#71: Beastie Boys, "Licensed to Ill"
Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill, released 1986 by Def Jam Recordings

1) Rhymin & Stealin
2) The New Style
3) She's Crafty
4) Posse in Effect
5) Slow Ride
6) Girls
7) Fight for Your Right
8) No Sleep Till Brooklyn
9) Paul Revere
10) Hold It Now, Hit It
11) Brass Monkey
12) Slow and Low
13) Time to Get Ill

The Beastie Boys are one of music's most revered hip-hop acts, still going strong after over 20 years in the business. They pioneered many techniques and styles now made popular today, and their influence extends far beyond the genre they themselves occupy.

Licensed to Ill is the Beastie Boys' first full-length release. Though they had begun life in the late '70s as a hardcore punk band, by 1986 they were a trio of rappers. Their punk roots were still clearly evident in their addition of hard-rock guitars to many of their songs, their in-your-face attitude, and their willingness to willfully offend, insult, and cover taboo subjects.

In retrospect, Licensed to Ill seems a little quaint, even innocent. That's not intended to be a put-down; it seems so given the context of the Beastie Boys' entire career, as well as the acts they would inspire. Though there's talk[1] of drugs, partying, sex, etc., it's generally done very playfully , as opposed to the more aggressive and malicious attitudes that rappers and hip-hoppers after them would adopt. There's also a distinctly teenage perspective evident: Mom and Dad forcing you to go to school, or breaking into someone's locker during classes.

Even so, the album features many trailblazing aspects[2]. As mentioned above, their combination of rap and rock on such popular tracks as "Fight for Your Right" helped launch metal-rap acts[3]. Licensed to Ill was one of the first albums to feature extensive use of sampling[4], something they would explore in much more depth on later releases.

Though my enjoyment of Licensed to Ill is likely influenced by nostalgia, the bottom line is it's a lot of fun to listen to, and radiates an infectious, sometimes sneering, joy and self-assurance.
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(1) That these days comes off as childishly provocative.

(2) I believe, anyway. I'm not terribly well-versed in the history of hip-hop.

(3) Which, to their credit, the Beastie Boys regret.

(4) For example, "Slow Rider" takes the brass riff from War's "Low Rider". One might argue that ti's also one of the first uses of the creation of a 'sampling melody', stitching together samples in a recognizable pattern that repeats throughout a song.

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#71a: Beastie Boys, "Paul's Boutique"
Beastie Boys, Paul's Boutique, released 1989 by Capitol Records

1) To All the Girls
2) Shake Your Rump
3) Johnny Ryall
4) Egg Man
5) High Plains Drifter
6) The Sounds of Science
7) 3-Minute Rule
8) Hey Ladies
9) 5-Piece Chicken Dinner
10) Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
11) Car Thief
12) What Comes Around
13) Shadrach
14) Ask for Janice
15) B-Boy Bouillabaisse
       59 Christie Street
       Get on the Mic
       Stop that Train
       A Year and a Day
       Hello Brooklyn
       Dropping Names
       Lay it on Me
       Mike on the Mic
       A.W.O.L

It's obvious why Paul's Boutique was and continues to be a huge critical success.  Even though it was released in 1989, it still sounds like a hip-hop revolution, fresh and surprising.  The variety of textures is staggering, and each track is dense and rich, layered with a huge and disparate array of samples and beats.

It's also obvious why Paul's Boutique was, at first, a commercial disappointment.  The bratty, juvenile nature of their debut – the element I imagine held the most appeal to people who bought it – quickly matured into something more sophisticated, enigmatic, and often just plain weird.  It was an immense risk to change gears from their hugely successful first album, and to instead release something willfully challenging and difficult for their audience.  It's a jarring departure from Licensed to Ill, which was lots of fun but by no means hinted at any real ambition, and I'm sure they lost fans because of it.

The Beastie Boys' sneering swagger is still very much enjoyably present, though.  And it comes through as much in the production as their rapping, in the cockiness of grabbing samples from such luminaries as Bernard Herrmann, The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin.

Credit also has to be given to The Dust Brothers, who produced Paul's Boutique, and who had apparently already composed a fair amount of the backing tracks before the Beastie Boys came on board; and to the trio's credit, they saw more potential in that material than The Dust Brothers did.

All that said, while I am impressed by the album, I don't actually like a lot of the tracks on it.  All the cleverness sometimes feels a little cold, and – as is common in a lot of sample-heavy music – sometimes it's more fun to try to identify all of the sources than sit back and enjoy how they're used.

My favorites are: "Egg Man", which is a hilarious narrative about assaulting people with drive-by eggings; "The Sounds of Science" is particularly striking, which begins with the bouncy oom-pah from "When I'm Sixty-Four"; "Shadrach" is an energetic track that's a loving tribute to '70s funk; and I admire the scope of "B-Boy Bouillabaisse", a 12-minute cut broken up into 9 sections, probably the first long-form hip-hop composition.

