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.

2 Supposedly this album marks when The Beatles started getting into drugs, and while it’s noticeably less bubblegum-y than their prior work, I still didn’t find anything here to be overly interesting - even with some new flourishes like the sitar on Norwegian Wood, a song which is apparently John Lennon’s attempt at putting a fun spin on him cheating his wife. F that guy. Paul’s songs are definitely the better ones here (surprise, surprise), but even then I wouldn’t call them great. Really, I don’t think there’s anything here I would call outright enjoyable, but I can point to the opener Drive My Car is probably the worst thing on the album. The only thing worse than the lyrics are the Beatles fans trying to build upon them on Genius. For example, the annotation for “Beep beep'm beep beep yeah!” reads: “This iconic transition utilizes onomatopoeia for the sound of a car’s horn. It serves to illustrate how much fun The Beatles are having with their newfound fame and success.” End me. As if to bring the album full-circle, the group decided to end on another low point with a song threatening to murder a partner if she were ever to take another man. I know it’s based on a song by Elvis and isn’t totally out of place in that era of music, but I don’t think that makes it any better. Everything in the middle is kind of meh, but with there being a song titled What Goes On, I will give a shoutout to my Dad’s guy Lou Reed and his group The Velvet Underground, who have a song with the same name that, despite having half as many Spotify plays, is like 1000x better. Considering that’s the Ringo song on this album though, maybe that’s a given (sorry Ringo). Man, despite usually keeping it in the 30-minute range, I swear these guys always seem to find a way to make their albums drag. That being said, I think some of the art rock/experimental stuff we’ve heard has really redefined for me what true 1 means, so I’m going to go with a 2 here, but either way I won’t be listening again anytime soon.

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.

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

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.

Unquestionably one of the Beatles' albums of all time

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

The Beatles are that one band that people just won't let you dislike. "It's influential! It's influential!" they scream at you...uh ok? I thought we were judging how good the music sounds, not what other people thought of it. Was a bit disheartened when I found this site to see that the top albums are littered with the usual bunch of Beatles albums that everywhere else is. I just can't for the life of me understand what the big deal is. And honestly, around their time there were other incredible artists that I think were both more important and influential, and their music has stood the test of time. Bands like The Velvet Underground, The Stooges or The Doors. They definitely have a couple better albums than this, but nothing to write home about.

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

It is not hyperbole to say that this album offers what is possibly the most influential musical ensemble of the 20th century at the peak of their powers. The lyrics to "Run For Your Life" have sadly not aged well but damn the rest of this is lights out in every way. I can't pick a favorite Beatles album but would be a fine choice. It's funny this album should arrive today, because somewhat randomly I recently became obsessed with Paul McCartney's badass bass playing on "The Word." It used to be hip to give these guys shit for not being better players but eventually hipsters realized that there is more to life than wanking on your axe. Or at least eventually this hipster realized that. But the wanker in my heart still gets off on his aggressively groovy bassline here. Give it a listen, preferably at a suitably high volume. Finally, I always recommend the mono versions of early-mid 60s pop records like this. That's what these artists actually produced - the stereo version was done later by studio hacks who were waaay too enamored with the concept of stereo separation, which accidentally fucked my skull as an early 80s tween when I got the "red" Beatles compilation from the library and taped it by putting my sister's boom box next to one of the speakers, not understanding the implications of recording only one channel of a stereo mix. My parents had just gotten a beater of a Peugeot but it had a tape deck in it and I didn't often get to use my sister's boom box so that car was my main place to listen to a cassette and I will never forget how seriously it fucked with my head when I got my Dad to play my tape for me and all I could hear were like horns, snare drum and backing vocals. And then the next tune would be just like lead vocal, harmonica and bass. Every time we played it! For months! My Dad was not really in to music and never appeared to notice, which made it all the more surreal. I thought maybe something was wrong with the car, an unfortunately highly plausible explanation, given our family's history with cars. It really twisted my melon. It was only years later - probably more years than I should admit - that I figured out what was going on. 🤣

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.

