RUBBER SOUL – THE GREATEST BEATLES ALBUM EVER
What’s the greatest Beatles album ever? That’s an absolutely massive question, isn’t it?
Well, I can save you all the agonising, googling etc and give you some time back in your life by telling you the answer so you don’t have to worry about it.
The answer is of course Rubber Soul, which helpfully is being re-released in a special edition this week to remind everyone of what a genuine masterpiece it is.
I am the foremost expert on The Beatles in the whole of Bootle with a First-Class degree in Beatlesy Stuff from the University of Bootle. So, if anyone should be able to give a definitive answer to questions like ‘What is the best Beatles album ever’ then it is obviously me.
Of course, some snobby know it all (who probably has one of those stupid pointy beards too) may sneer and say, ‘well of course its Sgt Pepper’. My response to this would normally involve a whole heap of swear words but unfortunately, I’m not allowed to swear on Council sites so I am just saying all those words in my head in the hope that you may hear them cosmically.
Rubber Soul deserves its place at the top table of greatest albums ever made for many reasons but at its heart it’s because the half hour of playing time contains so much musical magic that even after all this time it is still hard to fathom how they did it.
Most great artists are lucky to make one standout album – quite often it’s their debut when all their best songs can be recorded, their sound is of the moment, and their passion and enthusiasm shines through. After that it is never quite the same.
But the Beatles obviously were different and that’s what makes them so special. When Rubber Soul was recorded and released in 1965 it was the second album that year (after Help) and in 1966 they released Revolver which is arguably the main challenger to Rubber Soul in the greatest stakes.
Just look at some of the absolute belters on Rubber Soul. Highlights from side one include the storming opener Drive My Car, the gorgeous Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, and The Word. I’m really doing it a disservice my picking out just those because there isn’t a dud on the whole record. Side two for me is even better with In My Life, simply one of the finest songs ever written, but with other classics such as Girl and I’m Looking Though You make it an album that you don’t ever want to end.
Beatles scholars who have been to lesser institutions than the University of Bootle will waffle on about other reasons why it is so important. They are probably all true, but you should never get away from the fact that all those theories would be meaningless if the songs weren’t so great.
If you do want to know more about why historically and culturally it is such a significant album, then look at the work of my old friend and fellow Bootle lad Paul Du Noyer who writes brilliantly about how Rubber Soul changed pop music forever.
To be honest the album didn’t really register with me until I was in my 20’s. Liverpool was enjoying a revival of guitar bands with The La’s, Rain, and The Real People to the forefront. I did a big piece on this Liverpool guitar renaissance for ID magazine at the time, which if I say so myself was brilliant. I tried to explain why this resurgence of melodic guitar pop was happening in Liverpool, and why it was happening at that moment in time. But looking back to that period one of the things that stood out for me was that all these bands were listening to Rubber Soul and Revolver pretty much all the time. Those records were still as relevant in the late 80’s as they were in the mid 60’s.
Rubber Soul is a timeless classic. It’s one of the very few albums where I really wish I could experience that moment again when I heard it for the first time and was taken back by its sheer genius and beauty.
You really do need to listen to Rubber Soul today. You must have a copy in your house somewhere so dig it out and play it. Or treat yourself and get new super duper re-released version which I am assured sounds even more fab, gear as the boys themselves may once have said.
Kev McManus
