Band: The Beatles
Album: Abbey Road
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Some love "Abbey Road" and some don't, but I find it to be great. The second side is an amazing medley of everyone's compositions. The first side has one of the greatest love songs of all time ("Something"), as well as Ringo's silliest/best song ("Octopus' Garden"). "Come Together" is a classic, as is "Oh! Darling." Yes, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is kind of ridiculous, but it's pretty amazing linear misanthropic storytelling. gotta hand it to Macca on that one.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: People don't love this album, though I am not really sure why.
Best song: "Something" is probably my favorite love song of all time. I also adore "Here Comes The Sun."
Worst song: I'm not really sure. I love this album almost as much as "Revolver" and almost never skip songs. Maybe "You Never Give Me Your Money?" Even that's a great song.
Is it awesome?: Absolutely.
On a pure enjoyment level, "Abbey Road" is rivaled only by "Revolver" in my head. I adore the Abbey Road Suite on the second side and it features the two best Harrison-penned songs in "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something." It's the Beatles' last record and it features some of their best straight-up songs. There isn't a lot of fooling around with tape loops, parody songs or sitar. It's just pretty music.
It doesn't show a changing band like "Revolver" or the band at the top of its game like "Sgt. Pepper's," but it continues to be the one album I continually enjoy every single time I put it on. There's a lot to be said for that.
1 comment:
Abbey Road would easily make my top 10. It's a culmination of everything they had done up to that point. After essentially starting rock music in the Rubber Soul/Revolver era (before that, there was some great music, but nothing went beyond the pop-view of early rock n roll), the Beatles transcend rock on their swan song. I know people who don't get rock music that consider this a masterpiece.
Post a Comment