THE BEATLES [AKA: THE WHITE ALBUM]

What a great compilation of songs that were claiming to be released, and the result, this amazing double disc, who commited only three mistakes: "savoy Truffle", "long, long, long", and revolution 9. Some people didn't want a double release, but it had been crime not doin' that. I love this disc, yeah, it has in its four carats great songs, that i will never forget, because for me, is the better album by the beatles. Vida eterna para Paul!!!

I always say that this is the best album of all times, not my favorite, but damn good!!! The Beatles reached their peak with this one. Lennon´s experimentation would bring the mini suite happyness is a warm gun, the weird Every has got something to hide except me and my monkey, the great lyrics of Revolution 1, the touching and simple Dear Prudence and the progressive blues of Yer Blues among others. Mccartney as always delivers some great pop songs like back in the USSR, Mother nature son, the excellent Blackbird and the proto heavy Helter Skelter. Harrison surprises with Long, Long,Long and the memorable While my guitar gently weeps. Even Ringo has a song of his own: Don´t pass me by. This album really shows how advanced the Beatles were for their time...it was 1968, noone was doing something like this!!! Floyd was still a psicodelyc pop band, Frank Zappa was going for it, but still wasn´t there, jethro Tull was more of a blues,folk band ...really the Beatles were miles ahead of every one...and in many ways still are.

Desert Island Material.

Finally! The Beatles on ProgArchives. And it's about freaking time, since this album has more progressive elements than many albums by Queen, Rush or even Yes. No serious prog collection is complete without 3 or 4 Beatles records. No kidding. The White Album could've made the most fantastic album of all-time...as a single album. Scrape off some 'filler' song (like Cry Baby Cry or Good Night and more, you'll see) and you'll discover the ultimate double album of all time, and probably the most successful.

Many pop moments (courtesy of McCarthney) are sweetening the whole pattern, but in the core, this leads to absolute genius experimentation with the little help from their friends (Clapton, Jagger, Richards). Too many classics on one album, this is too good to be true, I tell you.

Take Helter Skelter, the first 'heavy metal' tune as we know it; Rocky Raccoon and it's cool honky tonk atmosphere; Happiness is a Warm Gun as terribly destructive and double-edged; and the ultimate technological prodigy of the era: Revolution Number 9.

So much progressive goodies and the super popish and oh so catchy grooves that we all know and love is making me choose this as the ultimate Beatles experience.

Groovy, explosive, experimental and terribly addictive, period.

Maybe the best album of music ever, a real masterpiece that covers a wide range of styles: Yer blues (the classic rock blues similar to Rolling Stones songs), Obladi Oblada (the simple and childish song...), the terrible While my guitar gently wheeps (with eric clapton playing th guitar solo), the rock'n'croll track "Revolution 1", and they come very near to hard rock in Helter Skelter. Apart from Revolution 9, senseless and useless track we can define this work the greatest album of modern music...The prog sound in the tracks of this album is not really evident, so it's not the best prog album, certainly, but I consider it one of the most appreciable...

If you asked many of the great prog bands of the 1970's what drew them into music and who were their influences many would have cited the Beatles as their answer. This album isn't flawless and Revolution 9 I believe still has the honour of being one of (if not the) the most skipped over tracks ever released. But right from track one Back in the USSR this album grabs your attention with the famous backdrop of a sound of an aircraft. This energetic track then brilliantly merges into the wonderful Dear Prudence where Harrisons guitar used to great effect to supplement one of Lennons best numbers. Harrison himself has one of his finest moments with the outstanding While My Guitar Gently Weeps. This song was played on the radio programme that announced his death and I've rarely felt so moved.

Of couse there is plenty of pop on here but always plenty of innovation with lovely acoustic numbers mixing with hard rock, blues , jazz, country, psychedelia - you name it its there. Perhaps because of that the Double White album can almost seem disjointed at times but the strong songwriting as ever with this iconic band saves the day. Most Beatles albums deserve 5 stars but my feeling is this album was possibly less inflential in kick starting prog than Sgt Pepper and Revolver and so because of this and its little moments of indulgence (Rev 9) and horrible saccharine (Good Night) I give it 4 stars.

Effectively 4 solo albums (ok, 3 solo albums and a solo single), this is the work of a disintegrating unit. Ringo actually left the group at one point during the making of this double album, leaving McCartney to play the drums on a number of tracks including Back In The USSR.

Having said that, it is one of their best works, also possibly the least known by the general public. The Fabs went back to basics here, starting with the minimalist cover, and this album features the rawest rock they ever recorded (Helter Skelter). There is a dazzling array of styles here - from rock'n'roll to country to jazz to avant garde to bedtime lullaby.A number of these songs were written in India during their time with the Maharishi.

McCartney contributes some solo work (Blackbird, Martha My Dear, I Will, Mother Nature's Son) which is amongst his finest and also some bizarre ones (Wild Honey Pie, Why Don't We and the uncredited Can You Take Me Back?).

Lennon's work includes the biting Sexy Sadie, aimed at the Marahishi who apparently had an eye for the ladies, the multi-section Happiness is A Warm Gun which features the most time signature changes in a Beatles song, a number of stark rock'n'rollers (I'm So Tired, Everybody's got something to hide, Yer Blues) and Goodbye, sung by Ringo but written by John for Julian. Glass Onion was deliberately written for those who like to find hidden meanings in Beatle songs ("The Walrus was Paul").

Harrison contributes the classic While My Guitar Gently Weeps, with Clapton on slide guitar, the underrated Long, Long, Long, the average Savoy Truffle and the not so good Piggies. Starr's contribution is his first solo credit on a Beatles record - the country-tinged Don't Pass Me By, which he had been writing for the previous 5 years.

On top of all this lot (and George Martin begged them to make it a single LP) we get two of the three versions of Revolution (the Lennon/Ono avant garde one which is probably best forgotten and the acoustic version), Lennon's funniest line ("I'll have another cigarette and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git") and a hit for Siouxise and the Banshees (Dear Prudence). The best Beatles album? Possibly.

An eclectic double album by the "fantastic four". Some reviewer said that is "lonely island material". I think this masterpiece should be part of any record collection of any music lover. The immaculate production is astonishing, the execution is perfect, and, although his extension, you wont find any "filler" here. From the surf rock of Back in the USSR, to the experimentalism of Revolution9, you find plenty of excellent music and some progressive signals later used by other bands. Sober, focused and carefully produced, this gem is fantastic from beginning to end. But the best was yet to come.

This album doesn't work as an album. There is too much material for a double album. It's been made by hurry and they even don't play very well together. This is more like a demo album than final version. This is an album made by a tired band. You can hear it. They are not enjoying playing, they are bored, like 'let's play this song and then we can go home'!

Whole band is lost, they are looking new direction but they don't know were to go, what to do. They are trying this and that, but the clue is missing. The biggest mistake is that they made it double. Perhaps everything they recorded was included. One great album would be made of this material, but not a great double album, not even a good double album. There are many great songs in this album but many poor ones too.

Some ideas didn't work, simple as that. That's why I don´t think that this White Album is one of the best Beatles album. It is very overrated album, even the members of the band were not very pleased to this album. Paul said once. Well, but anyway, it is a Beatles album!

The quintessential Beatles album. If there was any of their reportoire that justified progressive labels then ' Double White' definitely fits the bill. Conceptual by nature, damn challenging and demanding at times. Listen to ' Revolution nine' it is really experimental. There is no doubt these guys lay down a lot of ground roots for the the real pioneers of progressive sounds but then again one always needs at least one band or personality to start the ball rolling. Elvis Presley was another liberator of expressionism.

Double White is a richly textured album which from host to post delivers excellent music. There is no point discussing the mastery of the musicians because they were never brilliant, what they were brilliant in was the mastery of experimentalism and two fingers up to the critics or unbelievers at the time. In terms of material there are too many good songs to mention and it would be far easier dissecting a Porcupine Tree album instead! However these ones shine out as the best from an overall masterpiece of it's genre. ' Back In The USSR', ' Helter Skelter", " Wild Honey Pie", " Happiness Is A Warm Gun" and the irrepressible " Rock Roccoon". Recommended to anyone who felt that the Beatles were below progressive music. Any Beatles fan would arguably have this and ' Revolver' at the top of their list.

The year 1968 was a very problematic year, not only for The Beatles. There were students riots around the world, including one of them in my country which was heavily repressed, ten days before the Olympic Games were celebrated in my city. I have vague memories of the riots and of the Olympic Games, being myself three years old at the time, but, believe or not, I still have some memories about them.

This album also was recorded during a tense period of three or four months in 1968, on which The Beatles had a hard time. Due to the tension, even George Martin and long time Recording Engineer Geoff Emerick went to their respective holidays during the recording of this album, leaving to then new Recording Engineer Chris Thomas the task of working with The Beatles for several days. Even Ringo Starr left the band for several days. Despite the tension, it is amazing that this album is still very good, even giving the impression of being recorded during "happy and funny times".

In this album, The Beatles left Psychedelia behind them. Some of the songs were recorded in different combinations of the members of the band, or even alone. For example, "Wild Honey Pie" was recorded by Paul alone, "Why Don`t We Do It in the Road?" was recorded by Paul and Ringo, "Julia" by John alone, etc. During Ringo`s absence, Paul recorded drums in "Back in the U.S.S.R." (with George and John also adding some drums parts in this song) and in "Dear Prudence". George Martin also did several very good orchestral arrangements for some songs. But the general impression was, IMO, that this album marked a "change" for the band in many ways.

My favourite songs from this album are: "Dear Prudence", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Martha My Dear", "I`m So Tired", "Piggies", "Julia", "Yer Blues", "Helter Skelter", "Long, Long, Long", "Honey Pie", "Cry Baby Cry" and "Good Night". There is also a very experimental piece of music called "Revolution 9" created and recorded by John, with some collaborations by Yoko Ono and George Harrison.

The Beatles isn´t a prog band, because progressive music was far from exist in 67, but bands like Frank Zappa or the Beatles made records that were near to this kind of musicc.

"The Beatles" isn´t a concept album, but it smells like it, isn´t a progressive album but many songs are joined and sounds great together. Without looking for the progressive thing , this double album is almost PERFECT. Inside there are the best and the worst beatles songs.

1st Disc Back in the USSR: Great starting, perfect rock, making fun of Beach Boys (8/10) Dear Prudence: This sounds so....near. Out of time. Perfect (10/10) Glass Onion: Another acid song by Lennon. (8/10) Obladi-Oblada: It´s a good popy song, I skype it most of the times (6/10) Wild Honey Pie: It´s a joke. Fortunetly, it longs one minute. (1/10) Bungallow Bill: It seems like a Scout Song for children. It is linked with the next song (7/10) Whiler My Guitar Gently Weeps: One of the best Harrison songs. Clapton plays here. (9/10) Hapiness is a Warm Gun: A progressive song, in fact they were three different songs joined. Great (9/10) Martha My Dear: Paul wrote this song for his dog. Enjoyable. Good Strings production (8/10) So Tired: John Lennon in a Lazy Way. It has a good taste. (8/10) BlackBird: A great song by paul (9/10) Piggies:Harrison and his pigs (8/10) Don´t Pass me by: The first Ringo song (5/10) Rocky Racoon: A Western Story (7/10) Why Don´t We do it on the road: Simple but great (7/10) I Will: Another love song (7/10) Julia: Tender (8/10)

2nd Disc Birthday: As in the first album, a good starting (8/10) Yer Blues: Yes i am lonely...wanna die (7/10) Mother Nature Son: Another acoustic number by paul (7/10) Everybody has something to hide...: Good Monkeys (8/10) Sexy Sadie: Another masterpiece by Lennon (9/10) Helter Skelter: The FIRST heavy song (8/10) Long Long Long: shhhhh, the silent song (7/10) Revolution 1: It´s better the fast one (8/10) Honey Pie: This is the good version of Honey Pie (8/10) Savoy Truffle: A good Harrisong (8/10) Cry Baby Cry: Excelent (9/10) Revolution 9: Horrible (3/10) Good Night: Good night everybody (8/10)

In Balance, if we select the songs with plus 8 mark we will have a 20 songs album, too much songs yet for a simple song. This is the reason because I consider this, the best beatles album. Here they showed that they are great musicians/compose/Producers

This is probably the most overrated Beatles album in their collection. The interesting thing about The White Album is that it's the only album made in 1968. Every other year during the beatles career, they made at least two albums per year (except Revolver, but that's understandable). The band was just starting to have problems and you could now start to see that they weren't Lennon/McCartney songs anymore, they were just John Songs or Paul Songs. So with this new situation arising came a random batch of songs fit onto 2 vinyls. Don't get me wrong, many of the songs are some of the best Beatles songs out their. But as a whole it was the most incomplete album in their discography. If you wanna hear the good songs on this album don't bother buying it, just 1967-1970 boxset that came out in '73 or any other compilation albums of theres

How do you follow up the most influential album of the 20th century? The answer is: You don't even try. And they didn't. The "White Album" is so drastically different from Sgt. Pepper's that it could be from a totally different group. Poor George Martin. He probably never had any idea who would show up and what shape they'd be in when they did. The Fab Four were going in four different directions and the music herein reflects that emphatically. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing but the "group effort" concept was not at the forefront. There are obvious jewels here that have stood the test of time but there's also some downright strangeness going on, as well. Progressively speaking, there are several standout cuts. "Dear Prudence," "Glass Onion," "Happiness," "Everybody's got something to hide," and "Helter Skelter" definitely pushed the envelope of normal tunesmithing. You might notice that most of these cuts were from the experimental and bohemian mind of John Lennon so he has to be singled out as the carrier of the prog torch on this collection of songs. When this came streaming through my ears the first time I felt it was a bit of a letdown after the brilliant LP that preceded it and I still have trouble warming up to it even now. It's a real hodge-podge of musical styles and production and never finds a singular identity throughout. Perhaps it is just a reflection of where the Beatles were headed at the time and, in that case, it shows that the end was just over the horizon.

The Beatles epic double album, simply titled The Beatles (but also knows as the White Album, mainly because of the bare cover) would prove to the world that the in the studio incarnation of the Beatles were still able to crank out a large amount of songs, and throughout the 30 songs on this album, a wide spectrum of moods are presented in varying forms, from the opening planes and rocking sections of Back in the USSR to the avant-garde sound collage Revolution 9, no idea is left out of this album, and for the most part this album is largely successful, but some parts are a bit drab and dry, as is the case with most double albums. A little history about the making of the album. During the start of the sessions, the tensions between the group rose so high that Ringo went off and quit the band for a rather short period of time (a week or so), leaving Paul to fill in the drum parts for the first few tracks on the album. Luckily, Ringo returned with a brand new drum set garnished with flowers and a sign that said Welcome Back on it. This marked the first time a member of the group actually quit the band. But enough about that and more about what this album has.

The first disc of the set features 17 of the total 30 tracks, and it has some real stand out numbers. Back In the USSR is the first track on the album, and it has a real old Beatle feel to it, with the falsetto harmonies and the standard structure. McCartney's drum performance is great (this is one of the two or three tracks on the album that doesn't feature Ringo) as well as Harrison's great guitar solo. Glass Onion is Lennon's throwback to old songs with lyrical references to Strawberry Fields, the Fool on the Hill, and the Walrus (who turned out to be Paul!). Anyway, the chord progression is rather nice and the snearing vocals from Lennon are great. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a majestic piece that has some a genuine upbeat feel and some fine vocals from Paul. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill is a bit of a children's story piece from Lennon (Yoko does backing vocal on the track) and it has a great fun feel in the vein of Yellow Submarine. While My Guitar Gently Weeps is arguably the best song George Harrison ever wrote during his time with the Beatles. A great a melodic chord progression as well as some stellar vocals and a superb guitar solo from both Harrison and his longtime friend Eric Clapton (at that time of Cream).

Happiness is a Warm Gun was originally three different songs, but they decided to add them together, it has some great riffing in the beginning, a stellar middle section that was very heavy for the Beatles, and a great ending chorus with the phrase happiness is a warm gun repeated over and over again. Blackbird is an acoustic Paul McCartney tune that has some wonderful lyrics and a nice overall beat (he taps his foot to keep in time and it really comes off nicely). Piggies is the second Harrison song on the album, and it's a playful piece that contains a lyrical line from Harrison's mother (what they need's a damn good whacking). Rocky Raccoon is a honky tonk country piece with Paul McCartney doing his best doing some southern narrations between the ragtime piano section in the interludes. Don't Pass Me By would mark the first Ringo penned song since What Goes On (yet Lennon and McCartney both contributed to the piece). It's a nice rocking tune that has a bit of a country edge, similar to that of Rocky Raccoon.

The second disc is comprised of the final 13 tracks of the album and in my opinion has a lot less to offer than the first disc, but there are still some great tracks. Birthday has some nice unison riffing from the guitars and the bass, and the insistent vocal really comes off well. Yer Blues is a nice blues number that has some great riffing and some searing leads from Harrison. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey is a rocker like Birthday, with some stellar riffing in the beginning, and some truly nonsensical lyrics from Lennon, but it's a fantastic piece in the end. Helter Skelter can be considered as the first hard rock piece ever. Originally conceived as a 25 minute jam, they cut it down to five and allowed for a lot of instrumental breaks. It's a superb track with great guitar work overall, and Ringo's famous phrase at the end (I got blisters on me fingers) really ends it well. Revolution 1 is a nice acoustic waltzy piece, but I think it gets better represented as the heavy and distorted single it became, Revolution. Savoy Truffle is another Harrison penned track about Eric Clapton's sweet tooth, and the harmony vocals and the main theme is spectacular. Revolution 9 is the most controversial Beatles piece, it's also their most avant-garde. What it is mainly is a sound collage of random effects and noises, and for the most part I'm not too fond of it, but it shows the true experimental nature of John Lennon and his willingness to try something like atonal composers Edgar Varese. Good Night is a lullaby John wrote for his son Julian and is sang by Ringo accompanied by a full orchestra and really ends the album on a majestic and somber note.

In the end, The White Album is a controversial album that has a lot of stellar tracks, and some good filler in between. Mind you not all the tracks are great, but they have this aura about them that make them all far from terrible. If you're looking for a progressive Beatles record, then look no further, you're reading about one right here. It's an excellent album that I think no fan of early or avant-garde progressive rock should go without. 4/5.

Another landmark of the music that led to the Prog era a few years later.

First of all, this album contains many Rock tracks for being The Beatles: "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Birthday" and "Helter Skelter" are some of the more famous among them. It also has one of the worst songs of their studio era, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".

All in all a very broad record with many different moods. Sometimes it's happy and sometimes it's sad. Sometimes weird and sometimes funnt and sometimes both. Sometimes it rocks and sometimes it freaks out. Sometimes with a message and sometimes pure nonsense.

Highlights of the first side are "Glass Onion", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun". Apart from already mentioned "...U.S.S.R." and "Ob-La-Di...", "While My Guitar Gently Weps" is another hit.

Second side then. Well, according to me, you should have a listen at "Blackbird" (Another hit), "Piggies", and maybe "Don't Pass Me By".

On to the third side and it's highlights; "Birthday", "Helter Skelter", and "Long, Long, Long". No real big hit to be found on this side, "Birthday and "Helter Skelter" are perhaps the best known at least.

Best of the last side are "Revolution 1" (A softer version of the hit single.), the strange atonal "Revolution 9", just for being just that, and "Good Night", the end of the record.

The Beatles made a leap of faith in most of their tracks for The white album, with revolution 9 argurably eaither making or breaking the album, this track influenced some of the chaotic instrumentals. Paul's happy jazz band rythems and hopefull tunes are well balanced with John's raw aproach to life, it also has John's most sentimental, open piece of music with Julia. A song about his mother which gives gosebumps to the listner with his airy, ghost like vocal's and tune. Hearing is like hearing his heart sing out in pain. A clear step away from "Yeah! Yeah!" type Beatles songs. This album is bursting with emotion and creative gold. It influential near and far. It feels compleate and whole, the only let down being "Good Night" being sung by Ringo. A song that was ment as a goodbye lullaby for Julian was taken of him by John not singing his emotions into it. John could have breathed life into this track but brushed it off onto Ringo. Overall a exciting album with much contained in it.This album influenced prog accross the board, perhaps the Beatles most experimental, with their trademark sense of humour shown on such tracks as the zany Honeypie. A good addition to any serious prog collector, curious of some of the influences of prog. However this album may dissappoint some for not being progressive enough, but this was 1968 not 1973, so an important album in the history of prog and most will be satisfied with this album.

This is a very controversial album. There is very little middle of the road opinion on this one. Like any true Beatle freak, I love it. Honestly, I believe I would even if this was not my favorite band. This is highly successful experimentation. The success is even more impressive, when considering the tension within the band. This actually could have something to do with why it works. Each song is a mostly individual work, with the other guys as session men.

All the stops are pulled out, and anything is fair game. There are rockers, ballads, Vaudeville, reggae, folk, and performance art. There is even a genuine prog piece (silly as it may be) in "Happiness is a Warm Gun." There are other proggy moments, but none as obvious. All this may seem disjointed, and unsettling, but that works for me. I rarely want to hear just part of it. It is a cohesive album. How this happened, I have no idea.

This is a landmark album for The Beatles, and rock music. Once again they showed that there are no boundaries. As always, pulling it off beautifully. The White Album is a rite of passage for any true rock (or modern) music lover. It doesn't have to become a favorite to be appreciated. Check it out. You will be better for it. You can tell me you hate it, but at least you will have heard it.

It may not be the proggiest, but it is a masterpiece, and is essential for a complete collection.

H.T. Riekels

The White Album was way ahead of it's time. The old Beatles sound got thrown out the window, and instead they created something new. And The White Album is indeed a love or hate syndrome between fans, but to me, it's always been love.

