackenzie writing the words to a sermon that no one will hear", while it's not as traditional tragic as the idea of Eleanor Rigby's unattended funeral, or the image of all those souls not being saved, that line has a powerful resonance. McCartney captures the futility of life in that one statement, a man in Father MacKenzie who has all the good intentions in the world, but he knows it's hopeless nothing he says will ever matter, no one really pays attention to a word he says, yet he pursaviers regardless. It's tragic and yet sadly true.

It's clear that Paul's biggest influence and biggest rival was Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys but you have to feel that he surpassed them, first on this album and then later on Srg. Peppers. Here There And Everywhere was the latest in a long string of gorgeous ballads. This track in particular has a haunting feel, it feels ghostly and ethereal, and it's almost feels like an ironic joke that it drops into Yellow Submarine. For No One feels like a natural successor to Here There And Everywhere another haunting and poignant ballad. It has a powerful and retrospective vibe, and as the song reaches it's emotional peak this gorgeous French horn line comes in. The sound of the horn is so sharp and cutting it kicks the songs emotional appeal of track up to an even higher level. Lyrically it's utter dynamite and it's infinitely quotable, it feels like an early precursor for A Day in The Life in many ways, "Behind Her Eyes You See Nothing" always struck me as a remarkably powerful and affecting line especially combined with "No Sign Of Love Behind The Tears". It's another sign of McCartney, and The Beatles maturity, Revolver and Rubber Soul are utterly incomparable to what preceded them. Paul's final two tracks on the album are gorgeous arranged putting orchestral arrangements to great use with the far more uplifting Good Day Sunshine and the hopeful pop rocker Got To Get You Into My Life, it turns out he hadn't lost his smile or his charm after all, and it's tracks like these that give Revolver a totally different more uplifting feel than Rubber Soul.

So Pop 101 how do you write one of the most timeless and brilliant tracks of all time, that simply refuses to age, that will sound as revolutionary in fifty years time as it did the day you wrote it? The answer: go to your local book store, get some Tibetan philosophy, take huge doses of LSD, and then stand by with your pen and note paper. Yep that's it, that's how John Lennon wrote Tomorrow Never Knows a track doesn't need description, it's one of the Beatles best and most experimental tracks, and hell it's not just one of The Beatles best tracks, it's the Chemical Brother's best track too. Analysing this one would miss the point just "Turn Off Your Mind, Relax And Float Down Stream". Elsewhere we find Lennon floating up stream on I'm Only Sleeping, a truly charming pop song, you can't help but smile when you listen to this track, it's such a mood record, I don't think you could possible be angry when listening to this record. "Please Dont' Spoil My Day, I'm Miles Away" I don't think he could have possibly phrased it any better, it's state of mind that we all know, and the arrangement captures the essence of the lyrics so beautifully. Even on such a charming little ditty the Beatles still managed to pack in the experimentation, to get that trippy bizarre dream like feel, George Harrison guitar solo is record and played backwards as well as forwards.

Lennon themeatical is exploring his own mind more than ever, his tracks seem to question everything and are remarkably reflective, of course their laced from head to toe with acid. She Said She Said is not only one of his finest tracks but it also had the most bizarre of inspirations; something Henry Fonda said while he was tripping. That's along way removed from those songs about love and wanting to hold girls hands. It's easy to forget with all this talk of meaning and musical experiment that at the heart of this album are irresistable pop songs and gorgeous melodies. And Your Bird Can Sing is perhaps the finest example of this, it's driven by a great Harrison riff and a series of irresistible vocal hooks and lyrical couplets. So while Lennon was getting introspective and existential seemingly at the same time, he was still churning out beautiful pop music.

