The Beatles - Rubber Soul UK 1965

Whats Hot On The Roddus Stereo

Album Of The Week Part 1

What the hell could I possibly say about this album that hasn't beens said a thousand times already. It has, no doubt, been reviewed a million times, sold millions of copies and appeared on just about every top albums list ever. It is of course one of the greatest albums of all time and for me this is the first of the real Beatle albums. For this one it was the first time they recorded a batch of songs specifically for this album, as apposed to compiling albums from a stockpile of already recorded or written songs. Also, for Me, this is the record where the Beatles music becomes more Timeless. most of their earlier stuff, while still classics, sounds of its time, but the songs on Rubber Soul, and their subsequent albums, still have a very contemporary sound, even after 40+ years.

I was given the book, The Beatles:Off The Record for my last birthday and when I got to the parts about this album, I decided to dust off my CD copy and give it a long overdue listen and now have given it about a dozen listens this week. The real highlights on this album are, for Me, the slower tracks like Girl , Michelle, Norwegian Wood and of course In My Life, which is one of my all time favorite Beatles tracks.

Here is a quick comment and rating for each track. Not much point saying too much about them, I'm Sure the entire population of the planet knows them all off by heart.

1. Drive My Car: A very cool uptempo rocker 4.5/5
2. Norwegian Wood: Love that Sitar, great lyrics 5/5
3. You Won't See Me: Another great Lennon/MaCartney Vocal harmony 4/5
4. Nowhere Man: More Awesome vocal harmonies 5/5
5. Think For Yourself: Is this possible the track that introduced fuzz guitar to the world 4/5
6. The Word: Paul's fab bass playing 4.5/5
7. Michelle: Truely Beautiful, if Mrs. Roddus's name was Michelle, I'd play this at our wedding.5+/5
8. What Goes On: Ringos cameo on this C&W track 4/5
9. Girl: Sultry, love the first line, simply mindblowing 5+/5
10. I'm looking Through You: Great Folk song 4.5/5
11. In My Life: Sublime vocals, brilliant 5+/5
12. Wait:  This would have made a great single 4.5/5
13. If I Needed Someone: Harrisons best so far, better to come 4.5/5
14. Run For Your Life:  Another Classic 5/5

As you can see not an absolutly perfect album, not all 5/5 songs, but it don't get much closer that this, not a bad song in the bunch, this is a classic example of why the Beatles were simply the best.
My Overall rating 5/5