''Back In The U.S.S.R.'' is the album opener. Paul McCartney delivers dark vocals, while the great piano keeps up in the background. The guitar is great here, with perfect distortion. Paul McCartney also played the drums here, since Ringo had walked out of the studio, disbanding from the band. He soon came back though. At 01.23 a great guitar solo kicks in, delivered to us by none other than George Harrisson. The chorus comes in again. And then another catchy sing-a-long verse. The real golden part of the song comes at 02.04, when George tremolo-picks high notes while Paul screams out the words. Absolutely great. Again the chorus comes in, with the same nice guitar as before. The song ends soon thereafter, leaving place to the beautiful...

''Dear Prudence'', which has the most beautiful acoustic guitar work on this album. The strings are plucked hard, yet they sound mellow, and John's bright vocals when he sings the first ''Dear Prudence!'' reminds me of why I wanted every Beatles album that was ever created. The bass joins soon after, and John sings ''Won't you come out to play?''. This song was written for Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, because she was also at the camp where the Beatles recorded the album. She hardly came out of her tent, and meditated for most of the days there. The absolutely outstanding chorus comes, where Ringo begins banging the drums, and with some of John's finest lyrics; ''The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you, dear Prudence; won't you come out to play?''. A new verse comes again, with the acoustic guitar still in the lead, now with Ringo following, and expressive bass by Paul. Still great vocals from John. Vocal harmonies delivered by the rest of the Beatles also join. More of the beuatiful chorus comes again, now George comes in with the distorted guitar, and somehow makes the mood rise, and not fall (You'd think one of Beatles finest songs would be ruined by distortion. It won't.) with great notes swirling over the drumming. The band all sing ''Look around, 'round, 'round, 'round etc.'' throughout this section, and eventually end in great vocals. The verse comes again, and the distorted guitar follows along. After the once again brilliant chorus, Ringo comes in with technical drumming, and a new section is given birth. George goes mad on the guitar, and so does Ringo on the drums. After this, the chorus comes in again, and the song finally ends on high notes by John on the guitar. Beautiful. The follow up is...

''Glass Onion''. What a great song! The song goes into action right from the start, with awesome vocals by John, who really shows off his dynamic vocals through going from Dear Prudence to this. The drumming is great, and the bass is incredible! Paul does an outstanding job really. The whole riff is so damn catchy that you'll find yourself nodding your head to the drumline. String ensembles join this great song, which has some really smart lyrics. One of the most essential lines ever written by Lennon is in here. It goes ''And here's another clue for you all; the walrus was Paul!'', which made the Paul Is Dead materialists go, as quoted by Paul, ''crackers because everyone thought John was the walrus.''. The chorus kicks in again, followed by an awesome section where John screams ''Oh yeah!'' several times. Another verse, with more awesome bass guitar playing kicks in. After this section, another chorus comes in, and it all ends abruptly followed directly by creepy strings playing some chords, while the bass plays the same line over and over again. Not the best ending, but it does fit the song's mood.

''Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'' follows up. This is perhaps the song on this album that sounds most like the old Beatles. Oh well, on with the song. It introduces us to it with honky-tonk piano, and soon heavy bass comes in. And so does the drums. Paul kicks in with vocals, which are really great. The chorus follows very soon after, with the bass playing being absolutely awesome. The verse comes again, followed by another chorus. Now Yoko Ono (Yuck, I hate that woman) joins on vocals in the chorus, and a bridge kicks in after that, with great horn playing. Another verse kicks in, perhaps the best on the song, with catchy vocals, and drum fills by Ringo with deep tom playing. The next chorus is also great, with Paul screaming the vocals. The bridge kicks in again, and soon after a new verse comes in. The piano plays fills here and there, and another chorus. The song ends soon afterwards. Now comes...

''Wild Honey Pie''. It's 52 seconds long, with absolutely nuts guitar playing. So are the vocals going ''HONEY PIEEEE!!! HONEY PIEEEE!!!''. The crazy guitar lines change a bit, and the new ''verse'' has a chord change or two. After that, you can hear ''I love you!!! Honey Pie!''. Althoug people seem to think that the amazing improvisation from the intro of Bungalow Bill is the ''ending'' of this song, they're mistaken. It's a funny song, but not at all worth listening to if you're dead serious. This song actually has really great sound quality.

''The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill'' has, as stated previously, absolutely amazing guitar in the intro. It's really western-like, and George plays it really, really, I repeat REALLY fast. Great intro. After the quiet guitar intro the childish chorus comes in place, which is actually great. The tempo changes greatly, to the slow, and awesome verse where the vocals are delivered to us by trusty John Lennon. Very fitting guitar playing here. The tempo then changes, almost a bizzare tempo change, to the chorus. Again, pretty nifty drumming, but it's a bit childish. Now the verse comes in again, with the chorus coming shortly thereafter. This leads over to a new verse, where Yoko Ono gets her share of the singing, with her and John singing together. The chorus comes in again, with Yoko joining along. The drumming get's changed a bit, to keep things interesting. This goes on for the rest of the song, until there is only the horn left, playing the chorus melody while you hear an audience clapping their hands to the outro. And now finally, we get our hands on the brilliant...

''While My Guitar Gently Weeps''. The solos are all played by Eric Clapton unfortunately, since George wanted to releif himself from playing lead, and for once play only rhythm and vocals. The song has so great piano that you won't know it until you hear it. The vocals are perfection, and the lyrics show that George should've written more. The awesome verse is followed by Ringo's fast drumming. The distorted guitar plays fills all the time, and soon the chorus comes in, with an organ joining along. The guitar follows along greatly. Another awesome verse comes into play, and new, great guitar fills also kick in. The lyrics are again great. Now comes a small guitar solo, with a lot of vibrato and bends used, and this is without a doubt one of George's best moments. The solo leads nicely into the chorus section with George again delivering the vocals greatly. And again, we get to hear that amazing verse, now with even more emotional vocals. The piano is again great here. Another guitar solo kicks in, with lots and lots of vibrato, and shows us that Clapton was really experimental, and George an underrated person as rhythm player. The solo rises from low to very high pitched notes, which is really awesome. The song unfortunately fades out. 10/10 right there! The follow-up is...

''Happiness Is A Warm Gun''. The songs intro is kind of boring, but soon the guitar gets distorted and the drumming kicks in. The bass is heavy and John's vocals are great; very clean. The lyrics are great. After this very short verse, a new section kicks in (The Beatles actually took two unfinished songs and put them together; A lá A Day In The Life.) where they put heavy use of the vibrato. This is quite a heavy section, with the distorted guitars playing very low notes. The bass makes it great to. New lyrics come in, which are quite strange. Then a cool fast section comes in with great guitar work by George. And now the songs climax, the section where they all sing ''Happiness!!! Is a warm gun mama!!!''. It's so cathcy and funky, really cool section. Paul sings a really high note as well, yet stays in key. The song ends after that. Get ready for...

''Martha My Dear'' has a cool piano intro, but this song sounds like something you'd hear out of a 30's musical. So it get's boring every now and there during the fist verse. The vocals are really good though. After that comes a great bridge, with horns joining. And then the gold section; the chorus. It has catchy drumming and guitar work, and suberb vocals. The song returns to the first verse, however the horns play the vocal section this time around. Then the bridge comes again, with new vocals. Again, great horn playing. The verse comes again, now with the vocals by Sir Paul himself. The song ends after that. And now here's...

''I'm So Tired''. What a great song! Really, it begins with a guitar going up three notes and then the cool verse kicks in. John's vocals are semi-slurry and almost spoken, which fits the song like a glove. The chords used in the verse are really great, and overall, just a very, very good riff. Another verse comes around, and John screams a bit of the vocal line, and then the coolest thing in the song; the chorus! Suberb drumming by Ringo, and absolutely awesome guitar work by George and John. So are the vocals, really cool. Then those three intro notes come around again, and another great verse kicks in again. With quite funny lyrics. They go ''Although I'm so tired, I'll have another ciggarette. And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid get!''. Then comes that stunning chorus again, with awesome guitar work, and John's low pitched vocals. The drumming is even better this time, and the last line is repeated three times. After that the song ends with nonsense being spoken. Do you know what you should do? Reverse it. Creepy ey? This leads into...

''Blackbird'' which is The White Album's answer to Help!'s ''Yesterday''. Suberb acoustic guitar work by Paul, and he keeps the beat with his foot, which gives this beautiful song a great mood. After the beautiful verse, a bridge takes place, again very beautiful. The guitar work is great, I must say. After the bridge some acoustic chords are played perfectly, and the bridge is played again. After that there are chords again. Some birds are heard, and the acoustic builds up pace again. After that a new beautiful verse comes into play, with very nice lyrics. It ends with birds whistling.

''Piggies'' is a song I've never really liked. Written by George, it's really a downstep after the simply amazing While My Guitar Weeps. It's a very childish song, but it has pretty cool guitar work I guess. If you avoid the vocals, it's a good song. But the childish vocals turn me down. And thus I find it quite boring. The outro strings are however pretty cool.

''Rocky Raccoon'' follows, with a kickass guitar intro. Paul McCartney does his best to sound like a southern-states American, to give this song the western feeling. The vocals are pretty strange at first, but then they return to normal Paul vocals. It's great lyrics, and Paul sings them perfectly. The guitar is great as well, with a little Blackbird feeling to it. The bass is quite heavy too. Ringo joins on the drums soon, and some great harmonica playing kicks in. The lyrics are a story, so listen closely. After that, a bridge comes in with great honky-tonk piano playing and Paul following with his vocals, and soon there is a new verse. Some accordion can be heard here, really good. The bridge comes in again, and damn it is catchy! After that the song ends. And we are introduced to...

''Don't Pass Me By'' which is Ringo's first composition. It starts out with a really cool piano intro, and soon goes ''Ringo'' with the country like feel over the song. The vocals are quite good, especially for being Ringo. The verse is really great, but then that annoying violin comes in, however, the great verse shines over it. The chorus is great too, and it's really country like, and so are the vocals. Another verse plays along with the cool piano still ripping it up in the background. The fun chorus comes in again, and somehow the violin gets less annoying. Then comes another chorus, and from there on, the song goes on until it's end.

''Why Don't We Do It In The Road''. Why is this song so damn great? It opens up with really cool percussion, and then the absolutely awesome verse comes in. The cool piano, the ride cymbal playing and Paul screaming out the vocals; you just have to love this song. The lyrics are... absolutely awesome. They go ''Why don't we d-d-do it in the road? Why don't we do it in the road? Why don't we do it in the road? Why don't we do it in the road? No one will be watching us! Why don't we do it in the road?''. And that's repeated every verse. Yet's it's so bloody catchy and awesome. The vocals get more crazy as the song progresses. A funny note is at 01.09 when Paul McCartney sounds just like Mr. Mackey from Southpark when singing, very funny. And the song continues with the same verse until 01.41 where it ends.

''I Will'' is a great song, with good vocals from Paul McCartney. It has great acoustic guitar playing, and the drumming is quite cool. The chorus is beautiful, really reminds you of one of those mainstream ballads. Another suberb verse comes in, with more acoustic playing. Unfortunately the song is very short, and ends at 01.46. Oh well.

''Julia'' is a spectacular ending to the first disc of this double album. The song begins with John singing sad vocals, you can really hear they're from his heart. He's singing about his mother. The guitar playing is amazing even though it's not complex. A very sad song, but it's very good. Everytime John sings ''Julia'' I get goosebumps down my spine. His vocals are so beautiful in this song, really. At 01.01 a small bridge comes into play. John sings ''Julia... Julia'' again while his guitar accompanies him. Fantastic. Again, another sad verse comes in. And John continues with this beautiful song. It ends on the word ''Julia'' and John hitting the final chord softly.

Now we're done with CD 1. Get ready for the second disc!

''Birthday'' is the fast paced, distorted opener for the second disc. Loud vocals overlapping the guitars and heavy drumming makes for a first verse, and then a small drum intermission (Not a solo though) comes, where Ringo plays rather fast; at least for being Ringo. This goes on for a while (8 bars I think) and a small bridge comes in, which is pretty neat. Soon the weird chorus kicks in where Paul screams ''I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DANCE!!!'' and Yoko sings ''Birthday''. After that the guitars and the piano work together, and eventually the chorus comes again, with the rather cool piano. It eventually ends after that. Great opener. This leads into...

''Yer Blues''. This is many fans favourite song, being very bluesy. It starts out with a ''2... 3...'' and then John screams out vocals while playing bluesy guitar riffs, and Ringo bashing the cymbals like there's no tomorrow. Quite rare for this song is that Ringo plays a lot of fills, and that's something I like. The first is very cool, as stated, bluesy (Thus the title of the song). Another verse kicks in, where John screams even louder, and after that an awesome bridge comes. Some technical drumming by Ringo makes another verse kick in. Another bridge pops up after that, with the guitar still playing hard. The drumming changes and so does the guitar, but not the vocals. At 02.28 a cool guitar solo kicks in, very simple but pretty nifty and cool. The notes go from very low to almost extremely high, and a little bit inbetween. Immediatly after the guitar solo a heavy fill by Ringo is played and the song changes riff and drumming again; showing that The Beatles were contributing to progressive rock as they often changed time signatures and rhythms in songs. The vocals are incredibly quiet now, and the guitar easily overpowers the rest of the instruments. The song slowly fades out after this. Really great song.

''Mother Nature's Son'' is short but sweet, with beautiful guitar playing and vocals. The first verse is of course great, and the guitar playing is great too. Some horns soon join, and makes it even more beautiful, with the vocals still going strong. After a middle section, another verse comes to us, just like the first one; great. The horns become more and more intensive now, and after that the song ends beautifully.

''Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey'' is a strange but cool song. It starts with distorted guitars, and the drumming goes from simple to fast, while John sings some vocals. This is seen as the first verse, however almost all verses sound the same. There is really no elements in this song that separate the verse from the chorus, but nevermind. The song is overall pretty cool, but not a strong point of the album. Quite strange lyrics.

''Sexy Sadie'' opens up with great piano playing, and heavy drumming. John soon sings the vocals, while the bass playing is great too. Let me tell you that the vocals are quite beautiful in this one, nonetheless a strange song. I really, really like the chorus here. Superb. And now another verse comes in, with the piano again being quite cool. And now for one more chorus. Incredible. The vocal harmonies are great here as well. A small guitar solo comes in after that, but it doesn't get interesting until George hits the higher notes and bends them. The song fades out after that.

''Helter Skelter''. Oh God yes. This crazy, chaotic and disturbing song is one of my favourites from this album. It starts up with heavy guitar playing, and Paul screams like never before, and the heavy bass and drum lines soon join in a crazy first verse that blows me away, as Paul's vocals are so heavy here! Soon the absolutely magnificent chorus kicks in, with the guitar playing being rather bluesy, however still keeping the heavy metal feeling through Paul's crazed out vocals. Ringo's tom toms sound very heavy in this number too, really great. A crazy guitar bend follows, and the song changes to verse again. Paul starts with the chaotic vocals once more, and the vocal harmonies in the background make it even more crazy. Another cool chorus hops in, and one more of those crazy guitar bends are heard, followed by incredible bass playing. A small, small guitar solo is heard. The songs intro is heard again, however the guitar is overpowered by the heavy bass. In this next verse there are some guitar fills. Another chorus is delivered to us, and the song goes into the instrumental section. Crazy bass playing and guitar playing like nothing else strikes us, and the guitars make white noise after that. Soon after, crazy horn playing with heavy drumming is heard, and the song continues on it's chaotic trip. The horn playing is mad here and the song fades out slowly. Too bad. No wait! The song comes up again, sort of like Strawberry Fields Forever. Some more chaos is fed to us through crazy horn playing and heavy bass playing and distorted guitars. Ringo plays more fills than ever now, and the song ends on crazy chords, and after that Ringo screams the famous line; ''I've got blisters on my fingers!'' and a strange guitar chord is heard. Then it has ended.

''Long, Long, Long'' is pretty cool. It has pretty strange guitar playing, and the song is very strange overall. Heavy fills by Ringo soon gets the drumming up and away. A verse comes in soon, and it's pretty quiet. Suddenly it breaks up with Ringo's deep toms and a beautiful chorus kicks in, with great piano playing. So are the vocals here. The verse kicks in again after that, and leaves us wanting more of that great chorus. However the song doesn't end with that beautiful chorus. It ends in chaos, with strange organ notes, fast drumming, guitar strings being scratched and John doing strange things with his voice. Quite cool actually.

''Revolution 1'' is without a doubt the highlight of the second disc. It is acoustic all over, and the bluesy guitar riff (Now world famous) plays into the beautiful verse, where the song shifts from A notes to D notes greatly. The chorus then comes into play, with the horns joining us. The vocals are strange yet great here, and the guitar playing is almost incredible, not due to virtuosity, but adding to the mood of the song. The horns join us in the second verse, and this makes for another great verse where John's vocals are great. Another cool chorus plays, and the guitar brilliantly changes from distortion to clean channels. Really cool. Heavy plucking on the strings leads us into the third and final verse, where the horns are less dominating than in the second one, and again, the guitar is brilliant. The ending is my favourite thing; after the great chorus and E key plucking, John almost goes crazy singing ''Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh! Allright! Allright!'' and such, which leads the song out. I don't know why, but it's just so bloody great, and easily the best moment on Disc 2, and perhaps on the whole album. 10/10 song.

''Honey Pie'' sounds exactly like a song from the thirties. I don't know why this this song is on here, but it's rather cool. The chorus is incredibly 30's sounding, believe me. Paul's vocals are great on this track, going from chaotic (Helter Skelter) to 30's in this one. After another verse, the chorus comes again. A small instrumental section kicks in. Paul is quite funny here, singing nonsense like ''I like that! Ah!'' and such. Another verse comes again, and so does another chorus, where Paul hits very high notes with his voice. Funny to listen to somehow. The song ends abruptly.

''Savoy Truffle'' is awesome. Is starts out with great organ playing, and cool vocals from George. The horns are also quite funky here, very cool. The ''chorus'' is awesome, and the guitar makes this song so damn great. It's very catchy. Another cool verse pops in, with the ''chorus'' (I call it ''chorus'' since it's only really one sentence, but it appears throughout the song) coming again. This time the distorted guitar is really heard. A bridge kicks in only to lead into the awesome guitar solo delievered to us. You can hear that the wah-wah pedal is jammed to the bottom here, and makes it hard to believe that this was recorded with an acoustic guitar with a micropohone. Great guitar solo, and after that the ''chorus'' comes up again. Another bridge comes to us, and the first verse re-appears. After this the ''chorus'' is played two times. Unfortunately the song ends. This leads into..

''Cry Baby Cry''. This song is awesome. The first verse is great, where the guitar is played alone until the piano joins, and the drumming really comes in at the chorus. The second verse is the best, where Ringo's drumming is great, with his fills and whatnot. Just awesome. The vocals are also great throughout the song, and well, the song is overall great. Pretty simple eh? I think I'm running out of ideas here. Oh yes, forgot to mention, there is a little accordion playing in this song. The song ends soonly thereafter. However, a hidden song (Not in the track listing so to say) is played after this, which is very, very short but quite cool. Heh; the more you know.

''Revolution 9''. I don't know whether to hate or like this song. It is the most experimental song I know of, and the longest Beatles recording ever. It starts out with the legendary tape loop of a man repeating the words ''Number Nine'' while the piano plays in the background. After this small introduction to what will probably be the most freaky music experience of your life, there is chaos. An orchestral loop plays, and backwards piano joins soon thereafter. Various sound effects kick in, and soon you will hear an orchestra tuning up their instruments. After that, a very loud orchestra loop comes into the left channel. After that very loud piano is played, and shortly leads into some chatter. The orchestra loops are heard in the background. More and more orchestra loops pop in. It's really scary now, but it soon ends leaving us with a woman laughing, and a baby crying or something. Backwards indian instruments are heard after that, and the Number Nine loop is heard throughout. The song goes chaotic again, with loads and loads of found sounds. Strange choirs sing whiles John screams nonsensical lyrics. Chatter is heard again, and a sound goes from the right to left channels over and over again. Quite cool. More weird sound is heard, and more chatter. Strange humming noises are heard, and soon that horrible backwards piano loop is heard. Soon you hear a man saying ''Allright!'' and a crowd going wild. Absolute chaos joins, being very loud, and loads of tape loops playing with eachother. After that, sea noises are heard. The tape spools back (Sounds creepy) and football chants are heard. The song progresses into more chatter, but soon lots of crackling is heard. Strange words from John are spoken, and that creepy humming comes in again. Then gunfire is heard, and more chatter is given to us. More chaos erupts, and the Number Nine loop is played again. John says ''Eldorado'' and the song goes into a new section, with some piano loops and crazy beep noises. After that, Yoko says strange things. Like ''Maybe... Even...'' and such, while John hums. A loop of a man ''singing'' is heard in the background. She delivers the creepy line ''Maybe... If you become naked'' and after that the song ends with football chants. Chaotic, strange and scary. Three words that describe this 8 minute sound collage.

''Good Night'' ends this album. How boring. Ringo's vocals are just plainly boring, and this song is uninteresting. The orchestra is pretty cool however, but other than that, it's just a really boring closer.

This is a really great album, and it's recommended to anyone who wants to get into the Beatles, or begin their proto-prog collection.

Thank you so much for reading this really long review!

Another great album by the Beatles. This is pure memorable, (sometimes) experimental, foot-tapping good music. The Fantastic Four really combined all elements of previous albums to come up with this great one. Mucho enjoyed.

