Rubber Soul

Today's Music That Jason Really Isn't Qualified To Discuss is Rubber Soul, by the Beatles, silly. Now, I can't really say that I'm a qualified music critic in any sense of the word, just that I like to think about the music I listen to and that Clear Channel radio and MTV are probably my mortal enemies. So I hope you didn't come here expecting any sort of refined criticism, but if you want a somewhat-uninformed, fairly angry person's point of view, well, you're in the right place. This is the music blog for people who are a fan of extremely uninformed public-television debates.

Anyhow, Rubber Soul takes us back to a place where we only occasionally visit and usually just hope for, where popular music is actually tolerable. It's a rare thing to have the most popular music also be well-written and listenable; we may never have that in the U.S. again. But somehow, in 1965, that is exactly what happened. I really don't care for much of the early boy-band Beatles stuff, but Rubber Soul is a fine album. It predates a lot of the overblown, goofy Sgt. Pepper's-era stuff, so most of it is pretty simple. It's a logical yet enjoyable bridge between their teen-idol days and the more complicated albums of the later bearded period. The lyrics aren't exactly early R.E.M., but Lennon and McCartney manage to make even simple love songs seem both innocent and clever ("Drive My Car"). Harrison got two songs on this album, thankfully, and somehow Ringo even got a songwriting credit! Amazing. But this is a fantastic album, one that probably deserves more credit for pushing the limits of what people should expect from popular music as much, if not more, than the quality of the songs (which is high praise, indeed). The songs here have a basic, uncluttered quality, and they are as memorable as anything you've probably heard. If I say "Norwegian Wood", or "In My Life", or even "Michelle", you'll know what the song sounds like without having to hear it. So in short, if you like your Beatles more complicated and drug-occupied (White Album), this probably isn't the album for you, but it is worth your time.

In other news:
I tried to get my paws on the new British Sea Power album this weekend, without success. I'm having some new tires put on my car today, so it will probably have to wait. Damn nation!