In summary, this album was hugely important, and remains a towering monument to hip-hop today, as musicians are still exploring the ideas in it.  Its pleasures aren't as visceral as I'd prefer, but they're still there, and while I might not listen to it for pure enjoyment, I'd gladly listen to it for its sheer audacity.

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#72: Beastie Boys, "Ill Communication"
Beastie Boys, Ill Communication, released 1994 by Capitol Records

1) Sure Shot
2) Tough Guy
3) B-Boys Makin' with the Freak Freak
4) Bobo on the Corner
5) Root Down
6) Sabotage
7) Get It Together
8) Sabrosa
9) The Update
10) Futterman's Rule
11) Alright Hear This
12) Eugene's Lament
13) Flute Loop
14) Do It
15) Ricky's Theme
16) Heart Attack Man
17) The Scoop
18) Shambala
19) Bodhisattva Vow
20) Transitions

Ill Communication is the Beastie Boys' fourth album; as I don't know their previous two, I don't have a clear understanding of its context vis a vis their career...or hip-hop in general, for that matter. So perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that it's an incredibly rich and detailed work, densely and beautifully woven.

Its focus is on texture and ambience, constructed using a huge catalog of samples; the rap within often seems like more of an accompaniment, highlighting its surroundings rather than superseding them. In fact, many of the tracks are purely instrumental[1] – notably my favorite such piece, "Eugene's Lament", which features a Bartok-like modernist gypsy violin solo over a low-key but relentless beat.

Ill Communication is likely strongly inspired by Miles Davis, and cool jazz in general. Though it's not present in all of the songs, modal jazz infuses the mood of the disc, in the chill, hypnotic feel of most of the tracks, and also in a wealth of samples taken directly from that music. There are outliers: "Tough Guy" and "Heart Attack Man" are high-energy punk-rap spasms that are throwbacks to their early days; and the most famous (and kickass) song on the album, "Sabotage", breaks from this mold.

It isn't without its faults; some of the instrumental tracks go on for a bit too long, flirting with boredom, and the album loses steam towards the end. And punk in nearly any form just plain irritates me.

Ill Communication is a sophisticated and – if I understand correctly – monumentally important record, full of both atmospheric and just plain fun gems.
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(1) Often reminiscent of Booker T. and the M.G.s.

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#73: The Beatles, "Rubber Soul"
The Beatles, Rubber Soul, released 1965 by EMI Records

1) Drive My Car [Paul]
2) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) [John]
3) You Won't See Me [Paul]
4) Nowhere Man [John]
5) Think For Yourself [George]
6) The Word [John / Paul]
7) Michelle [Paul / John]

8) What Goes On [John / Paul / Ringo]
9) Girl [John]
10) I'm Looking Through You [Paul]
11) In My Life [John / Paul]
12) Wait [John / Paul]
13) If I Needed Someone [George]
14) Run For Your Life [John]

In the 40 years since, it's easy to lose sight of how revolutionary and innovative The Beatles were, and how much they changed the landscape of music both as composers and as producers. How we've experienced music since the Beatles has been so fundmentally shaped by the techniques they pioneered that it's become something we take for granted, like the base-10 number system, or the Roman alphabet.

The number of rock music 'firsts' they are credited with is too long to list, and many of them are in the more obscure world of studio technology. They include: the use of feedback as a musical instrument; sampling; backwards instruments; the use of 'world instruments' such as the sitar on "Norwegian Wood"; and so on.

The four Beatles themselves don't deserve the only credit for this. Producer and arranger George Martin is generally seen as the man most instrumental in finding ways of realizing The Beatles' creative vision; and the engineers provided by EMI and the facility at Abbey Road were able to keep up with The Beatles' requests for ways to push the envelope of what was possible.

It's important to remember that they were superstars well before they began their musical explorations. They could have continued being a teenybopper heartthrob band churning out catchy, two-minute, three-part harmony pop songs until the day they died and everyone would have been happy. Instead, they pushed themselves and everyone around them to go further and further, constantly unsatisfied with whatever level of success they had just achieved.

Rubber Soul marks this transition. There are two bands present on the album; The Beatles that were and The Beatles to come. Songs such as "The Word", "I'm Looking Through You", and "Wait" already seem like history when compared to their more forward-looking tracks. The introspection and ambiguous lyrics of "Norwegian Wood" and "Nowhere Man" mark a departure from their puppy love songs; and even their boy/girl songs have a darker, more sinister edge to them ("Run For Your Life").

