Many people have described The Beatles as not necessarily a Beatles album, but more like a collection of four solo projects thrown in together to bombastic results. While I don't necessarily agree with this assessment, I don't necessarily disagree, especially when every Beatle gets a songwriting credit on this album - even Ringo debuts as a solo songwriter with the admittedly very fun country twang of "Don't Pass Me By" - hey, for a first song it's pretty darn good. While there's still very much a Beatles sound on a lot of the material here, every member does get an opportunity to explore their own ambition - it should be worth noting that only 16 of the album's 30 songs have all four members of The Beatles on them. Left to their own devices, The Beatles themselves create scattered ideas and songs that vary within themselves; George's fascination with Indian music still shines brightly on the mysterious "Long, Long, Long"; Paul's love of vaudeville shows on "Honey Pie" and "Martha My Dear", as does his folk-y style on songs like "Blackbird" or "Mother Nature's Son" (both songs that rank amongst the album's best); John's perpetual interest in studio sodding about and his newfound love of the avant-garde is seen on moments like the brilliant segments of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" or the sound collage of "Revolution 9", no matter how infamous the latter is.
The album really is a showcase of the individual here, though, and to pigeon-hole each member to doing this or that is a little disingenuous with this release - they do everything here. George's emergence as a songwriting force in the group was finally beginning to get recognized on this album thanks to the likes of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", a brilliantly written song that contains a killer solo from Eric Clapton to boot. "Glass Onion" is a cheeky callback to numerous Beatle tunes, all amidst John Lennon's curious brand of art rock that shows its face again on the just as good "Cry Baby Cry" or the catchy "Sexy Sadie". John's love of blues also shows on some of his strongest numbers, primarily the laid-back "I'm So Tired" and the howling "Yer Blues", the latter of which also has some great live renditions if you know where to look. He also cranks out the killer garage rock of "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey", which also has a very fun name to type out. Paul's rock & roll pastiche in "Back in the USSR" is a fun way to kick off the record, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a sweet little pop-reggae number (no matter what the critics say), "Rocky Raccoon" is a peculiar and fun country tune, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" is a howling blues number of his own. and of course his "Helter Skelter" is up there as The Beatles' heaviest tune. "Savoy Truffle" is a rich rhythm & blues song from George with its vamping horns and killer hook, and "Piggies" is decent, albeit a little on-the-nose, political satire. Only sparse moments like the bizarre "Wild Honey Pie" or the supremely annoying "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" showcase the worst of the group here - the latter isn't even that fun to type out.
For as truly scattered and messy as the album is, there is something captivating about The Beatles for what it is. It is, perhaps, the best vehicle to showcase every member's individual artistic ability and talent out of any Beatles album up to this point and even afterwards - not counting solo albums, of course. It turned out to be a watershed moment for the group, and not just in its scale; with this album, The Beatles realized their own ability, and the reliance on each other for artistry was beginning to diminish. It's not hard to see why, many years later, this is seen as the real beginning of the end for The Beatles, as that inseparable unit of "John Paul George and Ringo" slowly began to fissure into John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. No matter what it is, The Beatles is a monumental accomplishment from a group at their most prolific.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to The Beatles.
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