And that is the absolute right note to end on, because Revolver is such a fascinating album, it has incredibly depth, there's so much going on musically, with orchestral arrangements, weird vocal tracks, guitars being played backwards, eastern influences, philosophical debates, political attacks, and everything else under the sun, it's so easy to lose track of the simply notion that this is a pop record. It may not be a conventional pop record, it may just well be the most experimental, revolutionary and important pop record of all time, but it is a pop record and at it's heart are fourteen of the most irresistibly charming and beautiful pop songs ever written. Ultimately this is why Revolver is so well remembered and so deeply loved, because the music is beautiful, timeless and unbelievably accessible. Revolver saw all four of the Beatles hitting on a career defining purple patch (yes even Ringo). With three of musics greatest songwriters stretching out in their own directions with equal brilliance but still able to bring it together to create perfect pop music. Revolver is the moment when the Beatles tore up the rule book and threw it out the window, this is when they decided they would push the boundaries and revolutionize music, redefining western pop music for the next fifty years. It's important to remember that The Beatles never ceased to be a pop act, the boys who wrote I Want To Hold Your Hand maybe long gone but they didn't abandon pop music to become avante guard experimentalists, they instead redefined what it was to be a pop musician, and that ultimately, is both Revolver and The Beatles legacy.

So is it the best album of all time? Not for me personally, but if someone were to tell me I was wrong I wouldn't put up much of a fight, because quite honestly who cares? Revolver is a great record and who wants to argue about whether it's better than OK Computer or What's Going On when we could be listening to the bloody thing.

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.

Help! will always been an intriguing entry in the Beatles back catalogue. This album is so very important in so many different ways, and yet it is so oft overlooked for many of the same reason that make it so important in the first place. First of all, this was the last of the Beatles conventional pop records, this was the end of their power pop touring act stage. This was the last album before the Beatles became musically legends. After Help! the Beatles would release Rubber Soul, Revolver, Srg. Peppers, The Beatles & Abbey Road, a five album spell of unparalleled genius. No band before or after has strung together a collection of five stone cold classic in a row. So Help! is in an awkward position, this was the Beatles the world's greatest pop act, one album before they would gain critical recognition as once in a lifetime trailblazers. Help! was the spin off album from the Beatles second motion picture, the movie, while fun and good humoured, didn't have the same vibe as A Hard Day's Night the Beatles had outgrown their childish characters and as we saw on Meet The Beatles they'd out grown the early Beatles formula. The Beatles had to evolve, it was truly now or never, because the world didn't need the Beatles anymore, The Stones, The Kinks, The Beach Boys & Dylan were already to take their mantle. Help! was awkward, it wasn't a revolutionary record, it wasn't that next step but it was one finale reminder that if they wanted to The Beatles could make better Pop Music than any other band on the face of planet earth.

So when we look back on Help! we don't really take it overly seriously, it's not Revolver but it's not Beatles For Sale either. So as Mike Patton famously asked what is it? Well Help! is simple a joy, it's one big slap of experimental fun. This is the natural successor to A Hard Day's Night this record sounds like the Beatles, there's only two covers but it's still not quite there yet. This was the final transition, this is the sound of the Beatles deciding to push things forward, their bashing away at the creative door but their not quite ready to smash through yet. So what does Help! have to offer? Well first of all it contains three of the Beatles biggest singles and timeless number ones. The title track showed that Lennon's purple patch developed on Beatles For Sale was here to stay. It feels almost impossible to say something new about Help! perhaps the ultimate compliment you can pay the track is that still to this day it's played in indie clubs across the nation. Not to thirty year olds, or people who listen to radio two, but 18 year old scenesters who read NME. Why Help! why not Helter Skelter or Back In The USSR? Well Help! treads the ground between charming pop and visceral rage perfectly. Lennon's not going to scream, it's not rageful, but this is a desperate plea for help. It's easy to mistake the early Beatles records for soft pop sentiment but after I'm A Loser we know that their is true honesty behind Lennon's words. Oh and did I mention it's danceable as all hell.

