144. The Beatles — Abbey Road (1969)

1. In a genuinely shocking turn of events, this is the final Beatles album to make the 1001. The curators of this list omitted Let It Be, the last-released and controversial Beatles studio album, a decision I respect but find shocking given what seems to be an intentional effort at completionism. I’m also a little bummed I won’t get to hear “Let It Be”, “Get Back,” or “Across The Universe,” though I’m admittedly relieved to be moving on.
2. Closing with Abbey Road also does make sense, as the final album the group actually recorded. It’s a strong album to go out on, though a very front-heavy album. Side One is a murderer’s row of great songs, only slightly marred by the groups continuing insistence on recording goofy-ass children’s songs (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “Octopus’s Garden”). “Come Together” is one of the most sonically interesting songs the group ever recorded, followed by the completely lovely Harrison tune “Somewhere.” “Oh, Darling” epitomizes the throwback spirit captured in Meet The Beatles, while “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” sounds like a totally different band, in the best way.
3. Side Two then opens with one of the all time greats, “Here Comes The Sun,” making the case that peak George Harrison was actually the greatest songwriter in this group. From there, however, Side Two is mostly serviceable. There’s a very odd sequence of five songs near the end, all under two minutes in length, blending into each other. Somehow I would appreciate this more if it were a single 6 minute song with multiple movements; instead, it comes off a sequence of incomplete ideas. It works well enough in the album context, but only in this context. No individual song on this half of the album aside from “Here Comes The Sun” really differentiates itself. C’est la vie.
4. I do really appreciate that they wrap things up with a song called “The End.” (Billy Joel would later pull a similar move, as his final recorded pop song was “Famous Last Words”)
5. I came into this list knowing I’d get a load of Beatles and ready to re-evaluate. I’m thinking I’ll throw my full thoughts into a standalone blog post, but for now, I’m looking forward to what’s next.

Next up: The Who tell a tale of a boy named Tommy

One Essential Song:

Listen On Spotify: