The Beatles - The Beatles (The White Album)
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Free Music Notes for The Beatles (The White Album)
Free Music Review: One of rock's greatest double albums ever
Hit: 5 Stars
In November of 1968, The Beatles released their self-titled album which was their only double album released when they were together.
The album was nicknamed The White Album because of its stark white cover as an antithesis to the extravagance of Sgt Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour.
The album is a great album and is one of the best albums ever made.
This album has every music genre conceivable.
We start the album with with bass player Paul McCartney's opening rocker "Back in the USSR" which is a classic. We then segue into guitarist John Lennon's atmospheric rocker "Dear Prudence". We follow with another Lennon gold nugget "Glass Onion". Next is Macca's pop number "Oblidi Oblada" which some says is called Life Goes On probably cos of the show from the 1990s. We follow with the first bizarre track "Wild Honey Pie". Next is Lennon's silly but classic "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" which segues into guitarist George Harrison's classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" which features Eric Clapton on lead guitar and the first quarter ended with Lennon's anti-violent rocker "Happiness is a Warm Gun".
The second half kicks off with McCartney's ode to his sheep-dog "Martha My Dear" which is a great number. Next is Lennon's bluesy ode "I'm So Tired" which is a great song. We follow with McCartney's classic acoustic number "Blackbird". We then have a funny song from George Harrison called "Piggies" which is a great song. Next is Paul's silly but classic acoustic number "Rocky Raccoon". Next is drummer Ringo Starr's first penned Beatles song, the country-ish "Don't Pass Me By" which is another classic Ringo number. We follow with Macca's rocker "Why Don't We Do It in the Road". Then another Macca number "I Will" is next. We close the first disc with Lennon's "Julia", a beautiful acoustic song written for his mother who passed away when he was a kid.
The second disc opens with the Lennon/McCartney rocker "Birthday" which is a great song. We follow with a great Lennon rocker "Yer Blues". "Mother Nature's Son" follows and is a nice McCartney acoustic piece. Lennon follows with two more great rockers "Everybody's Got Something to Hide" and "Sexy Sadie". Then Macca rocks out with the superb "Helter Skelter". George ends the third quarter of The White Album with the atmospheric "Long Long Long".
We start the final quarter with Lennon's bluesy re-working of "Hey Jude"'s B-side Revolution called "Revolution #1" and is a good re-recording. The jazzy "Honey Pie" is next and a nice McCartney number. Next is George's rocker "Savoy Truffle" which is an ode to Eric Clapton's sweet tooth. Lennon then goes acoustic with "Cry Baby Cry" which is a great song. Next is the almost nine minute sound collage known as "Revolution #9", many hate this track but I think is a great piece. We let Ringo have the final word on "Good Night" which is a beautiful lullaby.
Surprisingly, this album worked very well and gave the band YET ANOTHER US #1 ALBUM and still holds up today.
To date, The White Album is the group's best selling album ever in the US with some 18 million copies sold according to the RIAA although Abbey Road is the best selling single disc. If you need another Beatles disc aside Abbey Road and Sgt Pepper, scoop up The White Album.
Free Music Review: fine, classic rock two CD set by The Beatles
Hit: 5 Stars
The Beatles "White Album" remains just as fresh, exciting and fascinating today as it did all those years ago when it was originally released on vinyl. These two CDs give us all the tracks from the two LP set and the digital remastering is also very well done.
The first CD starts with the stimulating "Back In The U.S.S.R." As The Beatles sing and play a song about a man's return to the former Soviet Union, the electric guitars work wonders for the musical arrangement. This has always been one of my favorite songs by The Beatles because it is so playful while rocking hard at the same time. "Dear Prudence" features John Lennon singing flawlessly about his woman; and this song has a fine guitar arrangement as well. Moreover, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is another electric number with fantastic singing, guitar, drums and percussion. "Ob-La Di, Ob-La-Da" showcases how well The Beatles could work together no matter what personal conflicts they have had at the time. Great!
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is easily a highlight of this double album; George Harrison finally did prove his stunning genius with this classic love ballad. The song works so well with the guitars, vocalizing, drums and percussion that "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" remains one of George Harrison's greatest hits ever. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" doesn't require too much imagination to know what John is singing about; and John doesn't miss a beat on this fine ballad, too. I predict that you'll like "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" very much.
"Blackbird" features Paul McCartney singing soulfully of his woman with a gentle guitar accompaniment in the background; and "Birthday" gives us The Beatles performing their own rock and roll version of "Happy Birthday" while throwing in their desire for romance with their women. Listen for some great electric guitar on "Birthday," too. "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey"" has John Lennon singing his best with awesome percussion; and $exy Sadie" is a beautiful number John sings about his woman. "$exy Sadie" allows John to expose some of his innermost feelings, too.
