1969 ABBEY ROAD
ABBEY ROAD : Although "Let It Be" was the last official Beatles release, "Abbey Road " was their true swan song, a fitting cap to their career and the decade they dominated. As was usual with Beatles' album, there are no bad tracks here. Divided into two distinct halves with one half being stand alone songs and the other half a continuous medley of songs that justifies its musical pretentious. With this album. George Harrison finally came out of Lennon / McCartney's shadow by producing the two best tracks from the album. The Beatles although deep in tension with each other, set aside their differences long enough to show the world they still have the power to rock 'n' roll and in return we have the best rock 'n' roll record ever from The Beatles or from anyone else in the rock era. Asked a certain group of people from a certain times about a certain type of music and they will tell you that Rock 'n' Roll went downhill after this.
Come Together ( Lennon / McCartney ) : John with his quasi-Beatles albums. I am never tire of this song and also one of the few Beatles' songs that I love singing during my karaoke seasons.
nonsense lyrics again and arguably the best of the lots. One of the few songs that John sang in his concert and also one of the best opener of any
Something ( Harrison ) : Frank Sinatra once praised George by saying that "this was one of the century most beautiful love songs ever written.." but in the same breath stabbed him in the back by saying " by Lennon / McCartney ". This was the only Beatles song that Frank Sinatra would sing. Whatever Frank say or he may have got the credits mixed up, we agreed with his first statement for this is indeed one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. George Harrison's finest achievement within The Beatles and the second most covered Beatles' song. This was also the first George Harrison's single as a Beatles.
Maxwell's Silver Hammer ( Lennon / McCartney ) : The Beatles generally didn't care much for this number except for Paul McCartney who wrote it of course. I love it. Singing in his clearest voice, in nursery rhyme style the song is about a serial killer. Not really one for the children but the melody and arrangement is so damn catchy and irresistible that you just can't help but let your children listen to it. Only The Beatles can make a song about a serial killer sounds so joyful.
Oh Darling ( Lennon / McCartney ) : Another Paul McCartney's song written in the style of John Lennon. Yet another song that I don't care much for initially. When I finally got round to it, it have me in even more awe of the power that was The Beatles or Paul McCartney. This was the one that separates the mere singers from the bona file musicians. Engelbert Humperdinke or any other crooners could never sing this in a million years or for a million bucks. It's unbelievable when you think that the sweet voice that sang 'I Will', 'Yesterday' and 'Here, There And Everywhere' could actually sounds like this. Awesome.
Octopus's Garden ( Starkey ) : The first Ringo Starr composed Beatles' song that I genuinely like. Written with a little help from his friend, George, it was a sequence of sort to 'Yellow Submarine'. It have charms in spades. One of those Beatles' song that I never get tired of listening to. Ringo got his dues.
I Want You ( Lennon / McCartney ) : John at his heaviest on this album. This is generally a good song with limited lyric but it went on for too darn long. If John have shorten it a bit, it could even be single material. Yeah it was that good but then again too long. The influence of Yoko is felt here.
Here Comes The Sun ( Harrison ) : George's second song on the album and generally considered the second best song on the album. Just the song to lift your spirit up when you are having a bad day.
Because ( Lennon / McCartney ) : One of John most beautiful love song to Yoko, this one have three part harmonies by John, Paul and George and it is almost their best.
You Never Give Me Your Money ( Lennon / McCartney ) : This song started the famous medleys on Side 2 of the original record.. It was due to Paul's genius that he managed to link the follow eight songs and linked them together beautifully. This song have three parts. It starts off with a piano ballad, turned into a blues rocker in the middle then fades out with a nursery like ending. Paul was always a master at linking unfinished songs together as he have demonstrated again and again in his solo outings.
Sun King ( Lennon / McCartney ) : The next song in the medley which I considered to be the weakest. Maybe it was due to the Royce Royce standard of the other songs, this one sounds rather...ahem....stale.
Mean Mister Mustard ( Lennon / McCartney ) : With this the tempo picks up. John at his rocking best although a wee bit too short. Before you know it, it's over. Frustrating to say the least.
Polythene Pam ( Lennon / McCartney ) : The sister of 'Mean Mister Mustard', this one demonstrated the rock 'n' roll side of John that he loves so much and which we are so starved of.
She Came In Through The Bedroom Window ( Lennon / McCartney ) : Paul back in the game with this beautiful song due to a recent incident where groupies broke into his apartment and stole some of his stuffs. Joe Cocker would record his own version but The Beatles' version rules..
Golden Slumbers ( Lennon / McCartney ) : With this beautiful lullaby, the tempo quieten down. Paul demonstrated yet again he is still at the top of the game. While visiting his father, he came across a song book with a traditional song 'Golden Slumbers' written by one Thomas Dekker, from the 17th century. As he couldn't read music, he wrote his own version of the song with the same title but with a totally different melody. Awesome.
Carry That Weight ( Lennon / McCartney ) : Another sing-along song from Paul. This song show Paul's thought of The Beatles in its twilight days with its subjects of moneys, business problems and the burdens that goes with it. This is also the kind of mini medleys that Paul loves so much and it set the trends that was to continued through his solo outings..
The End ( Lennon / McCartney ) : The final song from the final album from the greatest band of all time, or was it. This track was more instrumental than vocal. It was as if The Beatles knew that it was to be their last album, their last hurrah, so each of them, John, Paul and George have a guitar solo. Even Ringo who doesn't like drum solo have a drum solo. The last verse for this song says it all " And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you made'. And with that, The Beatles bowed out. They did not go out with a whim, they went out with a bang that would be heard forever.
Her Majesty ( Lennon / McCartney ) : This last song or could it be called a song was originally slotted to be part of the medley but somehow deemed unsuitable so it was left out. The original album doesn't have this title on the record sleeve so fans was pleasantly surprised when they heard it. Sub-sequence CD have this title on the sleeves.
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