Rubber Soul

This is tough. There are Beatles albums I like more than Rubber Soul so tempted to give this a 4. But it is still right up there and has some songs who's influence can't be overlooked that I feel this should be rated higher than some of the albums I've already given a 4 to. Oh for a .5 system! Fuck it...a low 5 from me.

After tearing Paul to shreds as a vocalist in the preceding years, this is the one where John shows himself equally superior as a songwriter. Norweigian Wood, Girl and In My Life are a magnificent triumvirate that work through John's complex feelings towards women: confusion, anger, bitterness, devotion. When he brings the muscular second guitar in to punctuate the third verse of Girl, it's because he knows that's the one the tips it into masterpiece. Something similar happens with the sped-up piano on In My Life. So, those three are untouchable genius. What Goes On is... not. Pretty abominable really. George's mumbo jumbo is passable, though Think For Yourself, while the better of the two, is more grating lyrically. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that John wrote The Word as a George parody, especially given its sequencing. Drive My Care and Michelle are two of Paul's more nuanced and therefore best songs. Overall, it's great but not without mediocre moments. Verdict: I could not die without having heard this album.

The turning point in The Beatles' discography. Great album that heralded even better ones.

196 albums in and finally The Beatles. They sound like an overweight pig on a skateboard, wheezing in the Autumn sun...in a good way.

It might not be the best of their albums but "Rubber Soul" is my personal favorite Beatles album. The lyrics are clever and funny and deep and the musicianship is of course top notch. Great record.

Listened to it a few weeks back, okay. It has Sympathy for the Devil which is a top 5 stones song for me, so I can't rate it less than 3/4

ehh its a beatles song. makes me want to beat my wife

A bridge between the rock n roll of the early Beatles, and the psychedelia they would be dipping their toes into just one album later. Favorite tracks: "All My Life", "I'm Looking Through You", "Drive My Car"

Nearly every song is unique and memorable, plus it represents a big shift in the Beatles music and pop music as a whole. To those upset about “Run for your life”, you realize this is intentionally written to demonstrate the extreme emotional depths of jealousy right? The song sheds light on an ugly archetype, but one that nevertheless exists, and one that the Beatles clearly struggled with. Paul McCartney also found it worthwhile to write about monkeys fucking in a road. Another extreme human(and animal) instinct the Beatles wrote without necessarily being monkey fuckers themselves. This is how art works, you don’t have to like it, maybe the point is that you don’t like it.

Starts with Drive my Car Norwegian Wood!! Sitar!! Nowhere Man...lalala Meeeshell my belle sunday tre bien on son French French.... “In My Life” is maybe the most beautiful song ever What a fucking album! Perfect mix of poppy and psychedelic, catchy diddies and meloncholy anthems...Feels like the transition album from “early” Beatles to “later” Beatles

I think Brian Wilson was right when he said this was the first album where "Every Track is a Gas". But it flows, despite there being 3 different writers experimenting beyond what pop was. It's fair to say this is when the beatles became important. All meat, no bones. Every song here is a guaranteed hit. They last as long as they need to. Right to the point.

With a mindful listen, this replaced Hard Days Night as my favourite Beatles album. Wonder from end-to-end, melodically & lyrically.

Certainly not an album that I need to listen to to rate, but I went ahead and listened anyway. Every single song is good. Run For Your Life is a bit of a strange song to end on, mostly given John's history of domestic abuse, but apart from the darkness of that moment the album is incredible. A huge step forward for a band trying to become something other than the simple pop stars they had mostly been up until that point 5/5

Amazing what a massive leap their sound and songwriting took between Help and this album

The number is 210. As in, I was given 210 albums from the algorithm of this little project before I was finally awarded with a Beatles album. That's not a criticism at all, especially considering that Rubber Soul is possibly my favorite Beatles album. I even like the Ringo song. This is the sound of the greatest rock band in history taking a giant step forward. Or to be more precise, it's John Lennon letting everyone know how great drugs can be. His songs in particular standout here - not to state the obvious, but every track on here is great, it's just that Lennon's are on another level that Paul and George weren't at yet (again, probably because they hadn't full embraced the wonders of mind-altering chemicals as John had). Just take a look at two of the ballads in the middle of the album. It sounds like Paul considers singing some of the lyrics of "Michelle" in French as a giant leap forward (his likely inspiration came from when the band recorded a bunch of their previous hits in German). John insisted in keeping a hissing sound on "Girl" that was picked up on the mic, because he thought it sounded like him inhaling marijuana. And then there's George and Paul singing the word "tit-tit-tit" over and over again on the middle eights. Those cheeky devils! John's Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, and In My Life also stand out. George really came into his own here on two great album cuts. This is one of my Desert Island Albums. Some may hear it as a foretaste of the feast to come, and in many ways, it is. Whether it was the drugs, the Byrds or Dylan, the Fab Four was clearly influenced to take their magic in new and exciting directions. And it all starts here.

