The Beatles are one of the most famous bands of all time, with almost every single album being iconic. After 1964, The Beatles decided that they were going to stop touring and strictly stick to the studio. This resulted in Rubber Soul, which came out in 1965 as their sixth album. It was at the turn of the counterculture revolution in the 60s, and the album feels the effects of this. Rubber Soul is my favorite album because of its reliability due to the popular songs, although it has a weak ending, the innovation it brought to the music scene, the new more insightful lyrics, and the iconic and sweet melodies that the instrumentals bring to the album.
The Beatles ending their touring in 1964 allowed them to start experimenting with instruments and studio techniques that they could not use on tour. The best example of this is the piano solo on “In My Life.” The innovation here was achieved by speeding up the track to make it sound like a harpsichord. By doing so, it gave the song a new sound that they could not replicate live. This technique would later inspire some of their later works, like “Strawberry Fields Forever,” where they slowed a track down to give it a different sound, making it one of their most famous songs. This technique became common practice in the music industry to give songs different sounds. The Beatles also used instruments that could not be used on tours, like the sitar. The sitar was used in “Norwegian Wood” to give the song a unique sound that was not typical for rock songs at that time. This innovation would inspire one of their most famous songs, “Across the Universe,” where Harrison also played the sitar. Their pioneering use of such instruments influenced other artists, like Elvis Presley in many of his songs in the 60s and ABBA in “I Have a Dream.” This demonstrates how The Beatles’ experimentation on Rubber Soul left a lasting impact on the music scene, encouraging other artists to follow suit.
The Beatles, in their early years, were known for cheesy love songs, and in their later years, for very insightful lyrics. Rubber Soul is in the middle of this transition, allowing for very insightful love songs as well as some basic ones that leave more to be desired. Rubber Soul features songs like “In My Life” and “I’m Looking Through You,” which have a deeper understanding of relationships. “In My Life” is a beautiful love song about how a person has had love in the past, respects that it happened, but enjoys the love they have now, appreciating it. This represents a deeper emotional understanding of love compared to their earlier works. Previously, they focused on surface-level relationships, but this is one of the first times they made a love song about the maturity of love, with some exceptions like “If I Fell.” This deeper understanding of love makes the album more relatable to a broader audience, including those who appreciate thoughtful lyrics. However, the album also has songs like “Run for Your Life,” which is about a boy threatening his lover that if she leaves him, he will track her down and kill her. The song is jarring due to its upbeat tone contrasted with creepy lyrics that Lennon does not give weight to. With its lackluster lyrics and jarring upbeat tone, it removes a lot of depth from the song, which typically when this happens is subjects from the album because the song is bad. However, lyrics are not the only thing that adds to a song; instrumental can save a lot of songs like “Run for Your Life.”
The Beatles have had many iconic instrumentals that enhance their songs, making them more appealing and memorable. A prime example is the intro guitar of “Drive My Car.” It immediately pulls you into the song’s catchy tune and sets up the rest of the song quite well. By having a catchy guitar solo at the beginning, it draws listeners in, typically leading them to continue listening to the rest of the song. “Drive My Car” is also the first track of the album, serving as a great lead-in due to the strong guitar hook. Another song with a notable intro is “Norwegian Wood,” which, like “Drive My Car,” uses a great solo at the beginning to draw listeners into the story and set the tone. Having such strong instrumental introductions typically encourages listeners to engage with the album more deeply, enhancing its overall quality.
Rubber Soul has great lyrics and instrumentation, but how does this contribute to its replay value? The album’s replayability is decent due to its popular and catchy songs, although it has a weak ending. Some of the most popular songs on the album are “In My Life,” “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “In My Life.” These songs make the album repayable, with catchy tunes and easy-to-understand lyrics. Their catchy nature causes people to remember the songs and seek them out for repeated listening. When they return to these songs, they may also listen to the rest of the album. Songs like “In My Life” and “Girl” are more emotional and connect with the listener on a deeper level, making them memorable. However, the ending songs, “If I Needed Someone” and “Run for Your Life,” are quite forgettable. This affects the album’s replay value because listeners might stop listening before the end, knowing these less engaging tracks are coming up.
In conclusion, what makes Rubber Soul a great album is the innovation it brought to the music scene, the insightful lyrics, and the excellent instrumentation that contributes to its replay value. However, the weak ending and some forgettable songs due to their lyrics weaken the album’s overall effectiveness. Despite this, the album’s strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, making it a landmark in The Beatles’ discography and a significant influence on the music industry.