Their songs also include some musical techniques unusual in pop music of the time: the melodies of "Nowhere Man" and "Norwegian Wood" are constructed in a fashion derived from Baroque sequencing; the substitution of a minor chord where a major chord would usually be found ("Nowhere Man"); the close major second vocal harmonies of "Drive My Car" to evoke car horns; or the use of Augmented sixth chords ("Michelle") to flavor harmonies.

All this, though was just a start. Their next album, Revolver, is what really cemented The Beatles' reputation as musical inventors and geniuses.

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#74: The Beatles, "Revolver"
The Beatles, Revolver, released 1966 by EMI Records

1) Taxman [George]
2) Eleanor Rigby [Paul / John]
3) I'm Only Sleeping [John / Paul]
4) Love You To [George]
5) Here, There, and Everywhere [Paul]
6) Yellow Submarine [Paul / John]
7) She Said She Said [John]

8) Good Day Sunshine [Paul]
9) And Your Bird Can Sing [John]
10) For No One [Paul]
11) Doctor Robert [John]
12) I Want To Tell You [George]
13) Got to Get You into My Life [Paul]
14) Tomorrow Never Knows [John]

It's easy to experiment with boundaries; it's child's play to do something nobody else has done before; it's an artistic standard to turn your nose up at established rules. There's nothing admirable there. Where genius lies is in creating beauty with techniques nobody's discovered before. Experimentation and innovation are not the goals but the consequences of a unique aesthetic vision.

Revolver changed everything.

In Revolver, The Beatles began to deeply explore the possibilities afforded them by the rapidly advancing technology of the recording studio, and to continue to question and break the conventions of popular music, playing with structure, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, everything...all while still making incredibly fun and singable pop tunes. I (and many others) consider it their first truly mature effort.

I don't want to turn these reviews of The Beatles' albums into laundry lists of firsts, but Revolver offers so many surprises that it's hard not to highlight each and every one[1]. Not every song is a gem; I find a quite few forgettable.

I find "Taxman" relatively nondescript, but the countoff at the beginning, accompanied by ambient noise from the studio sessions, must be one of the first instances of the pop equivalent of breaking the fourth wall – making the audience be aware of the recording process.

"Eleanor Rigby" is for strings and voice (with accompanying chorus). Let me repeat that differently: "Eleanor Rigby" features only instruments normally associated with classical and film music. While other pop songs had featured orchestral instruments, none had done so to the exclusion of standard rock instrumentation. I don't know if I can imagine what a shock that was to people who were listening to Revolver for the first time.

The strings were arranged by George Martin with Paul's supervision. The method by which they were recorded for this song[2] strongly influenced how strings were recorded thereafter in classical and film recordings as well; and The Beatles' continuing use of orchestral instruments would pave the way for bands that followed to do the same[3].

"I'm Only Sleeping" is another odd song; it starts with no introduction and launches straight into the verse, feeling like an interruption; it has a backwards guitar solo recorded by George.

"Love You To" is likely the first song fronted by sitar and tabla[4], and features a constant bass drone throughout, evoking a static sense of harmony directly inspired by Indian classical music.

"Yellow Submarine" uses extensive sampling to accent its quirky lyrics, including sounds of ocean waves and barking naval officers; and there's a rousing brass band solo in the middle, as well as some really unexpected harmonies in the chorus.

"She Said She Said" and "Good Day Sunshine" feature mixed meters: "She Said..." is in a standard 4/4 beat, but switches into 3/4 when its narrator is recalling his contributions to the conversation in question[5]; in "Good Day Sunshine", chorus sections alternate between 5/4 and 3/4 before settling back into a swung 4/4 when the verses come around.

The most mind-blowing song on the album – and my favorite – is "Tomorrow Never Knows", a beautiful and hypnotic tour-de-force that's one of the earliest examples of psychedelic rock[6]. It's entirely saturated with sound, filled with distorted instruments, samples, backwards cymbals and guitars, all grounded by a constant bass drone and a totally awesome drum pattern from Ringo. Some consider it one of the earliest pieces of electronica for its minimalist/maximalist properties: incessant use of repeated patterns and loops that provides a grid against which to create wild, primal, ecstatic musical figures.
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(1) Keep in mind that around the same time, The Beach Boys were also developing astonishing techniques to record their album Pet Sounds, which predates Revolver, and which I admit to knowing nothing at all about.

(2) Each instrumentalist was miked individually and extremely close to the strings.

(3) Jethro Tull's flautist; Pink Floyd's "The Trial" from The Wall; Radiohead's use of the ondes martenot, XTC (who are directly influenced by The Beatles in a large number of ways)

(4) The part on "Norwegian Wood" is really just a guitar lick George happened to play on sitar and liked better that way.

(5) This song was apparently inspired by a bizarre, creepy, and acid-fueled conversation with a pre-fame Henry Fonda.

(6) It feels cheesy to say that listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows" is really like entering a different state of consciousness.

