Belated album review: "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles

From Pictures

Though "Rubber Soul" comes in at number 5 on the Rolling Stone list, the argument could be made it's the most important album in the Beatles' career. This was the big evolutionary moment in John and Paul's songwriting; they'd heard Bob Dylan's songwriting and in assessing their own collection felt kind of...silly. Poppy.

And sure the Beatles had already written some of the best pop songs in history, but when you can make a band that has "Love Me Do," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Eight Days A Week," "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Yesterday" on their resume feel "silly," that's a fucking accomplishment. Paul McCartney should've walked into divorce court with Heather Mills, dropkicked her fake leg out from under her, said "I wrote Yesterday" with a shrug, and been handed a lifetime of at-will blow jobs from that stumpy cunt.

But suddenly on "Rubber Soul" that old formula wasn't good enough anymore. Lennon and McCartney wanted more.

Moments of the album show they still had one foot in the pop world, but were reaching with the other foot for some unknown songwriting precipice. It's a fascinating metamorphosis to experience, and it was captured at seemingly the perfect moment.

The first track, "Drive My Car," gives the audience something familiar to wrap their heads around. Yeah, the guitar and bass are a little more groovy than usual, but this is just a solid pop song at heart. And it has a helluva lot of cowbell, so that can't be all bad. It's not my favorite song on the album...and the ending ("Beep beep beep beep yeah") is cringe-inducing. Meh.

The second song, "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," is my favorite on the album. Maybe that's why "Drive My Car" is so annoying: it's a roadblock on the way to this. Often credited as the first pop song that featured an actual sitar, this was an alarum to the Beatles' audience that things were about to change. Maybe not so incredibly much on this album, but...it was right around the corner. And it was going to be good.

God, is it difficult to go back to McCartney's unabashed pop on "You Won't See Me" after the brooding Lennon classic before it. It's not a bad song; it has the requisite amazing harmonies from the singers, and it has a touch of soul influence in the guitar. It's just not "Norwegian Wood." *grin*

"Nowhere Man" is where the seams are starting to burst apart a little, and not unpleasantly. The lyrics are thoughtful and deep (Lennon's signature brooding, this time reportedly about himself), but they sort of beg for a template other than the pop framework they're sung over. Even so, they use the pop base to their utmost, and overall it's a very cool song.

"Think For Yourself" is one of a couple Harrison tunes on the album, and it's interesting to note the Beach Boys influence in the chorus. Another unusual thing is the dual bass line: one is straight bass, and the other is distorted. Just another example of their love for experimentation.

"The Word" is equal parts interesting and annoying. I don't really like the high parts very much, but then the guitar gets all driving and powerful...it's interesting that in their early counterculture days, they're already writing about 'love' as a concept, too. I'm too annoyed by the high parts to say I'd listen to this again, but it's still an interesting component of the whole.

"Michelle" is typical McCartney whimsy, to me. It won a Grammy for best song in 1967, which is a farce and a crime, but what do I know? I'm more of a Lennon man anyway. I dunno. It's like, maybe you come in for McCartney, but you stay for Lennon and Harrison. It's a fun song I guess. Maybe I need some fucking coffee.

"What Goes On" is kind of this country-rock-inspired love song...it kinda rocks. I'm not a big fan of Ringo's voice normally, but this is pretty good. It's not The Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd, but it gets the job done.

"Girl" aches. This song wants that bitch, and you believe it. Lennon's hurt, and we feel his pain.

"I'm Looking Through You" is probably the best McCartney song on the album, and it features a guitar lick that sounds suspiciously like the Munsters theme. It works well.

And now one of Lennon's absolute masterpieces, "In My Life." Consciously I know this is a greater song than Norwegian Wood...it has a wider scope, and it's one of those songs that can make you melancholy at the drop of a hat. Hell, Lennon had to do something after Paul wrote "Yesterday." This is a worthy opponent.

"Wait" is too stilted for its own good. The rhythm is clunky and unpleasant to me. It's a throw-away in my mind. They've already delivered greatness. Who the fuck are you? *Edit: My good friend Paul correctly points out that this song was a necessary part of their musical evolution, one of the first tracks where they "step out of the seamless airtight pop and into some jangly (dare I say Byrds-inspired) anti-rhythms," to quote Paul.*

"If I Needed Someone" shows the influence the Byrds were having on them, by way of the air-tight harmonies of Harrison, Lennon and McCartney. It's funny that the two Harrison songs show the most obvious outside influence. At once it shows him to be a fan of other great bands, and as a fledgling songwriter who doesn't know how to put his own spin on songs yet. Obviously he'll get there. We've heard the later stuff.

"Run For Your Life" is just a simple rock jam. It honestly sounds exactly like "Last Train To Clarksville" by the Monkees, only recorded a full year beforehand. Makes you wonder if those bastions of musical integrity might've ripped the Beatles off. Hmm.

On the whole, this is a great album by a great band. It's not often you get to see metamorphosis in action, but this was the album between "Help," the last of their great conventional albums, and "Revolver," the first of their truly experimental albums. In Rubber Soul we see both those worlds coexisting, which allowed their fans to acclimate themselves to the changing tides.

Within the band, it feels like Lennon had a chip on his shoulder after "Help," and McCartney took an album off. I guess it all happened at the right time. Lord knows, the goddamn Beatles never had a misstep.

Well, except that dumb Yellow Submarine cartoon. And if I get one response from a pothead telling me how great that shit was, I'm climbing to the top of a tower with a rifle.