I listened to this twice on the way home on Saturday. It seems a part of the culture now, but I wish I could go back to 1969, with my 48-year-old ears, and hear this for the first time again. There is just SO MUCH here to delight the active listener. As a bassist, I can go through it and marvel at Sir Paul's playing; so active and melodic and ahead of many of his peers. The songwriting, well, not much to say there that hasn't been said elsewhere and with more eloquence. The guitar sounds! From clean to the dirtiest, all at the appropriate times. The singing, from all four boys. The Medley: pure inspiration, and I don't care how much of it was George Martin's idea. The metric modulations in "The End" and in the transition from "Mean Mr. Mustard" into "Polythene Pam" were the first I ever identified in pop music back when I was just learning what the phrase meant. I can't help but wonder how many times Freddie Mercury and the other members of Queen put this on their turntables before recording A Night At The Opera, and in particular, "Bohemian Rhapsody".
A recording completely of its time, yet still timeless.
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