| CD Reviews Last updated: 9.25.05 The Beatles Abbey Road Tracklist: 1. Come Together (4:20) (Lennon/McCartney) 2. Something (3:03) (Harrison) 3. Maxwell�s Silver Hammer (3:27) (Lennon/McCartney) 4. Oh! Darling (3:26) (Lennon/McCartney) 5. Octopus�s Garden (2:51) (Starkey) 6. I Want You (She�s So Heavy) (7:47) (Lennon/McCartney) 7. Here Comes The Sun (3:05) (Harrison) 8. Because (2:45) (Lennon/McCartney) 9. You Never Give Me Your Number (4:02) (Lennon/McCartney) 10. Sun King (2:26) (Lennon/McCartney) 11. Mean Mr. Mustard (1:06) (Lennon/McCartney) 12. Polythene Pam (1:12) (Lennon/McCartney) 13. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (1:57) (Lennon/McCartney) 14. Golden Slumbers (1:31) (Lennon/McCartney) 15. Carry That Weight (1:36) (Lennon/McCartney) 16. The End (2:19) (Lennon/McCartney) 17. Her Majesty (0:23) (Lennon/McCartney) Introduction The Beatles had the most successful careers in music to this day. However, in the recording of their last few albums, tensions grew. George Harrison and Ringo Starr quit the band on two separate occasions. The Get Back (later released as Let It Be) sessions were disastrous. For their final album together as a band, The Beatles decided to get together and create an album �just like the old times�. The result was one of the best and historically important albums in music, Abbey Road. Synopsis Lennon�s anthem �Come Together� is the album�s opener. The song has some quite interesting lyrics (�He got juju eyeball�), and also has a very memorable chorus with a very simple meaning (�Come together/right now/over me�). This song is a great first track and is among the best songs on the album. �Something� is one of two Harrison songs on the album. This melodic track is one of his most well known songs, and is also one of the few Harrison songs that became a hit on the music charts. It�s a beautiful track that describes love. Harrison�s voice is perfect throughout the song. �Maxwell�s Silver Hammer� is the first of several McCartney-penned songs on the album. The lyrics are very intriguing. In the song, a fellow named Maxwell�s kills three people with his silver hammer. Each of the verses describes someone Maxwell knows, and once the chorus hits, that signals that Maxwell has killed that person. Even though the lyrics might come off as possibly horrific, the song is done in a comical sort of way. It�s quite interesting how the song progresses, and it�s a very catchy song as well. �Oh! Darling� features some of McCartney�s most powerful vocals. So powerful, in fact, that McCartney almost blew out his voice singing this song. The song has catchy verses that�ll definitely get stuck in your head after listening to it. �Octopus�s Garden� is one of two Ringo Starr compositions (the other is �Don�t Pass Me By� on The Beatles [The White Album]). The song has some strange lyrics about, as the title suggests, octopuses. The lyrics were inspired from a captain that told Ringo all about octopuses while he was on a boating trip. Also included are sound effects such as bubbles that add to the strangeness of the song. Nevertheless, the song is solid and is a fun listen. �I Want You (She�s So Heavy)� is a Lennon composition. It features distinct guitar chords and repeating lyrics that are mostly comprised of the song�s title. This is also one of the longest Beatles songs to make it to record (the longest is �Revolution 9�). This song seems very psychedelic due to the music and its length. The song is well known for the fact that it suddenly ends as a lot of noise builds up. On the LP, this is where Side A ends. On the CD, this effect is still there, and the song goes right into the next song, �Here Comes The Sun�. �Here Comes The Sun� is the second of the two Harrison compositions on the album. It�s a lovely, lighthearted track that practically all listeners will love. From the instantly recognizable acoustic guitar chords, to the infectious chorus and fitting use of synthesizers, this is an excellent track from beginning to end. �Because� is a love song, written by Lennon. The lyrics are psychedelic in a sense. Lyrics such as �Because the world is round/it turns me on� support this. Anyway, the song has a very relaxing feeling to it, mainly because it has a simple, repeating guitar chord and has no percussion. �You Never Give Me Your Money� is a song written by McCartney about the money he should have earned but never received. This track features some nice, soothing piano chords and vocals from McCartney. As the song progresses, McCartney changes his voice for each verse, which results in an interesting effect. This is also the first track of the medley that closes the album, commonly referred to as the �Abbey Road suite�, which is preceded by� �Sun King� starts out with some slow music, and then goes into some slow, melodic vocals (the first lyrics are �Here Come The Sun King�). Included in the song are strange, Spanish words that apparently don�t mean anything. The song ends after about two and a half minutes, then segues into the next song in the medley� �Mean Mr. Mustard� is a louder song than several of the tracks that precede it. The lyrics are strange and describe a mean man named Mr. Mustard and his daily life. This includes sleeping in the park, shaving in the dark, and shouting obscene words. The last few lyrics describe his sister Pam, after which the song segues into the next track�. �Polythene Pam� describes Mr. Mustard�s sister briefly mentioned in �Mean Mr. Mustard�. Lyrics such as "Well you should see Polythene Pam/She's so good lookin'/But she looks like a man/Well, you should see her in drag/Dressed in a polythene bag" make this track a strange, yet amusing one. �Polythene Pam� goes right into the next track� �She Came In Through The Bathroom Window� briefly describes a real life event in which an obsessed fan got into Paul McCartney�s house by going through his open bathroom window. Some of the lyrics are quite unusual: �Sunday's on the phone to Monday/Tuesday's on the phone to me�. After the final guitar chord, there is a second of silence, and then the next track begins. �Golden Slumbers� is a calm track that features some nice verses, piano chords, and some strings as well. The song is actually based on an old poem of the same name. After the final line of lyrics, the next track starts� �Carry That Weight� features all four Beatles singing �Boy, you�re gonna carry that weight/carry that weight/a long time� twice in unison for the chorus. Also included in the is a reference to �You Never Give Me Your Money�. A horn section plays the chorus to the song, and there is a lyrical reference (�I never give you my pillow/I only send you my invitations�) as well. After the final chord, the following track starts� �The End� features the only Ringo Starr drum solo to make it to a Beatles record, and it�s a memorable one. Following the drum solo are multiple guitar solos, played by McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison. After the guitar solos, the song changes into a much slower tempo, followed by the lyric: �And in the end/the love you take is equal to the love you make�, which many regard as the message of The Beatles�s music as a whole. Overall, �The End� is a fitting end to the legacy of The Beatles. After several seconds of dead silence, �Her Majesty� begins to play, seemingly out of nowhere. The story behind this is that McCartney originally included this track in the medley right after �Mean Mr. Mustard�. He didn�t like it, so he got rid of it. A sound engineer was never instructed to remove the track from the album, so he tacked it on at the end of the album. The Beatles liked this effect, so it was left on. �Her Majesty� was one of the first hidden tracks, although nowadays, it is now listed as Track 17. It�s simply a very short track that has McCartney playing on an acoustic guitar. Highlights �Come Together�, �Here Comes The Sun�, �Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End� Bottom Line Abbey Road is bar none one of the best albums in rock. If you don�t own this album, you�re missing a piece of rock history. Final Grade: A+ Any questions, comments, submissions, or anything related to the site should be e-mailed to me: shadowdragonxx [at] hotmail [dot] com. Don't take anything from the site without permission. |
| Abbey Road Album line-up: Paul McCartney � Bass, Guitar, Piano, Vocals John Lennon � Guitar, Piano, Vocals George Harrison � Guitar, Vocals Ringo Starr � Drums, Percussion, Vocals Additional Personnel: N/A Release Year: 1969 Label: Capitol Records Produced by: George Martin |
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