
These 14 songs are The Beatles’ pivot point. On the cover they still have the mop tops, but they’re shaggy and the photo is slightly distorted. The opener, “Drive My Car,” (“Beep beep’m beep beep yeah!”) is rooted in their early cute phase while track two, “Norwegian Wood,” is mysterious and pained and gives George his first sitar solo. An amazing document of progress that just happens to be crawling with songs — “Michelle,” “In My Life,” “Nowhere Man” — it’s also one of rock’s first album-qua-albums; not a raft for a few hits or a soundtrack to a wacky film, but something to be listened to and contemplated from start to finish.