Ticket To Ride the album second unstoppable single is perhaps the clearest indicator of where the band was headed. It has a real eastern feel to it, Harrison's guitar twangs gorgeously with great subtly, and the track feels like it's swirling inwards, it has a powerful pull. It was the combination of the gorgeous melodies that made The Beatles the unstoppable pop monster and dense well layered musical craftsmanship that would define their later works. It feels Innocent and yet mature, in many ways it sums up the entire album, it's 3/4 quarters of the way there. The final of the three number one singles need absolutely no introduction, Yesterday is the most covered song in the history of music. Paul had really come into his own as a balladeer on the last two records and Yesterday was his then pinnacle. He brought a sweeping yet subtle string arrangement to the table and he croons beautifully over a delicately plucked acoustic guitar. Paul would begin to take the backseat for the next few LPs but he was already setting himself aside as the greatest balladeer of his generation.

So Help! has a really unique feel, it's fun with sprinkles of genius, but I think there's a knowing edge to everything on Help! Act Naturally feels like an admission of guilt, a cheeky cover, naturally it's sung by Ringo and it has the feel of a frank admission "The Biggest Fool That Ever Hit The Big Time, And I'll Had To Do Was Act Naturally". The goofy Beatles knew they had more to offer than spoof parodies of spy movies and they were letting us know with a cheeky parody, naturally. Elsewhere Lennon is beginning to become more depressed and disillusioned, the beautiful You've Got To Hide Your Love Away is clear standout. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Lennon had been listening to Dylan records, as the chord selection and intonation are heavily endebted but the lyrics are thoroughly Lennon;

This was as dark and gloomy as the Beatles had been so far, and Lennon's misery is pouring off this record at every turn. George Harrison is getting in on the act to with I Need You an equally depressed ballad that sees George torn and broken hearted ("When You Told Me You Don't Want My Loving Anymore, That's When It Hurt Me, And Feeling Like This I Just Can't Go On Anymore"). Combine this bleak lyricism with McCartney's Yesterday and you have by far and away the Beatles most soulful record to date. Yet bizarrely Help! never feels sombre, the record is undoubtedly an emotional cry for help from four young men but the record never feels dark.

Musically Help! is brimming with evolution, You're Going To Lose That Girl again sees Ringo playing around with the bongos and it produces the most distinctive rhythm of the Beatles career so far. Elsewhere George Harrison's guitar is gaining more and more prominence whether it's the subtle work on Yesterday, the Indian vibe on Ticket To Ride or the gorgeous work plucking to open I've Just Seen Your Face. That track in particular stands out, it feels so fresh and vibrant with so many moods and it serves a real refreshing change of pace and quite frankly could have been made in any decade, it feels ahead of it's time. On Harrison's You Like Me Too Much you can hear the Beatles burgeoning interest in show tunes and across the record as a whole, theirs an experimental feel, the Beatles are messing around with their arrangements, and having fun and that is what makes Help! so unique.

Help! really stands out in the Beatles back catalogue, it's not loved like their other records, it's not a classic, but it's not far short. It's the sound of a band determined to evolve, their stretching their wings, embracing new influences, trying new mediums and mixing up the arrangements. There is something really joyous about this experimentation that gives Help! an X-factor. It should be a miserable record, Lennon is at his gloomiest, McCartney offers his most emotive ballad to date, and even Harrison is dealing with themes of deep rejection, yet the fun of exploring new sounds, and messing around in the studio prevails and you can't help but smile listening to this record. You can really hear the ideas as the form, occasionally you'll hear half a drum beat and then suddenly it'll revert back to formula, they're just one step away from brilliance, and I think they knew it. So Help! is the sound of the world's most famous band, growing, experimenting and learning, for most bands this would be an awkward messy transition, but this is the Beatles! So of course Help! is stacked to the brim with irresistible tracks and number one singles. All in all Help! is a human record, the Beatles feel mortal, they feel like their finding themselves, and ultimately their growing up and little did the world know that they were just one step away from immortality.