To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, the album where they started to kick some serious ass,
Stream some songs!
Sufjan Stevens – “What Goes On”
Ted Leo – “I’m Looking Through You”
Both these songs are real departures from the original arrangements, which is nice. Ted Leo’s in particular is surprisingly “out there.”
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Let’s start a debate…can you choose between Rubber Soul and Revolver? Can you???
Es imposible!
I fucking dare you! Bwah-ha-ha!
Rubber Soul was a dark departure from what they were doing before. Therefore it kind of takes you by surprise when you listen to it after there first four albums. Look at the cover. You can tell that all the touring has taken it’s toll.
But Revolver rocks harder.
I’ve always thought of them as a really great double album. That said, I like “Revolver” better.
Cool. The Beatles really didn’t get it right the first time, so I’m glad they changed the songs so much.
As far as I’m aware, the Pixies and kin are the only historical cases of getting away with covering the Beatles (Wild Honey Pie and the Breeders’ Happiness is a Warm Gun). How they did it is anybody’s guess. But as a general rule: don’t freaking try to cover the Beatles. Save that crap for ACDC.
This Sufjan cover is awesome. Anyone know if the original is any good?
a beatles cover record is neva a good idea (see:I Am Sam o.s.t.)
Don’t forget Earth Wind & Fire did a kick ass version of “Got to Get You Into My Life” (for the wonderfully miserable Bee Gees & Frampton movie of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.)
Rubber Soul and Revolver fit very comfortably on one CD-R, but I do tend to skip to the Revolver half. It’s just a tiny bit better.
Just off the top of my head…
Stevie Wonder – We Can Work It Out
Ray Charles – Yesterday
Husker Du – Ticket to Ride
The Replacements – Nowhere Man
Jimi Hendrix – Day Tripper and Sgt. Pepper
Nina Simone – Here Comes the Sun
Fiona Apple – Across the Universe
and
Shatner(!) – Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
are all better than that crappy Pixies cover of one of the crappiest Beatles songs (though I’ll give you the excellent Breeders cover).
polyphonic spree/sgt. pepper’s, anyone?
Not to be an uber-nerd or anything, but they played their last concert after Revolver came out, not Rubber Soul.
Not to be a reading comprehension nut, but when was anything else implied? I think you need to re-read what Fred wrote.
BTW, if I had to choose, I’d choose Revolver.
The otherwise lackluster band Our Lady Peace did a very amped-up ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, but no cover could match the original.
“Listen to the colour of your dreams” indeed!
Then there’s Cornershop’s version of ‘Norwegian Wood’… sung entirely in Punjabi.
Easiest way to look and sound foolish…cover a Beatles song.
the helio sequence has a kickass cover of tomorrow never knows.
and i think the sufjan and ted covers are great.
If there’s one thing that always comes to mind when listening to a cover of a great song is that I’d rather be listening to the original.
i agree that it’s very hard to choose between rubber soul and revolver. both are masterpieces in their own right. however, i believe that rubber soul is the better album. it was the beatles’ first statement as a legit band with something to say, rather than a boy band with great pop hits. i think that it’s more personal and emotionally deeper than revolver. revolver reveals more of an evolution toward experimentation that would eventually pave the way to pepper.
I liked this comp better when it was called Get Behind Me, Satan.
I would add elliot smith (beacuse) and steve earle (i’m looking though you) to the list of those that got away with it.
the pixies cover is classic cause it could well be the worst beatles song ever and probably the bottom of everyones list of songs they would like to cover
How can people forget Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help From My Friends”? He basically made that song his own.
[As I typed that comment, I couldn't help but wonder whether I had finally left a piece of my childhood behind, and that my relationship with Winnie and Paul would never be the same...]
What about Eleanor Rigby covers? Aren’t there about a bajillion?
Aretha Franklin’s and Ray Charles’ versions are well done, in my opinion.
Yeah, Ted Leo’s cover blows. And I like Ted Leo. Ah well.
another elliott cover of the beatles that’s very good is revolution.
Janine: “Not to be a reading comprehension nut, but when was anything else implied? I think you need to re-read what Fred wrote.”
The original Stereogum post said “Rubber Soul, the album after they stopped touring where they started to kick some serious ass”
but now it doesn’t, rendering my comment superfluous.
(Sorry – late to the comments thread, but here I go anyway…)
If you think “Rubber Soul” is the Beatles’ first rgeat album, then you are a moron, plain and simple.
I was going to comment on that too. Have you really thoroughly listened to the entire beatles catalogue from beginning until end? They were incredible from the start. George Harrisons “Don’t bother me”, and also tons of other early EP’s and albums were completely on par with a lot of their later stuff. Maybe not in complexity or experimentation, but the melodies were always there. It’s really annoying how everyone assumes/says/follows that Revolver was the beatles best album. I think it’s just lazyness or another one of those indie requirements or something.
Are you saying that “Rubber Soul” isn’t a rgeat album, or that there were rgeat albums that preceded it? I mean, “Hard Day’s Night” is good, and “Help!” is fun, but they don’t pack the same punch.
You should post the Fiery Furnance cover. Talk about unrecognizable.
Sure, they had great songs before it, but Rubber Soul was their first great *album.* It cohered more than any other album they’d produced previously, which come off, as do most full album releases of the day, like collections of singles with some filler. Help was a step in the right direction, but Rubber Soul was their first rock solid, no filler ALBUM.