"Honey Pie" has a great piano arrangement; and Paul sings this sweetly as he describes a woman he wants to return to him. "Revolution 9," a rather experimental number, gathers strength from the different keys and sound effects in the arrangement.
The liner notes have great photos and artwork; and we get the song lyrics, too.
The Beatles "White Album" will always remain one of their greatest works. Beatles fans will always enjoy this two CD set; and I highly recommend this CD set for people who enjoy classic rock and pop.
Free Music Review: I Can't Believe that this Album inspired Homicide...
Hit: 3 Stars
Heres the thing - obviously this is some great psychedelic rock music, but I must say that I found it very hard to listen to this double-album once I became acquainted with the fact that the Charles Manson murderers listened to this for their inspiration and even constructed their killing spree around certain track titles from this album.
I don't know about you - but when a bunch of cold-blooded psychopathic killers can sit around and get 'inspired' by one album and then commit mass murder (if you haven't heard about the infamous Sharon Tate murders committed by the 'Manson Family' in the late 1960s, please check the Net for data), then I'm sorry, I can't listen to the record with a straight face.
I know its all associative, but still, the beauty of this record diminished the day I learnt it inspired the murder of an eight-month pregnant woman. I just cant listen to this album again - it won't be the same.
Free Music Review: A Keen Grasp Of The Obvious
Hit: 5 Stars
If you like rock music, get this album. You should have had it already. It's just that simple.
On a par with breathing in terms of necessity. 'Nuff said.
Free Music Review: Rationality Sucks
Hit: 3 Stars
You know, I like The Beatles quite a lot. Really I do. I swear. I have every album. Even the terrible, awful, very bad soundtrack to Yellow Submarine. All of it. And I gotta tell you, this record is pretty low down in the rankings, and it deserves every bit of it. If I live forever I may never understand the considerable enthusiasm that people seem to have for this album, and for the odd person considering buying this, I'll try to describe my thinking.
First off, the general stuff. This is The Beatles. If you're not familiar with at least the term, you've possibly been living in a cave, but they're pretty much the prototypical rock band we see today, but back when that was new and artistic and good and junk. They're pretty good at what they do, to put it mildly. If you know who they are, you should know there are two kinds of The Beatles - the early and the late. This is the late. This is not "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do." This is "I Am the Walrus" and "Strawberry Fields Forever." If you like the first and not the last, you should probably skip this.
Now, to the meat of the review, which is where I explain why I'm giving this supposed masterwork precisely three stars and not a glimmer more. First off, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought The Beatles were supposed to be A BAND. You know - one of those funny little creatures with multiple musicians collaborating to create a result. This doesn't sound like a band. This sounds like somebody took four solo records, mashed them untidily into a blender, and set the thing to musical puree. You know when John Lennon was running things and when Paul McCartney was running things and when George Harrison was running things and you'll let me know if you catch poor Ringo. That's bad. While individual fans will argue with you, I think folks with a broader viewpoint can tell you that the individual Beatles members were never as good separately as they were together, and they seem to be together not-so-much of the time on this recording.
Which is another problem. As the educated in the subject know, at the time this album was produced, the band was kind of fighting a little bit. Not getting along in the best of ways. Drifting apart. Having a sissy slap-fight. Whatever you want to call it, there was no confluence of views and intent, and everybody wanted their stuff on the record. The result? A rather predictable bloated mass, most of which is easily second-tier stuff, if that. Revolution 9? Seriously? Come on, people.
It's worth noting that their producer - George Martin - was very much in favor of jettisoning a large amount of this detritus and releasing a single, tighter recording, and I have to say I agree with him. There's a good record in here SOMEwhere, but finding it is a challenge. There's not much here that would cut muster on the radio, compared to the album size, and an awful lot of stuff that I'd be tempted to cut to make a record more along the lines of Revolver, which was tight and firmly rooted in the mold of accessible pop music. Which is another problem - this record is arty, arrogant, and generally thinks an awful lot of itself and doesn't go to much trouble to be accessible. It features The Beatles at some of their most arrogant and navel-gazing (i.e. Glass Onion), which is never, ever attractive in a band.
Mostly, I'm disappointed in this album. I would never recommend that anybody purchase it at it's frequently-suggested-price of $30. If you can find it for less - $15 would be ideal - that's when I'd pull the trigger, but honestly, unless you're a Beatles completist like me, or you really want to pull the quality tracks out of the muck (everybody has their favorites, but mine include Martha My Dear, Helter Skelter, Back in the U.S.S.R., and some others), this is one of the few Beatles CDs I can say really isn't worth the effort. Revolver and Sgt. Peppers' are masterpieces and a wonderful place to start for any new listeners. I'd steer clear of this unless you're established and you've got a firm idea of what you're getting.