Product Description

After the laborious disorganisation and infighting that characterised early 1969's LET IT BE sessions (as famously captured on film), the fractious four were willing to let GeorgeMartin take the reins and to work with him as a cohesive unit for the much more succinct production of their (and the decade's) swan song, ABBEY ROAD. The superb performances makethe album an artistic high point for all members of the group. Paul McCartney inspired the suite of songs that begins with "You Never Give Me Your Money". Often thought of as two long medleys, the songs that fill most of the second half ofABBEY ROAD segue seamlessly into one another, but are programmed as separate CD tracks. George Harrison had his first A-side on a Beatles' single ("Something"); John Lennon contributed a pair of heavy rockers ("Come Together" and "I Want You"); and Ringo Starr's "Octopus's Garden" was a favourite with children.

Track Listing

1. Come Together
2. Something
3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
4. Oh Darling
5. Octopus's Garden
6. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
7. Here Comes The Sun
8. Because
9. You Never Give Me Your Money
10. Sun King
11. Mean Mr Mustard
12. Polythene Pam
13. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
14. Golden Slumbers
15. Carry That Weight
16. End Her Majesty

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #465 in Music
• Released on: 1988-11-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Beatles' last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right Let It Be, the group held on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though all four contribute to the first side's writing, John Lennon's hard-rocking, "Come Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" make the strongest impression. A series of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous, touching, official close ("Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight" / "The End") is nicely undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney's cheeky "Her Majesty", which follows. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Here's validation of the Beatles' status.
The Beatles. A band that are so familiar to everyone in the western world that it's easily possible to live 25-30 years without hearing one of their albums from start to finish. You just hear it everywhere. But that's just the thing; you always hear the same songs - essentially, the ones from the Red and Blue albums.

I remember being captivated at a very young age by the otherworldly songs on the Blue Album - Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds probably contributed to my later interest in psychedelic substances - and I began to appreciate the quality of songwriting on the Red Album, rather than the actual songs themselves when I started learning to play guitar at 16. And while I would readily admit that some of the Beatles' songs were truly amazing, I was never inspired to buy one of their albums. I just made a tape of my favourite songs from the Red and Blue albums.

Now, my dad did have With The Beatles on vinyl, and I remember listening to that once, but I just wasn't into that traditional rock n' roll style then. I just liked the weird, psychedelic stuff. Other than that, there was one occasion where I heard Revolver on a car journey, and I'm pretty sure a friend of mine played a tape of the White Album all the way through in my presence once. I still had to conclude that some Beatles stuff is amazing... some merely average.

I'm not really here to talk about that. I'm trying to get around to reviewing Abbey Road. My point, I guess, is that everyone knows The Beatles were amazing, but it's easy to forget why, or even to just take it for granted, and never wonder why. For me, Abbey Road is absolute proof of their genius. At 30 years old, I sat down and listened to it all the way through for the first time, and was just blown away. Sure, I already knew "Come Together", "Here Comes the Sun", "Something", "Octopus' Garden"... but hearing them in the context of the actual album really brought a new perspective on them.

Some of these songs on Abbey Road are like straight forward blues/rock songs, but the production on them and the performances just raise them way above so many other bands. The others form an outrageous medley, lasting around 17 minutes in total. This is like a masterclass: the vocals and harmonies, George's guitar playing, Paul contributing one of the most consistently outstanding series of bass lines ever, and Ringo's amazingly simplistic but inventive drumming... not to mention John's less obvious, but no doubt equally impressive contribution. It's a perfect album - that's all there is to it.

sweet
Really great tunes here! For a contemporary comparison I recommend Nick Worrall. His album is FREE to download as well.

AND IN THE END ........
The Beatles final album (last to be recorded) is a mixed bag. At one end of the spectrum there are Harrison's two landmark songs - 'Something' & 'Here Comes The Sun' then there is Lennon's frankly baffling 'I Want You Shes's So Heavy' and McCartneys trite 'Maxwells Silver Hammer'.
This is the sound of a band falling apart. Of course, this being the Beatles, there are also moments of pure brilliance - 'Come Together' is John's last great Fabs song and his band mates, especially Paul, help turn the swampy blues track into a minor masterpiece. Ringo's jaunty 'Octopus's Garden' may be a lightweight kids song but the inventive arrangement and clever harmonies are often overlooked.
Abbey Road though is Macca's album. 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window' is almost classical in it's composition, whilst his work on the long medley shows a man in full command of his obvious talents. George also excells throughout and his distinctive lead guitar work is often outstanding.
Lennon was, at times, very critical of the overbearing McCartney and on Abbey Road the division between the two was never more obvious. But it's Paul thats holds the record together and it's to his, and George Martins, credit that the results are so good. Free to experiment with newly installed 8 track recording equipment the Beatles managed to fashion a complex and polished sounding album that lacked only in consistencey and focus.
Had 'Come and Get It', 'Maybe I'm Amazed' or Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass' made the cut then this could well have been The Beatles finest hour. It's sounds a lot better than the scrappy 'Let It Be' and as a swangsong record still manages to stand head and shoulders above the competiton of the late 60's. The iconic cover shot was the icing on the cake.