It’s certainly not “lazy” to say Revolver is their best album, when it’s done with the acknowledgement that the white album, Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper, and Rubber Soul are roughly just as good.
I’m not discrediting Revolver or Rubber Soul at all. I love how you can just hear them growing more musically mature and discovering their individual song writing styles throughout. I just think there was a certain amount of brilliance since the beginning. I agree about the cohesion of their albums before being pretty lopsided. But it’s also a complete injustice to discredit their pre-rubber soul songs because of it. The E.P. collection is a great way to hear all of their best early stuff. When I got more comfortable with their whole discography that’s when I noticed havig favorite songs from each album rather than only deciding on my favorite album. From Bad to me to a day in the life… I just love it all, and I grew up on the post rubber soul stuff too.
Has anyone run this idea by Michael Jackson? Razor & Tie – oh my!
In choosing between Rubber Soul and Revolver, I have just three words: Tomorrow Never Knows. This song was not only the Beatles’ most brilliant, inventive and compelling song (I would say “I am the Walrus” comes in second) but it still sounds much more inovative than any music that has followed its release to music being played today.
Look, Revolver is my favorite Beatles album. Probably their best. Rubber Soul is second. No argument there. But they had great albums before that. Help comes to mind (as someone already said). If you can find a weak track on that record, please relisten. It’s 100% solid. Beatles for Sale? Great album, just not all originals. Does that make it less than great? No.
But I think that The White Album and Let it Be are horribly uneven. As albums, they’re simply “not rgeat.” Sergeant Pepper’s? Probably a “rgeat album.” But let me just remind you that Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine were released after Revolver. In fact, one could make an argument that Revolver was the Beatles LAST great album. And I would say without a doubt that Sgt. Peppers was the last “great” Beatles record.
It’s all subjective, but The Beatles didn’t begin to make great music – or great albums – with Rubber Soul. That’s just a convenient stereotype for lazy listeners.
who the hell cares about the Beatles crappy overrated old peoples music
this site is for old people i guess
soooooooo boring
talk about some new bands!!!!!
hey swuebs, i hate to break it to you, but without the beatles, these new bands you talk of would not exist. its okay to dislike the beatles, but never discredit their longstanding legacy. that would just be ignorance.
Finally, someone is giving the Beatles the credit they deserved.
Say goodbye to obscurity, Beatles!
Grandaddy’s cover of “Revolution” on the I Am Sam soundtrack is awesome. They actually reworked a Beatles classic and it wasn’t a disaster. Let’s give props.
For the love of god…the Beatles are so overplayed that by the time you’re 18 you pretty much feel like sticking a fork in your eye if you are ever forced to hear one of their songs again. And it doesn’t get better with time. We don’t need another freaking Beatles tribute album from self-important indy rockers.
It’s not so much that the Beatles music is bad, it’s the way the music industry has already squeezed every drop of cash out of their legacy, turned them into a painful cliche, and now has the gall to go and do it yet again…
A band that gives the Beatles discography the tribute it truly deserves: Beatle Barkers. They do a great “Ob la di Ob la da”.
And re: Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help From My Friends”
*curls up into fetal position* *screams existential gibberish at the universe*
My band is working on covering Revolution and Let It Be. The Beatls Rock Ass! Keep them alive with re-making their music!
I don’t think I saw anyone mention the passable covers by Siouxsie & The Banshees (from the Robert Smith era) of “Dear Prudence,” of “Tomorrow Never Knows” by The Chameleons, “Things We Said Today” by Nanci Griffith (a live(?) b-side). But, most surprising is that no one mentioned Aerosmith’s “Come Together.”
As for Revolver vs. Rubber soul, I have to go with Revolver, but only by a smidge.
Here’s a fun way to compare Revolver Vs Rubber Soul:
http://beatlesbattle.com
The Bee Gees Odessa is better than any Beatles album
I really don’t think that “Rubber Soul” is so much different in sound than their previous albums, apart from the Lennon songs : The “dylanesque” “Norwegian Wood” with, right, a brand new instrument which is the sitar, the “not about love between a boy and a girl ever talking song” “Nowhere Man”, the oh so great (and best song of the album, I think) “Girl” and the beautiful “In My Life”. Compared to these titles, McCartney’s contributions to this album are quite weaker, even if the silly “Michelle” has a very beautiful musical “dressing” (anybody could write better lyrics !) and if “Drive My Car” and “I’m Looking Through You” are relly good rock-songs but both don’t really differ from “She’s A Woman” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” which, if I’m not mistaken, did not appear on the “Rubber Soul” album. And for all the other songs of this album, I think they have absolutely nothing special compared to any song of the previous “Help” album ! What happened with their next album, “Revolver”, is far more revealing that their music, (only) up to then, would know no bounds…
the beatles were and still are the greatest musicians in the history of the planet. all their albums were great, but if i have to pick a favorite i would pick abbey road , st. pepper and the white album tied for first.
I prefer Rubber Soul, because I think it hangs together as a cohesive album. Revolver has great songs, but they don’t flow from one to another; the styles jump around.
As for Beatle Covers:
There’s a starkly simple folk version of Things we Said Today by Mary McCaslin. And I particularly love the version of Tomorrow Never Knows by Monsoon (a bollywood pop version with taba drums).