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#75: The Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, released 1967 by EMI records

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Paul]
2) With a Little Help from My Friends [Paul / John]
3) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds [John]
4) Getting Better [Paul / John]
5) Fixing a Hole [Paul]
6) She's Leaving Home [Paul]
7) Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! [John]
8) Within You Without You [George]
9) When I'm Sixty-Four [Paul]
10) Lovely Rita [Paul]
11) Good Morning Good Morning [John]
12) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) [Paul]
13) A Day in the Life [John / Paul]

The Beatles played their final (paid) concert in August of 1966. No longer beholden to writing music that could be played live, they were able to approach their new album using the studio itself as an instrument, exploring the possibilities afforded them by advances in recording technology. They had already begun experimenting on Revolver with samples, loops, and orchestral instruments; and the release of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds – itself a tour de force of innovation and considered one of the best and most exquisitely crafted pop records ever released – spurred The Beatles' ambitions even higher.

As well, The Beatles were looking to transform themselves yet again. Tired of the clean-cut moptop image of their youth, they set about creating alter egos...presumably to allow them be more themselves. Inspired by the current fashion of overly ornate band names, they decided on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as the moniker of their fictional quartet. To complete the shift in image, each member adopted an alias, started sporting mustaches, and dressed outlandishly[1]...as demonstrated (but not limited to) the famous album cover, which itself seems to hint that The Beatles were attending their own funeral.

Sgt. Pepper's... is considered the world's first concept album – an album in which all the songs are written to illustrate a particular theme, or some hidden story[2] – despite the fact that John and Paul both claim to have gone about business as usual, writing whatever they wanted to. This idea is likely most due to the use of "Sgt. Pepper's..." as a framing device to introduce and close the record[3].

Though the album is a major break, there are still strong threads of continuity stretching back to their earlier work. The band began to further assimilate the ideas brought back by George's after his travels and studies in India; Paul's growing fascination with orchestral instruments is plainly evident in "She's Leaving Home", "When I'm Sixty-Four", and "A Day in the Life"[4]; and John's experiments with tape and recording equipment continue in "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and "Good Morning Good Morning".

The Beatles also continue to play with time in more sophisticated ways: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is in 3/4 for the verse but switches to 4/4 for the chorus; a waltz is inserted into the thumping 4/4 of "Being for the Benefit..."; George's fluid and sinuous "Within You Without You" tries to suspend any sense of time at all; and "Good Morning Good Morning" is, oddly enough, an assault of temporal uncertainty.

Also, many of the songs feature a shift in lyrical content, an untrustworthy speaker: the opening number and "Being for the Benefit..." feature a singer who is clearly tongue-in-cheek, playing a role, teasing his audience; and the cynicism of "Getting Better" and "A Day in the Life" are striking – in particular the sarcasm and smirking irony of the former[5].

Sgt. Pepper's... is always – and deservedly – included in discussions about the greatest albums of all time, generally vying for the top spots with the aforementioned Pet Sounds[6] and Revolver. Most bands are lucky to put out even one song that opens the ears of the public and forges new paths for other musicians; Sgt. Pepper's... was The Beatles' third straight album to do so.

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(1) Paving the way for the glam-rock era; see David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars for more details.

(2) Basically launching prog rock.

(3) This device was most notably used by Waters-era Pink Floyd. Although the idea was at first forced upon them for Wish You Were Here – their record label was unwilling to release "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" as a single 25-minute track, and instead split it up and bookended the LP with it – they adopted the technique for a few albums thereafter.

(4) Paul claims that the full-orchestra glissandi were inspired by Stockhausen.

(5) Incidentally, this list includes my favorites, the ones that feature John's weary detachment, "Being for the Benefit..." and "A Day in the Life".

(6) Brian Wilson, the genius who drove Pet Sounds, was apparently so despondent upon hearing this album that he was in a depressed funk for months.

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#76: The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour"
The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour, released 1967 by Capitol Records

1) Magical Mystery Tour [Paul / John]
2) The Fool on the Hill [Paul]
3) Flying
4) Blue Jay Way [George]
5) Your Mother Should Know [Paul]
6) I Am the Walrus [John]

7) Hello Goodbye [Paul]
8) Strawberry Fields Forever [John]
9) Penny Lane [Paul]
10) Baby You're a Rich Man [John & Paul]
11) All You Need is Love [John / Paul]

One of dangers of being aware of your own genius is the trap of self-indulgence: the belief that any project you undertake is creative gold.

Magical Mystery Tour was a film made by The Beatles that, by most critics' accounts, was a disaster. As narrated in a film about The Beatles: "Largely a project of Paul's, the idea was to travel the English countryside in a bus filled with friends, actors and circus freaks, and to film whatever happened. Unfortunately, nothing did."