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.

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

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"

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

Hard for me to rate this objectively; it's been such a part of my life since I first got the album when I was 11 or 12. Loved it then, love it now, though I was a little confused listening to this on Amazon Music because I didn't recall Nowhere Man being on my version, so heads up--the North American version is considerably shorter. It's incredible how the Beatles sound developed over such a short time--they always sound interesting and a little different, even their pop, but this is so much richer musically and with a lot more variation. To me, this album is like a work by Shakespeare: somehow of the times and yet completely genius.

Run for Your Life is a disturbing note to close out on, but dang, the album is so good. I'm tempted to dock a point for it, but in 30 years of listening to the album it's the first time the lyrics have sunk in.

Songwriting at its finest!

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

One of the finest Beatles albums, but not their best. That's yet to come. Still, a big step up in their body of work. Bob Dylan was right to call it their first "grown up" album. There are some all-timers on here. Highlights: Norwegian Wood, Girl, Think For Yourself, I'm Looking Through You, In My Life

The Beatles were already the best known band in the world but their critical acclaim at that point came from similar reasons that Taylor Swift today is getting decent ratings from the music critcs. But as they worked on "Rubber Soul" they added more "experimental" ideas and played with their music more which then resulted in an album that was so cohesive that the Beach Boys created Pet Sound just to not fall behind the futuristic way that this album sounded. 'Drive My Car' opens the album already with a great one. The song really gets you into the typical Beatles Rock n' Roll and Pop Rock sound that we and the people back then knew and loved. The song has a driving piano and cowbell that both add to a sound that feels very Blues Rock similar to the Stones. It's really solid track but nothing that would've completely f-ed your mind back when it released. The weird stuff already gets present with the next song 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)' that not only isn't really Rock but more Folk Pop and it also features an instrument that back then, no one heard of but now is really connected to the Bealtes. This is the first Beatles song to feature a Sitar and Raga Rock, both being mainly inspired by Indian Classical Music. The song therefore has a certain "drone" to it. It's a great song but I personally don't love it as much as many others do although it is really well written both in a lyrical, songwriting and overall structure way. The again more Rock sounding 'You Won't See Me' has some nice influences from Soul and R&B with their typical Pop Rock style. It's a pretty nice track but I am not crazy for it as there isn't much crazy things happening except the harmonies and a few moments in the chorus. The Folk Pop returns on 'Nowhere Man' and in the same breath some great things return. This feels really reminiscent of the Byrds with the way it's structured and song and it pretty much has similar influences as it also has some moments you might already call "Jangle Pop". 'Think for Yourself' gets into more of the earlier terretory the Beatles worked in with a lot of Merseybeat and Pop influence. It's a pretty solid track but mainly shines with the chorus. Same story with 'The Word': pretty good song with a great chorus and nice Mod and Beat influence but without anything that would make it REALLY special. With the Folk Pop, the great songs return as 'Michelle' not only has a great chorus with cure French added but the whole song is beautifully written and cohesive with how its structured. The first song that I would call "incredible" as it aged very, very good. The albums second half starts with a RINGO SUNG SONG!!! 'What Goes On' wan't written by him but his voice fits the song so well. I know not many will agree but this is another incredible song and one of the best ones on the album. It's just so cute and the way Ringo keeps the shuffle steady while singing is really crazy. Lennon returns with lead vocals on 'Girl' which is another pretty solid song and the songwriting is really great as are the vocal harmonies in the chorus. It's a really well put together song that has some really nice moments all the way through but I'm not crazy about it. 'I'm Looking Through You' is a really underrated track. It is a great mix between most sounds and influences that were present thus far and the chorus is incredibly catchy and energetic which complements the rest of song very well. There isn't much to say about 'In My Life' except that it's without a doubt the best song on the album. Everything about it is perfect: the verses, the lyrics, the songwriting, the chorus, the instruments, build-up, and everything else in there. It's also the best Beatles song before Revolver. With 'Wait', I feel like they try to recreate something they already did over and over. It's a kind of annoying song although some parts are quite alright but that doesn't change the fact that it's the worst song on the album. While 'If I Needed Someone' is significantly better, I still think that it's a pretty weak song in comparison. It's written in a very solid way but lacks any kind of interesting part that might hook me apart from it being somewhat pleasant to listen to. The closing track 'Run for Your Life' gets a lot of hate and I get it. It is pretty... controversial in lyrical matter when looked at with todays standards but still, it is groovy as f*ck and it is detached enough from reality that I can enjoy the song regardless of what is sung about. And I have to say that I really like the song. It's really good. favourites: In My Life, What Goes On, I'm Looking Through You, Michelle least favourites: Wait, If I Needed Someone Rating: strong 7 to light 8

