The Beatles - 'Abbey Road' Album Review
Released in 1969, Abbey Road is the eleventh and penultimate studio album that the English rock band, 'The Beatles', released, and the last that they recorded. It was released under the band's own music label, 'Apple Records'.
The album was named for the location of the EMI recording studios that the album was recorded at - the studio is now named for the album, Abbey Road Studios. The album cover - of the four Beatles walking across the zebra crossing in front of the studios, remains one of the most famous and imitated images in popular music. The album topped the recording charts in both the UK and the US, however was received with mixed reviews, though in 2020, Rolling Stone magazine rated the album #5 on its list of the '500 Greatest Albums of All Time', the highest Beatles record on the list.
The album incorporates blues, rock and pop as well as other genres of music, and is the only Beatles album recorded exclusively through a solid-state transistor mixing desk, which afforded a clearer and brighter sound than any of the band's previous records had.
There was a lot of problems in the band at this point, and so many of the songs were recorded with the band members coming in separately, or cooperating as little as possible. Despite the tensions, however, it is revered by many to be their greatest work.
Over 50 years since the album's release, people are still finding it and becoming fascinated by it. I want to know why, and I want to listen to it with a fresh set of ears, hence my reviewing it. Yes, in my opinion, it is one of the greatest albums of all time, and here is why...
Side 1
The album opens with Come Together, a song which was written by John Lennon but credited to Lennon-McCartney. The song reached the top of the charts in the US and peaked at #4 in the UK. In late 1969, John Lennon was sued for copyright infringement by 'Big Seven Music', who had published Chuck Berry's You Can't Catch Me, which had two lines that were almost identical to that of Lennon's song (Lennon sang: "Here come ol' flattop, he come groovin' up slowly", and Berry's had sung: "Here come a flattop, he was movin' up with me"). The song is an earworm, crawling inside of your head and burrowing its way in. The drum fill, provided by drummer Ringo Starr is remarkably simple but very artful, and brings the other instruments together in a way that is distinctly Starr, demonstrating the sound that The Beatles are known for.
The second song is George Harrison's masterpiece, Something, which Frank Sinatra called "the greatest love song of the last 50 years." Over the years, Harrison gave varying reasons for having written it; originally stating his first wife, model and actress Pattie Boyd as his muse before eventually saying that it had been inspired by the figures which are worshipped by people and how people should feel about religion. The song, in my opinion, is the most perfect love song, though nowhere is the word 'love' actually sung in it. The vocals, also by Harrison, are beautiful and is a true display of the love which he once had for Boyd, whom he married in January 1966. The music video is also quite beautiful, featuring all of the then-wives of The Beatles, expressing the love which each Beatle had for his wife.
Maxwell's Silver Hammer is lyrical genius, written by Paul McCartney and once again credited to Lennon-McCartney. Within it, McCartney manages to fit the words 'pataphysical science' into the song, which is the study of science which is superinduced upon metaphysics, whether within or beyond the latter's limitations extending as far beyond metaphysics as the latter extends beyond physics. I'm not totally sure what that means, but 'pataphysical' is a big word and impressive no matter what context it is used in. Additionally, it is typical McCartney to turn a song about a serial killer into a ditty that people would whistle as they went about their daily life. It's a catchy song, as almost all of The Beatles' songs are, and it is clear that it was agonised over both inside of the studio and out of it. Sixteen takes of Maxwell's Silver Hammer were carried out, with additional overdubs by the group taking around three additional days.
The next song, Oh! Darling, is another McCartney composition, and a love song - though it pales in comparison to Harrison's Something, the second track on 'Abbey Road', though Oh! Darling is somehow just as flawless. The lead vocals from McCartney are incredibly strong and angelic, and the backing vocals from the other Beatles make it seem quite haunting. However, this is a beautiful song despite all of that.
Ringo Starr's Octopus's Garden has long since been revered as a children's song similar to Yellow Submarine ('Revolver', 1966), which Starr also sang the lead vocals on, however I find it to be quite fun and endearing. I'm absolutely in love with Starr's voice because it is quite different to that of the other three Beatles - more baritone and, in my opinion, his voice has more character to it. The song is fun and enjoyable, and I always find myself singing along to it without meaning to because it is so simple and so light, which is in stark contrast to Maxwell's Silver Hammer. It is one of the happier sounding ones on 'Abbey Road', and one of my favourites on the album overall.
My feelings on I Want You (She's So Heavy) are quite conflicted. I find it to be an odd song which never quite reaches its apex, however it is so simply Lennon that it's like a slap in the face, and for that I am quite fond of it because it is very characteristic of the kind of writing that Lennon was doing at this point in his life. It was inspired by Yoko Ono, the Japanese conceptual artist, who was then Lennon's newly wedded wife. In itself, I find the song to be intriguing; the lyrics make you question what they mean and draw you back in time after time, but I find myself not ever liking it enough to add it to a playlist on my phone, however whenever it comes on when I do play the vinyl record of 'Abbey Road', I vibe with it. I sway to it and sing along. Some would say that it is quite daring, lyrically, because it can so easily be interpreted as a song with a sexual meaning behind it, which was not entirely welcome throughout The Beatles' career. I Want You (She's So Heavy) is very guitar heavy, with a lot of energy that is well concealed behind it, and sounds quite different to a lot of what is on the rest of the album, though it is quite alike to Because, a song also written by John Lennon and partially inspired by Ono, because it is quite slow and Lennon sings it with a deeper tone than he has done with previous songs on previous Beatle albums.
