The Beatles

The Beatles’ catalog moves from concise guitar pop and stage-tested rhythm and blues toward increasingly varied songwriting and studio construction. Close harmonies and the contrast between individual voices remain recognizable as the arrangements expand to include acoustic textures, orchestral instruments, Indian influences and tape experimentation. Rubber Soul and Revolver make that development especially clear, while Sgt. Pepper frames the studio album as a continuous presentation. The sprawling White Album and the contrasting approaches of Abbey Road and Let It Be then offer different ideas of how the group could work together. Comparing the albums rewards attention to sequence and ensemble playing as well as familiar songs; the non-album recordings collected on Past Masters add another perspective on the same development.