Very good and possibly the best of the boy band Beatles. In My Life is one of the most heartfelt songs in their catalogue. You Won’t See Me and Wait are personal favorites I return to the most from this album

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.

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.

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.

I really don't care about the beatles

it's fine.

The Beatles are the worst band in history. There is no reason for their popularity except for nostalgia for the first boy band to go international.

:(

The Beatles are no doubt iconic to many before me and likely influence some brilliant bands - I just don't get it. Up beat sounding music with a really dreary boring AF voice singing love songs that sound like he's trying to put you to sleep... Likely so he can do what he sings about in the final song. Won't listen again. Best part about this album - it only lasted for around half an hour!

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

1965 Beatles! Duh... 5 stars or A.

I mean come onnmnnn it’s rubber soul

Rubber Soul is the start of the second phase of the Beatles. They have been great a great band before, and many of the songs have been wonderful, but this is where the experimentation really begins. Within a year they will have quit touring and become a studio band and the soundscape will open even more but here we have sitars, and fuzz bass, and double-tracked vocals, more complicated arrangements, a touch of psychedelia. They would push things even further on Revolver and Sgt Pepper's but Rubber Soul deserves to be held in the same esteem.

The Beatles again. They are quite strongly represented in this list. And rightly so. After a clear rejection in my youth, I have been realizing for several years now, and even more so with this project, how good the guys' music is. And it's the same with this album. My favorites here are Drive my Car, Nowhere Man, Michelle and Girl. 5/5

An obvious one, and not just because it’s the Beatles.

Come on it’s the Beatles. And it’s just as they were getting to be like the amazing musician type Beatles not just the pop teenybopper Beatles.

I've listened to this album several times before but it's enlightening hearing it again after getting a bunch of other 60's albums on this list. The Beatles influence is apparent on so many of these other records, but none of them come close to the mastery the Beatles show here. Rubber Soul is so much richer and the depth of quality is far greater than any "Beatles-esque" imitator. Favorites: At first I wrote down half the album but I'll limit myself to just a couple: In My Life, Norwegian Wood Least Favorites: You Won't See Me

Obra capital, no solo de The Beatles sino de la música en general. Con este disco, otra portada icónica, comenzó el despegue de The Beatles como creadores. Tanto «Day Tripper» como «We Can Work It Out» fueron publicadas como un solo sencillo el mismo día que el álbum

Incredible how many great songs/albums the Beatles created. In this one I marked 8 tracks.

I mean…

Magical. This album isn’t even in my top three Beatles albums. Although some of the lyrics are kind of dumb. Sorry, lads. Basically the world’s greatest ballerinas that occasionally tell a knock knock joke written by a child. Wait, that would be great.

Perfect.

Great album even if run for your life aged horribly

One of my favorite Beatle albums. The creativity is just pouring out of their orifices.

Loved this album on my Walkman, but I haven’t listened to it since those childhood days. I really like it! Did anyone else notice the crystal clarity of the tambourine in the Spotify audio?

