I’m on kind of a Beatles kick after seeing Love in Las Vegas, so I think I’ll plow through all the Beatles albums and post some thoughts. Since the songs are so familiar to me, I’ll rate each from one to five stars, and generate an amusing “Best Beatles Songs” list.

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My ratings may seem a bit harsh - but they’re relative to other Beatles songs - two or three star ratings appear often because the four and five star songs are so incredible.

This was the last album the Beatles recorded, but the second to last released. After the relative disaster that was Let It Be, Paul supposedly asked long time producer George Martin if they could record album like the old days. In that sense, perhaps it’s the production skill of Martin that improved this album’s music immensely. Yet, some of the Beatles’ most stunning songwriting is on display here, most notably George Harrison’s awesome Something and Here Comes the Sun. The second stellar idea is the second side’s near-seamless song cycle of tunes that run together, culminating in the buoyant The End, effectively shutting the door on the Beatles on a high note.

The second side features the melody from You Never Give Me Your Money as a theme, a three-chord progression similar to Something as a motif, along with the sinking, syncopated guitar lick inspired from I Want You. In terms of album cohesion, the second side (musically, at least) seems to hold together better than Sgt. Pepper.
Come Together

= 5 stars

John does the Plastic Ono Band type thing and there’s a cool malevolence here. I prefer I Want You to this song, but it’s still deserving of 5 stars.

Something

= 5 stars

My favorite George song ever, it’s the culmination of many earlier ones. It seems to have equal parts Lennon and McCartney. His guitar solo is note perfect, there’s dusky Ringo drumming, Paul’s bass playing adds a counter melody, Paul’s vocal harmonies are stunning. The chord progression is also mesmerizing: how the same two chords that lead into the verse change on their entry into the bridge, and how the same chords are repeated both ways at the song’s end.

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

= 2 stars

There is a cold, dark place in hell where this song plays over and over. It’s the worst type of song, one that’s so catchy that it burrows into your mind and repeats, driving you slowly insane. The clank of the hammer is too literal and could be the sound of Maxwell trying to beat this song out of his subconscious.

Oh! Darling

= 4 stars

I love the way Paul shreds his voice singing the middle part of this song. I do find myself waiting impatiently during the other sections until the screaming starts, so reluctantly I deduct a star.

Octopus’s Garden

= 4 stars

Ringo writes a great song; stop the presses. Just when John and Paul seem to be faltering somewhat, the other two come to the fore. However, I still prefer the old-time Yellow Submarine and With A Little Help From My Friends.

I Want You (She’s So Heavy)

= 5 stars

When John gets serious, he gets dark. This song drifts from love to lust and ends with an obsession that flips into the nightmarish. This is the subject matter of Yer Blues done right. The guitar line echoing John’s words finally collapses into a droning, repeated guitar lick that repeats endlessly as waves of static and Paul’s bogey-man bass swoops down like a vulture. The cut-off between there, the abrupt end, and the start of the next song is amazing.

Here Comes The Sun

= 5 stars

George comes through with another perfect song, celebrating sun after a long winter (and in this case, the aural oppression of the previous song). It has a neat solo section with tons of jumpy synthesizer noises which are just below goofy. I always equated them to a bunch of cute animals coming out of their holes to greet the sunshine.

Because

= 3 stars

This melody and multiple part harmonies are great. However the awkward sounds of the early Moog synthesizer kind of grates in retrospect.

You Never Give Me Your Money

= 5 stars

This tune features a pretty Paul melody over a simple piano. I think it’s his best work on the album. It also sets up a musical theme that repeats during Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight. The way the song progresses through a few sections to the counting “1 2 3 4…” always pleases me to no end.

Sun King

= 3 stars

Was John slightly making fun of George’s Here Comes the Sun?

Mean Mr. Mustard

= 4 stars

This is more of a song fragment, but it has a neat cutting John vocal and a change to 3/4 time. The lyrics are quite impressive, describing a weird personality and his off-color ways.

Polythene Pam

= 3 stars

Doesn’t cut the mustard like Mean Mr. Mustard but still rather engaging.

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

= 4 stars

This is a pretty catchy, groovy Paul song. There’s an interesting “smack” noise that occurs at nice moments during the second verse. George interjects with neat fills throughout.

Golden Slumbers

= 4 stars

Another pleasant Paul tune, not as strong as You Never Give Me Your Money but the way it tumbles into the next song is golden. I also love the phrase with Paul’s brassy baritone.

Carry That Weight

= 4 stars

I think this is Ringo taking the lead, in the last Beatle sing along. At just the right moment, the melody from You Never Give Me Your Money returns.

The End

= 5 stars

I don’t know of any other defunct band that ended their career in such a manner. A pseudo-drum solo leads into a three-way guitar jam. Try to figure out which one is Paul, John, and George. On a firm guitar chord, voices enter, along with strings and a few chords, concluding in a manner reminiscent of the end of Something. It’s fitting that the final phrase has to do with the sentiment of love.

Her Majesty

= 2 stars

Nice gimmick, but I kind of think it diminishes the finality of The End.

Wikipedia: Abbey Road

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