The Beatles - Rubber Soul

 A turning point in the Beatles' careers

Ask a group of ten people what their favourite Beatles record is and I’m sure you’ll probably have ten different answers.

Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road are largely considered as the best the Beatles ever did by lots of critics and fans. Some fans however prefer Magical Mystery Tour’s psychedelic pop, and other groups prefer the music they made before Rubber Soul.

Rubber Soul is probably my favourite, but also quite an interesting point in the Beatles’ discography.

There are a few exceptions, but most songs the Beatles wrote before Rubber Soul are largely simple pop ditties.

Rubber Soul marks the first time the Beatles started to mature as artists and songwriters.

The songs on Rubber Soul started to have a deeper layer of meaning or more sophisticated way storytelling.

It is also noticeable that the group started writing songs they couldn’t perform outside the studio. Instruments that were unusual for pop/rock at the time were also starting to enter the mix.

This is quite noticeable on Norwegian Wood, not only is this song one of Lennon’s strongest effort as songwriter, it is also the first time the sitar was used in a Beatles song.

Other favourites are Nowhere Man and In My Life.

Nowhere Man instrumentally with all the vocal harmonies, sounds to me as the music they wrote before Rubber Soul but perfected and at its most mature. The subject matter and the how it is delivered of course also helps to give the song a more mature sound.

In My Life is a heartfelt ballad about nostalgia and love. The melody here is catchy and beautiful at the same time. And the little piano solo that serves as bridge. It kind of sounds like a harpsichord and makes the song sound oh so British.

Considering the Beatles’ place in music and history it feels like quite an absurd thing to give them a simple recommendation.

Mostly because probably everybody with even a little bit of interest in music knows their music.

But for those few that haven’t yet had the pleasure to discover the wonderful pop music of the Beatles I say: not only from a musical point but also a historical, this is a band you should check out.