Abbey Road

The Beatles' last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right Let It Be, the group held on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though all four contribute to the first side's writing, John Lennon's hard-rocking, "Come Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" make the strongest impression. A series of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous, touching, official close ("Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight" / "The End") is nicely undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney's cheeky "Her Majesty", which follows. --Rickey Wright

The Beatles' last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right Let It Be, the group held on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though all four contribute to the first side's writing, John Lennon's hard-rocking, "Come Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" make the strongest impression. A series of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous, touching, official close ("Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End") is nicely undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney's cheeky "Her Majesty," which follows. --Rickey Wright

Si Abbey Road a conclu en beauté la malgré tout très courte carrière des Beatles (six, sept ans d'enregistrements, pas plus), il demeure aussi l'album où le groupe s'offre le plus dans toute sa diversité. Dominé bien sûr par une paire d'atouts maîtres, le carré d'as permet dans cet ultime chef-d'oeuvre de goûter par exemple la fraîcheur désinvolte de Ringo ("Octopus's Garden"). Ou la spiritualité émerveillée de Harrison. "Here Comes The Sun", malgré la candeur naïve de son texte, contient simplement parmi les arpèges de guitare les plus fondateurs. Et quand le guitariste Harrison tisse des notes d'amour, cela devient quelque chose - "Something" - d'éternel. Mais le coeur du disque, son noyau dur dirons-nous, c'est tout ce que mettent dans la corbeille les rivaux indissociables Lennon et McCartney. Ils inventent là l'usage du synthétiseur ("Because"), et tandis que Lennon étale son irréductible cuir rock ("Come Together"), Macca répond avec "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", manière de l'énerver un peu. L'histoire dit qu'il y parvint (et que Lennon détestait cette chanson). L'auditeur, lui, contemple, béat, la joute musicale. Et savourera encore longtemps les "Because" et "Oh Darling" livrés ici en pâture. L'un des deux meilleurs albums des Beatles. --José Ruiz