I had a lot of fun exploring Queens discography because it made me explore the reasons why the band had such an impact on, not only my musical taste, but also on my life. That may sound extreme, but it is true! It also provided a creative writing outlet, which I havent done in some time. This same sentiment has been creeping around in my head again. When people ask me who is my favorite band?, my answer is, almost 100 percent of the time, The Beatles. This is because, no matter where I am in life, I will always appreciate the beauty that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr contributed to music. Even though the ranking of The Beatles albums is more cliche than ranking, say, Queens albums, but I dont really care. I may not offer any important insight into the majesty of their discography that hasnt already been said, but, again, I wish to convey my appreciation for the bands work. Now my list of favorite albums is actually quite different than from what Ive seen in like the Rolling Stone or other musical websites. So this is my disclaimer: this is my own opinion. My favorite list. Feel free to disagree with me! You have that right. Well, I hope you jump on this magical mystery tour and, maybe, re-explore why you like The Beatles (like I am about to do). If you have never listened to the bands work before, please do! Another note, I am only reviewing the albums released in North America, so that will be thirteen in total. With that, number 13 is Yellow Submarine (1969): youtube/watch?v=MjNvspGHiqM This is probably going to be my shortest review because half the album (meaning side B) consists of instrumentals for the movie Yellow Submarine, and I am writing this around 1 am. All i can really say about side B is that the orchestra is good. It takes the listener on the psychedelic journey that audiences went through when seeing the movie. I would recommend seeing it by the way! Pretty good movie! But side A consists of two previously released tracks: Yellow Submarine and All You Need is Love. The former is considered one of the weaker Beatles songs but it is, ironically, one of their most well-known too. It seems to be aimed at children, similar to Octopus Garden, which Ringo also provides the lead vocals for, coincidentally. Childish, but definitely more sophisticated than Octopus Garden. It is a pleasant, sing-along-able song, similar to All You Need is Love. This song, more successfully than Yellow Submarine, combines the band members voices so well to transcend the simplicity of the songs message. The band makes it look easy! Just like in the song. Loving someone is easy. It is so simple, but powerful at the same time, which makes it a good song. Now there are actually four original songs on this album, starting with Only a Northern Song written and sung by George Harrison. Throughout the song, Harrison is commenting on how the song may sound out of key or how the chords dont follow a natural progression. It is safe to say, this song delves into the psychedelic (Ill probably be saying that quite a bit in these reviews). The song seems to have a complex arrangement of instruments, including trumpets, an organ, and a glockenspiel, which fit into the songs unconventional style. Does it mean it is a good song? I generally like it. It is unique. But I can see why people may not like it because it does not follow the typical chord progression. The next original song is All Together Now which was written by Paul McCartney. He also provides the majority of the vocals on the album. The song is more conventional, unlike Only a Northern Song. It definitely creates this strange contrast within the A-side of the album. The song successfully attempts to be sing-along-able and to more light-hearted than other songs on the album. All Together Now has a folkish style to it, but with pop elements to it. But amongst the vast amount of songs The Beatles have, this one does not stand out. It only holds a special place in my heart because this was the first song I learned on the ukulele. All Together Now is followed by the piano-heavy song Hey Bulldog, which sounds quite similar to Lady Madonna, but not as light in tone. It is actually one of my favorite songs off the album because, again, it is sing-along-able, and its piano riff is quite good by bringing a darker tone to a childish song, which is quite strange in itself. Plus Lennon and McCartney appear to be having fun in the song, especially when they go crazy towards the end. The last original song, and the longest one on the album, is Harrisons Its All Too Much. The start of the song, with its heavy, distorted-esque guitar is reminiscent of something by Jimi Hendrix (but not nearly as good). As typical in Harrisons songs, he tries to explores some spiritual aspect of himself, while inviting the listener to do the same. He is saying that the love that is shining around all of us is all too much for him to see. There is an enormous source of love. The song has a glorious, almost celestial vibe to it. It gives off the image of angels playing the trumpets, when they (trumpets) do appear in the song. Overall, the album has some interesting songs on it, but is it memorable? Not necessarily. Is this the Beatles finest work? Not even close! Even though the songs have some promise to them, I would consider them as average, good at best. Also, I cant really consider this a full album because the rest of it are orchestral pieces from the movie, Yellow Submarine, plus it has two songs on it that were previously released. In my eyes, it should be considered an EP, but, in North America, it was considered a studio album. Therefore, I will give it a generous 2.5 out of 5 stars. Favorite songs: Hey Bulldog, Only a Northern Song, Its All Too Much
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 05:27:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015