Album of the Week: Abbey Road

I've been kind of on a Beatles kick lately, spurred by a chance discovery of "Rubber Soul" and "Magical Mystery Tour" in a half price bookshop. When I showed them to my mom, she asked if I had gotten "Abbey Road" yet. When I replied no, she looked at me with shock and sadness in her eyes, and told me I had better get a hold of it quick. Even she had it. So I took her advice and bought it on Amazon.

Now, I've only listened through the album once so far, so this is a fairly preliminary review. But what really impresses me most is the diversity of musical styles and melodic ideas on this album. It careens from psychadelic to hard rock, whimsy to seriousness, a cliché Beatles sound to things almost otherworldly. I mean, "Come Together" rocks with the best of harder stuff, while "I Want You" almost has a Hendrix-like vibe to it. But flying in the face of all reason, this hodgepodge collection of musical ideas locks in together like a vice in terms of overall musical direction. Not only is there incredible diversity, but it is executed with excellence throughout. Every song, no matter how radical, seems as comfortable and focused as the next. This is truly an album in the purest sense. The second half of the vinyl LP, or like, tracks 11-16 on the CD, is more like a pop/rock suite. The songs meld together, ebb and flow, to create something much greater than the sum of its parts. Really quite stunning, I think. Transfixing even.

Many folks are like how I used to be, liking the Beatles only because as music lovers, you had to like the Beatles. I suppose this summer has kind of been a sort of revelation to me, in that I'm discovering just how incredibly advanced this group was. Damn, still is. This shit is as complex as Beethoven's Ninth, but in a much different way. If any of my enormous readership has not given the Beatles a chance, or is complacent as I once was, or just hasn't explored much, I'd really encourage you to do so. I don't care whether you're into alternative, classical, jazz, Icelandic post-rock, shitty top-40, or whatever. Sometimes you just got to get back to your roots, you know what I'm sayin'? I mean, this is art in its purest sense, art that NEEDS TO BE HEARD. I'm kind of awestruck, that a group can be so incredibly popular and be so damn good at what they do in the meantime. A far cry from some of the popular musicians of today.

I'm now somewhat ashamed to share this, but I will nonetheless. On one of the last of my weekend jaunts down to London when I was in Nottingham (damn I'd kill to be able to do that again), I stayed in a hostel up in Bayswater, just maybe a 10 minute's walk to the crosswalk that John, Paul, George, and Ringo memorably traverse on this album cover. They even gave out directions at the desk to get there. And I did not go. May the gods of rock have mercy upon my soul.

However, when I was in 7th grade, I did don a wig, a white suit, and circular glasses to lip sync to "Here Comes the Sun" as John Lennon. That counts for something, right?