THE BEATLES
Rubber Soul (1965)
Parlophone/Capitol
Produced by GEORGE MARTIN

"Seduction, not assault."

That's the way Greil Marcus described RUBBER SOUL in 1976. In that sense the album can be seen as a massive turnaround from the first four Beatles albums, even the quieter BEATLES FOR SALE; they all depended on the bombastic qualities of pop form to demand the listener's attention. In the year of the Byrds and Dylan-goes-electric, RUBBER SOUL found them expanding on the promises of HELP!'s better half by refining their edge to create something more intricate and layered than had been previously attempted. A roar of electric guitars opens the LP, but they're an exception; this is a primarily acoustic, primarily poetic and introspective album.

It's not Simon & Garfunkel, though. It's thoughtful but not showy, revealing and sophisticated but not verbose or pretentious. On the majority of these songs, the Beatles are wry and playful to a degree not approached by anyone else who picked up a 12-string for folk-rock sheen. The infectiously funky "Drive My Car" and the almost vindictive "The Word" forecast the white album in their cutting wit. The album closer "Run for Your Life" betters "You Can't Do That," with which it shares the usual cheating-woman scenario. Otherwise, the record is a subdued affair... but a cathartic, engaging one. Since I've heard this more than any other album (my old cassette is worn beyond recognition), it can be difficult to find any kind of perspective, but I'll try.

The first sign of great change is somewhere in "Norwegian Wood." Aside from the alien sound of the sitar, Lennon's voice is even more resigned than on "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." His lyrics are bracing, disturbing, sad, and brilliant, some of his best work ever, but as good as they are, it's the music that reveals the nuance of the story he tells, and even on the punchline, John's singing seems to surrender to the surrounding ocean of music throughout the brief recording. Its silly parenthetical title notwithstanding, this is a song that impresses on first listen and grows more compelling, even mysterious, with each additional listen. This is what Marcus meant by "seduction."

"Nowhere Man" is almost trite, but hidden somewhere in there ("doesn't have a point of view") is one man's anguish, a far cry from the warmth and swagger of "Wait." That man finds a vent on "Girl," which along with "I'm Looking Through You" and "In My Life" must be among the dozen best songs in all of rock & roll, but admittedly the Beatles would probably have a monopoly on such a list. "Girl" is pure confessional fly-on-the-wall desperation, sighing and pausing with full understanding of its drama. There's nothing simple about it -- lyrically and musically, it slides gleefully afoul of all classification. And in the last verse, which manages to tackle Catholicism and death, with the subtly manipulative character of the title as a springboard, the drama unfolds into an instrumental break overflowing with tension just before the fadeout. The track is rife with what almost seems like deliberate sexual subtext, from knife-to-butter first second to sharp intake of breath to climax. It ends much too early and offers no neat solution... the end result is far more unsettling than "Norwegian Wood." It's also a character portrait of unparalleled force and beauty.

Few songs could ever begin to stand up to "In My Life," however, which escapes from slick production to provide knockout bass and drums behind the most moving lyric created for any pop song, some of the best vocal harmonies imaginable, and a piano solo that underscores both the energy and the emotion, and fits. There is not a second that feels false or unfelt, and it remains lovelier than anyone who hasn't heard it can possibly imagine. Almost certainly it's rock's most heartfelt, untainted moment.

Lennon's masterstroke this may be, but the others are far more of a presence than on A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, which amounted to Johnny & the Moondogs. McCartney in particular is in stellar shape, following hard on his promising songs from the last few albums. And check out his bass playing on "The Word"!

The enjoyable "Michelle" pales in comparison to Paul's other contributions here. "You Won't See Me" remains one of his greatest songs... swooning as it's helped along with a wonderfully lazy, rolling arrangement by the others. Everyone is at their best here... it's Paul's best vocal ever ("I wouldn't mind if I knew what I was missing"... "it feeeeeels like years") plus the best harmonies in the band's catalog, and Ringo is solid as a rock. It's also a Beatles song that feels free to take its time, which more than helps in this case.

"I'm Looking Through You" is tied with "Here, There and Everywhere" and "I've Just Seen a Face" as his masterpiece. "I thought I knew you / What did I know?" is his best line ever. Sequenced side by side with "Girl," this illustrates the differences between the song's composers. "Looking" stabs and concludes while "Girl" contemplates tortuously. Paul's song is the ultimate in pop music's protrayal of the breakup, with an eye to truth and emotion but an awareness nonetheless of the melodrama that drives ending relationships. Without manipulation, it makes its point unguarded and creates something that, for all its aggression, is beautiful and assured.

Harrison's work is scarcely less potent. He offers the oddly personal "If I Needed Someone" and writes his best rocker in "Think for Yourself" (first use of the word "opaque" in a pop song?). Ringo redeems "Act Naturally," shining on the country-western raveup "What Goes On," which he cowrote. This record is an absolute full-band effort.

Arguments that the American version of this or any other Beatles record is superior to the original British configuration are bullshit. That's a butcher job -- RUBBER SOUL is notably the beginning of albums recorded as albums, and it's one of those cases in which the rock album being crowned a supreme art form seems justified. But while we can all shoot hoops, we're not all Michael Jordan. Nor were the Beatles... this is their most cohesive album by far, and in terms of their output as a group, as Marcus said, "unquestionably their best."

Resigned yet hopeful, RUBBER SOUL offers an auspicious world for a young band. But while it could be said that the record is a beginning of the ambitious midperiod, in reality, for me at least, it marks a single moment... a moment when the band functioned as a band, when Lennon was stepping down from his throne of power and Paul had yet to take on the position. THE BEATLES may be the best work under their name, and A HARD DAY'S NIGHT their most endearing and vital music, but RUBBER SOUL is the peak of everything that made them great. It was not all downhill from here, but they would never duplicate or better it.