The first six songs, culled from the film, were originally released as an EP in England; the last five were complied from singles and bundled into a full album release in the U.S. Because of this hodgepodge nature, it lacks the coherence of most other of The Beatles' releases, more a collection of odds and ends than a focused work. Nevertheless, many of their most beloved songs can be found on this disc.

One of the interesting features of this album is that one can see the growing divergence in John's and Paul's musical interests [already apparent on Sgt. Pepper's...]. John's songs become even dreamier, sprawling, and stream-of-consciousness, overstuffed full with all sorts of sounds, and his playfulness manifests itself in being odd for oddness' sake; in contrast, Paul's music starts to draw even more from big band jazz, '20s and '30s pop music, and vaudeville. To put it [overly] simply, John grew by looking forward; Paul grew by looking backwards[1][2].

This is most apparent in the disparity between "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", written by John and Paul, respectively, about their childhoods. "Strawberry Fields..." is a somber, haunting piece with complexly overlaid trumpets playing uncertain melodies, constantly shifting in feel and mood; "Penny Lane" is a jaunty tune with cheerful brass fanfares, backed by a happily strolling piano riff.

There are a couple of truly dud songs, by the way -- "Flying" is a vaguely dull piece of incidental music from the film that they decided to include, and "Blue Jay Way" is an actively annoying song from George Harrison.

In many ways, this album is an extension of Sgt. Pepper's..., as many of the songs included were written concurrently with that record[3]. The Beatles' desire for musical extravagance persists, trying to include as many sounds, timbres, and techniques as possible. Interestingly, in contrast, their lyrics become increasingly trivial, from the willful nonsense of "I Am the Walrus" to the simple contradictions of "Hello Goodbye".

The Beatles would spend the rest of their career scaling back this excess, paring down and focusing their palette of techniques.
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[1] This growing musical distance between them is evident in how many fewer co-writing credits apply to each song; and is perhaps also reflective of the growing personal distance between them.

[2] Which is not to say that Paul wrote nothing but happy pop tunes and John stuck only to weird, moody, abstraction.

[3] But not included, since it was a practice then not to include singles on LPs.

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#77: The Beatles, "The Beatles"
The Beatles, The Beatles, released 1968 by Apple Records

DISC 1

1) Back in the U.S.S.R. [Paul]
2) Dear Prudence [John]
3) Glass Onion [John]
4) Ob-la-di,Ob-la-da [Paul]
5) Wild Honey Pie [Paul]
6) The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill [John]
7) While My Guitar Gently Weeps [George]
8) Happiness Is a Warm Gun [John]

9) Martha My Dear [Paul]
10) I'm So Tired [John]
11) Blackbird [Paul]
12) Piggies [George]
13) Rocky Raccoon [Paul]
14) Don't Pass Me By [Ringo]
15) Why Don't We Do It in the Road? [Paul]
16) I Will [Paul]
17) Julia [John]

DISC 2

1) Birthday [John & Paul]
2) Yer Blues [John]
3) Mother Nature's Son [Paul]
4) Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey [John]
5) Sexy Sadie [John]
6) Helter Skelter [Paul]
7) Long, Long, Long [George]

8) Revolution 1 [John]
9) Honey Pie [Paul]
10) Savoy Truffle [George]
11) Cry Baby Cry [John]
12) Revolution 9 [John/Yoko]
13) Good Night [John]

Album after album, The Beatles had constantly tried to expand their techniques and the scope of their music, until each song was an attempt to create a new sonic world full to bursting with swirling textures and a cornucopia of sounds...sometimes verging into arrogance and excess. By Sgt. Pepper's... and Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles seemed to be actively trying to induce new states of consciousness in their listeners. And then came The Beatles, commonly known as The White Album:



In contrast to the maximalism of its predecessors, The Beatles is austere and simple. The White Album is often raw and unpolished, and feels more immediate and present as a result. Each song generally uses a limited palette of resources, giving each song a greater focus. Part of this may be attributed to the fact that many of the songs were written during an extended trip to India to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and they only had acoustic guitars available to them.

The White Album also marks another turning point in The Beatles' career, as for the first time the increasing fractiousness within the band came to its first head: Ringo quit for a few weeks [during which time Paul took over drums]; John's new lover Yoko Ono's constant presence in the studio was a neverending source of tension; Paul's dominance over the group's creative decisions bred resentment among everybody – in particular George, who had to fight for every song released on any Beatles' album.

By now The Beatles had committed many of their world-class political faux pas – John proclaiming that The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus"; snubbing Imelda Marcos and getting kicked out of The Philippines – which may have spurred in them a greater sense of social and political consciousness. While some songs still show playfulness and joy, their lyrics – John's in particular – evince a growing dissatisfaction with the establishment, and show a bitterness towards the world at large: the sarcasm of "...Bungalow Bill", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Piggies", and "Revolution 1"; the call for decadence of "Why Don't We Do It..."; the screeching despair of "Yer Blues". The sheer wildness of many of the songs contributes to the darker, subversive mood of the album.

