The Beatles
Abbey Road

THE REVIEW

"Abbey Road" is probably the most mature album by the Beatles. For many, it is even superior to Sgt. Pepper's, although I continue to state otherwise. Nothing to take away from the former, but as tedious as it may seem, Sgt. Pepper's is Sgt. Pepper's.

The album, which takes the name of the famous street where the iconic studios are still located, was born in a rather peculiar period for the Fab4. A period overshadowed by each member's desire to escape, the possibility of pursuing solo careers, too many poisons stirred up by Yoko "Cobra" Ono, by now hated by everyone except the confused Lennon. A period also marked by the flurry of rumors about Paul's alleged death. The end of the Beatles is near, but with a display of mighty fireworks.

Abbey Road, despite everything, is a work of overwhelming charm, rich with exceptional pieces of pure rock, hard, dazzling, at times corrosive, which alternate with the sweetness of velvety strings and guitars played with absolute simplicity. Remarkable vocal performances and exceptionally crafted musical accompaniments clash without any violence with sorties of noise skillfully chiseled.

An excellently crafted overture. "Come Together" is a great piece of rock music with very few rivals, starting from Lennon's metallically fragmented voice, singing lyrics based on his famous nonsense, and the fine and essential drumming accompanying simple yet terribly effective electric guitar solos that help fortify the song's immense structure. McCartney's bass dances, offering impressive riffs, also found in the immensely valuable "Something", second only to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in my opinion.
The voice of the lamented Harrison is alluring, at some points so sweetly thorny that it touches your soul, as is the electric guitar interlude that highlights the song's lightness. It then transitions to a playful phase, a divertissement phase with its benevolent influence on the album's body. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and the second/last song written by Ringo Starr, "Octopus's Garden", flow pleasantly, interlaced by the powerful "Oh, Darling!", vocally taken by McCartney from Lennon. Better this way, in my view. If John had sung it, with his slightly more nasal tone that tends toward a guttural sanguine quality in the higher stages, it wouldn't have had the same effect. Paul's clear voice, explosive in its tenor escapades, possesses the right timbre for an interpretation I judge exceptionally powerful.

Here comes "I Want You", another excellent point in the album. Rock with an acidic tone, suitable for Lennon's voice (refer to the previously mentioned discussion), extraordinarily effective bass lines, and guitars initially caressed in the interludes and then pleasantly hammered in a resonant final reverb, fused with a sulfurous and destructive hiss, granting power to a song of strong intensity.
Normalcy returns, so to speak, as it reaches very high peaks with "Here Comes the Sun", by a Harrison in a state of grace, who offers us a song of absolutely engaging freshness and essentiality. The graceful coils of his voice, already evident in "Something", envelop the listener's ear, creating an important disorienting effect.

"Because", skillfully traced over a piece of classical music (perhaps Beethoven) and cleverly reversed, is another atypical track (see She's Leaving Home), accompanied only by voices and a guitar/organ/harpsichord (forgive me) of great emotional impact. Then the second divertissement is born, translated into a medley, the first, which includes four short pieces quite effective both musically and vocally, except for "Sun King", which appears melodically interesting but marked by an absolutely useless text. The second medley will be found written in history books. "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" needs no introduction, much less mine. From sweet and touching airs to boisterous and gracefully invasive choruses, concluding with a phrase born from a mother of philosophy and a father of wisdom. Before listening to the true farewell of the Beatles, where "in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make," savor the 1.21-gigawatt sonic discharge of the Fab4, and we will discuss it further. "Her Majesty" may have been forgotten by Geoff Emerick, but it doesn't matter.

A colossal rock work that remains, in my view, glancing at Sgt. Pepper's from a slightly, almost imperceptibly lower step.