My favourite Beatles album and the only one that I think of as being prog. It must have been something of a risk even for the Beatles to release a double album of this complexity back in 1968. Very few singles were spawned from it, perhaps showing how uncommercial it was at the time. For me the pinacle of the group that are so often overhyped, and well worth a listen.

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!

One of my favorite albums of all time. The Beatles experimented with so many different kinds of music on this album, some blues, western, some folk, and some harder rock as well. Each members individuality is expressed on this album more then ever before. George's guitar playing is at it's best and the band is just bursting with creativity. Essential album.

They had to make it a double album because Lennon, McCartney and Harrison insisted on having their songs on the record. They had three studios operating at the same time and of course the above mentioned trio were at times in their own studio doing their own thing. Ringo was so frustrated he quit for a short time, causing McCartney to play drums on the recording of one song. Yes, at this point it was every man for himself.

For me the first disc is far superior to the second disc. From the surprisingly good guitar on "Back In The USSR" to the fun songs like "Ob-la-di,ob-la-da" , "Piggies" and "The Continuing Story Of Bungalo Bill" which features mellotron. To my favourite BEATLES song of all time "My Guitar Gently Weeps". I love the psychedelic "Dear Prudence" as well as "Martha My Dear" and "Blackbird". "Rocky Racoon" is just a great song that tells a story. If they had just released disc one alone it would be a 5 star rating, but I have to give it 4 stars overall. In my list of BEATLES records I would put this behind "Magical Mystery Tour" , "Sgt.Pepper's..." and "Abbey Road".

This record reminds me in a way of LED ZEPPELIN's "Physical Graffiti", not musically of course but in that they were both double albums that were released late in their careers.

The White Album basically goes everywhere, just like the last three albums that they released ('Revolver', 'Sgt. Pepper', and 'Magical Mystery Tour'.)

"Back in the USSR" Starts off the album with an early-60's style sound. As a matter of fact, Paul McCartney and Mike Love of the Beach Boys were brainstorming about this song when they were in India. (Well, the song has Beach Boys harmonies. And I think 'Pet Sounds' is another Proto-Prog album.) Do you think it would be called 'Back in the Former USSR' now?

"Dear Prudence" is another song that was helped out by another musician named Donovan. It has a great guitar riff and vocalization. The bridge has a Georgian-style chant in it. The ending of the song goes faster and it ends with the same guitar riff.

"Glass Onion" mentions the songs that the Beatles did during the Sgt. Pepper-era. There's a heavy-bass line and has the strings coming in. There's even a few surprise instruments such as the piano and recorder. The string part in the ending is very haunting.

"Ob-la-di Ob-la-da" is a song proving that even though the Beatles were having issues, they could still have a fun time. Simon and Garfunkle's 'Celia' and Offspring's 'Why dont you get a job' are heavily influenced by this song.

"Wild Honey Pie" basically is just a Shameless filter leading into Bungalow Bill. I like the classical guitar ending, which sounds like the intro to Yes' 'Roundabout'.

"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" is another song that isn't that serious. It's actually a story like a Saturday Afternoon mantine with a story-like setting. Yoko even sings on the 3rd verse. The guitar sounds like a mandolin and then there's the mellotron, cheers, and whistling in the end.

"While my Guitar Gently Weeps" introduces Eric Clapton on the guitar. (He too also dabbled into Prog-Rock with Cream.) This is George Harrison's best song with the Beatles. Even after George's death, Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton would play this song.

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" is the darkest song that the Beatles may have done. The lyrics are very nonsensical such as 'Mother Superior Jumped the Gun'. And then there's the sexual innuendo in the end (What would you expect about warm guns?) This song was used on Michael Moore's 'Bowling for Columbine'.

"Martha my Dear" actually is dedicated to Paul McCartney's dog. It has a Nilsson-style sound. And as a matter of fact, also sounds like ELO's 'Mr. Blue Sky'.

"I'm So Tired" is a very good Blues-style song sung very well by John. What does John mumble in the end?

"Blackbird" can be about the Civil Rights Movement. In 1968, MLK was assassinated and many blacks were upset that their Icon was shot down. And in Britain, bird is slang for girl. It also has a good sound effect with the black bird.

"Piggies" mentions the UK Political background. In a way, It's got a Monty-Python feel especially in the end. (They too were suppressed by the British Government with their show.) Unfortunately, this song was used by Charles Mansion. But it has a good harpsichord riff.

"Rocky Raccoon" has a Dylanesque style with a harmonica and guitar. This is another story-song.

"Don't pass me by" is Ringo's debut song. It's not that good, one of the weakest songs on the White Album.

"Why Don't we do it in the Road" is McCartney's dirtiest song ever. And has the least words on this album.

"I Will" has a folky twang. (This is why James Taylor covered this song.) But It's a good acoustic song.

"Julia" is a good ending for the first part of The White Album. There was some rapper who used this song, but the original with the double guitar and voices should NEVER be sampled!

"Birthday" starts off the second part of The White Album. This too is another rocker, just like 'Back in the USSR'.

"Yer Blues" is the most bluesy song that the Beatles has ever done. This song was also used on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

"Mother Natures Son" is a beautiful song. This is more about getting back to nature and McCartney did like being around nature. It has a very good horn arrangements.

"Everybodys Got Something to Hide Except for me and my Monkey" may be the longest title in any Beatles song. The song is very nonsensical. And the Fire bell has a good touch to the song.

"Sexy Sadie" AKA-Maharishi is a slander toward the guru when John knew that he just disappointed the Beatles. It has an Elton John-like sound with the piano and the vocals. (Another good Prog song is 'Funeral for a friend/Love lies bleeding' by Elton John'.)

"Helter Skelter" is the hardest Beatles song ever. KISS was even surprised that the Beatles did the song. And the song fades in and out and back again. It almost has that feel of King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man'. And Ringo's 'Ive Got Blisters On My Fingers' is classic!

"Long Long Long" Talks about God. George converted to Hinduism when he felt empty and couldn't find God. But when he went to India, he felt closer to God. The haunting organ that Paul plays had a bottle of wine on the speaker that fell down making a good sound effect. The song sounds like a Procol Harum song with the organ. (As a matter of fact, George Harrison hired Gary Brooker to play on his solo album 'All Things Must Pass' when he heard the song 'All this and more'.)

"Revolution #1" can be an example of a studio out take. But I still like the single version.

"Honey Pie" is a Salad Days song, such as 'Winchester Cathedral' and Queen's 'Lazin on a Sunday Afternoon'. It has that 1930's Nostalgia. (I would like to see someone make a video for this song on YouTube by using Silent movies. And yes, Al Jolson's Jazz Singer might be on it.)

"Savory Truffle" is about Eric Clapton's sweet-tooth. When George would go to Clapton's house, they would eat chocolates, but Clapton had toothaches. (There's a British Stereotype with British people having bad teeth.) It also has a trademark George Harrison horns which he would use on 'Got my mind set on you'.

"Cry Baby Cry" has a Medevial lyrics, but the song is a lightweight. The ending has McCartney's "Can you take me back" and talking in the studio which leads to 'Revolution #9'.

"Revolution #9" is 1968. War, Protests, Assassinations, and Corruption. Paul wasn't there when the song was recorded and it has many 'Paul is Dead' rumors such as when you play the record in reverse, it sound like 'Turn me on dead man'. BTW-What classical songs were used on this?

"Goodnight" ends this album after all the corruption from 'Revolution #9'. Ringo sings this songs and It seems like he's almost Jiminy Cricket singing 'When you wish Upon a Star'. It's got that Disney-like sound.

In any way, this is a concept album!

This is one of those albums that make The Beatles be what they are now; an album that changed the history of the music. And that is not easy considering that only a year before they had already changed the history with Sgt. Pepper's.

Each song from this album is opposite to another one, and as a whole, the result is an extremely heterogenic album. Just see the beginning: a quite rocker song, 'Back in the USSR', followed by a ballad like 'Dear Prudence', then 'Glass Onion' starts warmly with the experimentation, and then a silly song like "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', etc.

At the end, you have an hour and a half of a journey through a Helter Skelter, with compositions from all the four of them (Don't Pass Me By is the first Ringo Starr's solo composition), and a sea with different kind of music: a sort of rock style with silly lyrics like Paul's 'Why Don't We Do it in the Road' and John's 'Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey'; works with the guitar like 'Julia', 'Blackbird' and 'Mother Nature's Son'; a couple of "what's happening here?" with 'Wild Honey Pie' and 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill', and after that you get prepared for anything else that might take place, anything but 'Revolution 9'; a time for the blues: 'Yer Blues'; yes, there are also "normal" songs like 'Birthday', 'Sexy Sadie', 'I'm So Tired' or 'Piggies'. It's possible to continue making classifications, but what for? That's the bone of the White Album. Well, not only that, but also some highlights that deserve a word apart.

'Revolution 9': Before the White Album, is it possible to hear eight minutes of continuing noises, voices and pure experimentation in only one track? So, again we are understanding the reason why this album marked a before and after. .And that "number nine" used again and again in many references to the work.

'Rocky Raccoon' is one of my favourites songs, a good surprise by Paul McCartney. A simple song telling a story accompanied with a guitar, a harmonica, a bass and a honky tonk piano played by George Martin.

George Harrison also shows a great versatility within his four compositions, but without any doubt 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' is his best, and he demonstrate once again that The Beatles aren't only Lennon and McCartney, contributing maybe with the best song of the album.

John Lennon couldn't stay aside of making an all time classic, so there is 'Revolution 1', talking about changing the world.

'Helter Skelter' contains all McCartney's madness, with an ultra-distorted guitar and a lyric about going up and down an amusement ride. A classic.

Talking about The Beatles, there are two clear periods, and the White Album is the exaggeration of the second one, with almost nothing in similar with their first releases, like Please Please Me or With The Beatles. The evolution is complete, with the use of different instruments together with all the already said, and lots of details to be founds with the time, like the inclusion of Yoko Ono's voice in some chorus, in a line of Bungalow Bill and (why not?) also in Revolution 9. A masterpiece because what it was and what still is.

Just as a curiosity, this was the album that inspired Charles Manson to commit those famous crimes. He wrote in the walls of the houses words like "war", "pigs", "death to pigs", "Helter Skelter" and "rise". Understandable knowing that he was, not only a real fanatic of the band, but he considered them to be the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And when he listened the White Album was all so clear. They were talking to him, inviting to make the Helter Skelter, the Revolution (Lennon sings ".you can count me out" and then adds an "in") against all the Piggies. The signs got even clearer with 'Blackbird' and 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun', and finally, the soundtrack of the Armageddon, 'Revolution 9', with sounds of guns and cries and screams of rise!, and a clear nod to the 9th chapter of the Apocalypse, where is described the final battle.

Well, I have to quote the source of the information on this last paragraph: Marcelo Gobello, from the "Cerdos & Peces" magazine, from Argentina.

GOSH!

After an album like "Pepper's", the Fab Four need some more time to release their next studio album. It was also a difficult period for the band. Each member working more on an individual basis and the feeling of a "band" being less valid than earlier.

Ringo left the recording sessions for two weeks. Paul did play drums on two tracks (the first two of the album). On "Back In The USSR" George and John also participated in the drumming on the stereo version. It is now famous that during an interview John was asked : "Do you think Ringo is the best rock drummer in the world?" His answer was : "He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles!"

When you listen to the opener, "Back In The USSR", the band took up with their debut and rock'n'roll style. The link with the "Beach Boys" is also very obvious. Both bands were respectful of one another and George Martin said that "Pet Sound" (recorded in 66 by the Californian band) was the MAJOR source of inspiration for "Pepper's".

A song like "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" has never been a fave of mine. It is said to be an homage to the growing Jamaican community in the UK and their music (reggae of course). Apart this original fact (the first "white" reggae song?), there is nothing to write home about this.

As on almost each double albums (except "Quadrophenia" IMO) there will be several fillers on this album. Too much on this one. "Wild Honey Pie" is the first of them. The next ones are : "Martha My Dear", the pastoral "Blackbird", "Rocky Racoon" and its Western style, the traditional Ringo one "Don't Pass Me By" (an old song that Ringo wanted to propose as early as 1964). Neither John nor George are featured on this track. And side two goes on on the same mood : "Why Don't We Do it in the Road" is pretty dull as well.

On the second disc, the bluesy "Yer Blues" is unbearable to my ears. Heavy and extremely difficult to digest. Press next. Except of being the longest title of a Fab Four song "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" has little to offer. Another weak rock'n'roll song.

The list is frankly long (almost half the tracks actually) and goes on with "Honey Pie" and "Savoy Truffle". I really wonder what's all this fuss about this album? I have some difficulties with "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill". A song based on a personal experience while the band was in India. Very good verse, but awful (really) chorus.

One of my all-time fave from the band comes next. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". A wonderful song written by George. Each time I listen to it (not mentioning when I see it played on video/DVD)I am either on the verge of tears or I just simply cry, like now.

George did invite Clapton for the phenomenal guitar solo, and during his presence in the studio, the tensions were kind of left aside and it were the best times the band experienced. It is also my absolute fave from this album (but that's not difficult).

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" is a mini-opera on its own (in the vein of what "The Who" had done with "A Quick One, While He's Away" in 1966). But this song is only three minutes long and features lots of theme changes; which is not frequent in such a short song.

Another very good song is "I'm SoTired" written by John at three AM while he was in India, during a "meditation" experience. "Piggies" is a weird song. Not a great one. Only saved by its lyrics which are a vitriol critics of some social classes (comparing them to pigs). I quote : "Have you seen the bigger piggies in their starched white shirts? You will find the bigger piggies, stirring up the dirt. Always have clean shirts to play around in". !

"I Will" is the first song Paul wrote for Linda. It is a charming but short ballad, full of tranquillity. Not great, but after so many weak songs, it comes as a breath of fresh air. The closing number of the first LP is very much on the same mood. Another peaceful ballad which features only Lennon playing acoustic guitar and sing. It is the only Fab Four song to feature John only .

IMO, if you except "Weeps", the second side of "The Beatles" is by far the weakest side of an album the Fab Four ever recorded.

The second LP starts with another rock'n'roll song (just like the first one). But "Birthday" is just average. Vocals (!) particularly are far from being enjoyable.

"The Beatles" was very much influenced with their Indian "philosophical" experience developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who founded and developed the "Transcendental Meditation". It seems that "Mother Natures Son" was inspired by one of its lecture. An unreleased song called "Child Of Nature" was not considered for this album. It will turn out to be "Jealous Guy". They would have been inspired to have that one inserted in this album.

While the second half of the band was leaving India (Paul and Ringo had already left the "master" before the end of the "initiation") John will get to know that the "transcendental guru" made use of his influence to get some sex affair with a disciple. He composed "Sexy Sadie" based on this experience.

Side three is definitely their rockiest one ever. Since there were lots of criticism about McCartney's songwriting (he could "only" write ballads), the noisy "Helter Skelter" is flirting with the metal sound. Not my cup of tea to be honest.

To compensate this, the following song is a sweet ballad written by George. At least a decent song (but no masterpiece, let's be clear). It was the closing track of the third side of this double album. As weak (or even weaker) than side two. The Fab Four are definitely lacking inspiration.

The last side of this album features over twelve minutes dedicated to "Revolution" in two formats. These are the two best moments from this side. The closing "Good Night" which features Ringo on the vocals accompanied by an orchestra is also pleasant. The rest ? Well, forgetable.

My feelings are that it is the most overrated Fab Four album. IMO, it is a collection of sub, sub par "Beatles" songs of which VERY FEW are memorable. Still, it is the best-selling album from the band. This just leaves me speechless. As all the high ratings on PA. I would like to know from where the "too many classics" come from.

This album has of course little to do with prog, whatsoever. George Martin was so P.O. that he left the recording sessions and went on holidays...

When I discovered this album in 1973, I could absolutely not enter into it. When I tried again some twenty-five years later, the same feeling applied. And time hasn't changed my mind now. It is still a MAJOR deception. Two stars. Can't go higher. I am just astonished thatI could wrote such a long review about an album I don't like. Even if it is considered as rubbish for most of you (my review I mean).

It was quite odd for me personally because I knew this album for the first time not directly interacted with this release. But, I was at that time having a cassette titled "A Concert for Bangladesh" whereby one of the performers was George Harrison. What interested me was actually one song in that cassette, i.e. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Wow! The song blew me away at first listen and I was not aware at all that the song was originally published in The Beatles "White" album. But that cassette, I always repeated when the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" played wonderfully from my cassette deck. Later, I knew that there was The Beatles album released in 1968 which people usually called it as "White" album. I was really happy knowing that the song was actually one of excellent songs from the album.

Another thing that surprised me as well was "Sexy Sadie" where I found it also appeared in a compilation by local radio station Prambors. So when I knew this album contained this song as well. I was happy as well. This song remained great even after decades of knowing it.

In addition to those two memorable songs, this album is an excellent release by the band. The straight rocker "Back In The U.S.S.R." (2:43) opens the album beautifully with its pondering guitar sounds and eerie vocal harmonies. Right after this rocker, the music moves into break with an acoustic "Dear Prudence" (3:56). ""Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (3:08) was very popular in the 70s and it has popular chorus line that made the song was a major hit. The other interesting aspect after "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (4:45) is the follow-up song "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" (2:43) which has uplifting mood. Really cool! The music flows naturally to a ballad "Martha My Dear" (2:28) followed wonderfully with "I'm So Tired" (2:03). "Blackbird" (2:18) is a great track with wonderful melody and great guitar work.

Other tracks in Disc Two are also excellent, in addition to "Sexy Saddie". "Yer Blues" is a great track that has been covered by some blues musicians like Jeff Hailey. "Helter Skelter" is a great rocker.

Overall, this is an excellent addition to any rock music collection.

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

This is far and away the best record that the Beatles did. Forget Sgt Pepper it is this double set that is the most entertaining and important recording of the fab four. I spent the summer of 1972 walking the hills and paths of Wiltshire accompanied by my first cassette player and a recording of this record that I made with a microphone strapped inside a pair of headphones. There are no single hits (at least not made hits by the Beatles) on this record which is maybe why it falls below so many peoples radar. It does have a number of songs that have become classics on it. I am not going to list the tracks but I will say that this album has a great deal of variety in it. From the pop boogie of back in the USSR to the Heavy metal of helter skelter, passing through gentle ballads this record has it all.We are even treated to a lullaby and it even finds time to be truly experimental with the notorious Number Nine. The three composers of the Beatles are all on top form. This is the record on which George Harrison came out as a writer in his own right. In fact Harrison gives us the best cut with the truly brilliant while my guitar gently weeps. Some people have said that this could have been trimmed to one brilliant record but I think they are wrong as we get two brilliant records. When you are talking desert Island disks this has to be the only Beatles album to take. This is certainly a progressive record , it has enough going on to bring you back again and again. I have worn few records out but I have bought this one three times simply to replace copies that have been played to death. If you like Sgt Pepper the White Album is a must buy. In fact if you don't own this record it would be very hard to take your collection seriously. Believe me if you own just one record by Liverpool's finest this is the one to own.

What more could I say the previous members already have said ? This White Album is purely a magical record. 30 songs here. Yes, there are some fillers (I don't really like Honey Pie, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La- Da, Don't Pass Me By and Wild Honey Pie), but in its entirety, this release is absolutely great. A work of Art.

This album is a MISH MASH of songs that probably would never have been released by any other band even if they wanted to.... The record company executives wouldn't let them see the light of day.... Except this is the Beatles here.... and they basically could do whatever they wanted to ..... There are a few polished gems (While My Guitar Gently Weeps for example) but most of this album is filled with 'demo' songs that could use a little further tinkering...... A fine example is the song Revolution 1.......which appears on this album.....and doesn't sound all that great to me.....but the same song was later amped up and appeared as the 'B' side of the 'Hey Jude' single....and this more famous version of the song is much improved.... This album is undoubtedly had an influence on future proggers....just by proving that it is possible to record truly 'wacky' filler songs.....and that some people will enjoy them...

I imagine that many of you have already committed to say everything he had to say about the white album and songs component. But I want to do my bit then:

-- The disc has sold more than 19,000,000 copies. Most sold 60 years -- The kit denounces clearly tension within the group not able to make a choice on the visual. -- This disc include Cry babe cry rockologues favorite song:) But also While my guitar gently play with the solo Clapton, sompteux Blackbird, Back in the USSR allusion under Chuck Berry or Julia declaration of love to his mother Lennon and Yoko ... -- Yer Blues the 19th song was sung at the Rolling Stones Rock n 'Roll festival by the MAC DIRTY supergroup consisting of Mitch Mitchell on drums, Eric Clapton the lead guitar, Keith Richard on bass, and the Lennon and rythmic singing, breathtaking !!! -- George Martin oulait out the hard singles, the final on the right to 30 songs.

Voilà !

Sexy maharishis and flaming ashtrays

I've never been much of a Beatles fan. I always found them to be excellent pop songwriters, but at times inconsistent and not really producers of masterpieces. Even their apparent breakthroughs in music never seemed to impress me as much, in comparison to what the Beach Boys were doing. Plus I couldn't get past all of that cheesy pop they put out every once in a while. And yet, after the personally disappointing beat-psychedelic pop of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the band seemed to get in touch with raw emotions for the first time, perhaps as a result of their retreat in India, but most likely because of growing dissention in the band. It is amusing, however, that coming from India the band got back to work with a bag of musical ideas. from the States. That's right, there is not a bloody sitar in sight, only electric and acoustic guitars aplenty, and inspirations from 30's dance-hall music, John Cage, the blues and The Beach Boys.