I consider The Beatles to be a summary of 20th-century pop music. Each song provides a distinct style, drawing from almost every imaginable source: '30s dance hall music, soupy crooning, raucous rock, gentle ballads, blues, soul, and so forth. It makes for a unique, if extremely uneven, experience; even the songs fall flat feel necessary to the flow of the album simply for the constant change in feel they provide. And then there's outlier "Revolution 9", a tape collage piece from John largely inspired by John Cage [a good friend of Yoko's].

This constant sense of temporal displacement, this barrage of anachronisms, is actually singularly disconcerting, and a little unsettling.

My favorite tracks are "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" [featuring Eric Clapton on lead guitar], "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Blackbird", "Helter Skelter", and "Honey Pie".

And so you know, I think "Revolution 9" is self-important indulgent crap.

The White Album is a mishmash of musical personae, a tribute to all of the band's influences...perhaps the first instance of *meta-pop*. There are quite a few duds in here – songs that sound like filler, or throwaway material. But the oddity of it is that they still help TheBeatles feel like a coherent statement, a whole, even if some of its parts don't keep pace with the rest.

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#78: The Beatles, "Yellow Submarine"
The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, released 1969 by EMI Records

1) Yellow Submarine [Paul / John]
2) Only a Northern Song [George]
3) All Together Now [Paul]
4) Hey Bulldog [John / Paul]
5) It's All Too Much [George]
6) All You Need is Love [John / Paul]

7) Pepperland
8) Sea of Time
9) Sea of Holes
10) Sea of Monsters
11) March of The Meanies
12) Pepperland Laid Waste
13) Yellow Submarine in Pepperland

Yellow Submarine was released to accompany the film Yellow Submarine, a psychedelic animated film that completed The Beatles' contractual obligation to United Artists. They weren't interested at all in being a part of the project[1]; a couple of songs were written to be showcased in the movie, George Martin provided the incidental music, and that's about it. When presented with the finished product, however, they liked it enough to appear in cameos at the end.

So this is all to say that this isn't a proper Beatles album, featuring two re-released songs, four others from the Sgt. Pepper... era, and excerpts from the soundtrack composed by Martin. The new songs aren't throwaways, however. Both of George's songs are gorgeous; "Only a Northern Song" includes wonderful use of the pioneering Moog synthesizer, and "It's All Too Much" is one of my favorite Beatles songs, with a striking introduction featuring beautifully distorted guitar feedback, and strongly reminiscent of "Tomorrow Never Knows". "All Together Now" I find pretty meh, but "Hey Bulldog" is a fun song with a totally rocking bass part from Paul.

The second half of the album, Martin's soundtrack is imaginative, evocative, and playful; his rearrangement of "Yellow Submarine" for the last track is an excellent example of how pop and rock should be arranged for the classical idiom. Rather than simply play the song with different instruments as so many do, Martin uses the orchestra to full effect, adding lots of neat counterpoint and providing a variety of moods and feels.

Anyhow, Yellow Submarine is kind of trivial in the context of The Beatles' output, but there are still some gems present.
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[1) Each Beatle was actually voiced by an actor.

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#79: The Beatles, "Let It Be"
The Beatles, Let It Be, released 1970 by Apple Records

1) Two of Us [Paul]
2) Dig a Pony [John]
3) Across the Universe [John]
4) I Me Mine [George]
5) Dig It [John / Paul / George / Ringo]
6) Let It Be [Paul]
7) Maggie Mae [traditional, arr. John / Paul / George / Ringo]

8) I've Got a Feeling [Paul / John]
9) One After 909 [John / Paul]
10) The Long and Winding Road [Paul]
11) For You Blue [George]
12) Get Back [Paul / Preston]

In early 1969, The Beatles began writing and rehearsing in order to prepare for their first live concert in over two years, joined by keyboardist Billy Preston[1]. This process would be documented on film, which would also fulfill the conditions of their contract with United Artists that had begun with A Hard Day's Night.

They spent the first half of January rehearsing in Twickenham Studios to facilitate the filming process, but The Beatles' dissatisfaction with the location exacerbated tensions within the group. John all but refused to participate creatively, letting Yoko speak for him; what comments he did offer were tinged with characteristically derisive and bitter sarcasm. Paul became even more shrill and overbearing in his increasingly desperate attempts to hold the group together, even lecturing George on how to play the guitar. George, already angry about being subordinate to Paul and John despite the deep musical respect given him by his friends[2], quit the band on January 10th. He was convinced to rejoin the band as they moved back to their more comfortable Abbey Road setting on January 22nd.

