Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Subtle, skilful use of synthesizers, 21 Jun 2003
Abbey Road has a simple, but effective ambiguous cover which brought the Abbey Road studio, where nearly all of their great music was recorded, to the attention of the public. It has been an important influence on the recording industry, and hasn't hurt British tourism either. I wonder how many people have been injured being photographed at that famous crossing?
If "The Beatles" [the White album] was the first Beatles solo album, Abbey Road sees them back together again, creating marvelous harmonies and playing as a real band.This album features interesting, subtle, skilful use of electronic sound. Consider the long ending of I Want You (She's So Heavy), the synth solos in Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Because, for example. George Harrison's songs on this album are his best ever, I think. Frank Sinatra said that "Something" was Lennon and McCartney's best song, and it does come close to the best that George wrote. "Here Comes the Sun" has terrific guitar sounds and interesting use of rhythm. "Because" features the best example of the Beatles' use of vocal harmony, I think. The layering of 9 Beatle voices sounds superb, though the lyrics are rather dull. The medley (originally on Side 2 of the LP) has snippets of songs that seem to flow logically into one another, until we arrive at the appropriately titled "The End," which features the Beatles' only (and mercifully short) drum solo, and some exciting guitar exchanges. I highly recommend this album, which I have enjoyed since I first heard it faintly over the airwaves in 1969. It is easily as good as Sgt Pepper and Rubber Soul.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The band who built the road music is on today, 4 Nov 2006
The most remarkable feature of this, the last collection of tracks that The Beatles cut, is its illusion of harmony. Band members would record their parts individually and leave notes for each other, yet 'Abbey Road' sounds like the work of a band at the height of their powers. It isn't their best collection of songs, but there's so much going on, so many shades and styles, that you hardly notice. Beautifully-crafted, the album is of the highest production standard for its time. It has a full-bodied feel that points towards 1970s rock.
There are classic songs, as ever. George Harrison takes many plaudits for 'Here Comes The Sun' and 'Something'. He was reaching his maturity as a songwriter and this spilled over into his early solo work. John Lennon's striking 'Come Together' is another highlight. Though it borrows the 'Here come old flat-top' line from a Chuck Berry song, the combination of bass and vocal hissing gives it a unique feel. The pair of black sheep that are 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' and 'Octopus's Garden' are unfairly pilloried in my opinion. Rather like 'Yellow Submarine' and 'When I'm 64', they simply lean more towards music hall and nursery rhyme and should be taken for what they are rather than considered in terms of rock and roll. There are, after all, other aspects to our heritage.
The sublime 'Because' seems to form a dividing line between the conventional song structure of the album and the winding medley that concludes it. 'You Never Give Me Your Money' is the jumping-off point for this and typifies its component parts. The songs are like fragments, mostly not worth the longer form in their own right, but collectively captivating. As might be expected by this stage in The Beatles' recording life, Paul McCartney has the last word, taking over the closing tracks.
'Abbey Road' eclipses the 'Let It Be' project, proving that it's usually better to do what comes naturally rather than force it. This is a fine way to finish, though the ghost of 'Abbey Road' can be heard on subsequent albums by Badfinger, who, though not as good, are worth investigating too (see 'No Dice', 'Straight Up' and 'Ass').
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of The Beatles Best, 20 Jun 2004
The last Beatles album to be recorded (although "Let It Be" was the last to be released), "Abbey Road" was a fitting swan song for the group, echoing some of the faux-conceptual forms of "Sgt. Pepper", but featuring stronger compositions and more rock-oriented ensemble work. The group were still pushing forward in all facets of their art, whether devising some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record (especially on the song "Because"), constructing a medley of songs/vignettes that covered much of side two, adding subtle touches of Moog synthesizer, or crafting furious guitar-heavy rock ("The End", "I Want You (She's So Heavy"), "Come Together"). George Harrison also blossomed into a major songwriter, contributing the buoyant "Here Comes The Sun" and the supremely melodic ballad "Something", and the latter of which became the first Harrison-penned Beatles hit. All tracks on this album are truly wonderful. However, it could do without the track "Her Majesty".I personally believe that this is one of the Beatles better albums. It is certainly the most immaculacy produced (with the exception of "Sgt. Pepper") and the most tightly constructed.
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