Full disclosure: I was named after one of the songs on this album. When I was a little kid, adults would randomly sing my name at me and I didn’t really know what that was all about until some years later when I heard it on the radio. And oh, what a lovely, lovely song it is. I was already on the path to loving the Beatles at that point, but that song pretty much sealed the deal. I’m a total Beatles nerd. I listen to all of their music, but Rubber Soul is just one of a few of their albums I listen to regularly in full, beginning to end. This is such a marvelous album. It's a real turning point from the Beatles' early sound into what they would become as a band. It's also probably their first album that functions as more than just a collection of songs, with its own mood and flow, a cohesive work as a whole. The quality is probably slightly uneven when you consider the songs individually, but as a whole, the quality and the beauty is undeniable. This album has some of the best songs the Beatles ever made on it. You know them really well, some of them by heart. I don’t have to tell you this album is great. It’s in our cultural DNA. Fave Songs (All songs, in order from most to least favorite): Norwegian Wood, In My Life, Drive My Car, Michelle, Wait, Girl, The Word, You Won't See Me, Nowhere Man, I'm Looking Through You, Think for Yourself, What Goes On, If I Needed Someone, Run for Your Life

Sans Rubber Soul, le 80% des albums de cette liste n'existeraient pas. Prefs: TOUT Moins pref: RIEN

A transitional album for the Beatles - initially conceived by McCartney as a bunch of comedy songs (Rubber Soul is a spoof of the term Plastic Soul, Drive My Car is about a woman hiring a chauffeur despite not having a car), they couldn't help but expand their musical and lyrical pallets beyond anything done before. George invents psychedelia by using the Sitar on Norwegian Wood (The Rolling Stones take notes), John decides he's going to be Bob Dylan on as well, and self flagellates on Nowhere Man. Girl and Michelle show their love of European music and Paul writes one for the grannies with In My Life. This and Revolver feel like 2 sides of the same coin, and it's the most valuable coin you've ever heard.

So many reasons that this album is important; it's the first album that the Beatles made as an album. Although the recording period is ridiculously short (113 hours to record, plus extra days for mixing), it was a generous period of not begin (too) distracted by other commitments. Although embellished with some exotic overdubbing and studio technique, the core performances are still tight band performances as per their early output. Heavily influenced by American rock (soul, Motown/Stax, country rock, folk, Dylan, Byrds) and their first psychedelic drug experiences, the songs have started be more lyrically and emotionally sophisticated. And, because it is the Beatles, it is massively influential and changes the way that rock and pop musicians thought about the album format. Prior to this, even BEatles albums were often really filler, kind of an alternative product secondary to the all-important singles. While not quite at the point where singles are included on UK releases routinely, this is an album that was intended to be of high quality and listened to all the way through. There are no covers or throw-aways. The content is more challenging, philosophical and introspective, and it's got crackin' tunes. Personally, I could do without 'Michelle' (one of Paul's 'granny tunes'), but it's popularity paid the bills. This is one of the albums that changed everything in popular music, and totally deserves to be on this list.

