Search - Beatles :: Rubber Soul

THE BEATLES GROW UP!!!...

Lawyeraau | Balmoral Castle | 04/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This fabulous, fourteen track CD, with twelve tracks by the Lennon/McCartney songwriting duo, one track by Lennon/McCartney/Starkey (Ringo), and one by George Harrison, is a significant departure from their earlier works. Here, the music is lusher, darker, and more complex. With the release of this album, The Beatles bid goodbye to their "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" days and established themselves as a musical force of note, more talented than anyone had imagined.



With vivid imagery and themes, they sang about life and all its turbulent emotions, a virtual social commentary. From the rock and roll refrains of "Drive My Car" to the sitar laden "Norwegian Wood", followed up by the existential "Nowhere Man", The Beatles had a lot to say, and they did so with a vengeance.



Love was still an important theme, however, to which Paul paid homage with the romantic ballad, "Michelle", as did John in "Girl", a song so filled with yearning it is almost palpable. As if this weren't enough, add the lament of love lost in "I'm Looking Through You", as well as the achingly poignant "In My Life", and you have a musical experience so complete, that no music collector should be without this CD."

The Beatles in Transition

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 11/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Rubber Soul" was some of the same and something different. "Rubber Soul" yielded the first Beatles hit song that had nothing to do with love or girls ("Nowhere Man"). "Rubber Soul" marked a transition from The Beatles early boy band love songs to a mature sound that could cover any subject well.

The songs on this album are classic mid-60s. "You Won't See Me," "Norwegian Wood," and "Drive My Car" are each classic Beatles songs that are staples of classic rock stations. "You Won't See Me" in particular has been covered numerous times by other groups.



"Nowhere Man" is excellent. A song about everyman, and a commentary on everyman. This song with its political overtones perhaps expressed some of the frustration the youth of the 60s had with the desire to change the world, and yet could not get oldsters to understand what they were about; and changes that happened were too slow. It's funny looking back, because now we are the oldsters, and the wheel has turned once again. The most incredible thing about this song is that it has nothing to do with love, and ranks as one of the best Beatles songs of all time. The only flaw with this song is that it, like so many other songs of the era, was a paltry 2:44 long, which was LONG by the standards of those days. Think of what The Beatles could have done had they had CDs to work with!



I think "Michelle," "Girl," and "In My Life" are excellent Beatles ballads, with outstanding harmonies on "Girl" and "In My Life;" classics in a different vein from the other songs on this album.



Of the remaining songs, "Think for Yourself," "I'm Looking Through You," "Wait," and "If I Needed Someone" offer quality Beatles music. Each of these are harbingers of The Beatles that would see one more transition album, "Revolver," followed by the revolution in rock music, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."



"The Word" is very 60s pop music, with little to distinguish it other than it is a Beatles song. "What Goes On" is an interesting song for The Beatles in that it has a country flavor with Ringo taking the lead vocal. Clearly the idea of a concept album was yet to come. "Run for Your Life" finishes off the CD with some novelty. The "end" in the song is pronounced "end-uh", matching the music well. Note that in written lyrics this is written as "end-a".



The album is a little uneven in a couple of places. Following "Think for Yourself" with "The Word" is not a smooth transition. Similarly, following "Michelle" with "What Goes On" causes "What Goes On" to grate somewhat. The songs could have been changed to have some flow to the style and mood of the songs. However, as I noted earlier, the concept album was two years away.



The flaws in this CD are minor. The music proved once again that even with small bumps in quality, the Beatles were consistently able to fill an album with good to great songs. This album is a must have for any fan of mid-60s rock, and definitely for any fan of The Beatles.



Note that there are several versions of this album available. Because of varying availability and price you may want to see which version best meets your needs before buying.

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The "Legend"

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 01/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The legend goes that Brian Wilson tried to top RUBBER SOUL by writing PET SOUNDS. Then in a bit of a panic, John and Paul one-upped him with REVOLVER. But really-- how much truth is there to legends?



RUBBER SOUL is introspective, experimental, and demonstrates a maturing that wasn't possible during the hectic 18 month insanity of "Beatlemania." Many of these songs were too complexly overdubbed to be performed in concert. This was one of several factors in the group's choice to stop touring and concentrate on studio work. Perhaps the creation of REVOLVER owes more to that decision than to any song-writing competition with someone 8,000 miles distant. But, legends have a way of living on, don't they?



Points off for no liner notes, a redundant song list (three places, counting twice in the booklet), no track lengths, and a couple of sub-par tunes.



TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 35:39"