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Rating: "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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Come Together (04:21)
Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knees
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please
He wear no shoeshine
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is
You got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me
He bag production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knees
Hold you in his arms yeah
You can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me
He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one Mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
02 Something (03:03)
Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know
Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
04 Oh! Darling (03:27)
Oh, darling
Please believe me
I'll never do you no harm
Believe me when I tell you
I'll never do you no harm
Oh, darling
If you leave me
I'll never make it alone
Believe me when I beg you
Don't ever leave me alone
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and cried
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and died
Oh, darling
If you leave me
I'll never make it alone
Believe me when I tell you
I'll never do you no harm
Believe me, darling
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and cried
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and died
Oh, darling
Please believe me
I'll never let you down
Oh, believe me, darling
Believe me when I tell you
I'll never do you no harm
06 I Want You (She's So Heavy) (07:47)
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
She's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
Yeah, she's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
You know I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
Yeah
She's so
12 Polythene Pam (01:13)
Well you should see Polythene Pam
She's so good looking but she looks like a man
Well you should see her in drag
Dressed in a polythene bag
Yes you should see Polythene Pam
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Get a dose of her in jackboots and kilt
She's killer-diller when she's dressed to the hilt
She's the kind of a girl
That makes the "News of the World"
Yes you could say she was attractively built
Yeah, yeah, yeah
14 Golden Slumbers (01:32)
Once there was a way, to get back homeward
Once there was a way, to get back home
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Golden Slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Once there was a way, to get back homeward
Once there was a way, to get back home
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
15 Carry That Weight (01:37)
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
I never give you my pillow
I only send you my invitation
And in the middle of the celebrations, I break down
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
16 The End (02:20)
Oh yeah
Alright
Are you gonna be in my dreams
Tonight
Love you
Love you
Love you
Love you
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to
The love you make
17 Her Majesty (00:23)
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
But she doesn't have a lot to say
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
But she changes from day to day
I wanna tell her that I love her a lot
But I gotta get a belly full of wine
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
Someday I'm gonna make her mine
Oh yeah, someday I'm gonna make her mine
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Other reviews
By rob
Paul is the only one differing from the other FAB 4, walking barefoot with the right foot leading—clues to his alleged death.
Abbey Road is dominated by Paul’s particular state of grace, especially in the final majestic medley that builds a sober but flashy mosaic.
By pinkoSpallino
This album is mainly famous for its cover, which portrays the 4 boys from Liverpool as they were heading towards their futures.
In short, a great album that demonstrates how this group created unforgettable things.
By Jack Darko
"Abbey Road is the true masterpiece of rock music, it is certainly the album that has influenced rock music the most."
"The track 'The End' is of astonishing beauty because it mixes a sort of primitive punk, rock, and a beautiful slow bit at the end. Absolute masterpiece."
By Braindamaged
Abbey Road was released, the last (but not last) of the 12 albums published by the Beatles.
Come Together has become a generational anthem and is electrifyingly beautiful.
By whereismymind
Between this record and any other, there is a chasm not to be found in the individual songs but in the magic and surreal balance of the whole.
With side B of Abbey Road, music reaches the top and from that moment on, it can only descend.
