50 years. Half a century.

Everything that needs to be said about The Beatles and their 11th album, Abbey Road has been said. The facts about its recording process, the story of a one-of-a-kind band that was coming to an end, the mixed reception of the finished product, the theories surrounding each song, the creation of  the side-B medley. The discussion of that little part of popular music has, in certain ways, ended. 

Still, the fact that it turns 50 years old is an event on itself. As the anniversaries of Rubber Soul, Revolver, The White Album and, most notably, Sgt. Pepper’s, have been. The Beatles, despite whatever their detractors can argue, really influenced music as we know it today in a big way, and, Abbey Road is a perfect example of that influence. How did a band that was in the verge of breaking up forever, reached a level of rapport close to what they had on their glory days in such a short time, after the previous recording session was a complete disaster? Well, I guess after all, The Beatles were a group of four, very talented guys that understood each other deeply. And they showcased exactly that, for one more album.

Eclectic but not as scattershot as The White Album, cohesive at times but never as Sgt. Pepper’s, Abbey Road has a particular identity, one that actually sounds as, it is said, was intended: like it used to. There’s plenty examples of Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s perfect pop, two tracks of George Harrison’s pure songwriting and Ringo Starr contributes a sweet melody about underwater gardens, oh and a solo. In paper, it isn’t anything but a Beatles album.

In practice it is much more than that. You can hear it in the first few notes of the ‘Come Together’ bassline. That song’s mild political commentary was something new to The Beatles’ formula, and yet it sounded familiar. George Harrison outdid himself with the aastounding ‘Something’, the love song to conquer all love songs. It’s sweet, tender and has magnificent chorus and a perfect subdued solo, it’s probably the best song he wrote as a member of the Fab Four. Lennon takes a left turn with ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’, an extended slow jam about his relationship with Yoko Ono, that ends abruptly just to give way to another Harrison great, the popular ‘Here Comes The Sun’. As for Paul McCartney, his pop tendecies are perfectly drawn out in ‘Oh Darling’, a doo-wop ballad in which he delivers an intentional rough vocal performance.

It took me a while to appreciate ‘Because’, but the vocal harmonies are evocative and the complexity that it took recording them showed the devotion that The Beatles still gave to their art at this point in their career. After that, comes the Medley, a quick collection of Lennon and McCartney’s short compositions that work out well. ‘Sun King’ is an interesting experiment, ‘Polythene Pam’ sounds like proto-garage rock, and ‘Golden Slumbers’ is McCartney at his best, sadly, it ends as fast as it started.

Finally the album closes with a track that it’s exactly what it is intended to be. ‘The End’ is supposedly the last song the Liverpool quartet recorded together. Whether they knew that or not, the title and the overall traits of it makes you think that they probably did. Ringo Starr played his only recorded solo and it is followed by a triple two-bar-each solo from Lennon, Harrison and McCartney. It is fun, it is on point and it is still relevant. And when Paul sings: ‘And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make’ feels like a perfect culmination to one of the most prolific, significant and important careers popular music has ever seen.

And that’s why I love Abbey Road: it was an ideal ending. Although it wouldn’t turn out to be The Beatles’ last release, the album is a last great statement, a last strong effort from a band that had already gave enough for a lifetime. Say what you will about The Beatles, but Abbey Road is as excellent as a farewell can get, and in 5 decades it hasn’t lost any of its spark.