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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most bizarre but great pop/rock albums ever made., Aug 1 2005
George Martin (in the "Anthology" DVDs) and others have said that the White Album could/should have been edited down to a single album, which, if done well, would surely have placed it along with Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's as one of the finest albums in the history of pop/rock. I agree, but the downside is that by so doing, you would lose so many of the quirky but wonderful songs that are on the album, songs that don't have "hit" written all over them, but which are nevertheless memorable. Some of the songs we might not have gotten if this had been cut down to a single album might include "Wild Honey Pie," which is nuts, but I love it anyway (Paul showing us he's capable of dementia too, and not just carefully-crafted great pop hits), "Don't Pass Me By," a derivative piece of C&W fluff by Ringo (but which is nevertheless unforgetable; I find myself belting it out for no reason at all while on road trips, much to the consternation of my kids), "Revolution 1" (acoustic version of Lennon's hard-rockin' classic, slowed down a bit, and still great), and "Good Night," written (I'm guessing) by Paul and sung by Ringo in what is arguably the most overproduced song the Beatles ever did. Basically, it sounds like it was recorded in the 'forties, complete with syruppy strings and heavy, roller skating arena reverb. Again, it's strange, but I'm glad it's there.Maybe the most interesting thing about the White Album is that it shows just how far apart John and Paul had grown, artistically and, as we found out later, in other ways too. A lot of the songs are basically solo projects by either John or Paul (John: "Julia;" "Cry, Baby Cry -- Paul: "Martha my Dear;" "Blackbird," "Rocky Raccoon:), but mostly, I'm struck by both Paul's artistic range -- he shows us once again that he deserves to be included amongst the best pop songwriters in history, with songs like "Back in the USSR," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," "Blackbird," "I Will," "Mother Nature's Son," and "Honey Pie," but he also shows us he may arguably be the most versatile pop song writer in history too, with "Rocky Raccoon" (which is hilarious), "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" (this too is hilarious, but in a different way; again, Paul draws on the demented part of his personality!), "Birthday" (again, Paul summons up the dementia within; I love it!), and "Helter Skelter," the most racous, crazy, lettin' it all hang out, doing permanent damage to the voice song Paul ever wrote. Fantastic stuff. John, on the other hand, is not really in Pop mode at all on this album, with a couple of possible exceptions ("Bungalow Bill" might be considered poppish, but with John's wonderfully cynical twist). "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is similarly satirical and brilliant, and includes John rapping (well, at least talking). But he's clearly in a lot of pain here, and laying bare his heart for the world to see; "Yer Blues," is a scary cry for help ("The eagle picks my eye/The worm he licks my bones/I feel so suicidal/Just like Dylan's Mr. Jones/Lonely wanna die/If I ain't dead already/Ooh girl you know the reason why"). Pretty heavy stuff. The most unusual piece on the album is not a song at all; it's "Revolution #9," which, when I heard it as a teenager (only about thirty years ago; not long, really) I thought was just too strange, and I couldn't appreciate it. But now I appreciate even that; it's pretty avant-garde, experimental stuff, probably the first time a pop group had included "Musique Concrète" (taped sounds manipulated to make art music) on a record. Who's idea was this? I'm curious. The White Album is by far the most unusual Beatles album of all, but it also covers the widest artistic territory. Well worth having, if you're a Beatles fan.
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See all 17 tracks on this disc