In fact, the boys who gave us such great pop music are honoured in the album opener, Back In The U.S.S.R., along with obvious not to Chuck Berry. The groove and harmonies are typical BB, but the Beatles rock a bit more, featuring some great electric guitar work, a feature that goes into the following song, Dear Prudence, a groovy ballad also featuring a great drum and bass line. The grooviness is also captured in the third track, Glass Onion, a Beatles song mocking the Beatles. Features the use of orchestral instrumentation in the background, lurking behind the dominating guitar, bass and drums that drive the song forward. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is quite a shift from the more rocking style with which the album opened. It sounds almost like a carnival soundtrack, very merry but with the potential to be quite annoying in case of overexposure. It does not, however, reach the annoying levels of early 20's sounding country song Wild Honey Pie, a small piece that serves as an intro to The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - featuring (quite discernible) vocals from Yoko Ono, on a track that would not sound out of place in a sing-along- on-the-bus-as-we-make-way-for-a-camping-trip-kind-of-song. Just as all the clapping near the end is beginning to annoy, the song is swiftly cut to make way for the next one. After a whole bunch of Lennon and/or McCartney songs, we are treated to the first Harrison-penned song of the album - and what a contribution it is! While My Guitar Gently Weeps is probably one of the most memorable songs from this album, and rightly so. George's fledging vocals and guest star Eric Clapton's fingers in the guitar give this song an aura of warm despair and immortality. And it rocks, too. Just as much as the grim Lennon song that follows, Happiness Is A Warm Gun - Lennon would soon find that out for himself. History apart, it is an excellent track, moody and dark, and immensely rich in rhythm changes, from folk ballad to blues to psychedelia all in just under 2 minutes and 44 seconds. After the depressing note that ended Side One we are forced too seek comfort - no one knows who really is Martha My Dear, but she is well remembered in this lovely song which begins as another take on 30's music-hall to then turn into a pop with a classical twist song, featuring the use of a brass ensemble. I'm So Tired is a return to the melancholic rock of Lennon which really drenches this album. Then there is the classic McCartney acoustic ballad Blackbird. We are then once more presented with a genius contribution from Harrison, this time in the form of the two minute baroque-sounding social satire Piggies. Rocky Raccoon is a wild western-flavoured song, both in theme and music. Next up we get Ringo's first writing credit - and it is, surprisingly, a very good one: Don't Pass Me By features excellent vocals and violin playing, in a sort of folkish jig song. Why Don't We Do It In The Road is a small piano-driven blues by Paul, pretty standard, but amusing all the same, courtesy of McCartney's raucous vocals - so different from his next track, the romantic ballad I Will.The first disc ends in this mellow tone, with John Lennon's elegy to his mother, Julia, another small (as most of the songs on this album) acoustic ballad.

Tea break. Damn, this is one long Beatles album - but oh so fun! Movin'on.

Birthday opens Side 3 in the same way as the album opener - a fast paced Rock n'Roll track, featuring some heavy guitar riffs and excellent drumming. The heavy intro does not stop here as it's followed by the heavy blues track Yer Blues, another Lennon track where he should be more careful about what he said. Four minutes of pretty standard anger-drenched blues-rock. It is followed by Blackbird part 2. Sorry, I mean Mother Nature's Son, another folky ballad by Macca. Rock n'Roll returns to scene, again by the hand of Lennon, in the form of Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey. John pens another one with Sexy Sadie, a soft rockin' groovy track with a nice beat and lush arrangements. Next up is Paul trying to be funny, and failing miserably - Helter Skelter has been immensely praised over the years, but the image I get from hearing it is of small boys with big guns. Paul can hardly sing in tone, with all the effort he makes to simply be loud. The drums are completely out of place, beating in such a slow rhythm as opposite to the guitar riff. There are indeed some good electric guitar licks and interesting vocal harmonies. But overall it's just too cacophonic and disorderly, a kind of music that the Beatles simply weren't cut out to produce. Best moment? Ringo's hilarious line I've got blisters on my fingers!. I am thus grateful for the peace that ensues in the form of Long Long Long, Side 3 closer by George Harrison. Some see it as perfectly superfluous, others as one of the most underrated Beatles track - I fall somewhere in the middle, finding it an excellent ballad and a good balance for the previous track, but something easily topped by the Beatles and Harrison himself. Flipping the record we are greeted by a call for change - Revolution 1 opens Side 4 with a typical blues electric guitar lick and sound effects. John sings calmly in-between occasional power chords and orchestral bursts. Honey Pie is another Paul trip into early 20th century music, in a very well executed music-hall jazz kind of song. Harrison's final songwriting credit of the album is Savoy Truffle, a personal favourite, a crazy piece of music, groovy, orchestral, jazzy and bluesy all at the same time, featuring excellent vocals, electric guitar, saxophones and electric piano. Cry Baby Cry is another mid-tempo soft-rock track, ending 2 and a half minutes into it for an non-credited Macca song. After Paul failed attempt at hard-rock , we are treated to John failed attempt at experimental music - rather than a real composition, Revolution 9 is more of a long collage of pre-recorded sounds - orchestras, crowds, movies, studio chatter and other random and assorted recordings, all glued together with no apparent order. I'm not so keen on the track by itself, but it's simply a great weird piece to include in the album, especially towards the ending, and especially before the closing lullaby Good Night, penned by Lennon, sung by Ringo, and featuring extremely lush orchestral arrangements courtesy of George Martin. I simply love the way the chaos of Revolution 9 flows into this lovely and orderly piece, and I just can't imagine them ever played apart.

So, why is this the best Beatles album? First off, its more of a rock album than anything they did before, which for my taste is an important feature. John Lennon's song are especially noteworthy in that aspect, in the same way Paul McCartney excels in his ballads and songs his granny would enjoy, but not so much on his rockers. Harrison pens four songs, and all four are among the best of the album (makes me wish he had even more). Even Ringo has a memorable contribution. Being the longest Beatles album, it could also have a lot of space taken by useless filler - and yet it doesn't: not all songs are brilliant (some are far from it), but there is not a single one I would like to see scratched from the album. It's a big, ridiculously diverse album, but at the same time quite consistent, which is quite remarkable given its structure and all the ill-feeling among the members of the band (in fact, among the entire Beatles machine) at the time. It's their most honest and down-to-earth album, and that is probably the reason for why it shines among their entire discography.

Before Led Zeppelin came with the crushly Black Dog or Dazed & Confused, there was The Beatles with Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey (Lennon-McCartney). I think the two of LZ tracks above were, not in straightly, inherit the nuances of EGSTHEFMAMM's music. This is why we should call The Beatles as a pioneer.

Long. Long, Long is a George Harrison thoughts about his new way of life. A sublime creation took its place. I can still remember LLL in the dark side of the night or sometime in a blue feeling. Sexy Sadie was a John Lennon's grief about someone in India (I can't say the name). It's a pop-ballad or maybe melodic, in which defined a piano that accompanied with some heart feeling that unexplicably.

You might recall Paul McCartney said, the White Album was a rough-hard in making, but the Mother Nature's Son is a good, outta rough-hard process, ballad. Ask Sheryl Crow if you want. And, of course, Good Night, sung by Ringo Starr, is another outta burden song.

I've got something to say, these two albums are spreading interests to many musicians (or maybe to some people in order to run their way of vandals). The contents is enriched by many ideas. Various of music breaks out by their cold war, instead. And these albums would make an exhausting feeling. But we agreed, the albums were bold but beautiful.

In his car, a friend of mine asked me this week that if I could copy over onto CD one of my old vinyl records which would be the first. I said I suppose it would be the White Album. Incredibly, he reached his hand into the glove box and pulled out the first cassette his hand touched - it was the White Album. We then went on an incredible and exciting journey of rediscovery and nostalgia (for I hadn't listened to this in 10 years) Ohharr wow oh wow how incredibly awesome/ amazing this album is. I can't believe - listening to it again - how much I still like it. The Beatles were the true pioneers - always reaching ahead, with everyone all following on behind. I mean they were in such a powerful position - they WERE the top band, and so I believe that without them I don't think Prog rock would have happened. Period. The production on this record was amazing, and incredible diversity - enhanced enormously by the battle between Lennon and McCartney (to the point where Yoko contributes in Bungalow Bill). I mean -why Bungalow Bill - everybody else would say Buffolo. The album is bursting with new ideas and innovations with every minute that passes leaving you gasping and wishing that if you could only have just one of those ideas you'd be immensely proud. How did they do it?? Lennon's darkness and nastiness and world of the bizarre and sometimes beautiful compete out track against track of the beauty and melody of McCartney, interdispersed with Harrison's best collection of songs. But McCartney went off the wall too - just listen to Helter Skelter - was this the prototype of punk rock or metal, perhaps?

The album is psychedelia's greatest masterpiece and its final peak before Prog rock became king, but Prog was definitely notable in Revolution 9 - I mean this album takes you into astral projection - really into Space - many elements of which you can hear in Pink Floyd's music. Listen to Revolution 9, then play Saucerful of Secrets and you'll know what I mean. I really don't know how the Beatle-maniac public of the 60's took this album - I mean it was different from A HArd Day's night etc - only released 4 years previously - incredible, no other band could ever even dream of that now - and this only just 12 years after the release of the first rock 'n' roll music. It leaves you drooling just to think of it.

I note most of the reviews here are really long, that's because there's so bloomin much to say....

Some of the tracks are beyond belief in their bizarreness, but somehow really work and are approachable. This is so unlike so many bands that tried to sound weird but just ended up sounding rubbish.

I mean Wild Honey Pie - what the heck was that about? - but how awesome Honey pie..... honey pie..... Beyond weird man!!

Yer Blues - this track leaves you gasping it so incredibly good - a mix of the bizarre with blues, and the guitar effects that guitarists would die for now. My mother was of the sky, my father was of the Universe - and you know what its worth.

Then that feel of the old Western saloon bar in Rocky Raccoon - I mean, man, this really takes you there.

Then I'm so Tired - wow doesn't that just make you feel tired just listening to it? This album is alive and its 40 years old!!!

Martha my Dear, Blackbird, I Will - such lush melodies - much better than Yesterday in my mind. And in Julia, Lennon finds his own beauty.

And there is true rock with a twist of the strange with Back in the USSR, Birthday and Everybody's got Something to Hide Except for me and my Monkey - what a song title!!! and what a FANTASTIC track - I love it love it Only Several Species of Furry Animals Gathered together in a cave and grooving with a pict competes with it in terms of the craziest song titles ever.

And then there are those amazing songs that seem to take you into a dream - so mystical. breathtaking - you wonder if you're really there. Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, Cry Baby Cry, Long Long Long etc.. All these take you into the Astral plane - awesome tracks - of which Dear Prudence is the greatest. I've heard cover versions of that track but they somehow don't reproduce the dreaminess of the original.

Strangely though, amongst my favourites (Which many of you may not agree with) is Harrison's Savoy Truffle - a song about sweets, but it so rocks again with the twist of the dreamy and bizarre. I can imagine David Bowie doing this one.

I could go on and on, but I know it's already far longer than anyone's gonna read. but remember this one thing - PSYHEDELIA HAD REACHED ITS GREATEST CULMINATION and PROG ROCK BEGAN on the day this was released.

Aptly given the moniker "The White Album" for its seemingly white album art, The Beatles is a true return to form for the group after a number of psychedelic explorations. Indeed, 1967 proved to be a fruitful year for the lads from Liverpool as cessation of touring allowed the band to experiment to their hearts content and refine their world class studio craft. With this release, The Beatles proved that once again they could produce rock and roll at the highest levels, while maintaining a professional degree of artistry.

This album exhibits nearly everything The Beatles could do musically, ranging from distorted acid rock ('Helter Skelter', 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' and 'Yer Blues') to subtle acoustic numbers ('Long, Long, Long', 'Blackbird' and 'Mother Nature's Son'). What is striking about this record is the complete segregation from the psychedelic pop style on their previous LP and EP. This album boldly demonstrates the group's ability to push the boundaries of rock music outside of the aforementioned style. The group ultimately makes a strong statement about their knack for songwriting, melody, musicianship and versatility.

And no better way to shed the colorful psychedlia of Sergeant Pepper than to issue a double LP encased in a sleek white cover. On this album, the band proves they could be equally successful in expanding the ideas found on Rubber Soul as they were in developing psychedelic music. While it is clear that Revolver and Sergeant Pepper maintain some effect on the experimental aspects of this album, it is obvious it bypasses such a sound in search for a sequel of sorts to Rubber Soul.

By no means is this album merely another chapter to Rubber Soul; in fact, it is arguably The Beatles' masterpiece. Honestly, I don't think they ever quite matched this album in terms of sheer brilliance and ambition. Lennon considered them just a rock and roll group, and this is no more apparent on this record. Extraordinary, but not entirely progressive; The Beatles takes the edge of Rubber Soul to an entirely different level.

Due to the sheer length of the album, there are a few weaker moments. They do not detract from the glorious heights this album reaches; one of the highlights being the tremendous continuity amongst the vast array of incongruous music. The album just leaps all over the place, taking the listener from deep introspection to melancholy to pure ecstasy in a matter of a one side.

Much more rock oriented than their previous two LPs, but still a remarkable album, covering a variety of styles and flexing its musical muscle equally on both discs, The Beatles carries its band's name for one simple reason: it illustrates a band at its creative peak, with the music itself being the palette to decorate the white cover.

"The Beatles" (known better as the "The White Album", which is how I will refer to it) is the 9th full-length studio album by UK pop/rock act The Beatles. The album was originally released as a double vinyl release featuring thirty tracks. The recording of the album, which took place at Abbey Road Studios in London with producer George Martin, was mared by the ego clashes of especially John Lennon and Paul McCartney (and to a lesser extent George Harrison). The atmosphere got so bad that Ringo Starr even left the band for a short period of time. After reconsidering his decision he did return though.

Many of the tracks featured on the album were almost recorded as little solo projects and there were fierce discussions as to which tracks were to be included on the album. The great variation in style and sound between tracks made the album a bit incoherent, and while it was generally well received some listeners found the album a bit confusing. There is for example a long way from the rather silly Caribbean music influenced "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" to the 8:22 minutes long experimental sound collage of "Revolution 9".

The album contains some of the strongest material The Beatles ever released though. It features some psychadelic and rather weird tracks like "Glass Onion", "Wild Honey Pie", "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill" and "Piggie"s, which are all really strong compositions, but tracks like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Back In The U.S.S.R.", "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Dear Prudence", "Helter Skelter" (which to my ears is borderline heavy rock), and the beautiful closing track "Good Night" are also high quality tracks.

"The White Album" is upon conclusion a very ambitious project by The Beatles that features a few flaws (some fillers and a couple of sub par tracks. An example of the latter is the folky Ringo Starr led "Don't Pass Me By") but mostly excels in brilliant songwriting, an extremely well sounding production, and overall high level musicianship. The memorable and well written melodies are as always second to none. Untouchable...a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Beatles White Album

Innovative, compelling, psychedelic, quintessential, brilliant!

What can be said of this that has not been said before? It is THE most talked about Beatles album outside of Sgt Pepper. It features some of the greatest most well known tracks of the huge Beatles catalogue such as Back in the USSR, Birthday, While my Guitar Gently Weeps, Dear Prudence, and Obladioblada. But for me it's the lesser known tracks that spark interest. The likes of Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey, Helter Skelter, Piggies, Yer Blues, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Glass Onion, Rocky Raccoon, Savoy Truffle and Revolution 9 are the Beatles at their most progressive and experimental.

Happiness is a warm gun for example is kind of like 3 different songs within a song, the time sig changes are well ahead of their time and it is chillingly prophetic now that we know how Lennnon actually died.

Helter Skelter is a grand romp into excess with scorching raw guitar and screeching vocals. The end is iconic 'I got blisters on my fingers!'

Rocky Raccoon is a very nice country flavor pastiche on the murder ballad with Paul at his best.

Savoy Truffle is Harrison having a stab at food, and life.

Glass Onion is the tongue in cheek Lennon telling a tall tale of Strawberry Fields, Fool on the Hill and the Walrus ? a dig at their own psychedelic lyrics.

But the one that everyone was spouting off about, and still to this day discuss at length is of course the legendary revolution 9. To describe the track as a song is wrong for a start. It is not a song but something undefined and unreliable. When you think it will go in a particular direction it shifts into new territory. Hated, adored and confusing, it is impossible to ignore. It is one of those moments that worked on many intellectual levels with critics but the reality is the track is really a collage of sounds spliced from a range of sources randomly without making sense as a result. It is not comfortable to listen to and it is impossible not to be moved emotionally in some way when listening to it. Some despise it at rubbish or indulgent nonsense, others think it a work of genius. I must admit I usually avoid it and skip straight to Good Night but in the right frame of mood the track is quite compelling in an artistic way.

The conclusion for this album is it is groundbreaking and one of the milestones of music history. One of the first double albums, one of the most inventive, with the weirdest track, so bold and so compelling on each track, It is far too good and important for anything less than 5 stars. Masterpieces like this come rarely. The Beatles were never more innovative.

The hangover from 1967

1967 was an amazing year for the Fab with two acid infused classics on their hands. In spring 1968 they flew to India to spend some time expanding their consciousness with the Maharishi. He made an impression on them initially but Lennon would see through the charade in time. During this vacation they amassed a fair amount of material and recorded from May through October 1968. The White Album is probably The Beatles least coherent overall, seemingly loose and occasionally sloppy. Which is probably exactly what some of them wanted. After being constrained a bit by Paul's thematic ideas for Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour, one gets the feeling that White Album was John and George saying "stay the hell out of the way." There is some serious experimentation happening throughout, both in styles and in sounds. John would comment that the album was a special treat for fans because it "has a lot of stuff on it." This is absolutely true, it is an album for fans which gives them additional insight into the personalities of the band. But judged as an album on its own accord, well, it has some issues. There are plenty of tracks here not up to the usual standards.

The great stuff here is pretty varied with John contributing the pleasant "Dear Prudence" and the fantastic "I'm so tired" where you can literally hear the weariness and anger just below the surface. "Revolution 9" is an interesting sound collage that is probably The Beatles most radical piece, but unfortunately it's not something you'll want to hear more than once per decade. Paul has plenty of great character pieces, ballads, and story-songs. "Martha My Dear" showcases Paul's love for that slightly dated feel which I find so appealing, these days such songwriting style would be so refreshing. "Blackbird" is drop dead gorgeous acoustic bliss and "Mother Nature's Son" may be the highlight. "Helter Skelter" is a fan favorite with Paul pushing his vocals to the extreme. George delivers the lovely "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" which may be his finest Beatles track, along with the strange baroque-sounding "Piggies." The closer "Good Night" was a really nice touch. But perhaps more than any other Beatles album, there's some fairly disposable stuff here like Back In The USSR/Glass Onion/Wild Honey Pie/Bungalow Bill/Why don't we/Yer Blues/Everybodys/Long Long Long.

Were the White Album a single disc with only the best material it would easily be another 4 star affair. With all of the extra delicacies offered, some good and some not so, the album falls to 3 stars overall. Still, while this music is all over 40 years old now, it still blows my mind how superior it is to most modern era mainstream music.

Let me try to be fair here in my assessment of the White Album, properly titled THE BEATLES. First and foremost, I wasn't around in 1968 back when it was first released, so I don't necessarily understand how revolutionary this claims to be. Second, I wasn't really a Beatles fan growing up, so no childhood memories to latch onto here. However, I'm giving two stars to an iconic album of the 1960's, so I'd better have a good explanation.

Actually, I think I do. What the White Album lacks is a good dose of consistency. The album seems to cover a barrage of styles with poor transitions between style changes. This is not like say Queen's A NIGHT AT THE OPERA where many diverse styles were covered, but the fluidity was better and such style changes seem natural to Queen. Going back to THE BEATLES, it goes almost haphazardly from good ol' rock n' roll (''USSR'') to silly kids TV themes (''Bungalow Bill'') to prog rock (''Happiness'') to country (''Rocky Raccoon'') to blues (''Yer Blues'') to avant-garde (''Revolution 9'') to...you get the idea. Any good defense of this album would be the number of styles covered, but in my definition of good music, a great flow trumps multiple genre nods any day.

Keep in mind that the White Album is a double album; this means that there's guaranteed to be quite a few filler tracks. Yes, I use the ''politically incorrect'' term ''filler'' here, but in my mind it makes perfect sense. If you don't believe me, try to defend ''Wild Honey Pie'', easily the worst song I've ever heard out of this group, a song that needn't belong on any album. Why, might you ask? It's a minute of the worst guitar noises and yodeling there is. Thankfully, no other song is this dreadful although ''Bungalow Bill'' comes close thanks to Yoko Ono's vocals.

However, most filler are songs that just don't sound like they ''have it''. Take songs like ''Glass Onion'', ''Yer Blues'', ''Blackbird'' and ''Me and My Monkey''; all of those songs mentioned sound very average to my ears without being of any importance. Others like ''Piggies'', ''Ob-La-Di,Ob-La-Da'' and ''Revolution 9'' are just weird experiments coming from the Beatles, all of them sounding like messes. Then again, double albums and filler tracks go together like peanut butter and jelly. Heck, I'm willing to admit that some double albums I like (TAGO MAGO, CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, FREAK OUT! to name a few) have filler tracks or padded lengths. As pessimistic as it sounds, I should have expected a numerous amount of filler.

However, not all is average here. Even with ''Wild Honey Pie'', Side 1 is clearly the strongest side carrying four of the albums strongest tracks; ''Back in the USSR'', ''Dear Prudence'', ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps'' and ''Happiness is a Warm Gun''. Of particular interest to progsters should be the ethereal ''Dear Prudence'' and its bass jumps and the metre shifting mini-suite of ''Happiness''. I guess everyone has their favourite cuts on this album, but after the first side, only ''Julia'', ''Helter Skelter'', ''Savoy Truffle'' and ''Revolution 1'' are of any interest to me.

