Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Edition]

Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Edition]

by The Beatles
Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Edition]

Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Edition]

by The Beatles

Vinyl LP(Long Playing Record)

$31.99 
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Overview

Conventional wisdom holds that the Beatles intended Abbey Road as a grand farewell, a suspicion seemingly confirmed by the elegiac note Paul McCartney strikes at the conclusion of its closing suite. It's hard not to interpret "And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make" as a summation not only of Abbey Road but perhaps of the group's entire career, a lovely final sentiment. The truth is perhaps a bit messier than this. The Beatles had tentative plans to move forward after the September 1969 release of Abbey Road, plans that quickly fell apart at the dawn of the new decade, and while the existence of that goal calls into question the intentionality of the album as a finale, it changes not a thing about what a remarkable goodbye the record is. In many ways, Abbey Road stands apart from the rest of the Beatles' catalog, an album that gains considerable strength from its lush, enveloping production -- a recording so luxuriant, it glosses over aesthetic differences between the group's main three songwriters and ties together a series of disconnected unfinished songs into a complete suite. Where Sgt. Pepper pioneered such mind-bending aural techniques, Abbey Road truly seized the possibilities of the studio and, in doing so, pointed the way forward to the album rock era of the 1970s. Many of the studio tricks arrive during that brilliant suite of songs, a sequence that lasts nearly a full side of an album. Here, McCartney's playful eccentricity juts against John Lennon's curdled cynicism, while the band thrills in sudden changes of mood and plays plenty of guitar, culminating in McCartney, Lennon, and George Harrison trading solos on "The End." The depth of sonic detail within "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "She Came in Through the Window" provided ideas for entire subgenres of pop in the '70s, but Abbey Road also contains a handful of the most enduring Beatles songs, each adding a new emotional maturity to their catalog. The subdued boogie of Lennon's "Come Together" contains a sensuality previously unheard in the Beatles -- it's matched by "Because," which may be the best showcase for the group's harmonies -- Harrison's "Something" is a love ballad of unusual sensitivity, and his "Here Comes the Sun" is incandescent, perhaps his purest expression of joy. As good as these individual moments are, what makes Abbey Road transcendent is how the album is so much greater than the sum of its parts. While a single song or segment can be dazzling, having a succession of marvelous, occasionally intertwined moments is not only a marvel but indeed a summation of everything that made the Beatles great. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 09/27/2019
Label: Capitol
UPC: 0602577915123
Rank: 456

Tracks

  1. Come Together
  2. Something
  3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
  4. Oh! Darling
  5. Octopus's Garden
  6. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
  7. Here Comes the Sun
  8. Because
  9. You Never Give Me Your Money
  10. Sun King
  11. Mean Mr. Mustard
  12. Polythene Pam
  13. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
  14. Golden Slumbers
  15. Carry That Weight
  16. The End
  17. Her Majesty

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Beatles   Primary Artist
Paul McCartney   Drums,Piano,Vocals,Maracas,Lead Vocals,Handclapping,Guitar (Bass),Tubular Bells,Bass (Electric),Moog Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
George Harrison   Piano,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Handclapping,Guitar (Bass),Bass (Electric),Moog Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Ringo Starr   Drums,Piano,Bongos,Congas,Cowbell,Maracas,Timpani,Percussion,Tambourine,Lead Vocals,Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
John Lennon   Piano,Vocals,Maracas,Tambourine,Lead Vocals,Handclapping,Moog Synthesizer,Piano (Electric),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Guitar (12 String),Vocals (Background)
Billy Preston   Organ,Organ (Hammond)
George Martin   Conductor,Harpsichord,Organ (Hammond)

Technical Credits

Paul Hicks   Remastering
Paul McCartney   Composer,Producer,Wind Chimes
Chris Sheldon   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Geoff Emerick   Engineer
George Harrison   Composer,Producer
Ringo Starr   Composer,Producer
John Kurlander   Engineer
John Lennon   Composer,Producer
Phil McDonald   Engineer
George Martin   Producer,Brass Arrangement,String Arrangements
Sean Magee   Remastering
Ken Scott   Engineer
Barry Sheffield   Engineer
Jeff Jaratt   Engineer
Richard Starkey   Composer
Guy Massey   Remastering
Giles Martin   Mixing,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Glyn Johns   Engineer,Producer
Mike Heatley   Liner Notes
Iain Macmillan   Photography
Kevin Howlett   Liner Notes
Chris Thomas   Producer
Steve Rooke   Remastering
Sam O'Kell   Mixing,Remastering,Mixing Engineer
Alex Wharton   Mastering Engineer
Rich Osborn   Authoring
Trish McGregor   Producer
Stephano Civetta   Mixing Assistant
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