Their rehearsals culminated in a concert atop Apple Records' headquarters, during which they played about half an hour of music before being shut down by the police because of noise and traffic complaints.

Originally, Let It Be was intended to be named Get Back, an album of live performances by The Beatles. The sessions were so fractious, however, that the band was reluctant to sift through the resultant material, and handed the sessions off to another producer to mix and master. After The Beatles constantly delayed the release of Get Back[3], they eventually agreed to have John give the tapes to producer Phil Spector[4], who came up with what would eventually be released as Let It Be in May 1970[5], after The Beatles had been officially dissolved.

Because of the circumstances of its creation, the album itself is very uneven, essentially a compilation of whatever material was at hand. It lacks any sense of unity, as The Beatles essentially asked other people to salvage something of discards they no longer wanted anything to do with. Though it features some of The Beatles' best and most memorable songs ["Two of Us", "Across the Universe", "Get Back", and one of Paul's most beautiful, "Let It Be"), most of the other tracks are barely worthy of a B-side.

In summary, Let It Be is a few great songs surrounded by dreck, and kind of typical of what happens when bands try to "go back to their roots"[6]. But the experience of listening to the album is inseparable from the context in which it was made, giving it a pathos that particularly tinges the songs about reconciliation...or the impossibility thereof -- particularly "Two of Us", "Let It Be", and "The Long and Winding Road".

The Beatles would reconvene in late February 1969 to record what they knew would be their last album.
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[1) Preston's contributions on the Hammond organ helped highlight John and Paul's intentions to go back to the blues and soul they adored in their youth.

[2) Such as Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.

[3) Partly so as not to interfere with the release of Abbey Road in late 1969.

[4) Paul had agreed to let Spector produce the album but wasn't given an opportunity to review the producer's work before Let It Be was released, and was horrified by what he heard -- in particular the treaclifying of "The Long and Winding Road". Decades later, he would release his own version of the LP as Let It Be...Naked.

[5) To coincide with the release of the film, also now titled Let It Be, which is now, sadly, unavailable.

[6) Something that often results in something that feels contrived and forcibly "homey". See U2, post-Pop.

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#80: The Beatles, "Abbey Road"
The Beatles, Abbey Road, released 1969 by Apple Records

1) Come Together [John]
2) Something [George]
3) Maxwell's Silver Hammer [Paul]
4) Oh! Darling [Paul]
5) Octopus's Garden [Ringo]
6) I Want You (She's So Heavy) [John]

7) Here Comes the Sun [George]
8) Because [John]

Abbey Road Medley:
9) You Never Give Me Your Money [Paul]
10) Sun King [John]
11) Mean Mr. Mustard [John]
12) Polythene Pam [John]
13) She Came In Through the Bathroom Window [Paul]
14) Golden Slumbers [Paul]
15) Carry That Weight [Paul]
16) The End [Paul]

17) Her Majesty [Paul]

After years of growing bitterness within The Beatles, everyone involved knew that their next project would be their last. Conscious of this, they did their best to set aside their differences and work together as harmoniously as possible. The result was one of their strongest and most highly regarded albums, Abbey Road.

On Abbey Road, The Beatles balance the ebullience and overstuffed nature of Sgt. Pepper's... with the austerity and restraint of The Beatles. The lush timbres that were at the forefront of the former are still evident in the fullness of their arrangements, but the special effects and orchestral sounds that marked that period are now used sparingly and to more subtle effect. What stands out on Abbey Road isn't The Beatles' willingness to experiment and push boundaries, but their pure musical talent, their mastery of their craft.

"Come Together" is a cool, sultry song by John, anchored by Paul's sweet bass groove and great drumming by Ringo. Though by now John's lyrics are willfully nonsensical, it's still one of my favorites.

"Something" is a gorgeous love song by George, marked by a cleverly designed lick that he uses to modulate surprisingly and effectively, and whose ambiguity emphasizes the desperate uncertainty of the tune.

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is in the mold of Kurt Weill, a bouncy, catchy tune about a charismatic serial killer who crushes his victims' skulls with his hammer. There's a synth part in there that always reminds me, appropriately, of Walter Carlos's[1] score for A Clockwork Orange.

"Oh! Darling" is a grinding love song from Paul that recalls Motown doowop, given edge by Paul's rough and anguished singing and John's spare but harsh punctuations on rhythm guitar.

"Octopus's Garden" is one of Ringo's tunes, and it's a cute and sweet song...though it's given a touch of sadness by the fact that Ringo wrote it to express his feelings about just wanting to get away and escape from it all.

