THE BEATLES [AKA: THE WHITE ALBUM]

Okay The Beatles White Album huh? The general consensus claims it to be the first ever double LP! Well too bad its not, "Freak Out!" By the Mothers Of Invention is, but thats a horse of a different color. This is probably the Beatles' most eclectic piece of music as it is a mix of about 10 different genres. How about a review now?

Disc 1 of 2 starts off with "Back In The USSR", a spoof of the Americanism presnted in "Back In The USA". Its a nice tune, but not very Beatle-esque and I prefer their other works to it. "Dear Prudence" is a ballad that can get quite repetitive at times, but it always btings a smile to my face it it just has the feeling of a happy atmosphere surrounding it. "Glass Onion" starts out with a referance to "Strawberry Fields" and that's the only hit it'll score with Beatles fans. Very trite and boring. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La- Da" is nother sweeter-than sugar song that I don't particularly like, but can't help to smile at. The lyrics tell of a couple who get married and grow up together, and it's just very refreshing and crisp. "Wild Honey Pie" is a very quirky piece, it is just a few strings being played with a weird growling voice singing the title. Not much, but a nice touch. Next is "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill", which is a childish track and lacks substance. Alot of people mention it as a favorite, but if you asked me I would tell you to just skip it. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" takes the cake as my favorite Beatles song of all time. One of the greatest songs ever, and it just demands a listen. The lyrics are intensely melancholy, yet the guitar lines are deep and beautiful all together. Just awesome! "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" is another excellent song, more melancholy but a tad more upbeat with the guitar. these two songs flow very nicely together and they are my favorites on the album. "Martha My Dear" features an excellent piano introduction, and it is onemore of those happy little love songs that makes you think of your loved ones and nod and smile. Very catchy, an excellent song as well. "I'm So Tired" is yet another great song, but unlike the previous three this takes a little bit of time to appreciate the musicianship and the way they fuse the blues with softer melodies. "Blackbird" breaks the chain a little bit as the music isn't really "all there", but McCartney's vocals shine brightly in a musically-lacking piece. "Piggies" equals filler. Please do yourself a fovr and skip this track, your body will thank you! "Rocky Raccoon" is not a very good song, but it is very interesting to look at the honky-tonk atmosphere the Beatles show here, which stray away from their normal sounds. "Don't Pass Me By" starts with a great percussion introduction but quickly slips downhill when the scratchy vocals and annoying chords come into the song. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" is another short quirky number that you can help but play over and over again. Sheer addictiveness right here! "I Will" is a nice little ballad, you should paly it to that special some-one and it'll bring a smile upon their face. "Julia" ends the first disc of this album, and it jsut so happens to be one of Kurt Cobain's favorite songs of all time. "not mine though, I don't recommend a listen to it.

Okay now we are onto Disc 2. It kicks off with "Birthday", the song everybody just loves to hate. The song itself has reached an iconic status in just about everywhere, as when it is your birthday you just need to hear it! Great riffs, very catchy, a nice little tune. "Yer Blues" is next, and it is just the title suggests, a throw-back to the gritty American Delta blues writers with some gravelly vocals. "Mother Nature's Son" is an acoustic ballad that has some nice work on the horns, but not much substance other than that. "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey" is a quirky little number that seem to enjoy alot. The sound is crisp and clean, and the lyrics make no sense what-so-ever and that always appeals to me when a singer can take nonsense and give it meaning. "Sexy Sadie" is classic Beatles-type filler. It is still enjoyable, but it makes no impact and the album would still be the same without it. "Helter Skelter" is far and away the best song on this side of the album, and one of my favorite Beatles tunes ever. A song about a playground slide, George and Paul craft it and shape it into an almost heavy-metal tune. The Beatles never have sounded this heavy, and they never would again in their career. The next song is "Long, Long, Long" and it has a touch act to follow. As expected, the soft, mellow balld type song fails to keep any attention to the album after following "Helter Skelter". But on the bright side, "Revolution 1" follows after, and it is the complete anthem to America with it's cultured lyrics, catchy hooks, and just all around enjoyable atmosphere. Excellent tune. "Honey Pie" and "Savoy Truffle" are songs about an actress and a box of candies respectively, and they both need to be burned and never listened to by human ears again. Seriously. "Cry Baby Cry", "Revolution 9" and "Good Night" are all exteremly uneventful tracks, and I usually end the album at "Revolution 1", but I had to warn you about those other two tracks. Utterly terrible, and they take away fromt he overall album's rating as well.

So in conclusion to my longest review yet, this album was an incredible mix of different genres including heavy metal, acoustic balladry, pop, blues, blue-grass and more. Would get a 5 star from me, but three or four utterly horrible filler tracks knock it down to a 4. The good music definately outweighs the bad though!