MoeFOH's Album of the Week... Week #27

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Album of the Week 🎶

Same as the movie thread, each week we're going to spotlight an album... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite tracks, clips, lyrics, experiences if you saw live, etc... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's an album you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #27: The Beatles (White Album)

Moe says: Simply hard to go past as my favourite Beatles album. Just such a rich, raw tapestry. Eclectic. Still feels edgy today; must have been mind-blowing back in the day... 

Wiki says: The Beatles, also known colloquially as the White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. Featuring a plain white sleeve, the cover contains no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed. This was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles is recognised for its fragmentary style and diverse range of genres, including folk, British blues, ska, music hall, pre-heavy metal and the avant-garde. It has since been viewed by some critics as a postmodern work, as well as among the greatest albums of all time.

The album features 30 songs, 19 of which were written during March and April 1968 at a Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India. There, the only western instrument available to the band was the acoustic guitar; several of these songs remained acoustic on The Beatles and were recorded solo, or only by part of the group. The production aesthetic ensured that the album's sound was scaled-down and less reliant on studio innovation than most of their releases since Revolver (1966). The Beatles also broke with the band's tradition at the time of incorporating several musical styles in one song by keeping each piece of music consistently faithful to a select genre.

At the end of May 1968, the Beatles returned to EMI Studios in London to commence recording sessions that lasted until mid-October. During these sessions, arguments broke out among the foursome over creative differences and John Lennon's new partner, Yoko Ono, whose constant presence subverted the Beatles' policy of excluding wives and girlfriends from the studio. After a series of various problems, including producer George Martin taking an unannounced holiday and engineer Geoff Emerick suddenly quitting during a session, Ringo Starr left the band for two weeks in August. The same tensions continued throughout the following year and led to the band's break-up.

The Beatles received favourable reviews from most music critics; detractors found its satirical songs unimportant and apolitical amid the turbulent political and social climate of 1968. It topped record charts in Britain and the United States. No singles were issued in either territory, but "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" originated from the same recording sessions and were issued on a single in August 1968. The album has been certified 24× platinum by the RIAA. A remixed and expanded edition of the album was released in 2018 to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Over to you...

How do you rate it? 🤔

Thoughts, experiences, memories... post em' up! 

Score it out of 10!  

[MoeFOH]

 

[Namisgr11]

Far and away the White Album was the band's most diverse and experimental.  It touches all the bases, from the children's lullaby of Blackbird, with Paul singing solo accompanied by just a single acoustic guitar all the way to pre-punk therapy sessions of John's Helter Skelter and Paul's Why Don't We Do It In The Road.  From the foray into country music with Rocky Raccoon to the flat-out rock and roll of Back In The USSR and Birthday, then the show tune of Honey Pie, the album shows off the band's incredible range and also its many influences.  

A jumpy, broad, and sometimes uneven musicology, but ultimately and collectively a triumphant masterpiece.  There are more times when I'd prefer Abbey Road or Rubber Soul as the band at its most enjoyable, but it's hard to top this one for creativity and originality.

I sang this quietly to my son when he was a baby many a night as he began to doze off.

 

[Fuzz]

I'm gonna buck the trend and say, for me the white album was just meh. I preferred their earlier stuff.

[Ford2112]

I have never been able to fully get into this album, Revolver and Abbey Road are my favorites. That said it has killer moments and it gets a 9 rating because its the freaking Beatles.

[Bijan]

Most of my favourite Beatles songs are from this album. Can't say that I listen to it as an album though.

[JohnS]

When this was released in November 1968, it was in the context of the fact that there was no album product made available to the public since June 1967 when Sgt Pepper's Hearts Club Band took the world by storm. The Beatles had put 700 hours of work into that album over six months (by comparison, their debut album in March 1963, Please Please Me took 3 three-hour sessions to complete on one 14 hour day of work) and they were physically and mentally tired. Beatlemania during 1964-66 meant that their manager, Brian Epstein only gave them one Sunday off of work a month. No-one knew that Candlestick Pk, San Francisco on August 29th, 1966 would be their last concert outside of the famous Rooftop performance during the Get Back sessions in January, 1969.

They took a 3 month break in 1966 to recover from overworking but the thing that led to concert tours been abandoned, apart from obvious lack of amplification issues, was the misunderstanding in July 1966 in the Philippines when Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos wanted the Beatles to come to their palatial home on the same Sunday they had scheduled for downtime that month. The Beatles also never had personal audiences with heads of state anyway. I mean, that was not them...after all, they were from working class Liverpool. After they finished the promotional work for Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in June 1967 they took a quick trip to Greece with the intention of buying an island as a permanent Summer getaway. This didn't eventuate but the idea of a getaway remained and they went to India in March and April of 1968 to get away from it all and spiritually recuperate.

