In April 1969, The Beatles began work on Abbey Road, the final album they began production on and the second to last album that they released. Forty years later, the album remains one of the most acclaimed in the entire annals of rock and roll. Rolling Stone ranked it as the 14th greatest album of all time a few years ago, and it sits among the top of various online fan-voted album rankings.
It’s not hard to tell why the album is so beloved. Ignoring the bizarre, somewhat failed experiment that is Let It Be, Abbey Road is the band’s swan song and a fitting summary of everything that made the band great in the first place. From a deep debt to early R&B (“Oh! Darling”), to groundbreaking sonic textures (“Come Together”), to pulsing, bright hooks (“Here Comes the Sun”), to an almost kitschy use of chamber pop (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”) — and, most importantly, the fusion of all of these elements into a distinct sound — Abbey Road bears the marks of golden Beatles.
The album has its own flavor and breakthrough, though, like each of their best albums do. Here, it’s the use of blues guitar that was barely hinted at on The White Album. The band’s infatuation with blues is pretty apparent. Not only has the group borrowed some of the textures, but compositions like “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” are not far-removed from the genre.
Abbey Road features the slickest production of The Beatles discography, with producer George Martin catalyzing the band members’ disparate sounds and styles into the work of a balanced group which brings out the best in each of its members. In particular, George Harrison’s work stands out, from the pervasive guitar work to the two strongest compositions on the album: “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”.
It may be strange that The Beatles’ most unified album of the final leg of their career is sandwiched between their two most fractured albums, Let It Be and The White Album. Chalk it up to the album’s mission statement, as declared by Paul McCartney: The four wanted to make a record “just like the old days ... just like we used to,” before internal strife consumed the band.
It’s a noble gesture on the band’s part, but also calls out the biggest weakness of the album. Abbey Road is a great album by a great band but somehow it lacks heart. It all seems a bit cold and calculated at times, as if the four went down a checklist of requirements for a masterpiece. To be sure, The Beatles are talented enough that the product of this approach is inspired and leaves a stunning first impression.
Forty years later, though, the cracks start to show. Abbey Road is not as sprawling as The White Album. It’s not as intoxicating as Sgt. Pepper’s, nor as dizzying as Revolver. Never does it flirt with the sublime or the perfect the way that Rubber Soul does for the better portion of its playtime. In comparison to The Beatles’ real masterpieces, Abbey Road is a bit soulless and disposable.
Second-tier Beatles music is still Beatles music, though. The incredible production, the simulated feeling of band alignment and, especially, the jaw-dropping vocal harmonies forgive the album of many of its flaws. Warts and all, Abbey Road is truly a classic and a worthy entry in anyone’s music collection.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
