The Beatles - Abbey Road (Remastered 2009) Review

The Beatles are indisputably(although someone will ALWAYS try and dispute anything) the greatest band in the history of popular music.  To argue otherwise simply proves you have no idea what you are talking about.  In 2003 Rolling Stone magazine compiled their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"  Five of the Top 10 belong to, you guessed it, The Beatles.  While Abby Road comes in at number 14 on that list, it remains one of that groups most important albums simply because it was the last time John, Paul, George and Ringo ever recorded together. Let it Be (#86 on the list) was the last album released by the Beatles, but they actually recorded it before this one. Also, the album cover itself is iconic. How many times that scene been borrowed?

In case you haven't heard, 40 years after the band broke up, Beatlemania is once again sweeping the nation.  That's because, finally, 22 years after their catalog was released on CD, in far inferior form,  it was released again, this time remastered with the latest technology.  And what I've heard so far sounds great.

Now, a lot of folks over the years have blamed Yoko Ono for the demise of The Beatles and that's not really the case.  John bringing her into the fold sure didn't help matters and did cause George Harrison to briefly quit the band, walking out, but, in reality, they were in full blown divorce mode before Yoko ever came along.  That whole thing was really just a symptom of the disease.  Abbey Road was an attempt by the Fab 4 to, as Paul put on the mini documentary accompanying the new CD, "put down the boxing gloves" and "let's just show 'em what we can do, let's show each other what we we can do and let's try and have a good time doing it."

And they did just that, for Abbey Road sounds like they had a great time doing it, which translated, of course, into another Beatles masterwork.  They convened in at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, London in the spring of 1969 to record the album(which is the only Beatles album  to have neither the band name or the album title on the cover) and when they finished their work on the track I Want You(She's so heavy), they left the studio they made famous to never enter it together ever again.

But, as the album's lead track implies, they came together that one last time in the studo to create something special.  To listen to Abbey Road in its entirety is to understand the eclectic nature of their musical genius and how, even as they bickered and almost loathed the sight of each other by then, the art they created was of such force it could unite them all if even for a short time.  In that short 9-year span, The Beatles had gone from being influenced by 50's rock to being the rock that would influence whole generations.

John Lennon may have reached his songwriting zenith with Come Together, which hints at the hard rock leanings of this album.  Rumor has it Lennon's lyric is intentionally cryptic, with the verses referring each to one of The Beatles.

Something, one of two songs George Harrison wrote for the album, is probaby his best composition and widely considered one of the greatest love songs ever.  Frank Sinatra said so. It also became the first Beatles #1 record not written by Lennon/McCartney. Here Comes the Sun was Harrison's second contribution and a song he penned in Eric Clapton's garden while more than a little tired from a tough round of meeting. Believe it or not, that song was never released as a single.  If George's value to the band had been questioned before, Abbey Road proves he had the goods.

Mr. Starkey, also known as Ringo, also had a shining moment on Abbey Road, with Ocotpus's Garden, his second song to be featured on a Beatles Album.  A bit fanciful, the tune carries some fine harmonies by John, Paul and George.

In those days albums were mostly double sided affairs, and when side one was done you flipped it over and played the other side.  In the case of Abbey Road, the final song of side one is the Lennon showcase I Want You(She's so heavy).  The song itself is quite heavy, with a progressive rock beat and an uneven tempo that's bluesy at the same time. It's also one of the longest Beatles songs ever (at 7:47), probably because it was recorded during two distinctly different session and then spliced together.  The first part featured Billy Preston on keyboards.

Because features more three-part harmonies by John, Paul and George and this time they triple-tracked themselves to make it sound like a whole chorus.  It also features one of the earlist uses of a Moog Synthesizer, which produced electronic music.  The Doors were the first to use it on a album but the Beatles weren't far behind.

The last eight tracks, You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came in-Through the Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End form a medley of tracks, some unfinished, into cohesive example of just how all over the map the Fab 4's music could be and demonstration of how spectacular almost all of it was.

Finally, each remastered CD offers a mini-documentary specific to each album and narrated by Paul, Ringo and George Martin.  Just stick the CD into you computer's optical drive, click on it and watch!

THE BOTTOM LINE

The first of their albums to be recorded exclusively in stereo, Abbey Road marked the end of the line for John, Paul, George and Ringo as The Beatles.  But they proved to everyone that, even when they couldn't get along, their creative genius was bigger than their now incompatible egos.  These new, remastered from the original stereo analog masters tapes, Beatles CD's in effect introduce us to the boys as they were meant to be heard.  The improvement over the first round of compact discs is subtle but very noticeable.  For the first time, ALL the instruments can be heard clearly, the background hiss is gone and John, Paul, George and Ringo's voices are clear and pristine.  McCartney said these new discs make him feel like John is right there again, and I can see why.  The Beatles remastered are a louder more clearly heard Beatles. Better yet, as the Beatles tell us goodbye, they leave us with Ringo's only drum solo on a Beatles album and a bit of philosophy, "In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."  It's a love they're still making us feel, 40 years on. GRADE: A+