2) The Beatles: Rubber Soul

The Beatles are back on the list and this time with the predecessor to “Revolver.” The importance of this album is really incredible, this album showed a new band, a band that was willing to grow and experiment with new sounds and instruments. No longer were The Beatles just a band playing upbeat love songs that all sounded alike, now they had expanded their horizon to new lyrics and a brand new sound. The sound they had created on “Rubber Soul” was just perfect and they continued working on it ever since this album. Now the U.S. version of “Rubber Soul” was nowhere near as good as the U.K. version and that is the one that I’ve selected to put on the list. It opens up with the fun “Drive My Car” and that is followed by “Norwegian Wood” which set the first indicator of a progression in The Beatles sound. “Norwegian Wood” opens up with an acoustic and then in comes a sitar which is quite unheard of for a rock album but it worked perfectly giving it that mellow tone. “Nowhere Man” follows and this also shows an evolution of the band moving into new directions lyrically opposed to love. Harrison gets in two songs of the album and the first of which is “Think for Yourself” which has some new techniques like the fuzzy bass lines and not to mention Harrison actually on vocals which is quite a rare thing. Next is “The Word” which shows the incredible harmonies by Lennon and McCartney, it’s hard to argue that there is a duo better than those two. Next is the beautiful “Michelle” sung by McCartney and it’s a very basic and primitive song but it sounds excellent and it has great lyrics that are bound to be stuck in your head all day. Soon after we have “Girl” with John on vocals and it gives a rather depressing view on love and John really sounds like he’s emotionally distraught with vocals. The atmosphere certainly picks up after “Girl” because after that is “I’m Looking Through You.” The lyrics are pretty bitter but musically the tempo picks up and it’s more exciting. The tempo once again drops which seems to be a theme of the album with what many regard as the greatest Beatles song “In My Life.” Such a wonderful song that everyone can relate to about looking at your past. John’s vocals really make this song what it is and that fantastic guitar riff gives it that dim mood that fits perfectly with the vocals. Once again the pace of the album jumps with “Wait” which has quite an infectious and catchy chorus. The album stays on the more upbeat mood with Harrison’s second song “If I Needed Someone” and then one of my personal favorites “Run for Your Life.” It has pretty violent lyrics basically implying that he will kill his girlfriend if she cheats on him. It’s a very fun song if you were to omit the harsh lyrics and the album closes on that note. It’s pretty hard to review Beatles albums because their music is so simple and straight forward but that is the magic of them. Music doesn’t need to be complex to sound good and the Beatles really came out on top with this album. “Rubber Soul” is the album that changed the music industry and it’s a great thing that it was responsible for it because it sounds so right.

1. Drive My Car


2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)


3. You Won't See Me


4. Nowhere Man


5. Think For Yourself


6. The Word


7. Michelle


8. What Goes On


9. Girl


10. I'm Looking Through You


11. In My Life


12. Wait


13. If I Needed Someone


14. Run For Your Life