ABBEY ROAD

When THE BEATLES were added to Prog Archives I was one of the members who objected their inclusion, not because of the quality of the music but because I never considered them one of the most influential bands in the development of the genre called Progressive Rock and also being that most of their career (Until Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) they were not even remotely related with Prog.

But if I had to choose one album that justifies their inclusion in Prog Archives it would be the excellent and versatile "Abbey Road", a real masterpiece by the fabulous four that was clearly one step before all popular bands from the era.

The balance between songs is simply outstanding and the impeccable production helps a lot, side one is excellent but side two is almost perfect, almost an epic consisting of several short tracks linked perfectly one with the other.

"Abbey Road" starts absolutely strong with the legendary "Come Together" an almost Hard Rock track with intelligent lyrics and a great sound, breathtaking from start to end but the strength of this rack is more evident because of the contrast with the beautiful and calmed "Something" (Despite a good dose of drama), this guys really knew how to calm the mood when it was necessary.

"Maxwell Silver Hammer" it's a silly but funny little track acts as a relief after the dramatic first two tracks and allows us to appreciate more the bluesy "Oh Darling" another good track with strong piano sections and powerful vocals, would have been much better without the cheesy "oohs" by Paul Mc'Cartney that break the mood. (This shouts were OK for their early stuff but not for a serious album).

"Octopus's Garden" is one of the few songs by Ringo Star, I believe QUEEN used this simple but interesting track as inspiration for some of their songs as "Seaside Rendezvous", many people hate it but I really like it specially for the good backing vocal work.

"I Want You (She's so Heavy)" is a complete and evident product of the late 60's, the organ work takes us to the center of Psychedelia with it's druggy atmosphere and the guitar work is simply delightful and the Moog is outstanding and of course the beautiful Hammond Organ, probably the only 100% Progressive track THE BEATLES ever released, and what a masterpiece.

"Here Comes the Sun" is by far my favorite Harrison track and perfectly located to open side two, I always heard people saying it's a simple ballad, something with what I strongly disagree, the changes are subtle but brilliant, the chorus perfect and the synths are brilliant, never understood why some progheads seem dislike a good melody, a high point.

But the best is at the final part, the next tracks linked perfectly one with the other create one of the first real epics that starts with the excellent "Because", absolutely dramatic and based mostly in the strong vocals with dark mood and ends with the breathtaking "The End"..no not forgetting "Her Majesty" but well this could had easily be avoided..

If it was only for "Abbey Road" I would had never opposed to the inclusion of THE BEATLES in Prog Archives because this one is a real Prog masterpiece that deserves no less than 5 solid stars.

Don't expect another similar review by me about another BEATLES album because I always believed "Abbey Road" is their peak and by far, not even "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" comes remotely close.