The Beatles
White Album

THE REVIEW

What can be said in a review of the Beatles’ self-titled “White Album”? Every word has already been said over the past fifty years, often with appreciation, though at the time there were probably also criticisms from those who expected the band to follow the path of the previous Sgt Pepper. Released on November 22, 1968, it should be regarded not so much as a traditional studio album made for radio, but rather as a collection of various unreleased tracks from different rehearsal sessions, held together solely by the criterion of compositional freedom. Beatles fans, who up until 1966 were used to lighthearted love songs with catchy rhythms, after Revolver and Sgt Pepper found themselves facing a group that had matured in composition, style, and image. This album contains 30 tracks distributed seemingly at random, but in their own way forming a coherent thread; it would be impossible to list all the unique features of each song briefly, so I will offer a general analysis of the work as a whole. The first of the four parts (if we think of it as the four sides of a double LP) is the section closest to the structure of their previous albums and features both some of the most well-known songs from the latter part of their career such as “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Obladi Oblada,” as well as lesser-known tracks of remarkable compositional and performance quality like “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” The alternation of lead vocals on the tracks has been a Fab Four tradition since their debut Please Please Me, and this album continues the same approach in its tracklist. The lyrics, which had already started to become more elaborate and complex since “Rubber Soul,” in the White Album are tied together by a certain existentialism and various reflections on life as a central theme. The second part carves out more space for ballads (“Julia,” “Piggies”), swing sounds (“Martha My Dear”), and includes the first song composed by Ringo Starr with the Fab Four, “Don’t Pass Me By,” with a country rock feel. The third part is where hard rock and psychedelic experimentation take center stage, genres the previous album had already drawn on heavily, especially the latter; “Helter Skelter,” thanks to unusually abrasive and distorted sounds for its time (and for the Beatles themselves), is considered one of the first proto-metal and proto-punk tracks in history. The rest of the tracks adopt a similar style, and though not as extreme as the aforementioned song, they stand as valid examples of how the Fab Four could step into the world of hard/blues rock without being overshadowed by contemporaries like the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds. "Yer Blues," a song from this group, was even performed at the Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus, with John Lennon playing and singing accompanied by Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell. The fourth and final side is characterized by heterogeneous songs that range from funk rock (“Savoy Truffle”) to the experimental avant-garde of “Revolution 9.” With such a varied and undoubtedly innovative work for its era, the Beatles definitively shifted from a commercial band dominating the masses to a band deciding to make music purely for their own inspiration, no longer caring so much about radio and recording industry standards. Along with “Pet Sounds” by the Beach Boys and “The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society” by the Kinks, this White Album represents the creative peak of British-invasion bands of the Sixties; any true music lover simply cannot fail to recognize the greatness of this work.

Best tracks: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Happiness Is A Warm Gun,” “Martha My Dear,” “Yer Blues,” “Helter Skelter.”