It's a well-known album, so this ought to be one that you might want to check out. Just keep in mind that just because the Beatles made this album doesn't mean it's a masterpiece. I say that if THE BEATLES was kept to a single album, it might have been less controversial. Definitely should come with a warning tag.

For it's time, this was a very advanced album. Much of the press, and the Beatles fans back then, just didn't understand this album, and probably never will. This was a band that has grown up. And this album is really the definition of proto prog.

George Martin's production on this album is revolutionary. The sound of the bass, the strings in Glass Onion, the honky tonk piano in the silly Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, the warbling backing track in While My Guitar Gently Weeps, it's all perfect. And don't get me started about Revolution Number 9.

With this many tracks, there are bound to be a few clunkers, but they are just a few. And after all these years, there are some track that I just never need to hear again. Still, this iis a great album.

Late November in 1968 The Beatles released a double album and although commonly referred to as The White album it was actually self titled and due to the plain white used on the cover the name has stuck. The album came with four nice glossy photos,one of each band member and a poster with a photo collage on one side and the other had the lyrics of each tune. The original vinyl release was numbered in sequence and was usually for each country where the album was printed.The actual songs throughout the album are not divided but follow on with minimum breaks.This was the first album to be recorded since the death of Brian Epstein and this is where the band really are coming to the end of the road but with all these issues another wonderful record was created and perhaps the most eclectic album in the bands catalogue.

With the sound of a jet engine the album commences with what could be described as a Beachboys influence with Back in The USSR. The first and only single to be taken of the album was Ob la di Ob la da and the flip in Australia was While my Guitar Gently Weeps and yet internationally it appears it was Julia. We got the better deal to say the least. Other singles were taken later but long after the album was released. One other single was also recorded but did not appear on the album. The first three sides of the album are considered the cream by the majority and with songs such as Glass Onion, While my Guitar Gently Weeps ( considered by this reviewer to be George Harrison's proof that he was a great tunesmith as well and could hold his own against the two big boys Lennon/McCartney)Happiness is A Warm Gun, Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Don't Pass Me By ( Even Ringo gets a shot), Why Don't We do It In The Road, Yer Blues, Mother Natures Son, Long,Long,Long( George again) and the blazing Helter Skelter and the rest of the songs are just behind in quality but with a Beatles album everybody will have other favourites and that only really shows the quality of the song writing from the band. Sexy Sadie could be pehaps the most dubious song on the first three sides.

On side four of the album which is considered by a lot of people as being patchy there are some absolute little gems contained within and Revolution 9 being one of them and with this Sound Collage created by John Lennon there is something quite original with its own atmosphere contained within and is really only the held together barely with the repitition of No.9,No.9 disliked by a lot of fans and considered their worst track but it is art and one which took the most time for me to enjoy of the album.Revolution 1 is the first version and although slower in tempo. Still another and not too popular tune appears to be the last song on the album which was Good Night but once again this was The Beatles and could be considered as quite a good finisher to the album as one should remember Double albums were considered extremly lengthy in time in their early days.John Lennon wrote it and Ringo did the vocals and even George Martin plays the Celeste. There a few other songs I have not mentioned on side four but none of them are poor but just indivdual members doing their own thing which really could describe how the album was constructed as the band was barely a band anymore but four indivduals working with George Martin.

Some musicians that particapted in the album were Eric Clapton, Jackie Lomax and numerous others. One mention though is how three of the bands wifes or partners( if you prefer) also contribute vocals on the odd track throughout excepting Paul. Patti Harrison, Maureen Starkey and of course Yoko Ono.

A masterpiece of course and a timeless one at that and the first album on Apple. The number on the album I used for the review which is mine is 34,800 issued in Australia. I was late buying my copy as $11.00 was not chicken feed at 10 years of age.

The Beatles' White Album is one of the most talked-about Rock albums of all time. Some say it's the best thing the band ever did, while others say it was crammed full of filler and could have benefited from being trimmed down in length (among the latter group of people is Beatles producer George Martin). Over the years, I have become more and more inclined to agree with the former opinion, and the simple reason is that after years of listening to The White Album, it has sunk in to a point that my listening experience of it is now just as personal and important to me as any key event in my life.

But what makes this release so special? Well, transport yourself back to 1968, if you can. At the time, Rock fans were only just beginning to get their feet wet in the bottomless pool of creativity that we now seem to take for granted. This single piece of work featured within its ingenious gatefold cover a large variety of musical styles including Space-Rock, Avant-Garde, Pop, Folk, Symphonic Rock, and even a quick romp in the realm of early Metal. To mesh so much varied content together on a single release was daring as hell, and still scares people away today. You name any other mainstream Pop-Rock artist popular today who even comes close to being this diverse on any of their albums. You can't of course, because The White Album is in some ways peerless in that regard. No other Rock album has ventured so far in every direction-- and succeeded like this one does.

The bulk of the material heard on this release was written while the band went on their retreat with the Maharishi in India. Much of the lyrics are also direct references to people, places and incidents encountered while staying there. As a result, so much material was brought back to the studio that the band chose to release a double-LP. Daring was this choice, but it was also the best one, in my opinion. I know some people think the album could have been a lot better had it been condensed, but personally, I don't know how you can condense something so rich with content like The White Album is. True, a few songs here and there sound a bit underdeveloped or like mere goofing off, but even those tracks have their charm, and the complete experience of listening to The White Album from beginning to end is such that I honestly couldn't imagine any of the tracks on the record being removed. It all plays a role in making this one of the most enjoyable Beatles records-- not just for me, but for many many others.

The listening experience of this album is too precious to spoil through play-by-play descriptions (and even if I would attempt something like that, I wouldn't do any of the songs justice), so rather than do that, I'm just going to give a quick overview of the album to give you an idea of just how vast a musical plane the influences span.

The album begins with an ode to the Beach Boys-style Pop music in the song ''Back in the U.S.S.R.'', then instantly goes into one of the band's greatest ballads, ''Dear Prudence''. Follow that up with John's playful ''Glass Onion'', Paul's happy, fun-loving Pop tune ''Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'', and the random, off-the-wall ''Wild Honey Pie'', and you're already getting an idea of all the varied, rich content this release has to offer.

''The Continuing Story of Bungalo Bill'' starts off with an impressive guitar lead, then jumps into the main song, which sounds like an old tune from the south. By the way, keep in mind that all this time, many different instruments and orchestrations have already been implemented, and we are only six songs in. ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps'' is arguably the best Beatles-era George Harrison song, and it features a soaring, wailing guitar solo from Eric Clapton. Clapton was brought in by Harrison in order to ease tensions the band members were feeling at the time, and the paring of two monumental artists resulted in on of the greatest Hard Rock ballads of all time.

John Lennon's ''Happiness Is a Warm Gun'' starts off in one place, and ends on a completely different note. His lead guitar work about fifty seconds in to the track is so good and heartfelt, and sounds more like a human being's voice than it does a stringed electric instrument. The man was a genius in every sense of the word. The odd-time vocal section chanting ''Mother Superior jumped the gun'' always gives me chills.

''Martha My Dear'' is a gorgeous piece from McCartney, and features classical instruments heavily along with the drums, bass and guitar. A short and sweet symphonic journey. It all sounds very British to my American ears, but who knows, It's damn good, that's all I know. Paul's bass line that comes in during the final verse is also quite masterful and climbing. John's ''I'm So Tired'' is a nice soft rocker that sounds influenced by the 50s doo wop styles, but builds into a more raw presentation as John strains out the words ''Stupid git!''.

This is the section of the album that I refer to as the 'animal section'. Three songs in a row where animals are the main subject matter. ''Blackbird'' shows off Paul McCartney's acoustic guitar chops quite well, as he finger-plucks away and sings in his smooth, gentle voice about a bird learning to fly and escaping its surroundings. A nice little song. Then, ''Piggies'' is the symphonic track which features a glorious outro filled with powerful cellos and violins. ''Rocky Raccoon'' is without a doubt the funniest song of these three, and tells the wacky story of a raccoon who is on a quest to take back his girl from his thieving rival. It's a folk song full of harmonica, traditional acoustic guitar strums and a ragtime piano. A must-listen.

''Don't Pass Me By''. If there IS a weak track to be found on The White Album, I suppose it would be this one, of any at all. Nothing is wrong with it, really, but it's a Country song about waiting up late for a lover to arrive home who has long left town and/or died in a car accident (at least that is my impression based on the lyrics). The fiddle leads are the highlight of the song, and Ringo's voice is the downside. I personally like Ringo's voice a lot, but this particular song shows his limitations as a vocalist, for whatever reason (he will redeem himself later with the lovely ''Good Night'').

''Why Don't We Do It in the Road?'' is a raw, hard rocker that talks about . . . well, I think you can guess the subject matter. Good song, if perhaps a little underdeveloped and short. McCartney is on top of his singing game on this track. ''I Will'' is a light-hearted ballad featuring vocal bass lines, and a southern-style guitar. ''Julia'' is the greatest song John Lennon ever did solo while still in the band. it is about his estranged mother, who died before he had a chance to re-connect with her. It's sorrowful, beautiful and full of heart. His playing and singing are both top-notch, and this song serves as the perfect, gentle ending to the album's first half.

Part two of The White Album kicks things off with another hard rocker called ''Birthday''. ''Yer Blues'' is, you guessed it, a bluesy Rock song about loneliness. John's rough vocal stylings serve the music well, here. Such diverse voices these men had. Switching gears completely once again, a beautiful Folk song titled ''Mother Nature's Son'' serves as one of the album's many highlights. ''Everybody's Got Something to Hide'' is a story about addiction told at a frantic, schizophrenic pace. John talks about his own personal 'monkey' on his back, and the breakdown at 2:05 is truly of the great Rock 'n Roll moments.

''Sexy Sadie'' is said to be written about the Maharishi. John Lennon apparently learned of an attempted rape of Mia Farrow by the Maharishi, and the group announced that they were leaving their retreat in India immediately after learning this. I personally have no idea how true that is, but I've heard it enough times from enough different sources to assume that is indeed what Lennon was singing about. In this case, names were changed to prevent lawsuit, and Sadie is the Marishi.

''Helter Skelter''. Alright, here we go. The heaviest song The Beatles ever recorded, by far. This is early Heavy Metal, and they pull it off brilliantly. Everything about this track just makes me groove. Once again, it's Paul McCartney showing just how diverse and capable he is as a vocalist, and while his screaming and raw-cut singing style may still not quite match the caliber of John's infamous ''Twist and Shout'' performance, it's pretty damn good. In reality, the band jammed on this idea for quite a long time before reaching the final product, and one early version of the song wasn't metal at all. I'm glad they chose to go this route, because it once again shows how the band was capable of pulling off any musical idea they chose to pursue.

''Long, Long, Long'' is another folk song of sorts, featuring one of the most memorable, haunting guitar openings in Beatles history (notice there a lot of 'most' moments on this record for me; another reason why I believe it to be essential). However, unlike its peers found in here, this one is much more psychedelic and progressive, and is possibly the only true 'Prog Folk' song on The White Album. It actually puts me in mind of some of the stuff John Martyn would do a little later. ''Revolution 1'' is, in my opinion, not as good as the single version, which is the most remembered, and a hard-rocker. This album version is much slower and more laid back. However, that IS only an opinion, and this version is still absolutely wonderful. It's got a bit of a Swing influence, and is in reality more varied and creative than its faster-paced counterpart.

''Honey Pie''. Remember ''Wild Honey Pie'' from much earlier on the album? Yeah, this song is nothing like that. Sounds like something Al Jolson would sing. It's great, of course, but the name similarities with the aforementioned track is apparently just coincidence. ''Savory Shuffle'' is a brilliant Funk track that also boarders on Big Band at times. Sounds like it could have influenced Chic's ''Dance, Dance, Dance'' track. Another winning track, but just as unusual as the previous one, at least for Beatles music. ''Cry Baby Cry''. It's a hint of the type of musical style The Beatles would later fully develop for the Abbey Road record. The final thirty or so seconds is a haunting mini-ballad courtesy of McCartney.

''Revolution 9''. Here it is. The single most important track on this entire record, and the one reason you should own it. I'm not kidding when I say that this track is extraordinary. Avant-Garde through-and-through, this is an anti-song. It has no set structure or influence, nor does it seem to say any one particular message. There ARE words here, but they are disjointed, unrelated ramblings, typically consisting of profane, agitated stories or nonsensical poems. Nearly everything you hear on the lyrical front is spoken-word, and anything else is just lifted from other sources. Not only is this the most unconventional, forward-thinking track the band ever did, it is also one of the most disturbing listening experiences I encountered during my early days of experimental listening. It still stays with me. I don't really want to point to anything specific, because I think if you haven't heard this track yet, you need to experience it fresh, without any prior knowledge of exactly what is contained, here. I think even the most avid of Beatles haters must admit that this is one hell of a progressive track. Nothing quite like it existed before in popular music, and this was a huge step for music. Now we were moving into the realm in which 'music' was no longer made up of conventional ingredients. This is a 'song' that had me looking over my shoulder in my house at night for a few days after first hearing it, so I guess that means it's effective. I'm not going to say anymore-- buy this album, and listen to ''Revolution 9''. Period.

Well, after the undoubtedly unsettling listening experience of that last track, The Beatles decide to end things on a calmer note, and the Symphonic ballad ''Good Night'' is where we end up at the end of this vast, varied, sometimes unsettling musical sojourn. The light at the end pf the tunnel as it were is this track, and not only is it probably the most melodically beautiful track on the album, but Ringo does a dynamite job of being the singer. This is nothing more than a peaceful lullaby; no tricks, no Avant-Garde weirdness, no hard rocking surprises . . . just beautiful music. It is the perfect way to end this monster of an album.

So, now the question is . . . does The White Album rank among the very top Beatles releases? My answer to that is absolutely. There is no way this album will ever drop below my personal top five for the band, and I often find myself wondering if The White Album is not in fact their best work. I think a lot of good cases have been made for that claim. After all, the band took the most musical risks, here. Also, a large amount of the band's very best songs are on this release. I honestly can't say whether or not it IS their best, but it's ONE of their best, for sure. The sheer bravery that they displayed by taking their music in so many different (and often uncharted) directions shows what a monumental piece of work The White Album really is. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that it's The Beatles' most diverse record, and I think most fans of the group are inclined to feel the same way I do about it. It's just so full of treasures that you would be doing yourself an incredible crime to not listen to it. I would assume most people here already have, but for those of you who haven't (especially if you are one of the people who actually think The Beatles were nothing more than a Pop group), you need to pick this one up right away. In my opinion, it is indeed essential, simply because of its attitude and varied, unconventional content. I wish a rating higher than five existed for albums like this one. Truly one of the most masterful works I have in my collection.

Very, very happy listening.

The Beatles "White Album" 1968 THE SUN IS UP

Beatles produce double album like a street resume. 8 by 10s included. I never knew this was this kind of band. I mean you can actually touch this entity, this band from Liverpool. We immediatly step into McCartneys jet and are on the tarmac ROCKIN in The USSR. (Back!!) and we step off the plane, there is a barefoot man playing a guitar and he has glasses. His name is John and he is asking us to play. As only Lennon does: he condenses his emotive phrase to half-time at the last refrain of the Chorus. Just then a tall dark man with a beard and sharp fowels walks by. His boots are leather and gritty to the floor. I look up at George Harrison. He is all man. He works on his new song. A tenious piece of emotive dictation which his buddy plays lead on.George is busy. The other man, who is also barefoot is on the piano and won't shut up. Paul McCartney stares at me. Nobody is really into his song. Desmond and Molly aren't real. Ringo ah Ringo is actually quite in control of himself and not at all amused by my presence. The Tapes are in. I hear the final mixes

THE SKY IS BLUE

Lennon's Revolution #9 is a ten minute piece of crap. And he knows this. Because Lennon wants this on his resume: I don't give a [&*!#]. Really pointis I"M LONELY!!! WANNA DIE! On Revolution # uno he says "don't you know that you can count me out--IN. So he might as well just blow up this band. Make a note of that.

ITS BEAUTIFUL

Ringo has a funny face as he becomes god-like whispering goodnight or whatever the hell he saying. As I wake up I see that the band has left and there are no cables on the floor. I didn't really understand what I saw. They were just setting up.That was The Beatles. The Great band from Liverpool. In the distance, I see that same barefoot man smiling on a station.

AND SO ARE YOU

Monday December I miss you John. I miss your kind heartedness and tenderness you made people laugh and I will always love you for being the beatles

The Beatles were a Professional music outfit. They engaged in world-wide tours. In the Busy worlds Of London and New York, there resumes are on file

Won't you come out To Play

This is one of those albums that I've listened too so many times, that the songs are just constantly scraped into my head.

Different from their other albums, this album almost seemed like a branch out of solo efforts from the band (with George's material being the strongest, just like in Abbey Road).

This double album, could have easily been 2 single albums, but it would have been missing somethingif it wasn't a double album.

Their was also a massive experimental side to this album, reuslting in a better production style, more in depth songs and just a more enjoyable natural album.

This album also has a weird history, including influence on the Manson family, which adds to a quite creepy atomosphere to it (a bit like Pet Sounds).

CD 1

1. Back In The U.S.S.R - This song does annoy me a wee bit, but it is a classic song and is well written and incredibly catchy. 8/10

2. Dear Prudence - A quite laid back and the begininning of what I think was the alternative sound. Siouxsie & The Banshees do a pretty cool cover of this song. 9/10

3. Glass Onion - A quite interesting lyrical play of Beatles songs. Has a very Magical Mystery Tour vibe to it. 10/10

4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - I want to hate this song, but I love it so much. It's also way ahead of its time production wise. 10/10

5. Wild Honey Pie - A short weird interlude that doesn't really make much sense. The Pixies do an amazing cover of this song. 10/10

6. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - Very weird and...words can't really describe it. It's just so different, but incredibly funny. Yoko is also in this song, which isn't that bad to be honest. 10/10

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Apparently Eric Clapton plays on the album version, but I don't know if that's 100% true. Amazing song with some very beautiful arangements and lyrics. The guitar work is pretty cool. 10/10

8. Happiness Is A Warm Gun - It's kind of like 3 songs in one. Very proggy and way ahead of it's time. 10/10

9. Martha My Dear - Usually Paul annoys me, but this is a great song with some amazing piano work on it. 10/10

10. I'm So Tired - Weird and wonderfull. Amazing vocals from Paul and John. Just a great song. 10/10

11. Blackbird - Everyone's song to learn for fingerpicking. It is a beautiful song and the music and lyrics are very heartfelt. There is also speculation that this song is about racial dominance, but thats just BS. 10/10

12. Piggies - Just adore this thing. Love the harpsichord work and the weirdness of the song. This song is about the police, obviously. 10/10

13. Rocky Racoon - This song annoys me a wee bit, but it is a great song. This song apparently is about black people, which again is BS. 7/10

14. Don't Pass Me By - Ringo's song. This isn't that bad, love the violin in the song. 8/10

15. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? - What is it? 9/10

16. I Will - Again, another great Paul song (their isn't alot of these). 10/10

17. Julia - Very sombre and very beautifull. 10/10

CD2

1. Birthday - Very chessy but incredibly impressive, some of the effects in the song sound so spacy and futuristic, again showing something that's away ahead of it's time. 10/10

2. Yer Blues - This is a parody of a blues song, and coming from a guy that hates Blues, I love this song. John's vocals are amazing in this song. 10/10

3. Mother Nature's Son - Very underlooked in my opinion. Beautifull arangement. 10/10

4. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me & My Monkey - A werid song but very kick ass and very cathcy. 10/10

5. Sexy Sadie - Again, very underlooked. Sounds like Lennon's solo stuff (which I prefer to most Beatle stuff). 10/10

6. Helter Skelter - Again, another song that influenced the Manson's, for some strange reason. I believe this is the first real hard rock song, and has a very Boris vibe to it. 10/10

7. Long, Long, Long - The most underlooked song on this album, and the best in my opinion. I love the build up throughout. Very beautifull. 10/10

8. Revolution 1 - The live version with distortion and faster is way better. I do love the laidback feel of this song. 9/10

9. Honey Pie - This song could have easily been discarded. This song is nearly unlistenable. 4/10

10. Savoy Truffle - Another amazing George song. Love this song, it is very underlooked and is one of the best on the album. 10/10

11. Cry Baby Cry - This song is a wee bit weird, but it does have some nice melodies and harmonies throughout. The ending is very cool and weird. 9/10

12. Revolution 9 - The first piece of noise music. It really is groundbreaking and very eerie, but it is really cool. It also shows how good the production is on this album. 8/10

13. Good Night - I love this song for some reason, the choir and the orchestration is amazing. I didn't know Ringo was singing this song, and I was shocked because the vocals are really good. Ringo's best vocal performance. 10/10

CONCLUSION: This is a classic album no doubt. If you don't have it, then I strongly consider you should buy it now. BUY IT NOW!!!!!

By far the longest and most ambitious project the Beatles would ever undertake and the quality definitely shows with each passing track. The BEATLES or The White Album is a collection of 30 compositions recorded at the peak of the band's creativity which doesn't necessarily mean that the individual moments here surpass any of their other classics. What this album offers its listeners is a continuous stream of quality material without once showing a sign of weakness.

The consistency and versatility featured on The White Album is truly remarkable considering its 90+ minute run and the fact that only a handful of these songs usually make it on the compilation releases only adds to my amusement. I actually think that this release benefits a lot by not having that many all-time classics because its those lesser known song moments that make this album shine more than anything that the Beatles had produced up to this point. Let's take a song like Happiness Is A Warm Gun, which is in fact a medley of three song ideas complied into a 3 minute mini epic, and imagine how it would have worked have it been a part of albums like Revolver or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I honestly can't do it!

