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List Price: $34.98 | | Label: Capitol
Salesrank: 14706
Released: November 24, 1998 |
| Our Price: $85.99 |
| Used Price: $21.98 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Better known as the "White Album," this remastered version of the Beatles' 1968 classic was meant to be the record that brought them back to earth after three years of studio experimentation. Instead, it took them all over the place, continuing to burst the envelope of pop music. Lennon and McCartney were still at the height of their powers, with Lennon in particular growing into one of rock's towering figures. But even Paul could still rock, and the amazing thing about "Helter Skelter" was that he had vocal cords at the end. From Beach Boys knockoffs to reggae to the unknown ("Revolution #9"), this has it all. Some records have legend written all over them; this is one. --Chris Nickson
The Beatles (The White Album) Reviews:
Too much padding 
2008-08-06 - The Fab Four always respected their record-buying public, and adhered to their own standards as the flagship pop group of the era. Their quality control was tight. They never released a live album, for example, because neither the quality of the performance nor the sound would have been up to snuff. The "Let It Be" tapes sat on the shelf for months because the group weren't happy with them. Parlophone, their U.K. label, didn't put out an entire album of material that had already been previously released until "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" came out in 1966, and the title of that record clearly indicated to buyers what they were getting. Nevertheless, "The Beatles," released in late 1968, clearly reveals a slip in quality from the top rung of the ladder. Many listeners give this the usual 5-star Beatle album rating, but I don't. Though high points abound ("Julia," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Blackbird," "Helter Skelter," et. al.), as the only double album the band released, it contains far too much half-baked screwing around in the studio. Paul McCartney's "Rocky Raccoon" (complete with bogus hillbilly accent) is one of his most overrated tunes, and no one can seriously argue that his "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" is anything approaching a decent song. For his part, John Lennon doesn't escape criticism, either; much of the record is taken up by his tape-recording experimentation ("Revolution 9"), which isn't songwriting, and really isn't that interesting, either, forty years later. The White Album reflects the growing fragmentation of the group; by this time, the individual Beatles were writing and recording separately from the others. Thus, the band's days were already numbered by the time this album came out.
The Beatles White Album
2008-04-17 - If you like the Beatles, this album is a must have -- the music is absolutely fantastic!
I love the Beatles, but far can you push it? 
2008-03-23 - The Beatles are, without a doubt, my favorite band. By quite a long shot, in fact. But I'm not under the impression their music was infallible by any means, and to me this serves as a rude interruption to the greatest winning streak (which began with Help! and ended with Let It Be) in rock history. Every Beatles album but this released from 1965-1970 deserves 4.5-5 stars. This one... well, it confuses me.
It's too bad, because it's got its strengths. Even for a Beatles record, it's diverse - the first four tracks alone have them going from surf-rock to psychedelic folk to chamber-pop to pseudo-ska without missing a beat. It's very well arranged and produced. And fourteen of these thirty tracks are among the Beatles' absolute finest songs. "Back in the U.S.S.R." is a funny parody of the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, and Chuck Berry. "Dear Prudence" is lush, trippy, and lovely, with some fine harmonies. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" gets maligned a lot, but I think it's fun. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a deep-thinking rock epic, with a legendary guitar solo from George's Eric Clapton. The three-part "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is the best on the record, one part haunting acid rock, one part ear-bursting proto-metal, one part mock doo-wop. "Martha My Dear" shows Paul at his best with a big, over-the-top, sweetly melodic pop song. "Blackbird" is another lovely Paul ballad; the retro "Birthday" is a fine flat-out rocker; "Yer Blues" is a funny blues parody; "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey" is the group at their most infectious; "Sexy Sadie" has bitter anti-Mariashi lyrics and a fine piano part to match; "Helter Skelter" rocks, an efficient response to the extreme experiments with volume of Hendrix, Jeff Beck and the Who that were occurring in '68; "Revolution 1" isn't as good as "Revolution", but those are some nice horns, and I adore those "shoo-be-doo-wop" harmonies; lastly, "Savoy Truffle" is a funky rocker with a guitar v. sax showdown that probably inspired several Rolling Stones hits. Those fourteen would've definitely kept the album's scope intact, and would've made for the greatest album ever. And even the tossoff goof tracks ("Rocky Raccoon", "Piggies", "Glass Onion"; "Why Don't We Do it in the Road?"; "I'm so Tired") are well-produced, well-written, quirky, and memorable.
The problem lies in the remaining few songs. "Julia" and "Mother Nature's Son" aren't exactly bad, but they're incredibly blah. And Ringo gets screwed. While he had always got the more "lightweight" songs in the first place, they were always amicable, and some of them were great. Neither of his songs is anywhere close to that. "Don't Pass Me By" (which he wrote) is an awful country hoedown, and "Good Night" (which he didn't right) is so schmaltzy it hurts. Paul's interest in '30s jazz had resulted in two great songs on previous albums ("When I'm Sixty-Four", "Your Mother Should Know") comes back to bite him in the butt on "Honey Pie", which can't decide if it wants to be a straight-faced homage to the genre or a mocking parody - it's a poor song either way you cut the pie. No pun intended. Seriously, I had already forgotten the word "pie" was in the song's title by the time I wrote it. That says a lot about me, doesn't it? And "Wild Honey Pie", the twisted cousin to "Honey Pie" is mindless indulgence. Short, yes, but horrendous. And "I Will" is extremely dull, though it's funny how it comes after "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" on the tracklist. Of course, Paul's not the only one to blame. John did come up with the record's biggest travesty, the notorious sound collage "Revolution 9", as well as the childish, condescending "Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"; "Cry Baby Cry", an attempt at Syd Barrett-esque whimsy that fails because it lacks what really made Syd's whimsical songs interesting: the undercurrent of menace and insanity. I think he's responsible for "Good Night", too. George doesn't escape unscathed either, chipping in "Long, Long, Long", which other than the flute is dreary.
So this had the potential to be great, but ego gets in the way. Hey, maybe it was made big, sprawling, and messy on purpose, so fans could pick out their own favorites! Who knows?
MONO,MONO,MONO please! 
2005-12-08 - As a reviewer wrote on January 12, 2000, why not the MONO mix for this "special" re-release?
The music is 5 stars, but 1 star for the uninspired release.
I feel unworhty to comment on this album.
2005-10-08 - I know all the cliches and all the buzz words and the hows and the whys. I can't add much more to what has been already said by the excellent reviewers except EMI/Capital remaster this mother or else you'll have me to deal with.
How can people not like The Beatles? It astounds me.
