Album of the day (#2819): Abbey Road by The Beatles - Music

theblueboy

I listened to Revolver and Abbey Road for the umpteenth time earlier today. Actually the first three tracks on Revolver annoy me a bit, but from then on its off-the-scale good.

Abbey Road is very leisurely and maybe not even the sound of a band anymore. They had no right to make it so good, given the problems in the relationships between band members at the time. Though somehow they pulled off their most cohesive effort of all. I think the growing maturity of all three as song-writers helped. Also, the album simply out-beautifuls any other Beatles release. I find this is thanks in no small part to the time-stopping opening melody line to You never Give me Your Money (which is repeated later on, of course). It is shockingly good.

Regarding Octopus' Garden...well yeah, I can more than live with it. But its just not nearly as joyous or refreshingly carefree as Yellow Submarine so I have to subtract half a point at the very least Smile

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

Karaoke night was fun. Here's the rest of my write-up, with the first half quoted so it's all in one post:

StreetSpirit wrote:

1. Come Together - 8/10

Good song. I've heard it hundreds of times, but still don't get what the huge fuss is about. Supposedly the verses were an analogy for each member of the band. That's possible. Anyway, for an album opener, its pacing is slow and it's lacking in hooks. To me, Come Together feels like a song that belonged later on an album.

2. Something - 10/10

Hell yes! At least one Beatle was still on top of his game by this point. Harrison's love song is sweet, simple, and always hits the spot.

3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer - 5/10

Oh Maxwell the serial killer. Goofy. Occasionally fun. Not a song I want to hear every time I spin Abbey Road, but it has its moments. Def some interesting arrangements and instrumentation here.

4. Oh Darling - 9/10

Great song driven by Paul's searing vocal performance. Repetitive on the lyrics, but the hard-rocking guitars combined with Paul's raw voice suit my taste pretty well. Paul sounded as if he was about to cough up his voice box, which fit well with his lyrics of love and desperation.

5. Octopus's Garden - 7/10

Ah, the token Ringo song. This one isn't half bad though. I dig the lyrics about escapism, but the vocal and instrumental hooks were nothing special.

6. I Want You (She's So Heavy) - 6/10

I love how this song begins. Trippy and hard-rocking instrumentals. The lyrics of the first verse are about obsession and madness. Then the second verse is the same. Then the third verse is the same. Okay, I get it. The musical and lyrical repetition is a metaphor for this obsession and madness. And the song drags to nearly the 8-minute mark. I very rarely get that far before boredom settles in. 5 or 6 minutes would've been fine.

7. Here Comes the Sun - 10/10

Amazing pop song from George. I love how the instrumentation changes its notes and volume every time George sings "Sun sun sun, here it comes." Simply a joy to listen to.

8. Because - 9/10

Minimalist beauty. Says a lot with few words. I love how it was used in American Beauty. The song gels with that movie very well.

Anyway, I'm about to head to karaoke night, so I'll finish the rest tomorrow...

9. You Never Give Me Your Money - 9/10

Lovely, recognizable piano intro that would be reused later in the album. Great instrumental in the middle. The medley is off to a great start.

10. Sun King - 2/10

Musically boring, nothing special going on here. Lyrically obnoxious. "We're the Beatles so we can combine 4+ languages in one song, and you'll love it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSf6mo1Iojo

Total trash. The song opens with the sound of crickets, a good analogy for the song in general.

11. Mean Mr. Mustard - 5/10

Average in every way. It's not bad, but very easily forgotten. It's notable for being about a homeless guy. And there is a mention of Pam, so it worked as a segue song within the medley. But that's about it.

12. Polythene Pam - 9/10

I love the acoustic guitar and bass intro. Very catchy.

13. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window - 8/10

Was Polythene Pam the one who came in through the bathroom window? The way the songs of the medley flow, maybe. But I don't think so, because then the lyrics wouldn't make any sense. Not that they are supposed to make sense anyway. Either way, good song.

14. Golden Slumbers - 5/10

The effort from Paul's singing was there. But the harmony wasn't. This song does nothing for me.

15. Carry that Weight - 8/10

A nice return to the notes from You Never Give Me Your Money. A good penultimate song.

16. The End - 10/10

Awesome. Abbey Road was the final album they recorded as a band. At the time, it was unclear if Let it Be was gonna be released. And if Let it Be was to be released, it was unclear when (might've been years), and it was unclear if it was gonna be an LP, EP, or compilation of B-sides. Thus, this song was The Beatles farewell. The middle of song contains muddled lyrics. We can easily make out that word 'you' but it's hard to distinguish the word in front. Are they repeatedly singing "Love you" or "Thank you"? I reached the conclusion that it's both. They were simultaneously thanking their fans for all the years of support, and telling their fans they loved them. Well I love you too, Beatles. And thank you for all the great music. And thank you for the farewell message: in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. This song would've been the perfect conclusion of a medley, an album, a band, and a legacy. Except...

