Yellow Submarine

Story Behind the Album

This album is, in my humble opinion, the weakest by the Beatles.  They showed a lack of concern  for the material that was being released and it shows.  The album is a soundtrack for the Beatles fourth movie, although this one is much  different as the Beatles themselves play no role in the movie.  This movie is a cartoon made for adults and children alike and the Beatles do not  even do their own voices.  The loss of  control or input is also  evident on the album as only six of the thirteen songs are their own.  To  make this proportion even  more slight, 2 of them have been previoulsy released. The title track was already released on "Revolver" and "All You Need is Love" was released on the previous  record, Magical Mystery  Tour.    George overshadows John and Paul as two of the four new releases are his songs.  "Only a Northern Song" and "It's All Too Much" are his on the album.  These are  good songs, but they are   by no means his best.  The first song is the stronger of the two and it is a humorous dig at John and Paul's publishing company, Northern Songs.  Paul's contribution, "All Together Now" is a very weak song, but it is  written for a children's movie, so it  does fit in well.  The  lyrics however, are very very trite as is the rhythm.  John contributes what I feel is the best song, but it too is weak. "Hey Bulldog" has an interesting  piano  part but the  lyrics are trite and the  overall sound is abrasive.   George Martin writes the remaining 7 songs in a classical style.   This album is indeed a poor one by the Beatles, but it was a very difficult time for them.  This album is made up for   however with the Beatles next release.

Track Listing

1. Yellow  Submarine 2. Only A Northern Song [Harrison] 3. All Together Now 4. Hey Bulldog 5. It's All Too Much [Harrison] 6. All You  Need Is Love 7. Pepperland [Martin] 8. Sea of Time [Martin] 9. Sea of Holes [Martin] 10. Sea of Monsters [Martin] 11. March of the  Meanies [Martin] 12. Pepperland Laid Waste [Martin] 13.Yellow Submarine in Pepperland [arr by Martin]

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