The Beatles - Abbey Road

Let me start with some basic information about The Beatles Abbey Road. It was the last album recorded by the Fab Four, but not the last album released. Let It Be had that distinction.

The true beauty of Abbey Road is the band decided to do one last great album the old way, and not only did they succeed, but they ended up creating one of the best rock albums of all time. The break down of the original vinyl was simple. Side one consisted of six amazingly crafted songs, and yes I will argue that Octopus's Garden is amazing.

The second side was made up of Here Comes The Sun, a sixteen minute medley of various unfinished material, from other sessions, the last song on the album called Her Majesty, and finally the biggest steaming pile of shit I think The Beatles ever released.

I'll start with the song I loathe the most; Because, I have no use for this track. I dislike the song so much I won't even listen to the Alice Cooper version. I can't stand it during the musical motion picture Across the Universe, and that movie is wonderful. I don't like Because as a song. Period.

Now that I've got that out of my system.

Abbey Road opens with Come Together. One of my top five fave from the Fab Four. This, along with David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, and Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond, is one song I will always karaoke, without question. It's slick, full of groove, and makes little to no sense. It's perfect.

Something is a great Harrison song. I should mention that I don't think there's a single Harrison Beatles song that I don't like. This is a bit sappy for me, but that's cool in it's sweet way.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer may be the most happy-go-lucky song about a murdering sosciopath I have ever heard. It's so whimsically disturbing. I love it.

The Little Richard stylings of Oh! Darling is cool. I could easily see it being done today with more crunch, but still sounding just as cool and passionate as always.

I love Ringo, he's so misunderstood in his childish like nature. Octopus's Garden sounds like it should be on a kid's album lyrically. Musically, it has a lot of intricate texture and ambiance. A style mainly found only in Beatles songs back then.

I Want You (She's So Heavy) is 7:47 of proto Goth Metal. So much so that it ended up being done by Type O Negative eventually. This song is very Blues/Jazzy and carries on forever it seems. By the end of the song you think more than ten minutes has passed, but not in a bad way.

Here Comes The Sun is the other ray of Harrison sunshine on this album. It's sweet, and pretty, and hopeful, and the perfect counter point to I Want You (She's So Heavy).

This is the point on the album where that retched song exsists.

After that the sixteen minute medly kicks in. It contains one longer song and 7 shorter ones, both finished and unfinished, blended into a suite by Paul McCartney and producer George Martin.

You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End are pretty much a miss mash of styles, sounds and techniques.

The first track in that line-up, is really a stand alone I think, and I'm not sure why It's considered part of the mix. From there it kind of winds a road that seems like it wasn't sure which path to take, so it took all of them. Normally this comes off jumpy, distorted and annoying. In the case of these songs it just allows them to move really quickly through a bunch of songs that would never be more than they are.

It's the recognition of that that makes the journey through Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window seem seamless. It takes until Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight until you notice that a bunch of different tracks have gone by. Then the End finishes it all off nice and pretty like.

Her Majesty was a snipet from the medley that was cut and accidently saved twice into Beatles history. Basically because of a rule about not throwing anything The Beatles recorded out, this song became a hidden track that the band found neat. It does nothing for me, or the album, in the grand scheme of things.

So, the best way I know how to sum up this album is side one is for a good time, and side two is for some artistic wanking. It's a combination of everything that made The Beatles The Beatles. It's the high note that any band could only hope to end their careers on.

9/10 - content

9/10 - production

9/10 - personal bias