I'd argue there are three tranches of Beatles albums (English releases only): the first five are the mania records (PP Me/With The/ A Hard/Sale and Help), the next three are the post mania records (Soul/Revolver/Pepper) and the last three are the post Maharishi adult records (White/Abbey/Let it Be). Please note MM Tour was an EP (American album) and Yellow cobbled together for the film. Context is important here; in 1965 they release Help the film, Help the album, Help the single, Ticket to Ride, Daytripper and We Can Work It Out (as a double A side single..) and Rubber Soul. And they toured the US, the UK and Europe. All in 1965. Now a mere three years earlier they were heading off to their second last stint in Hamburg (still with Pete Best) and arrived at the airport to be met by Astrid with the news that Stu was dead. By 1965 this is important as Lennon is seriously contemplating what has happened to him and to them, we are post Stu but pre Yoko and the nowhere man is stuck in his Surrey mansion musing on how he became a lead player in this global phenomenon. The warning signs were there from Beatles for Sale; I'm a Loser and No Reply, Baby's in Black and I Don't Want to Spoil the Party. In Help we see the same themes, hide your love away, help me if you can, I think I'm going to be sad. For Lennon and Rubber Soul, Stu looms large over this record. Meanwhile McCartney and Harrison are on the move. Paul's 1965 includes dropping Yesterday on Help, and Harrison for the first time has two original songs on that album in I Need You and You Like Me too Much. In amongst all this Lennon and Harrison (but not McCartney....yet) have dropped acid and are now looking at the whole thing through a different prism, with McCartney not joining them in frying his brain until after Rubber Soul. As with all their perfect records the ensemble is working as one unstoppable force. Ringo is tasked with some challenging songs for a 1965 rock drummer, and as always he produces work that is still influencing rock and roll today. His drumming on In My Life is superb, there's no one in that era, not even those jazz cats, coming up with that arrangement. With Michelle and Girl he gives those tunes that distinctive Euro beat, it is so subtle and yet crucial to their feel. Harrison is all over this record, and playing a Strat too for a good part of it, it's George who suggested tracking the guitar and bass lines on Drive My Car, giving it that Otis/Stax feel. George was spending a lot of time listening to Otis and it shows. And of course it's George who brings in the sitar which makes Norwegian Wood what it is. And he has well and truly found his writing feet with his two contributions, especially If I Needed Someone, which has the same chord sequence as Here Comes the Sun (and it is the only George original they played live). And Lennon and McCartney? What can we say other than they are at a very particular creative peak, there are many other incredible heights to be scaled, but here they are lockstep with each other. It could be argued this is their last 50/50 song writing album, their fingerprints are all over each others songs. Back to Stu. The one and only fifth Beatle is a key element in their story, without Stu we simply don't get The Beatles, period. He showed Lennon how to look at the world, how to challenge it, how to interpret it. That then influenced Paul and George. Yoko says that there was hardly a day they were together that John didn't mention Stu. With Michelle, Paul had written it as a French parody song back in the Gambier Terrace days, the flat John shared with Stu. In 65 John, thinking about Stu, suddenly reminds Paul about "that French song", prompting Paul to do that thing he does with a melody, and of course John providing the bridge "I love you, I love you" etc. And in that superb little tune, Paul revolutionises bass playing with the most sublime counterpoint, it is its own melody, stunning. Lennon's contributions are all about loss and sadness, Nowhere Man and Girl and In My Life in particular go to his terrible sense of loves and people lost. In Nowhere he exhorts himself to enjoy having the world at his command, the girl promises the earth to him and he believes her, but after all this time doesn't know why. In My Life is Song for Stu, "and of all these friends and lovers, there is no one who compares with you". Drive My Car, a great 50/50 John and Paul composition, with Paul getting his vocal chops ready for when he rips out Lady Madonna in about 18 months time. McCartney is clearly looking for someone new and different to Jane Asher, she just doesn't know it yet. His two sublime Jane songs, I'm Looking Through You and You Won't See Me are classic Paul, with the latter being a track he could have dropped at anytime in his later career. Lennon's What Goes On gives Ringo his C and W moment, and Wait (recorded for Help but a perfect fit) and The Word are John and Paul doing that thing they do as songwriters and performers. And the vocal work by the Fab Voice Trio is up there with their finest on just about every track. I do find it odd that Run For Your Life is on there, it sounds like a throwback from the Mania albums. Strangely it was the first song recorded, it is surprising that it survived and made the final cut. And yes Lennon was guilty of violence towards women (see Getting Better) but that first line was actually lifted from the old Baby Let's Play House 50's rocker, just in case the cancel culture fascists are out there somewhere thinking of taking it out.. They make this album and then the hard core acid taking takes off. With Revolver Lennon is somewhere else, the themes are darker, his drug dealing doctor, someone (Fonda) telling him what it's like to be dead while tripping, a meditation on sleeping and thinking about turning off your mind. And, as we now know (see the Revolver Super Deluxe reissue), Yellow Submarine was his, "in the town where I was born, no one cared, no one cared". McCartney meanwhile starts his takeover, dominating both Revolver and Pepper. Johnny doesn't get his mojo going again until the arrival of the ocean child Yoko, who finally allows him to move on from Stu. As such Rubber Soul is close to their greatest work of all bar the White Album. As I said earlier, what makes it different from the WB is that that Rubber Soul is the final true Lennon-McCartney collaborative song writing album, while it can be argued that the WB has their finest individual song writing, backed by their finest ensemble performance. This wonderful record is their Girl with a Mandolin, their David Copperfield...their Hamlet. The White Album is my favourite Fab album, but this is a very, very close second.