This is an album I can pick up almost any time and sweep though without even noticing the time, which is definitely a sign of a quality release. Still, I somehow have a difficulty of calling The White Album an essential masterpiece of progressive rock music. The only reason for that has to do with my attachment to the final era of the Beatles which can't really compare to anything released up to that point, even though The White Album definitely comes close.

***** star songs: Back In The U.S.S.R. (2:43) Dear Prudence (3:56) While My Guitar Gently Weeps (4:45) Happiness Is A Warm Gun (2:43) Martha My Dear (2:28) I'm So Tired (2:03) Blackbird (2:18) I Will (1:46) Julia (2:54) Birthday (2:42) Mother Nature's Son (2:48) Sexy Sadie (3:15) Honey Pie (2:41) Cry Baby Cry (3:01)

**** star songs: Glass Onion (2:17) Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (3:08) Wild Honey Pie (0:52) The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill (3:14) Rocky Raccoon (3:32) Don't Pass Me By (3:50) Piggies (2:04) Why Don't We Do It In The Road (1:41) Yer Blues (4:01) Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey (2:24) Helter Skelter (4:29) Long Long Long (3:04) Revolution 1 (4:15) Savoy Truffle (2:54) Revolution 9 (8:22) Good Night (3:11)

Every face of every boy (except for the real one)

The Beatles - The Beatles (1968)

Overall Rating: 10-11 (You decide!) Album 1: 13 Album 2: 8

Best Song: Album 1: WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS or HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN Album 2: Who actually gives a damn? LONG LONG LONG?

Let me give all youse guys the big rundown of The OFF-WHITE album. It's thirty songs long, an hour and a half of material, and I suppose they were, in that era, trying to just drown everyone in sheer, undiluted scope. I can live with scope drowning, I mean, some double albums have totally rocked my world in my day. Jesus Christ Superstar remains one of my all time favorites, and just check my sentiments on Ayreon, boy. So, you'd guess I love it, right? No, it's a Beatles album, that's strictly an impossibility. No, I just happen to like it a lot, is all.

I'll be blunt right up front, if they'd cut this down to forty minutes of material, and tossed out the excess fat, I'd love The White Album. It's got easily some of the best songs the grab-bag four ever did. But they drown it in excess, man. Especially on album numero dos. That one is just too much. No, Revolution #9 isn't high art, and I tend to hate it a billion times more than I could ever despise Moonchild from King Crimson's debut (primarily because at least that snorefest had structure). It's thirty friggin' songs, most under four minutes! You're going to get almost everything under the sun, bar brutal black metal. Glass Onion is sarcastic rock, foreshadowing Lennon's Plastic Ono Band two years later, while Back in the USSR is beefy hard rawk!

Wild Honey Pie just blows nuts. It blows my nuts. It does so on account of how it's snot nosed and goofy for no good raisin. At least Bungalow Bill has a nice melody accompanying the stupid ideas. I don't really want to explain each song in full detail, because most of it's fairly self explanatory. If the title sounds like it was written by a ten year old who fiddled with his daddy's LSD stash, then sure enough, it will probably sound exactly like it was performed by said ten year old. Hey, Bungalow Bill, what did you kill?

There is a centerpiece moment for the first album, however. It's possibly the greatest 10 minutes in these airhead's career. It's having While My guitar Gently Weeps followed directly by Happiness Is A Warm Gun. The former happens to be abso-friggin'-lutely beautiful, and the latter happens to be one of the best complex pop tunes this side of dog knows what! That solo on Weeps, whether or not it was performed by Claptrap Clapton, doesn't matter any to me. It's great!

What isn't great, is how nothing else even comes close to that level of musical goodness. I can only call it the strangulation of talent via over-productivity. It's the Beetles, so nothing is ever downright offensive (On side one, that is. Revolution #9 needs to be ceremoniously assassinated.) Depressingly enough, much of the material here is too lightweight for me. Too many of the songs are just nice, without being eminently intriguing or catching. Too much of it seems second hand. I've got two hands, I prefer holding it in my right hand. This album requires me to use both, therefore, half of it really is second hand. Those literal bastards. Hey, Blackbird is kinda pretty.

It just won't end! the marathon of mediocre melodies never seem to end! I guess for you fine, level-headed, admirable, ignorantly moronic Beatles fans, this is a paradise. I mean, hell, the more Beatles, the better, right? But as great as the first half of this monster is to me, I got terrible qualms with the second installment. It's louder, less memorable, and did I tell you about this big great heaping pile of anuses I like to call Revolution #9? It's a pretentious sound collage that sucks. Birthday is throwaway rock, and Yer Blues is throwaway blues. I don't wanna stretch it enough to call this material filler, but what else can you call it? It literally just sits there to fill space on the record, and isn't directly intended to blow anyone's mind or overthrow anyone's heart chambers.

Helter Skelter. Is it metal? It's definitely proto-metal, friends, and really paranoid, sons. It's possibly the best moment on the second album, which isn't saying tons, but whatever. You can't win them all, and in the case of this record, they only win about one third of them, I say. Now, I might sound real harsh, but it's only out of frustration. I want to love this record, but I can't. I just can't. Even if Long Long Long touches me, it's only one song out of thirteen. If they took the three best songs from side two, and put it with the nine best songs from side one, that'd be a near masterpiece, folks. Instead, I gotta wade through this crap carp to get to the gems. Get it, anyway, because everyone needs at least five of these songs in their life. Sigh...

***1/2

I often tell people unfamiliar with The Beatles' later music to listen to this one. It's one of the most creative, experimental albums ever made and way ahead of it's time (as many have said before).

Most of the songs were conceived during a visit to India in Spring 1968. Meditating there apparently put them into songwriting mode. Some of their best ever songs were put onto this album and there's such a wide variety of ideas and styles here.

One of Lennon's best "Julia" is a personal acoustic ballad. Other soft ballads include McCartney's stunning "Mother Natures Son" and "Blackbird". Aside from the softer songs, one of the most striking for it's time was "Helter Skelter" which is proto heavy metal. There's blues rock with"Yer Blues",and again hard rock with "Everybody's Got Something to Hide..." The Beach Boys styled "Back In The USSR" is a highlight as is "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", but actuallyveverything on here is fabulous.

Harrison's contributions are as great as ever, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and the soft "Long Long Long", even Ringo's country styled "Don't Pass Me By" is very good. There is too much to mention. I even love the orchestral, soothing "Goodnight". The only track I'm not overly keen on is the weird, experimental "Revolution 9". Despite my feelings for that one track, I have to say that this is an essential album for a progressive rock collection because there is so much amazing songwriting and music here. You won't find anything quite like it elsewhere.

The Beatles' eponymous album, 'The Beatles', may be the most memorable album of all time! This is where The Beatles decided to throw everything in, including the kitchen sink. With 30 tracks lasting 93 minutes, this is one of the most eclectic albums ever made. I could spend hours writing this review, but since I don't want to do that, I'm going to play a little game where I write only 5 words about each song (and then possibly some more at the end) and give it a rating out of 10.

Back In The U.S.S.R. Aeroplanes ruin this good track! 7/10 a)

Dear Prudence Amazing song with brilliant drumming. 10/10

Glass Onion Clever lyrics about The Beatles. 9/10

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-DaThe most annoying Beatles song. 3/10 b)

Wild Honey Pie Even this is much better! 6/10

The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill Hilarious lyrics with good chorus. 9/10

While My Guitar Gently Weeps Eric Clapton's epic guitar solo! 10/10

Happiness Is A Warm GunTime signatures! Very progressive song! 10/10 c)

Martha My Dear Piano based, old-school rocker. 9/10

I'm So Tired Perfect lyrics sung with emotion. 10/10

Blackbird Beautiful acoustic track. Sweet lyrics. 8/10

Piggies Brilliant because it's so creepy! 9/10

Rocky Racoon An old western tale. Superb. 9/10

Don't Pass Me By Another cringeworthy Ringo tune. *sigh* 4/10

Why Don't We Do It In The Road? Twelve-bar blues. Simple yet effective. 8/10

I Will Too lovey-dovey in my opinion. 7/10

Julia Too repetitive. Good lyrics though. 7/10

Birthday Really exciting rocker. Strong drums! 9/10

Yer Blues Heavier blues track, depressing lyrics. 9/10

Mother Nature's Son Intriguing, deep song. Good brass! 8/10

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey Punky rock song. Sometimes repetitive. 8/10

Sexy Sadie These lyrics make no sense! 7/10

Helter Skelter The heaviest Beatles song. Astonishing. 10/10

Long, Long, Long Very quiet and quite strange. 7/10

Revolution 1 Slow version of Revolution. Passable. 6/10

Honey Pie Very old-school! Good melody! 9/10

Savoy Truffle Brilliant song about eating chocolate! 8/10

Cry Baby Cry Interesting lyrics, a little creepy. 8/10

Revolution 9 Underrated musique concrète. Occasionally horrifying! 8/10 d)

Good Night We love you really Ringo. 6/10

Points I'd like to make, which I couldn't flesh out in 5 words.

a) It could have been a really good track but those aeroplanes are really annoying and continue for the entire song!

b)This is one of those tracks we had to sing in school, which is why I don't hold it with any fond memories. Moreover, the bouncy beat and the melody turn this into a desperately cheesy song.

c) Yes, this track is extremely progressive! The lyrics are all proggy, e.g. 'She's well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand, like a lizard on a window pane'. There's at least 10 time signature changes (including polyrhythms at 'When I hold you...'). There's also at least 4 distinct sections to this music. All this in 2:45 makes this a fantastic prog song.

d) I feel I need to give praise to Revolution 9 as it recieves a lot of negative comments. If you are indeed a prog fan, you should have no trouble listening to this track with an open mind. The White Album would simply not have been the same without it. The highlights of this track for me are the soundclips of someone saying 'The watusi ... The twist' and then almost immediately afterwards 'Take this brother, may it serve you well'. This is The Beatles' longest official track, so your doing yourself no favours if you refuse to listen to it!

It's astonishing to think that just 4 years earlier, these men were releasing songs like Eight Days A Week and Can't Buy Me Love. The early Beatles and the later Beatles seem worlds apart from each other. While not every track on this album is great, there are more than enough good moments to call the White Album a masterpiece. There is such a diverse range of styles and genres mixed in here, that the band will really have you guessing what's around the corner. Astonishing music played by astonishing men.

It is, of course, nonsense to say that the White Album revealed the death of Paul McCartney. But it might be possible to say that hidden within its famously oblique lyrics is a different revelation: the death of the Beatles. The band had begun composing the album whilst on retreat with the Maharishi but left disillusioned with the guru; by the time the recording sessions were other, they were thoroughly disillusioned with each other. This album marks the point of no return; after this, the band would be caught in a death spiral of constant disputes and regular departures - Ringo actually left during the recording, only to return before his departure was officially announced. The band would shamble on in this state of living death through their last few albums, and it's probably a sign of how talented they were that they were still able to make an acceptable album under such conditions.

Things start off well. The first four songs are all gems - a couple of heartening and fairly straightforward singalongs from Paul and some psych gems (one gentle, one hard-edged) from John. But then things go a little off the rails - Wild Honey Pie and The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill aim for whimsy but hit irritation, both coming across as undeveloped ideas which could have used a little work. George Harrison makes a fine attempt to put the album back on course with the excellent While My Guitar Gently Weeps, but the momentum's been lost. It's not the experimentalism per se that makes them not fit - Happiness Is a Warm Gun, possibly the oddest song on the first side, is actually damn good - so much as the way they come across as solo demos that their respecting primary songwriters believed in but the rest of the band didn't.

Side two has another strong opening selection of tracks - Martha My Dear gives the proceedings a little elegance, whilst I'm So Tired has a clever mix of languid sections and fraught bridges which puts you in mind of Lennon tossing and turning during a sleeping night. But then Harrison follows up the gentle and thoughtful political message of McCartney's Blackbird with a naive and crude little message in Piggies. McCartney's Rocky Raccoon takes the bands' habitual borrowings from Dylan to a tedious extreme, and Ringo's sloppy and unfocused Don't Pass Me By is one of his worst contributions to a Beatles album. Things do pick up towards the end of the side, with two nice little song fragments from Paul, but it closes on another downer with Julia, which is pretty enough at first but is a bit too repetitive and is dragged out for so long that by the end it becomes intensely irritating.

Side three includes a number of unconvincing attempts to do some hard rock (Birthday, Helter Skelter, and Everybody's Got Something to Hide...) or blues (Yer Blues), and also includes Sexy Sadie, a somewhat mean-spirited and half-baked song from Lennon, and Long, Long, Long, one of Harrison's more forgettable numbers. And side four includes the plodding Revolution 1 (nowhere near as good as the single), the pointless Revolution 9 (I won't dignify it with the term "experimental" because that would imply Lennon was actually trying to achieve something with it), another version of Honey Pie (really, one version was more than enough), a forgettable Savoy Truffle from Harrison and a Good Night warble from Ringo. Really, the only song worth the time on this last side (to me) is Cry Baby Cry.

The thing about the White Album is that there's a damn good Beatles single album in there, swollen up to double album size by a lack of filtering and quality control. But then, trimming it down would mean agreeing to remove some of the songs, and the Beatles were in absolutely no state to be making such concessions to each other at this point in their career. There's a five star album wanting to get out here, but I can't give it more than a three - and that's generous for a double album whose songs I want to trim so savagely. What I will say about it is that which albums you'll want to skip over will probably differ from the songs I personally dislike, which I suppose is a testimony to just how disjointed the whole thing is; maybe if you had an extremely broad taste in music you'd be able to appreciate every single song on here - but I can't think of any situation in which I'd be in the mood to hear *all* the songs on here.

Rating: 10/10

No questions about it: "The white album" is -after "The wall"- the best double album of all time.

There are several reason to set straightly such affirmation, but perhaps the main is one we all seemed to forget as well as rock created itself -from inside its own nucleus to outside from the critics, "specialized press" and also purist consumers- a never requested or required "status": PLEASURE.

That is exactly what this prolific, diverse work brings us the most.

And God!, pleasure is a very serious and also necessary thing: we mustn't dismiss its importance.

30 songs distributed in 2 albums of pure and original enjoyment all the way through, disrespecting all kinds of styles, genres and structural bases.

But we're talking about monster songwriters -also Harrison stands out on this one-, and of course nothing is left at random.

And here comes the 2nd key of the album: quality.

You have variety and everything else already described on this review, but undoubtedly they've used not only their skills and innate instinct for songwriting; they also have polished their songs in an extreme way, therefor sounding brilliantly constructed in all terms.

The 3rd key relates to the 1st one and the shameless assorted songs: there is no concept on this album.

And that's great because definitively breaks the great and tight structure rock had built upon itself at that time.

And finally there is one last key (the 4th) that exceeds music: the cover.

A minimalistic inventive artwork that features a blank cover with the name of the band in black sober letters.

A double studio album from The Beatles. Wow, this must be good.

If I am not too mistaken, this is one of the first ever double studio albums in the history of popular music. Due to obvious reasons, a double studio album is a huge undertaking and slightly insane. Very rarely is a band/artist able to produce enough good songs for this undertaking. Even for Lennon/McCartney + the normally excellent songwriter George Harrison. The White Album was written and released on the back of the excellent Revolver and Sgt Peppers albums. Those efforts had a solid direction and focus. The White Album does not have any concept or direction. It goes of wandering in all directions. That's maybe due to the lack of personal chemistry between the band members. The Beatles were on the slippery slope to break up at this time.

There are some great tracks here like Dear Prudence, Back In The USSR, Blackbird, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Helter Skelter and Revolution. There are also some pretty dire songs here too. The difference between the great and the dire songs makes this album like a journey through the Alps.

Frankly, this album does not cut the mustard for me. But this is still a good album.

3 stars

My Favorite Beatles album. Just full of classics with only one or two duds. This album is gonna go a little in depth on every track so bear with me.

Back in the USSR: Kicks off the album with a sorta Beach Boys parody. Very energetic and upbeat and really makes me get up and dance.

Dear Prudence: Slows down with a great acoustic line and really stuck with me more than USSR did. Paul drums this one and the previous and doesn't do a horrible job(the drum solo in this one is really good) but it makes me miss Ringo.

Glass Onion: Ringo makes his first appearance on this song with John poking fun at the cult the Beatles fans created. Always made me laugh a little bit but still a great song. The first song on this album I really enjoyed on this album

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da: A upbeat piano driven tune from Paul that most people I know enjoy. Not very innovative but is catchy and poppy

Wild Honey Pie: Interesting experimental piece with nice guitar effects and pounding drums.

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill: A quirky song with Ringo and female vocal chorus which I really like and tells a story that could work in the late 1800s. One of my favorites. To me, the most underrated song on this

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: George's first tune and wow what an entry. Very sad and depressing but moving with Eric Clapton's world class guitar work.

Happiness is a Warm Gun: A fantastic tune that changes moods 3 times in a 2 min song. Genius vocals, guitars, bass, and drums. They work this tune amazingly and always recommend this one

Martha My Dear: For awhile, it took me some time to enjoy this song but it's not bad but I usually skip it

I'm So Tired: It puts me to sleep, In the good way, Nice mellow song which does symbolize someone who can't sleep. I would know too much

Blackbird: Paul is a loner on this one with him on vocals, acoustic and foot tapping. Nice song about healing a bird. Very minimal and beautiful

Piggies: Sort of an Animal Farm reference but has a great bass and tambourine line. Great orchestral line from George Martin.

Rocky Raccoon: A Country-esque tune that took me time to get into but like it very much. A ragtime piano in it which always makes wanna dance. Great song

Don't Pass Me By: Ringo wrote a song?? Yes he did and it ain't half bad. I was always drawn to songs sung by Ringo and this is no exception. He was always easy going and it shows in his songwriting and nice Violin work in there as well.

Why Don't We Do It In the Road?: Very random I must say but quite enjoyable. Try singing this to your boy or girlfriend.

I Will: Simple love song from Paul but The Beatles late 60s love songs work 10x better than their older ones.

Julia: A Simple ballad to end the first disc. John always was best in form by himself behind an acoustic guitar IMHO

Birthday: Beginning of Disc 2 with another upbeat Paul song about your birthday. Honestly, a great song for a birthday party. Great drum work by Ringo

Yer Blues: Progressive Blues if i ever heard it. Ringo is technical behind the kit and the riff is pretty complex. Also sad and depressing (Blues) Great song that is a classic example of John as a songwriter

Mother Nature's Son: The First dud on this album. Just kinda sounds boring and generic just didn't appeal to me

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey: Hard rocking tune with a bell sounding ride from Ringo with a frantic busy environment but works with this song.

Sexy Sadie: Simple John song with a nice piano riff and interesting history behind it. Originally, it was supposed to be about Maharishi and how he tried to advance on a female with them in India but they changed it to Sexy Sadie at George's request. Still, a great song with nice piano and great harmony's that The Beatles are known for.

Helter Skelter: My Favorite Beatles tune ever. Showed that they could be F'ing rock and pretty much invent Metal in its wake. Nice and hard with rocking bass in the back by John on a 6 string bass and fantastic drums and ends with the classic "I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS"

Long, Long, Long: A weird George song that is very slow and mellow but does slowly drop you after the intensity of the last track

Revolution 1: A slower acoustic version of the Revolution on the B Side of Hey Jude. Good version but prefer the single

Honey Pie: I'm not sure what to make of this track. Not a fan

Savoy Truffle: George poking fun of Eric Clapton's chocolate addiction. Funny but still works and I enjoy this song with good Guitar and back beat

Revolution 9: Turn Me On, Dead Man

Good Night: Ringo puts the listener to the rest after this amazing album

Overall: Fantastic 5 Stars. Highlights: Back in the USSR, Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Don't Pass Me By, Why Don't We Do It In the Road?, I Will, Yer Blues, Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey, Sexy Sadie, Helter Skelter, Savoy Truffle, Revolution 9 and Good Night

With 30 songs and 94 minutes of listening time, this is one of the most expansive albums I own. And it's good, although I don't think anyone could like every single song. The White Album saw The Beatles turn away from their psychedelic and baroque pop period in favour of, basically, doing whatever they felt like at any given moment, be it blues, country, rock, ska, folk, reggae, jazz, funk, metal, vaudeville, pop, soul, music hall, prog, boogie, or totally avant-garde electronic soundscapes.

I'll talk about a few of my favourites from the album. 'Dear Prudence' is a wonderful journey of a song, building up the instrumentation around a familar chord sequence. I think it was an influence on Led Zeppelin (think 'Ten Years Gone'), and maybe even Supertramp ('Even in the Quietest Moments'). The song that closes side one, 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' is also fantastic, changing time signatures as often as Gentle Giant. It shows John as the forward thinker of the group, even if Paul could write a better melody. George's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' is equally one of his best songs, featuring Eric Clapton's famous guitar solo, but it's the great chords that do it for me.

The second side might be my favourite (it's mostly Paul, so that doesn't surprise me). 'Martha My Dear' is a strange, but endearing composition, and everything about it feels just right. 'Blackbird' meanwhile, is Paul's best acoustic ballad, and he already set the bar quite high with 'Yesterday'. 'Rocky Racoon' is another cracker, a western pastiche. Lennon's songs here reflect what would come from him in the seventies; with the moody rock of 'I'm So Tired' and sad, meaningful 'Julia'. 'There is certainly a feeling, after the album's first half, of individualism. This continues throughout the record, and it becomes a problem for me when the songs don't sound remotely 'Beatley'. The appeal of this band was their cohesiveness, and whether these tunes are good or not, very few of them sound like 'a band', which makes the whole album seem more like a aural documentary of Abbey Road Studios than a piece of art.