A near perfect album. One of my top Beatles albums for sure. The pinnacle of their early sound before they got more experimental on Revolver.

One of the best ever and feels like it is one of the best examples of a band changing its style. I am admittedly a huge Beatles fan who grew up on these songs. I can't give an objective review on these, they just can't do any wrong to me. Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Michelle, I'm looking through you, In my Life are all songs I simply don't want to live without. This album fits perfectly in the context of their musical journey, beautiful cover art, and has its own unique feel to the rest of the albums. The strength of the ones I love make me want to paper over the 1 or 2 songs I'm a little indifferent on but those take it slightly down from a perfect score. I've only given I think 5 perfect scores 500 something albums in so I don't want to give it out cheaply. Rating: 4.9

This record is fantastic and the start of even better things to come.

Was pleasantly surprised by this one. I haven’t spent a lot of time listening to the Beatles so had a very narrow expectation of this. This album is very well-rounded - would listen again.

Rubber Soul by The Beatles is a masterclass in rock and roll perfection. Every track radiates brilliance, blending innovative melodies, heartfelt lyrics, and a timeless sound. From the folk-inspired "Norwegian Wood" to the soulful "In My Life," the album shows the band's artistic evolution while remaining effortlessly accessible. It’s hard to fathom that this isn’t even considered their finest work, but that’s The Beatles—raising the bar with every release. Pure perfection, no skips. Rubber Soul is an essential listen, proving why The Beatles remain the greatest band ever.

One of those special pop albums where every song has its own personality and character. This was probably the first Beatles album I fell in love with. It’s the first one where I can remember loving the deep cuts (like “The Word”) just as much as the big songs. Nothing but great songs here but “In My Life” gets an extra shoutout because it was the song I danced to with my mom at my wedding.

Beautiful record by the best band ever. Lots of great legendary tracks on this one- "Norwegian Wood" is one of the best acoustic guitar riffs of all time. I love when the sitar comes in and dispels your expectations. Then the vocal melody? Come on. It's incredible. "Michelle" has always been absolutely stunning to me. The play between the melody and harmony shows the depth of the Beatles writing. "In My Life" is one of those songs that's so simply beautiful and grounding that it makes you stop and appreciate things and become a little more human when you hear it. Being in a relationship and listening to this song is truly great. The harpsichord part is so perfectly executed. I feel like sometimes I get an idea in my head for a song or some part of a song that I want to write, and it can be a weird out-of-left-field sort of part, and when I go to put it down in a song it ends up being incredibly hard to execute or to get it to sound exactly right. This harpsichord is one of the best executed "out there" parts of any song ever. They set out to do the thing, and they did the thing. I'm just completely enamored with this song. I want to renew my vows with my wife so that we can have this as our second wedding song. It's so amazing. Just a truly great album. The Beatles are undefeated.

Just brilliant!

well, duh

No words needed

Hook it to my veins.

Has a few duds but one of the best Beatles albums still. Nice collection of strong hits and deep cuts.

Second fav Beatles Album....

They’re all 5s?

Duh

01) Drive My Car - 10,0 02) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - 10,0 03) You Won't See Me - 8,5 04) Nowhere Man - 10,0 05) Think for Yourself - 8,0 06) The Word - 8,0 07) Michelle - 10,0 08) What Goes On - 8,0 09) Girl - 9,5 10) I'm Looking Through You - 8,5 11) In My Life - 10,0 12) Wait - 8,5 13) If I Needed Someone - 8,5 14) Run for Your Life - 8,5 TOTAL: 9,00 (90/100) Current ranking: 34/370

Not my favorite Beatles album but it does have some of my favorite Beatles songs.

Exquisite

One of my favorite Beatles albums. Is always a great listen.

This album is one of the most pivotal in the history of music. It paved the way not only for revolver, but showed big bands that they could experiment with music that is not conventional for the masses. It is the Beatles "Cannabis" album and the vibe is so money. In My Life and Norwegian Wood are 10/10 tracks and the supporting cast from the rest of the list is great too. The first Bealtes album in the Chronology that is a 'must listen,' and easily falls in my top 3 beatles albums ever. A couple tracks make this not a 10/10, but it is a very very high 9

# Album Name: Rubber Soul # Artist: The Beatles # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: I've heard a lot of the tracks off this album but ive never listened to it all the way through. Honestly, what a banger. 37 mins of quality tunes. Fantastic album imo. # Top Tunes: Drive my Car / Norwegian wood / You cant see me / Nowhere man / Think for yourself / The word / Michelle / Im looking through you / in my life / if i needed someone Mayswell just list the whole lot tbh. # Would I listen to it again? Fuck yeah!

Was good! I love the Beetles but I rarely listen to a full album and this was a fun opportunity to do so

One of my all time favorite albums. Completely full of great songs.

Fantastic album from start to finish. Nowhere Man, Think For Yourself Michelle, Girl and In My Life are real stand outs for me. But I could say that about almost every song on the album, really.

This is up there with my favorite Beatles albums. Just fantastic.

Their bad tracks are other bands' wet dream.

Sublime

While being familiar with some of the songs, today is the first time I listened to Rubber Soul and it is a delight. A truly excellent album. https://open.substack.com/pub/richcain/p/project-1001-rubber-soul-by-the-beatles?r=4ztyq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

one of the best album openers evahhhh. they were so good at that (”taxman” off *revolver* is another good example). i really think “drive my car” is one of the greatest pop songs of all time. it’s so well-constructed: terrific, instantly recognizable opening riff, a coherent story and a genuinely funny punchline, the imminently singalongable “beep beep yeah!” bit. paul at the absolute top of his game. this album will always remind me of driving to the cape in the summer with sophia next to me in the backseat and us and my mom all singing along as loud as we could. i have such a fondness for this record but especially for that memory that it conjures in my mind every time i hear a song off of it… fav tracks: all of them frankly except for “what goes on”…but i can still get into that one depending on my mood….i do like “run for your life” and think it’s really fun in spite of the lyrics 🫢 SIDE NOTE: obviously i love this album to death and i love listening to it but it is also kind of mind-blowing to me that the velvet underground were starting to perform “heroin” the same year that the beatles cut this record. like, “heroin” makes all the songs on this album seem like kiddie nursery rhyme bullshit. I KNOW IT’S DIFFERENT THINGS. but it’s kind of hilarious to compare that song to all the coy allusions to sex and drugs and ‘naughtiness’ that the beatles managed to sneak past the censors (see: “girl”).

Clasd

A very nicely done album, my favorite songs there are Nowhere Man, In My Life and Norwegian Wood. No, wait. I can’t forget how wonderfully written and played Michelle is. Great album.

Although The Beatles and George Martin pretty early on were always pushing the boundaries of studio recording, this is their first really "experimental" album. Experimenting with new techniques and new genres. Very "Folk-Rock" with "Psychedelic" elements. George is really coming along in his songwriting here. All the songs are great. Very ahead of it's time (although all beatles albums are). The first album on this list that I was already familiar with. Going from memory alone I was going to give it a 4. But after another listen it gets a 5. I always forget how great this album is for some reason. I enjoyed every song on it.

Seminal work. One of my favourite Beatles albums.

one of the best

Classic

Once again, true perfection from the boys. Only my fourth favorite album of theirs, and still likely a top 25-30 all-time album for me. 5+/5

Excelente album, lo escuchare varias veces

10/10 Need I say more, its The Beatles. Just so unbelievably good Favourite Song=In My Life Least Favourite Song=None

It's the 6th best Beatles album and it's still better than most music.

Für mich ein Wendepunkt der Beatles, hin zu einer "ernsthaften" Band, die eigene Songs zu einem Album verbindet. Fantastisch.

Excellent album

Simply one of the greatest albums of all time