Jan 9, 2021
Review #5: Abbey Road, The Beatles
#5: Abbey Road, The Beatles
I wouldn’t say I was intimately acquainted with any of the Top 4 Albums of All Time (according to my mortal enemy Rolling Stone Magazine). Songs in the Key of Life was the album that wouldn’t end (even though I found most of it really joyful and amazing), and by the time it was over I was really primed to hear something I had heard before. Which, luckily, was when the Beatles came on.
Like all fake music fans, the Beatles are among my favorite bands. I like to binge one album at a time, listen to it until I know it by heart, then not touch it again for years. I did this with Abbey Road sometime in high school, and had forgotten what a joy it is.
I’m glad this was what followed Stevie Wonder, because I don’t know if I would have been able to handle a Joni Mitchell album at this point. This album is the epitome of cheerful. In RS’s little blurb, George Martin describes it as “a very happy record … because everybody thought it was going to be the last,” but that sounds exactly like what a fifth wheel would say.
FAVORITE SONGS:
“Come Together” — Can you believe this song was written for a politician? None of the lyrics make any sense, other than One and one and one is three. On second thought, maybe that makes it the perfect politics song…
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” — Such a happy song about violence. Wow, at the end Maxwell kills the judge that sentences him!
“Oh! Darling” — This album is so much better than Sgt. Peppers, the album that topped RS’s 2012 list.
“Octopus’s Garden” — No explanation needed.
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” — This song is ~so heavy~, and its transition to the next one is so sudden and perfect. Also I forgot that this song was nearly 8 minutes long?
“Here Comes The Sun” — This was my favorite Beatles song for a very long time, and it probably still is. Don’t hate.
“Because” — Pick a different Beatle to harmonize with every time.
“You Never Give Me Your Money” — Yes, most of the songs on this album are my favorite songs. I can’t help it! The Beatles are kryptonite.
“She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” — I also appreciated how many speedy songs that follow one after another, even on this second half of the album.
“Carry That Weight” — This album has incredible transitions overall.
“The End” — OH YEAH! ALRIGHT!
“Her Majesty” — This album is so cheeky, can you believe the Beatles had the gall?
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
“Sun King” — I like this song but it’s my least favorite.
IS RS FULL OF IT?
Okay, it’s going to be impossible for me to accurately judge where any Beatles album should be. Let’s just get that out of the way now.
HOWEVER: I think that if there was a Beatles album that was going to be in the top ten, this is it. “Come Together” and “Here Comes The Sun” are too timeless. Sgt. Peppers has been rightfully dethroned.