'Birthday' is the one song that really defies this judgement, and the whole band are on top form. Apart from that song, 'Mother Nature's Son' is the best that side three has to offer. The final side is also thin on meat, but flows the best, with the pair of 'Revolutions' bookending and 'Good Night' making for a beautiful finale. 'Honey Pie' and 'Savoy Truffle' are gems from Paul and George, but nothing new by this point in the album. Regarding 'Revolution 9', I come on the "favourable" side of the fence, because I think the picture Lennon paints is interesting from a number of angles. It doesn't come close to the true avant-garde composers though.

I always feel a bit tired and confused after listening to The White Album, but it is one of the Beatles' albums I frequent if I want to pick out some great individual songs. 1967 couldn't last forever, and in that respect, the greatest thing about this monster is that it wasn't afraid to take chances.

The more tracks you have on an album, the less guarantees you have that it will get an arithmetic average close to a five. However, here's the deal: this is my most favorite of all Beatles albums. Of course, this is not one of the reasons why it got a five. This is a double mammoth that is quite solid in many ways. There are just too many things that I would like to discuss in detail and too many pinnacles to tell which one I love the most. Which ones are the pinnacles for me? Look at the track list below. "Any elements of prog?" Sure. There is the diversity factor. We have hard rock, folk, funk, country, experimental music, crooner, musique concrete, and a mix of sitar music with R&B, soul, and folk. I also encountered some really funny lyrics; ideas where melody and tone are well-crafted together; a mean and crunchy guitar; an outburst in songwriting creativity; and, finally, versatility in arrangements. It looks like the band tries everything in its power to raise the bar in, ahem, "pop" music.

"Is there anything we have to be well prepared for if we haven't heard the album yet?" Yes, actually. Prepare for some really silly short ditties on here. Also, prepare a few volume controls. If you have satisfied all of these conditions, you are good to go. You will thank me later.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

-------------------------- Disc 1:

1. 'Back in the USSR' - ** (I already had one boring geography lesson with The Beach Boys.) 2. 'Dear Prudence' - **** 3. 'Glass Onion' - **** 4. 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' - ** 5. 'Wild Honey Pie' - *** 6. 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' - *** 7. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' - *** 8. 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' - **** 9. 'Martha My Dear' - ***** 10. 'I'm So Tired' - **** 11. 'Blackbird' - ***** 12. 'Piggies' - ***** 13. 'Rocky Raccoon' - ***** 14. 'Don't Pass Me By' - **** 15. 'Why Don't We Do It in the Road' - ** 16. 'I Will' - **** 17. 'Julia' - ****

-------------------------- Disc 2:

1. 'Birthday' - ***** 2. 'Yer Blues' - *** 3. 'Mother Nature's Son' - ***** 4. 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey' - ***** 5. 'Sexy Sadie' - ** 6. 'Helter Skelter' - ***** 7. 'Long, Long, Long' - ** 8. 'Revolution 1' - ** (There is also 'Revolution 0', which I like much better than this one.) 9. 'Honey Pie' - **** 10. 'Savoy Truffle' - **** 11. 'Cry Baby Cry' - ***** 12. 'Revolution 9' - **** 13. 'Good Night' - ****

Stamp: "Highly recommended."

The Beatles - 'The white album' (1968)

With' Sgt. Pepper' the legendary Beatles established themselves as the masters of sixties rock development. In '68 the band had already reached it's zenith and 'The white album' is the album that would have been much better if it had been a single lp. Due to the mix of instant classics and material that isn't too interesting spread over 90 minutes I can't really get into this one. Even if it had to be 2lp, why not skip on at least 20 minutes of weaker material?

Whereas former albums had a warm production and sound, this album sound plain silly. There's nothing but treble in the mix and even when I equalize it myself I can't help to be bothered by the sis and shaky sound. Furthermore, '68 would prove to be the year the Beatles would be overthrown on all grounds by bands like The Mothers of Invention, The United States of America, The Doors and The Collectors, to name a few.

Now, let's not get whimsical. The first lp contains a lot of great songs and the Beatles have never been more eclectic and frantic. The band does show it can find new grounds to explore and some of vocals are really good. With the mix of radio-friendly pop and acidic psych tracks it's kind of a wonder this album became a classic, because a lot of people must have really disliked tracks like 'Helter Skelter' and 'Revolution number 9'. For fans of the progressive genre this album had a lot of diversity and frequently shows how things can sometimes work out all right and sometimes completely fail.

Conclusion. An under-produces Beatles album with both of classics, lesser known beauties and misses. Not the first record of the Beatles to get into, but perhaps an adventurous record for fans. Three stars.

If Sgt. Peppers was the most experimental album, and Magical Mystery Tour was the most psychedelic, than The White Album is easily the bands most diverse album. This double album is packed with a ton of different styles and sounds, some of which are new for the band, and many of which are familiar.

I would consider this mostly rock-oriented, at least much more than previous albums. The rocking 'Back In the U.S.S.R.,' 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps,' and the metal-approaching 'Helter Skelter' are good examples.

But there is also a strong folk inflection in songs like 'Rocky Raccoon' and 'Mother Natures Son.'

There is some orchestral work in 'Good Night' and 'Piggies.'

They even went Avante-Garde in Revolution 9, though I woudn't consider it a song persay.

Surprisingly enough the pop is really limited to 'Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da,' 'Martha My Dear,' 'Blackbird,' 'I Will,' and 'Julia,' most of which have McCartney as the driving force.

I've read the band was disjointed during this time, but it's hard to tell with the quality of this album, as this is one of the most eclectic albums I've heard. Though none of the songs really stand out individually, this is easily one of the group's best overall albums.

8/10

I will say this right here: this is the only Beatles album that is really a masterpiece, IMO. While they have made a few great albums, none of them comes even near this. Why, exactly? It's hard to say why. You see, while the other great Beatles albums are standard experimental pop stuff, this one stands alone in their catalog, heck, in the whole of rock music. It's an absolute beast that refuses to stay in one place, which I like very much. It also happens to be the most interesting Beatles album too. I think all that explains very well why I think this is the only real masterpiece the Beatles made. There's a really fascinating thing about this album, it seems to be in a strange world all of its own. Unlike other Beatles albums, which usually followed trends, you can't say that about this one. Yes, there are some calm tracks, which some popular bands were switching to at that time (ever since that genius called Bob Dylan guy released John Wesley Harding, which rendered the entire psychedelic rock genre obsolete when it was maybe barely more than a year old), but even then, the insane running order, the fact that The Beatles no longer seem to care about tame experiments and that they were doing the real thing this time around, and that brilliant cover, it all adds up. This is an album of contradictions. There's tension, yet calmness. The focus is on not focusing. The very things that would be ruining every other album enhance the experience. It's all so crazy, how the album revels in its flaws and its quirkiness, and how it's perfect in its imperfectness! It's a parody of the whole idea of an album, and it works! (I hope this is not too confusing.) It's jarring, it's fun, it's completely original and creative. I mean, even Zappa wouldn't make an album like this until a year later (talking about Uncle Meat here, BTW, which is a great favorite of mine, certainly in my top 3 Zappa records), even if I don't really know whether he was influenced by this. Whatever, this an album to enjoy, to freely explore, like The Beatles themselves were doing when they made this record. Also, strangely, I like almost every track here (in fact, the only one I think I don't like is Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da and even that is a pretty ridiculously catchy song even if a few parts make me cringe, so I can't really complain), and some of these I would rank among the very best of The Beatles: Helter Skelter, Back in the USSR (a much more convincing rock and roll song than most of The Beatles' early stuff), Happiness is a Warm Gun, Revolution 9, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey (SO INCREDIBLY FUN), Glass Onion, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Sexy Sadie, Yer Blues, Julia, and probably one or two others. Conclusion: BEST BEATLES ALBUM EVAR HANDS DOWN

My first successful acid-trip took place with this album as backdrop. If I can sound objective the other choice was "The Wall" which was unbearable; in such conditions. Later on I returned to this work which turned out to be; what "The Pepper" album was for others; the wildest experimental recorded effort in their discography. So this proto-prog album; has the whole RIO oriented conceptual informality. (No "Residents" mere coincidences) combined with skill-full; daring good; both in lyrics and music; compositions. Problem for me; I never liked most of Pauls´s songs. When he rocks he is the best "Helter Skelter" and the likes; but when not; he really can pull up some...to put it lightly; S..t!.. I mean the kind of "Obla Di Da" songs over I can bet any Harrison Beatle worst song; would have been better. Same goes for me with "Abbey Road" everytime I see my rating and think of "Maxwell! or "Polythene Pam" or "Golden Slumbers" I want to downgrade it a star. In a way I have learned to live with that fact. Also half the act is on permanent strike... By the way "Revolution #9" is not as repulsive as die-hard Beatles fans proclaim it to be. Better off; if you are on acid in a star filled mexican landscape. 4 Stars; for stretching their own self-impossed musical boundaries and turning out songs like "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Helter Skelter" and "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" among others. They never did nothing like this again. And will never do.

Some of this album is classic, and some of it not so much. I chose to go with a 5-star rating however because of one reason: The Beatles (White Album) is the most diverse collection of songs ever created. Period. Almost every style of music is explored in the album's 30 songs. Rock n' roll ("Back in the U.S.S.R."), children's music ("Piggies"), country ("Rocky Raccoon"), blues ("Yer Blues"), hard rock/heavy metal ("Helter Skelter"), and even sound collage ("Revolution 9"). That's just to name a few; there's probably several that I'm missing.

This could have been altered in some way to make a single album, but that would have just taken away most of its charm. It is not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it represents the Beatles at their most creative. This is raw, untouched talent.

Does this marvelous album need a review? I bought the L.P. in 1968 (I still have that great white gatefold cover, the giant poster and the marvelous individual color photos), then I bought the CD in the 80's, and again the "Remastered" edition on 2009 and of course one more time on 2018, the "Super Deluxe" edition (the 5.1 version in great). What can I comment that has no already been said? I love its wide range of musical styles. The songs are Mc Cartney at his best (and worst), Lennon great as always, Harrison "born again" (he took the biggest leap forward) and (for the very first time) a very entertaining Ringo. In the last 50 years my tastes have changed: At 15 I loved "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da" (I even got the "single" and treasure to this day), but now I don't like it. I never liked "Honey Pie". My favorites today are "Glass onion", "While my guitar gently weeps", "Happiness is a warm gun", "Piggies", "Yer blues". "Helter skelter", "Revolution" and "Savoy truffle". Now when I listen to it, sometimes I skip the two that I said earlier that I don't like. OK, "Revolver" was a creative leap, "Pepper" was the apex, but I enjoy listening to this one and "Abbey Road" more.

Dead musicians can be a handful. Talking to them can be even worse. Stripped of their fame and notoriety but still with the same ego and obsessions that got them to the top of the rock 'n roll food chain, you never know what you'll be in for when taking an interview. But there are some meetings that are just too tempting to pass up. This was one. I can't say the Liverpudlian songsmiths who changed popular music are among my personal favorites. But those albums. Oh those albums. And when things started getting really interesting ~ which is to say tense, messy and painful ~ it became compelling. Though those moments are not this band's best inter-personally, they yielded some of their most challenging, and ultimately successful, music. Tension and the painful wake of traumatic events will often cause conditions that foment creative breakthroughs and the Most Famous Band in the World began showing clear signs of that in 1968. And Yoko wasn't the only upstart one making trouble, either.

I figured George Harrison and John Lennon would want to meet somewhere in their British homeland but, unsettlingly for me, we gathered at the Dakota Apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the place Mr. Lennon was murdered in 1980. As an American, that event has given me terrible guilt ever since. Here was probably the most important rock musician of his time and he couldn't walk home without getting shot. God bless America. The three of us sat in Lennon's old flat he'd shared with Yoko Ono, an airy but comfortable warehouse-like space that reflected Lennon's spartan tendencies mixed with Ono's Nipponese aesthetic. My first question was compulsory.

A - Why did you guys want to talk at the Dakota?

John - This'd been my home for seven years before I died, mate, I luv this city. Me and Yoko spent a lot of great time in this apartment, I wasn't gonna let some dope take that away from me.

A - Of course, I can understand that. So you stayed in New York, made it your permanent home?

John - Yeah man, I already traveled the universe when I was alive, I just wanna relax and enjoy things.

A - But George, you're more active?

George - (grinning) Barmy. I mostly hang-out in Scotland frightening people (both chuckle). And play guitah.

A - Gotcha. If it's alright I'd like to talk about the band's 1968 issue, known as The White Album.

George - Good one.

John - My favorite.

A - What makes it your favorite?

John - (after a long pause) It's closest to what we did best; It's what I thought was the closest we ever got to a truly great piece of work.

A - Why?

John - It makes me smile the most.

A - Word is they were difficult sessions, a lot of turmoil and fallout.

John - Don't believe everything you read.

George - Actually it got to be hellish in there. Peoples' patience was frayed, and nerves.

A - Right. Let's begin with 'Back in the USSR'.

John - What about it? It's just a song. Not even a great one, a bluddy attention grabber 'at was, wunn'it.

A - 'Dear Prudence' was written at Rishikesh during the spring of '68 along with many other cuts that appear on the double record. Mia Farrow claimed that the song was written about her sister, both of whom were at the Rishikesh Transcendental course with you. Is that true?

John - If not, that makes her a liar, dunn'it? And me too.

[* Note to reader: It was moments like this, and there were numerous, when Lennon's infamous temper would show and I would have to summon some patience .]

A - 'Glass Onion', a satire about Beatles popular mythology.

George - I like that one.

John - Made 'o glass, baby.

A - And the increasingly reviled 'Ob-La-Di'-- funny because when I was younger it was sort of a kitschy favorite.

John - It's rubbish but if people like it that's fine.

George - I'd not say rubbish. Bottom shelf maybe.

A - And 'Wild Honey Pie', known as "the greatest piece of filler..."

George - But it's passages like this that set the tone for things. It turned out to be alright.

A - Bungalow Bill was written out of disgust at hunting?

John - It wasn't disgust for hunting as much as for this one knob.

A - And maybe a bit of Ugly-Americanism?

John - Maybe, but English hunters are no bettah.

A - And George, we know a lot about 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', the work Eric Clapton did on it. It sounds like he mainly did the solo work, is that right?

George - Mmm, yes, primarily, but, you know, he really helped with the whole thing, rhythm bits and suggesting an arrangement here or change there. It was almost as much his bit as mine.

A - I remember a rumor that you'd wanted to turn the cut into one hour-long experimental project featuring people weeping. [Both men erupt in belly laughter-- I turn a shade of red just a bit darker than a baboon's ass and sink in my seat]. Okay, alright, and Warm Gun, not about heroin I assume?

John - No, no, that's about guns, mate. Guns. This is what started happening. Everyone assumed there was always some hidden message, some cryptic meaning in things, and there just wasn't.

A - I can see that. Must've been frustrating. Did it turn you off interpreting other artists' work?

George - Well just over interpreting, I reckon.

A - And the nice '50s-style falsetto there. This was a good moment for the band at a difficult time, yes?

George - Yeah, great, y'know, after all the bickering we just all really enjoyed doing it. Working it out.

John - I mean that's what being a band is, playing together and each one giving something. We couldn't seem to capture that anymore, so it was a nice one.

A - Paul said 'Martha My Dear' came to him through his "muse" - -

George - That tune was just Paul recording; (grinning) It was only a Northern song.

A - And 'I'm So Tired'; simply that?

John - Exactly, yeah, why not --

A - Even though it's a Paul song, let's talk just a bit about 'Blackbird'.

George - Ace tune, that is. How can you argue with it, and that guitar, and the metronome. Bit o' genius, that.

John - (making a silly face) Aye, like that wun. It's brill. And then George's tune, I like the piggies, George.

[* At this point an assistant came in with coffee, pastry, bowls of fruit, packs of Gauloises, and a container of fat joints. We ate, drank, smoked, and generally goofed-off before sitting down for more conversation.]

A - It's reported that producer George Martin thought 'Rocky Raccoon' was filler. What's your take on that?

George - Not really fair, I'd say. It's a fun track. You have to remember we were disintegrating as a family and so a bit of fun was a great relief ... and also gave the sessions a sense of the unknown. It'd gotten nuts, we were always expected to write hits. But we'd 'av gone crazy if that's all we did.

John - Same with 'Why Don't We Do it in the Road'. Bit o' trifle that, but actually a nifty little number.

A - And your tribute to your mother, Julia, and the only time you play alone on the record. Any thoughts?

John - I said it all in the song.

A - After everyone's favorite party tune, 'Birthday', is one of my favorites, 'Yer Blues'. Please talk about writing and recording it, and your performance of it with the Stones in '68.

John - We were in India and realized the Maharishi was full of sh*t, so I lost my buzz and wrote it. I was missing rock 'n roll and needed it. The odd rhythms were unusual for a straight rock tune, y'know? And that was a good jam with Mick and everyone.

A - Both 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide..' and 'Sexy Sadie' were inspired by him, the Maharishi?

George - That's right, yeah.

A - "Helter skelter" is of course a kind of skyslide for kids in the UK, and had nothing to do with Hell. Another misinterpretation, this time a deadly one?

George - You can't perceive things through just one lens, otherwise you're capable of awful things. Quite sad, that.

A - Guys, we're about to wrap this up with just a brief discussion of side 4, which seemed to be the most unconventional part of the record. Would you agree?

John - The best part. How could you not have fun with Rev Nine?

A - You didn't care for 'Honey Pie' -

John - Look, we wrote songs, man, that's what we did. It's all we did. We'd come in and put what we had out there; We'd arrange, record and re-record, and George (Martin) would do his thing and eventually we'd have some decent stuff, get an album together. That's it. That's all. We were a rock band. ~~~

Let there be no doubt about it : the white is very high in my musical pantheon and if I were to spend a few years on the ever proverbial desert island it'd probably be there with me alongside Red or Rock Bottom. Which means I'm going to give it five stars ? Not so simple. I've always had my doubts about the filing of the Beatles in the prog drawer. For sure, 'Sergeant Pepper" is invariably listed among the first prog albums (the excellent BBC4 series "Prog Rock Britannia" has the whole movement launched by it and Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", both in 67), which has never really satisfied me. "Sergeant Pepper" is certainly a masterpiece, but apart from "A Day In The Life" (and the pack of the two first tracks and the final reprise which honestly don't deserve the name of 'concept album' sometimes given to the album), there's not a lot of prog to be heard in it. Nor is there, I should add, in "Magical Mystery Tour". In '67, The Nice, Soft Machine, Procol Harum, The Moody Blues or Pink Floyd were already on the road, and the true roots of prog are with them. If I were pushed to choose a true prog album among the Beatles' output, "Abbey Road" would certainly be the one, although of course it doesn't sound at all like any of the well-established prog releases of '69 and remains, to the core, a true Beatles' album.

And thus I'm ready to concede, with no small amount of reluctance however, that the Beatles are welcome on these pages.

The problem is : not the white !

The white is, in my extremely humble opinion, the most "unprog" album of the whole post-"Rubber Soul" Beatles output. It contains the germs of almost everything that will be done in English pop for the following 30 years, but it has no prog. It's a pure pop album, it might even be the greatest pop album of all times, but it has no prog : no classical, baroque or jazzy influences, no long and well-developped pieces of music, no weird chords or time signatures, no "noodling" or virtuoso improvisation. Only pop songs, verse, chorus, bridge if there's enough time for it, verse, final chorus. And even if some of those pop songs are weird or can be considered avant-garde ("Wild Honey Pie" or "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" come to mind), they're still nothing but pop songs (sometimes several pop songs glued together like "Happiness Is A Warm Gun").

If you're familiar with those pages, you know that another alien dwells here : the captain Van Vliet. Well, there's much more in common between the white and "Trout Mask Replica" than with any other band or album listed on PA. And their first common point is this : they're pop albums, not prog.

I've would have very much liked to close this review without giving any stars, but it doesn't seem to be an option. So I'll give five after all, but I'll edit the ratings guide line : ESSENTIAL : A MASTERPIECE OF POP MUSIC.

The astute reader will have noticed that I haven't written a word about Yoko and John's "Revolution 9". I'll keep it that way.

Here's more solid evidence for the claim that the Beatles were trailblazers. Perhaps you thought Pink Floyd's Ummagumma, Soft Machine's Third, or Can's Tago Mago was the first double album that would've been a wonderful single album if they'd just kept the best material. Well, it turns out those bands were just following in the Beatles' footsteps.

It's never been obvious to me why the Fab Four didn't release the best 35 or 40 minutes of The Beatles (a/k/a The White Album) as one album, then rework the remaining material for their next LP. In fact, 1968 was only the second year since 1963 in which the Beatles didn't release two separate albums. Unlike Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and their three film-soundtrack albums, The White Album wasn't thematic; the songs seemingly could have been divided into multiple projects. So why a double album?

Multiple reports have the Beatles, at various times, fearing that they were about to become irrelevant. Could a double album have seemed like a consolidation of both their popularity and their gravitas?

The White Album has been referred to as an 'inside joke,' and I guess can see why; while 'Blackbird' doesn't need much context to be understood, and while 'Revolution 1' would've been decipherable to most who heard it in 1968, the attentive yet uninitiated listener may well have felt that songs like 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' and (especially) 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' required some insider knowledge. It should be acknowledged, though, that in 1968, there must have been fewer attentive listeners uninitiated to the Beatles than to any other band. Mid-period Beatles albums like Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966) were comprised of unrelated songs, but, partly due to their song sequencing, those albums hung together as unified works. The sequencing of the songs on the The White Album seems intended to avoid palatable transitions. And then there's the length of the album: 30 songs totaling more than an hour and a half. From the point of view of UK fans, The White Album was the same length the band's previous three LPs/EPs combined (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the Magical Mystery Tour EP). This was no longer the band of little ditties like 'She Loves You.'