Unlike in his other tunes, the lyrics for John's love songs are generally raw and simple, featuring repeated lines [2] that begin to sound almost like invocations in their single-mindedness. So it is with "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", in which the only words are permutations of 'I want you so bad / It's driving me mad / She's so heavy'. The most memorable part of the song is the oppressive groove[3] that's repeated throughout and comprises the last four minutes of the song, stopping suddenly at the end[4]. Sometimes I find this song really powerful, and other times I find it incredibly dull.

"Here Comes the Sun" is another song of George's, and his most well-known. The light, acoustic guitar riff that begins the song is a wonderful antidote to the weight[5] of the previous song, and George takes a page from John, composing a bridge that bounces between 3/4 and 4/4. It's a really lovely song, and somehow while happy and cheery is never insipid.

"Because" is a slow, dreamy song of John's backed by a harpsichord-like ostinato in 8/8, in absolutely beautiful 3-part homophony throughout.

The medley that ends Side 2 of Abbey Road was mostly together by Paul from fragments of songs abandoned by John and Paul. Given that, it could have been a haphazard mishmash of random stuff[6]. Instead, under Paul's direction, it became a seamless long-form composition with incredible emotional resonance.

"You Never Give Me Your Money" alludes to The Beatles' rocky financial relationship with Apple Records. The song is in three sections: it begins with a wistful piano and vocal part, given occasional accents on Paul's bass before shifting into a groovier section about destitution, after which George's guitar solo leads into a more optimistic verse from Paul, ending in an odd nursery from from John that fades out into nature sounds, leading into

"Sun King" is very similar to "Because", a sleepy song in sung in rich harmony to John's meaningless Italian lyrics. As it ends, a drum pickup fill introduces

"Mean Mr. Mustard", a stompy, plodding tune in 4/4 whose verses want to be in 3/4...and eventually succeeds in pushing the chorus at least into 12/8 for the last few bars of the song, which is interrupted by three guitar chords that form the backbone of

"Polythene Pam"[7], an energetic song of John's inspired (allegedly) by a night of kinky sex and a fan of theirs who would eat polythene (unrelated). It ends with a guitar solo (by Paul, I think), that segues (with the help of a tambourine providing continuity) into

"She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" is a fun and silly song of Paul's that I think is poking fun at John's penchant for absurdity. It ends on an unresolved chord, which is picked up by

"Golden Slumbers" is a moving lullaby from Paul that takes its lyrics from a poem by Elizabethan poet Thomas Dekker that begins softly with Paul singing and playing the piano, swelling to include the full band, and then receding again until Ringo brings us to

"Carry That Weight" is one of the few tracks on which all four Beatles sing, and is sometimes claimed to be a message from Paul to the rest of The Beatles that nothing they could do as individuals could live up to what they accomplished together. Its most amazing moment features a brass chorus announcing the opening chords from "You Never Give Me Your Money"[8], heralding that song's third verse. That's followed by another refrain of "Carry That Weight" and the transition into John's nursery rhyme from "You Never Give Me Your Money"...but what we expect as the last eighth note in a 4/4 bar actually turns into the quarter-note pickup to

"The End" is The Beatles' farewell. It's the only track on which Ringo solos[9]; and his solo is followed by three six-bar chunks of Paul, George, and John trading off two-bar solos. After John's last solo, "The End" suddenly switches to a repeated piano chord, eventually growing the gentle goodbye 'The love you take is equal to the love you make'.

--

It's difficult to look at The Beatles objectively; I don't know that there's been a band as fervently revered by so many...myself included. The Beatles defined pop music, and – to no small extent – me. I would be a different person if The Beatles had never existed.

It's easy to look at The Beatles and consider their greatness in terms of 'firsts': first to do this, first to do that. I'm certainly guilty of that. But in the end, nobody cares if you did it first; they only care that you did it best. The Beatles' constant drive to innovate and push themselves could have distracted them from making great music, as it does for many...and sometimes it did. But for the most part, they were able to channel that desire so that it enhanced rather than occluded their vision, and were able to grow peoples' ears while still pleasing them.

It's the greatest honor of my life that I get to contribute in some small part to their legacy.
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(1)Now Wendy Carlos.

(2)See also "Don't Let Me Down".

(3)Which sounds inspired by Pink Floyd, The Doors, and Santana.

(4)It was actually designed to fill up all the rest of the space on Side 1 of Abbey Road, and so the sudden end is where the needle hits the inner 'end groove' of the LP.

(5)Sorry.

(6)Perhaps presaging They Might Be Giants's "Fingertips".

(7)In "Mean Mr. Mustard", the lyric "'His sister Pam works in the shop...' was originally 'His sister Shirley...', but John changed it to better fit Paul's idea.

(8)Which – for me at least – resonates with the "Golden Slumbers" lyric 'Once there was a way to get back home'.

(9)Ringo thought drum solos were dumb, and – with the exception of "The End" – refused to do them.

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