The Beatles Rubber Soul Review

Although not the huge stylistic leap forward that their next four albums would represent, Rubber Soul underlined that, for The Beatles, moptoppery was now over and more serious matters lay ahead for a group who had just spent their second, successive year at the very pinnacle of world-wide success. Fuelled by their prodigious marijuana intake, the songs, especially John Lennon's – continued on the oblique, introspective course they'd taken since Beatles For Sale the previous Autumn.

Recorded in October and November 1965, the punning-titled Rubber Soul is a transitional album that bridges the gap between their earlier pop rush and their future experimentation. Its upbeat sides are slightly off-kilter; "Drive My Car”, "You Won't See Me" and Help! leftover "Wait" are great-beat driven numbers that sound slightly kinky; the peace-espousing "The Word" predates the summer of love by 18 months. Paul McCartney follows "Yesterday" with "Michelle", another show-stopping saccharine standard. George Harrison's great, jangling Byrds tribute "If I Needed Someone" became a hit for the Hollies. However, with "Nowhere Man", "In My Life", "Girl" and "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", this is Lennon's album and arguably the last Beatles record he would dominate. The childhood reminisces of "In My Life" still sound gorgeous; a song that carries far more weight than its writer's 24 years, illuminated by producer George Martin's beautiful varispeeded harpsichord solo.

Rubber Soul demonstrates how the Beatles with Martin in tow were beginning to exploit the recording studio; from now on, boundaries were to be pushed. And where the Beatles led, other rock acts soon followed.