But it also wasn't the band that had produced the cogent, singles-eschewing Sgt. Pepper sixteen months prior. It's been said that the sprawling, disorienting miscellany of The White Album formally described the state of the band at the time. While that's pretty ingenious if it was the intention, it doesn't make this a better musical work, even if it helps illuminate the situation for those in the know.

In retrospect is seems more likely that the fractious foursome's lack of cohesion prevented the album from becoming the unified whole it could've been; indeed, the Beatles had discarded raw material in the past in reaching consensus on the final form of an album. But with The White Album it seems they included everything, ready or not. Maybe they settled on a double album before realizing that they only had three sides of good material, but didn't have the collective will to reverse course.**

Be that as it may, there's a lot to like about The White Album. Among its thirty songs are one all-time classic ('Ob- La-Di, Ob-La-Da') and four other very good songs ('Back in the U.S.S.R.,' 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps,' 'Blackbird,' and 'Birthday'). Add to that 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,' 'Revolution 1,' 'Glass Onion,' and 'Savoy Truffle,' and there's a solid half-hour to build upon. And although neither 'Helter Skelter' nor 'Revolution 9' is a Beatles classic, each is important historically - - and maybe each fits better here than on a tighter, more calculated album.

On balance, The White Album is worth having, but it's not the first to get if you want an immersive Beatles-album experience; for that I'd suggest any other of the group's albums from Rubber Soul (1965) to Abbey Road (1969).

====

* counting Magical Mystery Tour as an album, which I do.

** to be fair, the band made the final selection of 30 songs from a larger collection, as evinced by the 2018 '50th Anniversary Box Set' of the album.

The Beatles' double album, simply called The Beatles, but gone down in history as the White Album, is a Lp that features 4 very diverse facades, all very beautiful, and marks the Beatles' return to rock. The first side is thrilling, a 10/10 with flakes, it is the best ever in the Beatles discography (average 8.25), as far as Sgt. Pepper reaches 10/10 in the same way (but despite the lower average-song), given for the synergy of the pieces, the variety of arrangements and especially the novelty of the operation.

Back in The USSR is an excellent rock and roll by Macca, with sound of departing planes, unhinged rhythm, great piano percussion, great guitar solo. As is often the case with Paul's retro songs, the song may seem like a parody of 1950s music (in this case Chuck Berry's Rock and roll) but in reality it is only emphatic and sung and played with fury, as well as being embellished with backing vocals in Beach Boys style. Dear Prudence, with a beautiful acoustic guitar sound, is a reflective song by John, with a bewitching hypnotic trend and with a beautiful paroxysmal ending where Paul makes virtuosistic numbers on the drums (Ringo does not play). Glass Onion, a short song, with a violin ending, is a minor piece, with beautiful rhythm, beautiful sound and beautiful singing by Lennon. The mind-blowing sequence continues, giving excellent rhythm to the side, the pounding piano of Obladi Obladà, which in its pop-ska genre, is a masterpiece, with great finds of fiatistic arrangement, captivating text, beautiful piano sound, catchy chorus. It fades with a tail that is considered a song but is not: Wild Honey Pie, which alone means nothing but that in the economy of the A side is fine, before the flamenco guitar of Bungalow Bill, another cheerful and parodic piece (this time for real) , which makes Yoko Ono's overcut voice heard in some ways and which, with its goliardic chorus, ending in hand beats, makes the first side even smoother and more enthusiastic, and then finally arrives at a dramatic atmosphere, almost thriller, from a western duel, with the beautiful incipit of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Harrison's absolute masterpiece and major piece of the whole album. It is a rockblues delighted by Clapton's guitar that, along with George's voice, the mighty bass and drums, and the background keyboards, creates a phenomenal pathos, which reaches the climax in the guitar solo and the chorus repeated in the paroxysmal ending with the constant wailing of the guitar, to create an epic-tragic atmosphere. After this tour de force, comes the calm and melodic voice of Lennon, who soon climbs, along with the endless convolutions of Happiness Is a Warm Gun, another absolute masterpiece of the Beatles, composite song, which combines three different tranches, first melodic, then hard rock, then soul, to end with a striking vocal performance of Lennon's singing. End of an A-side among the greatest in the history of rock music.

The B-side contains many songs, almost all of them short, which unlike those on the A-side, are often solo works by the Beatles. It's the worst side of the LP, although it still manages to maintain an average quality of the pieces more than good. It starts with the melodic pop of Martha My Dear, Paul's easy piece, dedicated to his dog, which is well arranged (piano and winds). It continues with I'm So Tired, two minutes scant, by Lennon, soulful, clear, which highlights his vocal performance. Lennon's unfolded voice, present here and in Happiness, leaves no doubt about which singer was the most gifted singer of the Beatles: Macca's best performances, however excellent, are curated and studied in detail, but they never reach the power and the natural casually of Lennon's best. Then comes McCartney soloist, vocals, guitar and toe-beating, for a small, melancholy, melodic masterpiece, Blackbird. It follows Harrison, with an acoustic-based song (Piggies), but is gracefully embellished by harpsichord and bridge, becoming a small gem of originality. So far, we've all had short pieces, very different from each other, however conventional, which are still great for inspiration. From now on, the B-side drops decisively: Rocky Raccoon is a very well-told song, with acoustic guitar and western saloon piano; "Don't Pass Me By" is a country song by Ringo, with folk violin, which is among the most ramshackle and least toned than the Beatles: it conquers the palm of their worst song; Why Don't We Do It In The Road features Paul solo, playing almost all the instruments and repeating only two verses for a soul-blues of great effectiveness thanks to his vocal performance; I Will is a melodic sketch that alternates sweet pieces with too sweet pieces; Julia is John's only solo song in all Beatles discography: very nice melodic theme, but too monotonous song, suffering from too much singing and arrangement. He finishes the first record, falling. That's why the album can't get to a 10 as the final grade. In one ideal sequence of Songs from the White Album (see below), such as to make it an absolute masterpiece of 10, a long single album, would be excluded 4 songs of the B side (out of a total of 9).

The second record opens with Side C, which is by far the most rock side in the history of the Beatles. It starts with "Birthday," Paul's song to a pounding beat, which reaches the climax in the bridge thanks to Lennon's voice and piano touches. The rhythm is so pressing that it makes the song a little too forced to proceed. However it is a piece of great effect. It follows, slowing down the pace a lot, Yer Blues, Lennon's masterpiece. It is the toughest blues of the Beatles, comparable only to the later I Want You by Abbey Road: where it is hypnotic obsessive, Yer Blues is dramatic, tragic, bordering on delirium. Never before had there been such harsh sounds, such loud turns of guitars and bass in Beatles songs. The rhythm is the master, and the finale, which repeats the guitar riff, with Lennon singing without a microphone, is like a real dirty blues rock band. It is no coincidence that in the Rolling Stones film Rock and Roll Circus, Lennon, the only beatle present, will play this song (accompanied by Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell). Here comes Macca's melodic interlude, Mother Nature's Son, which suffers from the poor arrangement. However, Paul's voice, acoustic guitar and melody beauty are enough to understand that this song could have been a melodic masterpiece. Back John with Everybody's... a very fast piece, which for percussion, guitar riffs and sung could be punk. Overwhelming rhythm, it's an underrated piece: it's as forerunner of punk rock as Helter Skelter, and it has the only flaw of fading too abruptly in the finale. He deserved better development. Sexy Sadie, a vocal sharishi, is a piano rock ballad, with a very original harmonic development, as a melodic gradually becomes an atmospheric rock, conducted in the finale by voice and electric guitar. John's voice accompanied by the piano has the same sound that we'll find in Jealous Guy and Imagine. Big piece. Here comes rock, with a power never seen, unhinged, unhinged, screamed, it's Paul who wants to make a rock piece more explosive than those of the Who. And as always it gets an effect on the edge of parody. The piece is screamed, obsessive, repetitive, and impressive. It will be considered one of the first punk songs, and many will make its covers. Long finish, with nuance, shooting, growing, and Ringo screaming (in a very intonated way with surrounding din) who has the calluses on his hands. Long Long Long is an almost whispered, nocturnal song by George, which suffers from a non-focused arrangement. It still has an excellent bridge and a delirious psychedelic ending with strange sounds. It ends a great side, perhaps the side that fans of rock like the most and that pleases the Beatlesd d.o.c.

The D-side, the last, opens with Revolution No. 1, a semi-acoustic rock ballad with a fairly lazy, cute rhythm, with good progression and trumpet effect, but overall it doesn't take off. Lennon will make an accelerated rock version (Revolution, The B-side of Hey Jude) that will contain the maximum guitar distortion of the Fab Four discography, and which in my opinion is much more successful than this. Also because the name of Revolution takes a powerful, messy song, not an indolent song. Honey Pie is an ante-war swing-jazz piece by Paul, comparable to When I'm Sixty Four, which was well played and sung; compared to Sgt Pepper's, he has the advantage of being played with the instruments of a rock band. ). Luckily, Harrison arrives to make a slightly soft side more incisive. His Savoy Truffle is a small masterpiece for me. Cheerful blues rhythm, enjoys an excellent singing (finally George begins to affect the quality of his pieces with singing), a great rhythm, a great guitar sound (which makes a nice solo), and an excellent arrangement with distorted brass. It's a soundtrack song from an era. John's Cry Baby Cry is a simple song, but one that enjoys an excellent progression of drums and piano; punctuated by garden sounds, it looks a bit like Sgt Pepper's climate, and is more than pleasant, in its relentless and menacing. It has a piece of Macca that tempers in melancholy the previous menacing atmosphere. At this point a composition by Lennon begins, aided by Yoko Ono and George Harrison, who wants to follow the sound avant-gardes. You may or may not like Revolution No. 9. It can be boring or surprising. It's definitely long. In my opinion, however naive and amateurish, it is a masterpiece. The sounds and noises are well studied, there is a progression, a narrative, it could be a symphonic poem with a text describing what music represents; then there are piano sounds and the words Number Nine that, like a music box, hold the song together. It could have been the closing of the record, and it would certainly have been a brave and unconventional closure, but the Beatles are not subversives, and they keep us not taking themselves too seriously, especially John who, in fact, master of the D-side, wanted to put it last song , as a farewell to the listener, a lullaby arranged by George Martin with a Hollywood film-style orchestra. Sung by Ringo, Good Night closes giving good night to the listener: after the revolution, we return to our beautiful bourgeois security. Ideologically questionable, but ending up with Revolution No. 9 would have been difficult, given that George Martin and McCartney were against the song. Some critics say that this ending cancels, makes a joke the subversive power of Revolution No.9, which seems excessive to me. Simply, it is the Beatles who do not take themselves seriously, even in Sgt Pepper the song of Indian music and classical music harrison closed with laughter, given its pretentiousness. It is true, however, that in the finale of Pepper and Abbey Road (where McCartney commanded) the Beatles took themselves seriously.

White Album is a great album. The first sides of the two discs are the best. The A-side is a phenomenal pop-rock side, which follows that of Sgt Pepper: very smooth and varied in arrangements and musical styles; just missing the symphonic arrangements of She's Leaving Home and the circus pyrotechnics of Being For.... On the other hand, there are two mature rock masterpieces, Harrison's While My Guitar, and Happiness. The C-side is an experimental side, for the hard-rock sounds of 4 of his songs, two of which are remarkable 4 minutes (one by John and one by Paul), which lead the Beatles to successfully occupy the rock songs of the late Sixties. On the side, there are three atmospheric songs that soften the hardness of the side. The B-side is the more conventional one, which almost resembles the first albums: a long series of short single songs, with little in common (although the sequence flows), which vary on various styles (melodic, country, folk, blues), without however bringing anything of New. It's also the less rock and acoustic side, and it's dominated by McCartney songs. Lennon, on the other hand, dominates the fourth side, that of the revolution, in fact almost all the songs are written by him. So, in the White Album, the main novelties, in the lyrics and sounds, come from John, who tries to bring the Beatles into the arena of the 1968 protest and avant-garde music. Although not a project album like Pepper and as Magical Mystery Tour, White Album represents a very well organized collection of Beatles songs, with 4 sides very well studied and diversified, which end up in a last side that wants to send a one of its own message inherent to the 68-year-old revolution. The freedom that the Beatles take is unprecedented, since in practice John, Paul and George work as three soloists, who ask for help from others when they need it: in this way we find some minor or poorly arranged pieces, but also pieces by originals songwriters, which touch on avant-garde peaks, hard- rock, melodism, which certainly would not have found space in a single album by the Beatles, as too out of the canons of the group or too personal. This freedom of expression, this organized disorder, makes the White Album the most loved by classic rock listeners, and in any case, to be a double, holds very well, has no noticeable declines considering that every double Lp has moments of tiredness (the drop of the end of the Side B is not long and is well absorbed by the variety of the songs) and has the great merit of having four sides each with its own diverse and well-defined character, which continue to surprise the listener. Masterpiece.

1 Back in the USSR 8+ 2 Dear Prudence 8+ 3 Glass Onion 7,5 4 Obladi Oblada 8+ 5 Wild Honey Pie sv 6 Bungalow Bill 7,5 7 While My Guitar Gently Weeps 9+ 8 Happiness is a Warm Gun 8,5/9 -------------- 9 Martha My Dear 7+ 10 I'm So Tired 8 11 Blackbird 8 12 Piggies 8 13 Rocky Raccoon 7+ 14 Dont Pass Me By 5+ 15 Why Dont We 7,5 16 I Will 6,5 17 Julia 7

Totale 122,5; Media: 7,656

18 Birthday 7,5/8 19 Yer Blues 8,5 20 Mother Nature Son 7,5 21 Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey 7,5 22 Sexy Sadie 8 23 Helter Skelter 8,5 24 Long Long Long 7 ------------- 25 Revolution n. 1 7,5 26 Honey Pie 7+ 27 Savoy Truffle 8+ 28 Cry Baby Cry 7,5/8 29 Revolution n. 9 8,5 30 Good Night 7+

Total 101,25; Medium quality: 7,788

Average album 7,70. Final Rating: 9,5 - Five Stars, great masterpiece VOTO FINALE 9,5.

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Ideal White Album:

1 Back USSR 2 Dear Prudence 3 Glass Onion 4 Obladi Oblada 5 Mother Nature Son 6 I'm So Tired 7 Blackbird 8 Bungalow Bill 9 While My Guitar 10 Happiness ------- 11 Yer Blues 12 Honey Pie 13 Savoy Truffle 14 Cry Baby Cry 15 Everybodys Got 16 Piggies 17 Rocky Raccoon 18 Why Don't We Do It In The Road 19 Sexy Sadie 20 Helter Skelter

Ghost Track: Revolution n. 9

Medium quality: 8,012. Final Rating 10.

Not inclused: Wild Honey Pie, Martha My Dear, Don't Pass Me By, I Will, Julia, Birthday, Long Long Long, Revolution n. 1, Good Night.

My association with The Beatles never included this album; I have never owned it, never listened to it through and through, barely even listened to any of its sides. But I've heard a lot of its music. Some songs are undoubtedly "classics" while others have never registered with me. I owe my Beatles association entirely to my mother. She was an avid fan up to this album. Then she stopped. She never purchased, owned, or liked another Beatles album after Magical Mystery Tour--until the "red" and "blue" greatest hits albums came out. As I grew into my own musical tastes, I found an aversion to this album due to its association with Charles Manson and the grizzly murders he ordered in California--about which Vincent Bugliosi wrote and made a film of. Not one to enjoy horror film, especially when it has true life significance--I was afraid to listen to The White Album until well into my adult years. Never having acquired the fanatic adoration of these music masters that so many have, I have to say that as clever as the music (and, perhaps, lyrics) are on this album, it just doesn't do anything for me. I've even found that covers of these songs as done by other artists have found greater enjoyment and preference to me than the originals. I know it has historical significance, but, as a musical experience, I can give it no more than "for collectors only" status since that is exactly where I would relegate its value.

The White Album by English pop/rock band The Beatles is the bands ninth studio release, coming out in November of 1968. This album is excellent, with lots of great songs, great production, great instrumentation, and great vocals and lyrics. Its definitely one of the better Beatles albums. However its hard to listen to this all at once, it is an hour and a half of course. Some of the songs are just bad and not even worth the listen. And since its the prog archives I do not think I can give it a rating higher than a 4 because I personally do not see the impact that this album had on progressive rock, especially compared to other releases by The Beatles. But its still a amazing album and a essential in any classic rock album collection.

For those familiar with the previous Beatles output, White Album may come as a negative surprise. The typical psychedelia/Merseybeat elements and studio experiments are gone to go down to Earth. Also, we have a collection of four individuals rather than a band which displays ambitions of the four members. At this point, McCartney was the only one with clearly commercial output like "Ob-la-di". He still has the strong sense of melody, grants acoustic guitar more prominence (I will, Blackbird) and explodes with "Helter Skelter/Birthday/Why don't we do it in the road" showcasing his great raw vocal skills. Not willing to rest on laurels, he also dabbles in country ("Rocky Raccoon"), Beach Boys territory ("Back in the USSR").

Lennon goes more alternative, feeling have a complete freedom over his songs without band's initial involvement. There are crown jewels like the complicated "Happiness is a warm gun", great blues number (for Beatles skills) "Yer blues", experimental "Glass onion", melancholic too short "Sexy Sadie" and the hard-rocking "Everybody's got..". "Cry baby cry" has the most typical Beatles chords sequence on the album. Even though not all his number are strong, strong melody and charm saves them ("The continuing story...")

Harrison steps out to be a force on his own with the legendary "While my guitar gently weeps" and pedestrian "Piggies" which has a use of harpsichord. "Savoy truffle" features interesting chord progression and reveals some of Harrison arrangement preference in the future career while "Long, long, long" is a competent sublime ballad.

Starr finally manages writing a solo song "Don't pass me by" which is decent but sub-par for the Beatles standards.

The strength of this Beatles album lies in its diversity, amount of talent that the three composing members put together. No other group could possibly try so many directions in 1968 with such good results. The only throwaway tracks are the two last "Good Night" and the annoying "Revolution 9". Also, it is questionable how much added value brings the bluesed "Revolution 1" comparing to the single.

Review #66!

I hate to be the fuddy-duddy when it comes to reception of this album, but the way that I view this record is just a stepping stone between Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road. I don't find there to be any gold material here apart from tracks like 'Rocky Racoon', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', and 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun'. I see the innovation; I see where the praise comes from, but it's just not something I'm into. But, something I DO enjoy, oddly enough, is the sound collage millennium and counting before its time: the perplexing 'Revolution 9'. You what? I think The Beatles were on drugs, guys. Just maybe. Maybe.

1. Back In The U.S.S.R. pop rock in function, boogie yes, the solo that takes your breath away just to take a stand even in the USSR 2. Dear Prudence acoustic guitar and almost 4 minutes, the longest and most monolithic title 3. Glass Onion with stringed instruments and a melodic sound that will be taken up by the XTC; cinematic music from BOF about gangsters 4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and the first hit of the album, do you need a hit to exist? ob la di it doesn't matter, it's anchored in our heads; spaghetti western rock or festive pop whatever you want 5. Wild Honey Pie as Charisma interlude, you know Alice's 6. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill where we go to Andalusia 5'' before a good-natured festive title up to the trombone, repetitive 7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps arrives... why is it so beautiful? why do you want to hug your girlfriend while listening to this vulgurus song from the 60s? It's spinning frantically in any case! 8. Happiness Is A Warm Gun not that of MARILLION, but a title which shows that it really took a Harrison to make a good zik group 9. Martha My Dear return to the saloon, head a pint of bourbon; a nursery rhyme in real stereo from the time, yes mono still existed; classic jaunty fairground orchestration and a festive progressive tune 10. Im So Tired well yes I must admit I'm really starting to... get tired, yes I can't find any blood, no stain... no prog blood for the moment; maybe the general concept? 11. Blackbird follows, minimalist acoustic guitar to let the vocals come forward; animal title I would say!! 12. Piggies hop harpsichord for the umpteenth nursery rhyme musical, bucolic, crazy wandering; huge but short cinematic title 13. Rocky Raccoon yes I confirm after the psychedelic Indian passage we are indeed blue flower on the American continent with warm titles from the countries... American Indians with the accordion and the tutti frutti 14. Don't Pass Me By continues with this saloon piano, the journey continues, the acid violin comes to invite itself into the party, we are closer to Canada 15. Why Don't We Do It In The Road wakes us up with this provocative and screamed title 16. I Will sweet nursery rhyme that takes up the clichés with a guitar from over there, come on let's have a bourbon again 17. Julia to finish this first album and a syrupy melody on julia that to? beautiful guitar arpeggio. An album that I was never able to get hold of, too uneven, too scattered; but thinking at the time the kind of avant-garde album that paved the way for a lot of future bands.

the LP2: 23.Helter Skelter floats with this title which many have cited as a proto hard rock; after proto prog it's really a lot; magnificent title in itself with this riff from beyond the grave known to me thanks to Pat BENATAR 25.Revolution 1 what a revolution in USSR ah no in the USA, OK why not! A premonitory title! 29. Revolution 9 cinematic while 4 years ago we were not yet using this word; a de facto avant-garde title with all the necessary sound effects, yes I did the same with my galena set; in short, after the psychedelic we arrive at progressive improvisation, still ahead of its time 30. Good Night as a final outing, a syrupy melancholic tune to wake up from this testament moment! I surf the LP2 because I find that there are more overrated, basic titles... but that doesn't mean that without this album, where would we be today?