When they returned in May 1968, they intended to record as many songs as possible so that their EMI contract, which was intended to run until 1976 or earlier if a certain number of songs were published, could be brought forward and re-negotiated in the future with a better royalty rate. This is why there are 30 songs on the White Album.

In November 1968, Psychedelia was all the rage. The Beatles had a policy of never releasing the same type of sound on their singles or albums concurrently. (Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys adopted the same policy in 1966 after listening to the Bob Dylan-influenced Rubber Soul in 1965. This is why Pet Sounds is so different to the Beach Boys' earlier albums. SMiLE, if released in late 1966/early 1967 would have continued this trend.) The White Album stood on its own in terms of its sound and risked being a marketing disaster, but instead it became a massive hit which dominated the Christmas market of that year. The seventeen months between albums also no doubt contributed to this. The Kinks' great album, 'Village Green Preservation Society', released on the same day (November 22nd) failed commercially simply because of its timing. No album could compete with this one when it came out.

[Doctorossi]

11 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

I have never been able to fully get into this album, Revolver and Abbey Road are my favorites. That said it has killer moments and it gets a 9 rating because its the freaking Beatles.

I agree. I think it's a little uneven and I'll give it a 9/10, as well.

[helix]

11 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

I have never been able to fully get into this album, Revolver and Abbey Road are my favorites. That said it has killer moments and it gets a 9 rating because its the freaking Beatles.

Exactly. 

[joeypots]

I once heard McCartney respond to a criticism of the White Album. “It’s the fooking Beatles White Album, shut the fook up.” There are few bad Beatles songs. The album is great. I don’t care for the Beatles as much as I did in the past though Harrison is gaining in stature as time passes. 9/10

[bassistheplace]

11/11 It's the boys continuing to push the boundaries and producing classic material. not my go to, but it's a classic and timeless

[rolaand]

I never understood this album as a kid, but it has really grown on me over the years. I also like the Phish complete cover of it (Live Phish Volume 13) although I have been scolded by older listeners for "that racket". I would go with a solid 9.2/10

[La_Tigre]

Not a big fan of them but was listening to this album last night. 9/10

[BlueRidgeFly]

My favorite album from what is probably my favorite band. This album still sounds modern to me. The imagination these guys had, on top of the songwriting and musicianship, it all peaked right here. I love that it's all over the place, experimental, raw, weird, goofy, psychedelic... rocking.

Correct answer is 10/10 every day of the week! Less than that... you're all entitled to your bad taste! 😜

[Chas.Alpha]

This one could be righteously called the Beatles' 1st solo album. John and Paul both came in with (finished) songs as did George. Everyone was sick of the trip and the death of Brian Epstein was the icing on the cake. Several of the songs roughed out in Rishikesh ended up on J, P and G's solo records. I've been on the road for a year and a half with a group and wanted to kill everyone on the bus. How they managed 10 years under that pressure is amazing. John, perhaps in his most pensive time brings Julia, a song that I think he was writing since his childhood. Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, I'm So Tired and Happiness is a Warm Gun give you a clue into his mindset at the time. Paul comes in with "I Will", absolutely brilliant. Black Bird, Mother Nature's Son and of course Helter Skelter, with Ringo finally screaming "I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!!" Everybody's got Something to Hide was another John song in obvious response to every newspaper on the planet saying John's new wife (Yoko) looks like a monkey! I'd have hunted those writers down and beat the shite out of them!!! I'd have gotten sick of that BS, too. IMHO, George wins the day with "While my Guitar Gently Weeps." For those that don't know, the weeping guitar was actually played by George's BFF Eric Clapton. The original version of Revolution was of note, as Paul suggested they rock it up and it'll be a hit, to which John replied "We don't need another bloody hit!" Words that have never come out of my mouth!!! 'course, I was never a Beatle...

10/10. Wasn't every Beatles record 10/10???

[Fuzz]

5 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said:

10/10. Wasn't every Beatles record 10/10???

Nah, this one was a solid 4/10.

[Chas.Alpha]

15 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Nah, this one was a solid 4/10.

👿

[BurstReynolds]

On 9/19/2022 at 8:47 PM, Ford2112 said:

I have never been able to fully get into this album, Revolver and Abbey Road are my favorites. That said it has killer moments and it gets a 9 rating because its the freaking Beatles.

I’m with the group here; some great moments but not their best album. I have to say that after watching Get Back, I can’t stop reaching for Let It Be (Super Deluxe) and loving these stripped down versions from an album I used to ignore. 

[bassistheplace]

watching Get Back has turned me into a raving Beatles lunatic

[Lewberry]

Pioneers of psychedelia, while not the most far out of all albums, I quite enjoy the very heck out of this album. One of those albums I wish I had invested in REALLY high quality audio. Another album filled with GREAT bangers, some of the guitar/bass rhythms just trance inducing. 👍