Wasn’t going to bother rating this, but it seems like it won’t let me proceed if I don’t. Hmm… Anyway, not sure “Run For Your Life” has aged that well, but then neither have I. More interesting question: what’s the WORST Beatles tune? I gotta think on it some more critically, but my immediate response is “Get Back.” Never liked that one. Feels like it should be on a Bachman Turner Overdrive record instead.

I mean, all the Beatles albums are pretty good, aren't they?

This is getting close to Peak Beatles. There are a lot of really solid songs on this album as Lennon really comes into his own as a master songwriter here with Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, and probably the most beautiful song he’s ever written with In My Life. Must be the effect of all that acid he reportedly took during this time. This would get a five but for a few clunkers, especially What Goes On, they really should keep Ringo away but I guess they had to throw him a bone.

Au début de cette folle aventure, j'avais en tête une très célèbre trinité, la trinité du surcotage, j'ai nommé Beatles - Pink Floyd - Rolling Stones. Si les Pink Floyd ont depuis confirmé leur statut de groupe le plus surcôté de l'histoire, les Beatles avaient su me faire douter grâce aux excellents Abbey Road et White Album. Seulement, depuis, force est de constater que les Beatles ont également des albums tout à fait banals, complétement adulés par le grand public qui n'y connait rien à la musique. En parlant de réglade, je tenais à revenir sur le cas d'un des décérébrés du générateur. Hier, alors que j'attribuais la note maximale à Bad de Michael Jackson, je vis la note globale de 3.76 s'inscrire sur mon écran. Je sursautais de stupeur, et me dirigeais en furie vers l'espace commentaire. Ici, en tant que deuxième commentaire, figure un petit malin ayant attribué la note minimale de 1/5 à ce bijou musical. Ce petit malin, dont l'album préféré est la daube auditive de Kraftwerk, a voulu faire son intéressant en descandant l'album de MJ. Le cliché typique de l'individu sans vie sociale, se pensant au dessus de tout le monde en detestant la musique commerciale. Son review est une calamité, que j'ai d'ailleurs demandé à Robert de supprimer du générateur. De plus, son amour pour Kraftwerk prouve les liens très étroits que cet individus entretient avec le nazisme, là aussi Robert est sur le coup, et une perquisition devrait être menée dans les prochains jours au domicile de ce jeune imbécile. Vous l'aurez compris, les Rolling Stones seront attendus au tournant.

Unquestionably one of the Beatles' albums of all time

The worst Beatles album so far, and kinda creepy in a bad way

:(

duh

Its the Beatles - come on

Awesome album. Every song.

Love.

Lubie bardzo ten album wspomnienia mile z nim mam

Na urodzinki dostałem, co tu dużo mówić, śliczne melodie, piękne harmonie, i wspaniały klimat

So great! I know lots of these songs, but hearing it all in a row made a big difference.

A very strong album. Diverse tones between fun and bright to more relaxed and easy grooving. Favorite track: Wait

One of my favorite album from them

Classic album. Four stars.

alma de borracha total

Amazing

Easy 5 pointer.. Beatles doing what they do

in my life good song

9.5

Hitsen och många andra låtar e ju solklara 5+, andra låtar e ganska mje. Men ja, det e ett mycket bra beatles album. Men vad fan hände på sista låten hahah hur mådde dom??

Incredible as always.

Citando a un hombre sabio: "me daría hasta miedo no ponerle 5 estrellas"

An absolute classic what else to comment

❤️

I already knew this album well. Perfect 60s vibes. You really get to see hints of what the Beatles would become next.

I think I may have enjoyed this one the most of what I've listened to so far. I didn't actually know most of the songs on this album, but I liked pretty much all of them.

Masterpiece. One of the greatest albums of all time. Second best Beatles album. 10/10 1. In My Life 2. Nowhere Man 3. Norwegian Wood

No es su mejor disco pero indudablemente genial.

One of the best albums ever recorded. Full stop.

It's the Beatles what more can I say! I haven't actually listened to this album before, but I enjoy most of the rest of their discography and this album has significantly sitar so that's a plus.

My favorite Beatles album

I mean, it's a great album. Not my favorite Beatles album, but a great album.

I would feel guilty not giving this 5 stars. I am too soft.

4.5* great album just TOO SHORT!! great album though

Maybe my second favorite Beatles album. 10

Uno de los que más me gusta de ellos. Genial

What to say that hasn't been expressed a billion times?

