Rubber Soul (1990)

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Rank em how you like, Rubber Soul is an undeniable pivot point in the Fab Four s varied discography no matter where, or how, you first heard it. The album was softened up in its original 12-song American edition to jibe with the Dylan/Byrds folk-rock sound, as well as squeeze money from the Parlophone catalog. The 14-song U.K. edition--the version now available on compact disc--is a different, more dynamic, and ultimately more accomplished achievement. So many classics: Drive My Car and Nowhere Man (both omitted from the U.S. edition) merge the early combustible Beatifics to a burgeoning studio consciousness; The Word can be read as a pre-psych warning shot; the sitar-laden Norwegian Wood and the evocative Girl (the latter written on the last night of the sessions) stand as turning points in John Lennon s oeuvre. George finally emerges too, with the McGuinn-ish If I Needed Someone. --Don Harrison SKU : ADIB000002UAO