Customer Reviews
2008-11-18
Classic Beatles...
What's to say? This is one of several of The Beatles' best albums from the prime of their career. It was produced after their "Top-40" years when they were dedicated to creativity.
2008-11-05
Mostly great songs; great Production...
Love most of the album then and now. Didn't really understand, though, how much coulda been used elsewhere (like the "White Album"), and how much - not alot - came from other places: Come Together with its' Chuck Berry reference really driving the whole thing; Something, impossible without James Taylor's classic; Oh Darling, yet another Little Richard tribute while Richard was without a recording contract.
Some other curiosities: Mean Mr. Mustard & Maxwell's Silver Hammer (c'mon Paul!); I Want You (She's So Heavy) - a nice soundtrack for a bad Buster Crabbe pirate movie.
Which leaves up with the gems: above mentioned classic A and B side; Here Comes The Sun, You Never Give Me Your Money, Because.
And just like the double-album, we're left with not enough Harrison, to much PM Music Hall cuteness (as memorable as it surely is) and that pretentious "End".
(Is Eric Clapton playing lead on "Something").
2008-10-18
The Group Pulls It Together For One Last Masterpiece....
After doing their last gig on the roof of Abbey Road studios following their "Let It Be" sessions, the group gave it one more go before breaking up for good. One of the reasons for the slight failure of "Let It Be" is that the Beatles weren't really functioning as the Beatles anymore. The album was enjoyable but also very sloppy. It was basically just a collection of solo pieces by each of the members. Abbey Road, on the other hand, was a cohesive masterpiece that was just as good, if not better, than Sgt Pepper. Everything here is in good order compared to the messy "Let It Be". The songs, while they may seem like solo pieces, feature the band working together as a whole to accomplish its task of producing a great album and reestablishing their credibility as the best band of the 60s. It showed that, even while under pressure, the band could do amazing things.
Abbey Road succeeds on many levels. As an album, it almost has a conceptual feel to it. The pending breakup of the band and its related events are felt in many of the songs. "Here Comes The Sun" for example provides a glimmer of hope that the worst was over for the group. "The End", stays true to its title by suggesting that this was truly the band's final show. Despite being conceptual, the album's music is varied enough to satisfy the listener regardless of how many times they have heard it. John Lennon turns out his usual rockers with the tracks, "Come Together" and, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" while Paul McCartney sticks to his whimsical light pop with, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", and, "Carry That Weight". George Harrison contributes two of his best known songs with the gorgeous, "Something", and the afterformentioned, "Here Comes The Sun". Even Ringo gets a shot at songwriting with the playful, "Octopuss's Garden". In some cases, you can just see how the songs work together to raise the album high above the norm. "Mean Mr Mustard" is the perfect companion to "Polythene Pam" despite one being a Lennon rocker and the other being a McCartney novelty.
The group may have been ready to implode but you would never know it just from this album alone. This record showed the group at their strongest in both their playing and their songwriting. As we all know, after the recording of this album, the group memebers all left for solo careers. They all created great work by themselves but nothing as amazing as Abbey Road. Proof that even though all the fighting and arguing, the group really was better off together.
2008-10-15
No complaints!...
Glad to finally get this essential Beatles album on CD...previously only owned it on vinyl.
2008-10-13
20th Century Masterpiece...
This is an album I have been listening to my whole life, basically. Occasionally I see it there in my itunes list and fire it up again. Every time I do, I am re-amazed at how good it is. A 20th century masterpiece.
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This album was release on
1990-10-25.
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