Side 2
One of my favourite songs of all time, Here Comes The Sun, is another song written by George Harrison. It was written in Eric Clapton's garden on a day when Harrison should have been in the music studio but was instead playing truant. It is a genuinely beautiful song, with a perfect message - 'look to the future'. It is a song which I find myself listening to almost everyday, regardless of my mood. The harmonies within it are golden, and Harrison's voice is incredible. Here Comes The Sun truly is one of the best songs that came from The Beatles, and certainly the best that George Harrison wrote during his time in the band.
Because, the second song on side 2 of 'Abbey Road', is a classic Lennon composition, as previously mentioned. It immediately precedes the medley on side 2, and features a prominent three-part vocal harmony by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, which was recorded three times over to make nine voices in all. Lennon cited Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sinata' as his inspiration; Because is the 'Moonlight Sinata' played backwards, and was played originally by Yoko Ono at the request of John Lennon. When I listen to it, I think that there is a psychedelic sound to it - I can almost imagine spinning through a kaleidoscope as it plays. Additionally, Because is a haunting lullaby that has - on more than one occasion - brought goosebumps out on my flesh. It is hauntingly perfect, and one of the most successfully experimental songs which The Beatles produced.
The next song, You Never Give Me Your Money, is a pretty piano ditty that is perfectly suited to McCartney's voice. You Never Give Me Your Money is almost like two songs combined... and of course, as with all Beatles songs, it works. The lyrics are quite odd, but they have you going back again and again to relisten to it and make sense of them.
As with other tracks on 'Abbey Road', Sun King features lush multi-tracked vocal harmonies, provided by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. The working title was Here Comes The Sun King, but was shortened to Sun King to avoid confusion with Here Comes The Sun. At the end of the song, the music abruptly ends and Starr comes in with a drum fill which leads into the next track, Mean Mr Mustard. Sun King is perhaps the dullest on the album, and seems to be a song to just bridge a gap between songs in the medley. I don't think that it really fits on the album, however the song is an interesting combination of the instruments of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr, and is altogether not unpleasant because the combination does work.
Mean Mr Mustard is a fun and upbeat ditty. The lyrics don't make too much sense, but that is part of the overall fun of it.
Polythene Pam is a very sudden song, a part of the medley on side 2. It is led into quite nicely. Lennon took the lead vocal, which is in direct comparison to McCartney's role on Mean Mr Mustard, the precursor to Polythene Pam.
The next song, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, was, as McCartney said, inspired by the 'Apple Scruffs' - the devoted fans of The Beatles who'd wait outside of the band members' houses and of their Savile Row offices. McCartney said that specifically, the song was inspired by the fans which broke into his house on Cavendish Avenue, London, just several minutes' walk from EMI studios on Abbey Road. Diane Ashley, one of the fans who broke in, said of the occasion: "We were bored, he was out and so we decided to pay him a visit. We found a ladder in his garden and stuck it up at the bathroom window which he'd left slightly open. I was the one who climbed up and got in." She Came In Through The Bathroom Window is launched into immediately from Polythene Pam and has beautiful harmonies. Ringo's style of drum playing is really well suited to this song and McCartney's singing.
Golden Slumbers is a chill song that makes it very clear that the album is drawing to a close. McCartney sings the dulcet lead vocal on the song, beginning in a tone that is appropriate for a lullaby, with the drums coming in a few lines into the song, where McCartney then switches to a stronger tone. This changing of tones from McCartney is a demonstration of how powerful his voice was at this point in his music career and what a talented musician he was at such a tender age - McCartney was only 27 when 'Abbey Road' was released in 1969. The song, I think, is one of the hidden gems on the album, not least because of the talent of McCartney's voice.
The next song, Carry That Weight, is a tune that I tap along to everytime I hear it. For me, it really shows the friendship that the four Beatles had amongst them despite the difficulties and tension that they were facing at the time of recording. It is a song that I always play loudly, and I always sing along. It's fun, and feels like a song that sounds better the more people sing along to it with you.
The penultimate song on 'Abbey Road' is The End, which is quite oddly named considering it is not the last song on the album (Her Majesty, McCartney's casual and playful tune about Queen Elizabeth II is still yet to come), however it was the last song that The Beatles ever recorded together, and features a beautiful lyric that is actually on my bedroom wall - "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." I love this song because it features one of the few drum solos by Ringo Starr. In fact, all four Beatles have a solo in The End, making it perhaps the most musical of all of the band's songs.
The final song, Her Majesty, is just 24 seconds long - the shortest Beatles song to have been released on an album, and is a casual, fun little ditty written by McCartney about Queen Elizabeth II. There is very little to say about it, other than it is sweet and typical McCartney - a fun little song that has no purpose other than to be enjoyed.