...17. Her Majesty - 3/10

Okay, it's a joke song. The Beatles could've left us off poetically with The End, but they didn't want to be taken too seriously. So here was an intentionally bad, effortless swan song instead. That's the joke. Haha, I get it.

Yann

Gender: Male
Location: France

Amazing what George Martin did with this album after the Let It Be debacle

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Thanks for the song for song review StreetSpirit. I suppose I overvalue some of the surrealism or something, idk. But I can see your points too.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

sethmadsen wrote:

Thanks for the song for song review StreetSpirit. I suppose I overvalue some of the surrealism or something, idk. But I can see your points too.

And thank you too. Been a while since we did that. I have a question. You gave every song in the medley a perfect rating. Was that because you consider them one song, or is each individually perfect iyo?

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

StreetSpirit wrote:

And thank you too. Been a while since we did that. I have a question. You gave every song in the medley a perfect rating. Was that because you consider them one song, or is each individually perfect iyo?

Great question - if I had hear mean mr mustard all by itself, I'd probably only give it an 85. I think, for me, that string of a surrealistic experience gives it a more meaningful perspective, if that makes sense. It enriches the song for me. Same for MSH. The song in of itself musically isn't boring, but neither is it great... what makes it great is the mental play. Same for She's So Heavy. But I do agree, sometimes you have to be in the mood for it. Perhaps it should loose some points for not being convincing, but you could say that about a Goethe's Faust, and so I am not sure I'd rate it down for that.

Also Stover75 - it's funny you like Yellow Submarine more than Octopuses Garden. Yellow Submarine has no meaning to me and is just annoying, where as OG is vastly better musically and mentally... but hey, we all like what we like and the why for us is what's important. But hey, there's no strict empiricism here. It's definitely more emotional/rational.

CharlieBarley

Gender: Male
Age: 48
Location: Mount Olympus

sethmadsen wrote:

Great question - if I had hear mean mr mustard all by itself, I'd probably only give it an 85. I think, for me, that string of a surrealistic experience gives it a more meaningful perspective, if that makes sense. It enriches the song for me. Same for MSH. The song in of itself musically isn't boring, but neither is it great... what makes it great is the mental play. Same for She's So Heavy. But I do agree, sometimes you have to be in the mood for it. Perhaps it should loose some points for not being convincing, but you could say that about a Goethe's Faust, and so I am not sure I'd rate it down for that.

Also Stover75 - it's funny you like Yellow Submarine more than Octopuses Garden. Yellow Submarine has no meaning to me and is just annoying, where as OG is vastly better musically and mentally... but hey, we all like what we like and the why for us is what's important. But hey, there's no strict empiricism here. It's definitely more emotional/rational.

Hey Seth it was Michael1981 who posted that he likes Yellow Submarine better than Octopus's Garden. I only posted once!

However I agree with Michael YS is a better track. but only marginally. They are both fun songs. I'm a sucker for a Ringo-sung song. I even like Don't Pass Me By from the White Album. He is funny and endearing.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

sethmadsen wrote:

Great question - if I had hear mean mr mustard all by itself, I'd probably only give it an 85. I think, for me, that string of a surrealistic experience gives it a more meaningful perspective, if that makes sense. It enriches the song for me. Same for MSH. The song in of itself musically isn't boring, but neither is it great... what makes it great is the mental play. Same for She's So Heavy. But I do agree, sometimes you have to be in the mood for it. Perhaps it should loose some points for not being convincing, but you could say that about a Goethe's Faust, and so I am not sure I'd rate it down for that.

I think I get it. Sometimes songs are sub-par on their own, but fit well within the larger picture. Mean Mr. Mustard works as segue songs within the medley, however I hold the opinion that it could've been stronger, more memorable. As for MSH, it's not part of the medley, and it's nothing special. Abbey Road would've been better off without it. But MSH could've been released on a b-side compilation later on and that would've been fine.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

StreetSpirit wrote:

I think I get it. Sometimes songs are sub-par on their own, but fit well within the larger picture. Mean Mr. Mustard works as segue songs within the medley, however I hold the opinion that it could've been stronger, more memorable. As for MSH, it's not part of the medley, and it's nothing special. Abbey Road would've been better off without it. But MSH could've been released on a b-side compilation later on and that would've been fine.

Yeah it's the experience. I feel this way about Death and All His Friends... it's the cohesive effort that makes the sum of the parts exponentially better than any single part.

MSH... well for me is one of the best songs on the record and I only wonder if it should be part of it because I feel it perfectly segues into the next track. I thought your crickets comment was hilarious though!!! Laughing

For me the crickets are actually a mood setter... oh well. Laughing

That same sound is at the beginning of Exit on U2's Joshua tree... idk, I like it for some reason. It makes me feel like a hot summers night.

Fischman
RockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMaster

Gender: Male
Location: Land of Enchantment

As overrated as any other Beatle album not named "Revolver."