Abbey Road The Beatles

Lucky for me that the next album I get to write about has been and will always be one of my favorite albums ever, Abbey Road, by the Beatles.  Enough has been written and said about this album by music critics far more established to myself so I'll try not to gush over the album too much.  But, it is, in my opinion, a very good album that flows together incredibly well.  What makes Abbey Road even more incredible how well the music comes together in spite of how far apart the Beatles were growing as individuals.  After the aborted Let It Be sessions and film, the Beatles had grown pretty tired of one another and seemed on the verge of breaking up.  A combination of bad personal decisions and terrible financial management had the band in disarray.  At this point, Paul was the one keeping the group together, and he suggested to longtime producer George Martin, that the next album should be made "the way we used to" make records.  Martin agreed and said that he wanted to record the album his way.  The last full Beatles album, The White Album, was recorded in a very disjointed matter and both Paul and Martin wanted the new album to be a collective effort on each song.  It was later revealed in the Beatles Anthology book that the band knew at the time that this would be their last studio album together.  It's hard to think that this didn't factor into the effort everyone put in while recording the album.  Abbey Road can be divided into two parts:  the first half of the album consists of single songs, beginning with "Come Together" through to "Because;" the second half of the album is a medley starting with "You Never Give Me Your Money" and ending with "The End."

The first half of Abbey Road showcases all four Beatles and in the case of George and Ringo, continued improvement in their songwriting abilities.  George scored his first A-side single with "Something," which John called his favorite song on the album and Paul called the best song George wrote while in the Beatles.  Ringo's only song on the first side is "Octopus' Garden," which was one of my favorite Beatles songs when I was much younger (I guess the whole concept of the underwater world appealed to my 5 year old self).  Even though the lyrics are fairly immature, the song structure is at a much higher level than previous Ringo efforts.  "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" shows John pulling in some prog-rock influences and throughout the album there is extensive use of the Moog synthesizer, a new musical toy for the group.

The second half of the album is the collective effort of all four and as a medley should, it flows together smoothly and effortlessly.  "The End" is the final song of the medley and appropriately enough, it features Ringo's only drum solo in the entire Beatles catalog as well as guitar solos from John, Paul, and George.  The last line of the medley is one that remains with Beatles fans forever: "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make."  A fitting way for the Beatles to be remembered.

It's tough for me to single out just a few tracks from the album that are standouts when each song is great to listen to and unique in its own write, but hear are my choices.

Standout tracks:
"Something" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzkhOmKVW08

"Come Together" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_-FjO7U9_k&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axb2sHpGwHQ

"Because" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWlLPJG9Cvg

"Medley"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfHO6-tDDqU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i6kGO9ZnqQ&feature=related

And here are some photo outtakes from the cover shoot: