THE BEATLES [AKA: THE WHITE ALBUM]

By far the longest and most ambitious project the Beatles would ever undertake and the quality definitely shows with each passing track. The BEATLES or The White Album is a collection of 30 compositions recorded at the peak of the band's creativity which doesn't necessarily mean that the individual moments here surpass any of their other classics. What this album offers its listeners is a continuous stream of quality material without once showing a sign of weakness.

The consistency and versatility featured on The White Album is truly remarkable considering its 90+ minute run and the fact that only a handful of these songs usually make it on the compilation releases only adds to my amusement. I actually think that this release benefits a lot by not having that many all-time classics because its those lesser known song moments that make this album shine more than anything that the Beatles had produced up to this point. Let's take a song like Happiness Is A Warm Gun, which is in fact a medley of three song ideas complied into a 3 minute mini epic, and imagine how it would have worked have it been a part of albums like Revolver or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I honestly can't do it!

This is an album I can pick up almost any time and sweep though without even noticing the time, which is definitely a sign of a quality release. Still, I somehow have a difficulty of calling The White Album an essential masterpiece of progressive rock music. The only reason for that has to do with my attachment to the final era of the Beatles which can't really compare to anything released up to that point, even though The White Album definitely comes close.

***** star songs: Back In The U.S.S.R. (2:43) Dear Prudence (3:56) While My Guitar Gently Weeps (4:45) Happiness Is A Warm Gun (2:43) Martha My Dear (2:28) I'm So Tired (2:03) Blackbird (2:18) I Will (1:46) Julia (2:54) Birthday (2:42) Mother Nature's Son (2:48) Sexy Sadie (3:15) Honey Pie (2:41) Cry Baby Cry (3:01)

**** star songs: Glass Onion (2:17) Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (3:08) Wild Honey Pie (0:52) The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill (3:14) Rocky Raccoon (3:32) Don't Pass Me By (3:50) Piggies (2:04) Why Don't We Do It In The Road (1:41) Yer Blues (4:01) Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey (2:24) Helter Skelter (4:29) Long Long Long (3:04) Revolution 1 (4:15) Savoy Truffle (2:54) Revolution 9 (8:22) Good Night (3:11)