Three 65, Day 22The Beatles, The Beatles
They call it "the White Album," but don't be fooled; this is The Beatles' self-titled masterpiece. A concept album with no concept, and a full band record of individually composed songs, The Beatles is a sprawling epic mess in the best possible way.
I won't belabor the history of this album's recording, except to say that the Fab Four were clearly using a lot of drugs at the time. And it shows in every aspect of the album, from the weird song topics to the self-referential posturing. If you thought Sgt. Pepper's was weird, look out. (The fact that Charles Manson's insanity seized on this recording, above all others, is alone testament to its oddness.)
Things start off relatively straightforward, with the Beach Boys rip of "Back In The U.S.S.R." and the shimmery dream pop of "Dear Prudence." The band works its mythology on the bizarre "Glass Onion," and "Wild Honey Pie" (the second weirdest song in The Beatles catalog - we'll get to the weirdest in a minute) is just the song's title sung over a warped acoustic groove. Other highlights of the first disc include two stunning George Harrison compositions, the seething "Piggies" and the melancholy "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Ringo's sole contribution ("Don't Pass Me By," a passable country-western piece), and "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," which changes styles multiple times over its brief length.
The second half of the record is a little more disparate. "Helter Skelter" is a wild ride through proto-metal, and "Sexy Sadie" is a beautiful little number about one of the many ladies that pop up throughout the course of the album. But "Revolution 9," the strangest thing The Beatles ever put on wax, takes the cake. Much maligned by music critics and Beatles fans the world over, and cursed as the work of John Lennon's lover Yoko Ono, this avant-garde musique concrete saga is just noises and field recordings. It's the sound of a band willingly thrusting off the chains of their friendly pop past, and embracing a new future as the pioneers of musical adventurism. And if the end result isn't entirely to your taste, too bad; the band was clearly out for themselves on this recording, and "Revolution 9" is the ultimate result of that.
I wouldn't call it a concept album with no concept, its more like an anti-concept.
ReplyDeleteLike most double albums, it tends to fall apart in places. Side 4 (yes I own this on vinyl) is one of the weakest Beatles sides ever, even with the inclusions of both 'Revolutions'.
'Revolution 9' is the most polarizing track in all of music history, as in 'like it or hate it.' No other band has a track like this in their catalog.
Its weird, it contains 4 or 5 of my favorite Beatles songs of all time, yet its my 5th or 6th favorite Beatles album.
One thing you can do, which I did with a bunch of people from the bookstore, was to edit the White Album into a single disc. What you do is choose songs and fill up 45-50 minutes worth of disc of songs from the White Album. You can also use the 'Hey Jude/Revolution' single, as it was recorded during this time. The variety of styles and songs on The Beatles allows you to make at least three different kinds of albums; acoustic, rock and weird.