Narrowly a 10/10. A couple really good songs, and none that let the album down. And while it's not the most exciting or emotional music, it just sounds really good. Except maybe the bits where he inhales in "Girl". And it's a very reasonable length for the style of music.

Got a sudden urge to purchase insurance

9! Groovy. Great as an album, fun tracks individually

this was one of the 4 albums i had for my cd player as a small child and i remember i thought that the beatles were all brothers. anyways its good but not quite the beatles at their best. 9/10

Un disco maravilloso que además representa esa madurez que alcanzaron y les llevo camino a la gloria

Best Beatles album

Masterpiece

Nunca había escuchado este álbum de the Beatles completo y en orden, no sabía que drive my car o Michelle eran de este álbum

Saved Prior: None For all 5 star albums I'm going to be ranking the songs worst to best with tiers after one day of listening. Not Saved Tier: 14. The Word 13. If I Needed Someone Cutting Edge: 12. Nowhere Man (wish there was a little bit more going on, will probably grow on me) 11. Girl 10. Run For Your Life (would be higher if the lyrics weren't so sus coming from John Lennon) Saved Off Rip: 9. In My Life (didn't especially like it at first, already growing on me, could easily rocket up) 8. What Goes On (simple but hits the spot) 7. Drive My Car (again, simple but hits the spot) 6. Wait 5. Think For Yourself Top 4 are essentially toss-ups, not confident in this order: 4. Michelle 3. I'm Looking Through You 2. Norwegian Wood 1. You Won't See Me This album is incredible, might be a Beatle stan. I get the Beatles. Nothing sounds quite like them, and goddamn they refuse to miss on this album. Even the two I didn't save are at least 5/10 songs.

This album is beautiful

Would listen to again

One of the Beatles best. One of my personal favourites

In my fav Beatles albums.

This might be my favorite Beatles album...

Man, just wall to wall excellence.

Soul/motown-inspired rock and roll at the Beatles' finest. In My Life is one of my favourites on this one. Also, it's said that the inhales on Girl are Lennon inhaling a joint

Classic. I love the fact that The Beatles hit a ceiling with this album and The Beatles in general. After the release of Beach Boy's 'Pet Sounds', 'St Peppers' was a desperate attempt to compete by creating an entirely new fictional band.

This is the first Beatles album I've listened to from start to finish and I really enjoyed it. The album felt cohesive, and I kind of wish each song was a little longer! I don't have any gripes with this album.

This is one of my favourite albums of all time. This is just before The Beatles started redefining music with every subsequent release and you can hear the experimental ideas bubbling under the surface. Love it. It is a bit bad that John Lennon says he's going to kill that girl, but it was the 60's.

One of the highlight rock albums of the '60s. 9.0/10 Best Tracks: "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" "Michelle" "In My Life"

This was maybe my first favorite Beatles album.

Turning point in music. Groundbreaking.

Beatles always great love how they keep album length short and songs aren’t super long

Bangers only

Love Rubber Soul!! This was the first Beatles album I ever bought on vinyl, there was an old copy at a thrift store. It's beat to hell and sounds a little scratchy but that just adds to the charm of it.

Can’t go wrong with the Beatles

Good album, one of the only Beatles albums I hadn't heard before, consistent

Just sublime. How extraordinary The Beatles were. Their consistency in such a short space of time. Songs that will endure forever. There is so much to enjoy here and a variety of style and mood whilst still sounding like a cohesive record. I really loved listening to this on repeat and has been my highlight so far of this project.

5/5 very very good album. One of the best Beatles albums in my opinion. Favourite songs: drive my car and Norwegian wood

What a great album. I’m guilty of really only knowing Beatles’ hits. What an awakening.

I like it.

Top class 🤩

Oh man. My favorite. So many great songs. Guess I get a free day today, cause I been listening to this album since I was 12.

I mean... it's the Beatles. Rocky, poppy, sweet 'n nostalgic.

Jockeys with Revolver as my favorite Beatles album. What more is there to say.... 5 stars

Very very enjoyable, vocals are insanely good, harmony is great. Only negative I can find is that sometimes the instrumentals are a bit repetitive, very similar sounding drums in most songs, “Girl” was nice because it had a drastically different composition to most of the other songs in the album. On all songs though, the guitar lines all sound amazing. 5/5

95/100 Top 3: "Michelle", "Girl" and "In My Life"

Nowhere Man alone would make this record a 6-star, but then you've also got Girl, Norwegian Wood and ... hell, go on and listen to it!

Only 1 song on this album that wasn’t amazing!

Never heard of this lot but I predict big things for them, they'll go far.