55. The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)

1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won't See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. Word
7. Michelle
8. What Goes On
9. Girl
10. I'm Looking Through You
11. In My Life
12. Wait
13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life

When we last saw the Beatles, they were still a generally happy-go-lucky foursome, ready to churn out boy-meets-girl hits for as long as they could get away with it. By the time this album came out, the Beatles had smoked weed with Dylan and even tried acid (though that won't come up in a big way 'til their next album). I mean, just look at that cover! What a buncha potheads.

This album is quite a big change for the Fab Four. It's widely acknowledged as the album where the Early Beatles end and the Later Beatles begin. Gone forever are the cover songs and the songs seemingly entirely made of pronouns. Here come the sitars and the eclecticism! The love songs aren't gone, of course, but they are handled in more mature and thought provoking ways that songs like 'She Love You' and 'From Me To You' just couldn't handle.

It's also the most musically diverse album the Beatles recorded so far. I can actually HEAR the bass, for one, a feat that had previously escaped the Beatles. And there's riffs everywhere! Where'd all the happy chords go?

And boy have there been improvements in the songwriting. George Harrison in particular has emerged from the shadows of John and Paul to write distinctive songs with personality. Hell, 'Think For Yourself' is positively bitchy, complete with an edgy fuzz bass part. And 'If I Needed Someone' has a guitar part totally lifted from 'The Bells of Rhymney' by the Byrds, but we'll get to that in a couple days.

Ringo keeps up the noble Beatles tradition of being given the worst song on the album to sing. Let's face it, 'What Goes On' is a pretty bland pseudo-country rock song that doesn't quite fit with all these other songs of growing complexity. Even this song is indicative of the future in some small way, as Ringo somehow managed to get some writing credit! We all know how that'd come in handy for his solo career, certainly...

So, it seems every Beatles album we've had so far has had John Lennon totally kicking ass and taking names in terms of songwriting, and Paul getting sort of overshadowed. It's not like his songs are bad, just not quite as good. 'Michelle', the obligatory sappy McCartney song that must be placed on every album, is one of his best. It manages to be cheesy and romantic without giving you diabetes.

'Drive My Car', on the other hand, is his best song on the album, with witty lyrics and an actual bass groove (inspired by Otis Redding's 'Respect', don't you know. It's always fun when the albums in this list start referring to each other).

John, as I mentioned earlier, has by far the most development here as a songwriter. 'Norwegian Wood' is not only John's first song attempting to tell a story, it's also the first rock song to feature that great psychedelic trope, the sitar. It's not played the way sitars are meant to be played, serving more as a peculiar sounding guitar to double the main riff of the song, but these auspicious beginnings would go a very long way in bringing non-Western musical influences into the ever-expanding language of rock.

'Girl' is Lennon at his most world-weary, and how. The deep intakes of breath during the chorus always makes me think of John smoking a joint while recording the song, which lends the track that certain hazy atmosphere. This song is a piece of work lyrically, with lines like 'Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure' serving as a veiled diatribe against the Catholic church. Pretty heavy shit for 1965.

'Nowhere Man' is mainly notable for completely doing away with the ever familiar love song. It's got this ethereal, dreamlike quality that John was so good at during his Beatles period, and killer harmonies. And to top it off, that 'ping!' noise at the end of the guitar solo is sublime. 'In My Life' tackles nostalgia, and does it quite effectively. The sped-up classical piano solo only serves to drive home the fact that the Beatles are growing up. Things will never be the same! 9/10