The Beatles – Rubber Soul (CD)
Product Details
Released in December 1965, Rubber Soul arrived as Bob Dylan and the broader folk-rock movement were pushing pop music toward something more serious and literary, and the Beatles met that challenge head-on without abandoning their melodic instincts. George Harrison's sitar work on "Norwegian Wood" marked one of the first uses of the instrument on a major pop record, a moment that quietly opened a door between Western rock and Indian classical music that would define much of what came next.
Though some might argue that the Beatles' unprecedented evolution from British Invasion pin-ups to pop music visionaries began with BEATLES FOR SALE, RUBBER SOUL is without a doubt the first album to definitively put the Fab Four in the running for Greatest Band Ever. Virtually every aspect of the Liverpool quartet's incredibly diverse sound is in evidence here: the dark, irony-filled Dylanism ("Norwegian Wood," "Nowhere Man"), pop perfection ("In My Life"), the passion for classic tin pan alley balladry ("Girl," "Michelle"), and the love of good 'ol rock & roll music ("Drive My Car"). Peppered with nasty fuzz bass, exotic sitar, cartoonishly sped-up piano that sounds like harpsichord, and elements of country, Motown, and classical music, the album reveals a creative scope and willingness to experiment so revolutionary it can now only be termed "Beatlesque." Though the Fabs don't go as far out on a limb here as on the more overtly experimental REVOLVER, RUBBER SOUL is perhaps the Beatles' most finely crafted and accessible work, and consequently many fans' and critics' favorite.
Tracklist
UPC: 094638241829
Label: Capitol
Release Date: 9.9.09
Format: CD