Album Summary: The Beatles

The Beatles, which I've (kind of) consistently referred to as the White Album, has been an incredibly interesting (and lengthy) journey. It contained several songs I'd heard previously, either on my own or in Across the Universe, and I really enjoyed hearing the originals, such as "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Blackbird", and "Dear Prudence". I also heard many more songs I'd never known about but immediately loved, like "Glass Onion" with its self-references, and (re)discovered new favorites like "Rocky Raccoon" and "Helter Skelter".

Unlike some of their earlier albums (including my favorites, Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour), there didn't seem to be any kind of overarching theme, style, idea, plot, or vibe. It felt more like what it was: a collection of songs which had been created by some of the Beatles, one or two or three but rarely all four, at a time. All the same, it didn't feel disjointed to me. Rather, it felt like a branching-off, experimental, getting tired of things but going forth anyway, sort of voyage. The guys were getting sick of one another and so were going off and doing their own thing; they may or may not have realized that they were testing the waters for the future, seeing how far they could push or be pushed before the breaking point. Paul was simply the first to realize just where that point was for him.

It seems to me that the White Album really was a turning point for the Beatles. From what history I gleaned over the past two and a half weeks or so, the guys were no longer fighting the world and their own celebrity so much as fighting one another. Having been so well established as a cohesive unit over the past several years, it must have felt exhausting to them, trying to have their own individual voices heard over the others. It's not surprising to me that they all went on to solo careers, and it's not surprising that such a wildly prolific and celebrated group didn't last long--they were burning the candle at both ends, truly.

Although The Beatles is widely regarded as the beginning of the end for "The Beatles" as a group, it's certainly not the last album they created during their remaining time together. We'll start a few new songs from Yellow Submarine tomorrow. See you then. :)