ALBUM REVIEW: The Beatles - Rubber Soul

    By the end of August 1965, The Beatles had wrapped up their North American tour, a landmark excursion for the group that saw Beatlemania at its most gargantuan - this US tour saw some of their most significant performances, including both The Hollywood Bowl across two days, as well as the record-setting Shea Stadium performance that opened the tour. Never before were The Beatles this big, and while in the US, they really began to take in the influence of the American music scene, meeting up with Bob Dylan, being introduced to Elvis Presley (every rocker's hero back then), and taking in the Motown music that was more of a rarity back in Britain. When they finally did record again in October of that year, The Beatles must have been creatively revitalized by the US music scene, and the results are evident of Rubber Soul, filled to the brim with respect for Soul, Motown, Dylan, and other contemporaries like The Byrds. For all the pop sensebility and hit-making potential on Rubber Soul, let it be known that this is the point of divergence for The Beatles - where the olden days of Beatlemania end and the new days of studio experimentation begin. The Beatles truly do bloom artistically on this album, at last, and the results more than speak for themselves; it's the sound of artistic liberation.

    Genre-wise, Rubber Soul feels far more varied and lively in comparison to the mostly straightforward pop rock of previous albums. Sure, Help! and Beatles for Sale were tinged with folk influence, but they mostly stayed true to that classic Beatles mold; Rubber Soul is pop rock, yes, but infused within the DNA of this album is a hodgepodge of various sounds that make themselves known - The Beatles' love of soul and Motown is evident on cuts like the vamping opener of "Drive Me Car", which is filled with that smooth percussion, a great guitar lick, and one of the biggest changes to The Beatles' sound in Paul's bass-playing. While Paul was never a bad bass player, he is truly unshackled on this album and becomes a rolling, sliding and truly living bassist, evident on moments like the fuzzy George-penned "Think For Yourself" or the tasteful low-end on "You Won't See Me", the latter of which is one of The Beatles' strongest cuts. The soul influence, while strong on these tracks, is best seen on "The Word", which puts the Soul in Rubber Soul all on its own. Folk more than gets its share on this album, too, mainly with John's cuts like "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "Girl", and the closing folk-rock of "Run For Your Life" - the former of those shows the first time a sitar has been used on a Beatles song, and it won't be the last. Paul gets his share of folkier acoustic cuts, though, mainly with the beautiful harmonies on "Michelle" and the energetic expression of anger on "I'm Looking Through You", one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs. This is all without mentioning hints of country and psychedelia on cuts like "What Goes On" or "Nowhere Man", but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll move on.

    The Beatles have, clearly, progressed far beyond "I Saw Her Standing There" and "She Loves You", not just musically but lyrically. Some of The Beatles' sharpest moments are all across this album, even in plain sight - "Drive My Car" is a love song, yes, but one whose meaning changes ever so slightly when you learn that the phrase "Drive My Car" is a sexual euphemism, which gives a much different tinge to the simple love songs of their days of yore. Other songs like the brilliant "You Won't See Me" and "I'm Looking Through You" from Paul are reflective of his relationship troubles with Jane Asher. John's introspective songs like "Girl", "Norwegian Wood", or his album highlight "In My Life" are much more matured than anything before, with "In My Life" serving as an almost sorrowful reflection on his past in what turns up to be comparable to "Yesterday" in terms of its emotional power and quality. George's artistic growth on Help! is only expanded here with the thumping "Think For Yourself" and his excellent "If I Needed Someone" that serves as the album's penultimate moment. "Nowhere Man" is an almost self-reflective Lennon track that shows the group's first foray into the psychedelic, something that will only expand in the group's sound (and mind) with their following album.

    While The Beatles would build off the momentum from this album in later years, Rubber Soul is ground zero for what would come in many ways, and its influence is significant in many ways outside of The Beatles - many point to this album as the definitive demarcation line for when the album became the main form of artistic expression and not the single. Outside of that, many artists would take notes from this self-contained body of work where every song could stand on its own, and would later look to one-up it; Mick Jagger and Keith Richards took notes, and would release Aftermath in '66, which became the first Rolling Stones album to consist entirely of original materials; John Cale and Lou Reed were inspired by the album when forming The Velvet Underground; Ray Davies of The Kinks and Pete Townshend of The Who both recall being influenced by the album; most significantly, it was the US release of Rubber Soul that Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys heard that inspired him to create a little known record by the name of Pet Sounds. While it holds arguably the most historical significance of any Beatles record, Rubber Soul is more than just an important release - it really is an artistically cohesive and brilliant album, and would begin an almost unbeatable streak of creativity for the following five years. Carve the rating on my wall...

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Rubber Soul.