Andrew_Hicks's Full Review: Rubber Soul by The Beatles
Rubber Soul is the perfect transition album between the early hints of brilliance on Help! and the undeniable, genre-crossing brilliance of Revolver. And it’s also quite a brilliant album on its own, with a perfect blend between standard pop songs and varied, experimental ones. It’s the kind of album that can open with a turbo-catchy McCartney hit like “Drive My Car” and lead directly into the sitar and creepy themes of “Norwegian Wood.” The kind of album that can, in turn, close with the Grateful Dead-sounding vocal-acrobatics of “If I Needed Someone” and the metaphorical wife-beating of “Run For Your Life.”
I have to admit, though, I’m not completely familiar with Rubber Soul yet. I avoided buying it for years because almost half its songs were on the 1962-1966 greatest-hits compilation, and I’m not usually over-eager to pay $14 for less than 20 minutes of music I don’t already have. So I acquired a CDR with Help! and Rubber Soul back-to-back, and it’s a perfect compromise for me. It’s an hour of incredible pop music, and the first album leads right into the second with no jarring effects.
So, first, I’m going to touch on those seven Rubber Soul songs that appeared on the red-disc compilation:
Drive My Car – Like I said, it’s McCartney pop brilliance, from the co-sung lead vocals to the piano riffs during the chorus and “beep-beep yeah” chants. Nothing too sophisticated, but I enjoy it.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – A John Lennon ballad accompanied by acoustic guitar and sitar from George Harrison. It’s unlike anything in pop music to this point, although the Beatles, admittedly, stole the style from another source.
Nowhere Man – It opens with beautiful, a capella vocals from John, Paul and George. Their vocals reside exclusively on the right side, while a mixed-down rhythm track pushes forward on the left. And there’s also a nice guitar solo with a hint of feedback.
Michelle – This is one of the most tender and catchy of McCartney ballads, a cabaret-type number with barbershop quartet harmony vocals on the left channel and a thumping bass guitar on the right. I love it.
Girl – Lennon counters with this dream-trippy ballad full of lazy guitar and spirited backing vocals.
In My Life – One of the Beatles’ most brilliant pop compositions, it sports the first harpsichord solo in rock and a bitter-sweet lead performance from Lennon. Whether mourning a dead friend or relative or bummed out that you can never fully recapture your personal past, you’re bound to relate to the theme.
Every song listed above is brilliant, and added together, there’s more than enough to carry an album. Still, the Beatles add plenty of worthy tracks to round out Rubber Soul. “I’m Looking Through You” begins with an excellent acoustic riff and moves right into an infectious McCartney chorus. “You Won’t See Me” isn’t quite as sonically brilliant, but it’s just as fun, and “The Word” is one of the Beatles’ best-ever attempts at danceably funky music.
The songwriting on Rubber Soul is more advanced than on Help!, released earlier in 1965, but the album doesn’t seem quite as worthy. Maybe it’s the presence of mostly brilliant songs and a few mediocre ones (“What Goes On,” “Wait”), maybe it’s just that I’m more familiar with Help! But this is a must-own album and the first one that sees Harrison come into his own with multiple compositions, and like I said, it’s a hell of a warm-up for Revolver.
Though some might argue that the Beatles unprecedented evolution from British Invasion pin-ups to pop music visionaries began with Beatles For Sale, R...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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