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The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

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The album feels even more like a collection of singles (instead of an actual movie soundtrack) than Help! or A Hard Day’s Night, but maybe that’s because every song sounds like it could have been a hit single–with the natural exception of the goofy/weird instrumental “Flying.” Even George’s “Blue Jay Way” paints a vivid sound-portrait in fascinating detail. (I consider Joni Mitchell’s “Car on the Hill” from Court and Spark to be a companion piece about sitting in the Hollywood Hills, waiting for somebody to show up.) And although the goofy TV movie may have been mostly Paul’s baby, this album features the two 45 rpm masterpieces that sum up the quintessential best of Lennon and McCartney at this stage of their development: Paul’s “Penny Lane” and John’s “I Am the Walrus.” (more…)

The Beatles - Revolver

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Revolver wouldn’t remain the Beatles’ most ambitious LP for long, but many fans–including this one–remember it as their best. An object lesson in fitting great songwriting into experimental production and genre play, this is also a record whose influence extends far beyond mere they-was-the-greatest cheerleading. Putting McCartney’s more traditionally melodic “Here, There and Everywhere” and “For No One” alongside Lennon’s direct-hit sneering (”Dr. Robert”) and dreamscapes (”I’m Only Sleeping,” “Tomorrow Never Knows”) and Harrison’s peaking wit (”Taxman”) was as conceptually brilliant as anything Sgt. Pepper attempted, and more subtly fulfilling. A must. (more…)

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Rank ‘em how you like, Rubber Soul is an undeniable pivot point in the Fab Four’s varied discography no matter where, or how, you first heard it. The album was softened up in its original 12-song American edition to jibe with the Dylan/Byrds folk-rock sound, as well as squeeze money from the Parlophone catalog. The 14-song U.K. edition–the version now available on compact disc–is a different, more dynamic, and ultimately more accomplished achievement. (more…)

The Beatles - With the Beatles

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They still had plenty of covers to fill out the running time, but the Lennon-McCartney writing team was gathering steam and beginning to knock out pop classics as if they were pulling them out of thin air. “All My Loving” and “I Wanna Be your Man” come from this record, issued hurriedly to capitalize on English Beatlemania. But even when they were laying into some classic Chuck Berry, by this time the Beatles had acquired a unique sound in the blend of John’s and Paul’s voices, while George was coming on by leaps and bounds as a guitar player. While not absolutely essential, as a snapshot of a band in a place and time, With the Beatles is good for a smile. (more…)

The Beatles - Yellow Submarine

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To the horror of their most obsessive fans, the surviving Beatles have proven more than willing to tamper with their pop legacy, as witnessed by the various facets of their massive, occasionally myopic mid-1990s Anthology projects (and the suspect notion of its faux techno-marvel “reunions”). In boldly revamping the soundtrack to their 1968 Heinz Edelmann-designed animated fable Yellow Submarine, the Fabs have shown they’re not immune to the irony of the age either: their original involvement in the project was both tentative and minimal. This new version completely excises Beatles-producer Sir George Martin’s charming, if sometimes maudlin, orchestral score, offering instead a new “songtrack” containing all the Beatles songs (standout cuts from Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. (more…)