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The Beatles 'Let It Be': So Good They Ruined It for Everyone

The Lumineers' Wesley Schultz recalls the Beatles' influence on his band, perhaps most of all the Let It Be album, released 50 years ago this month and the subject of a forthcoming documentary.

Music

Counterbalance No. 14: The Beatles - 'The Beatles' a.k.a. 'The White Album'

The Beatles' 1968 self-titled double LP has been referenced by everyone from Joan Didion to Charles Manson and analyzed literally backward and forward. Mendelsohn and Klinger, always smiling and arriving late for tea, discuss the Number 14 album on the Big List.

Music

Counterbalance No. 5: The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

Number five on the list is practically synonymous with Great Artistic Statements. But was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band really the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper"? A splendid time is guaranteed for all as Counterbalance figures it out.

Music

Counterbalance No. 2: The Beatles' 'Revolver'

In this installment of the tag-team series Counterbalance, we take on the Beatles’ 1966 bellwether Revolver. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream!

Music

The 20 Best Album Re-Issues of 2019

In 2019, the music world saw amazing reissues spanning rock legends to foundational electronic artists, soul and jazz to pop of all stripes.

Music

The 20 Best Album Re-Issues of 2009

Step back 10 years when we presented our 20 best re-issues of 2009, highlighted by the long overdue remastering of the Beatles oeuvre, a number of '80s and '90s classics, and one of the most storied catalogues in electronic music.

Music

The Beatles 'Abbey Road Super Deluxe Edition' Sounds Fresh and New

The Beatles 'Abbey Road Super Deluxe Edition' box set reissue is lovingly curated and mixed in stereo 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos by Giles Martin and Sam Okell.

Books

By the Book: 'Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles'

In Solid State, acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road. (excerpt)

Film

The Kid Is Alright: Andrew Slater's 'Echo in the Canyon'

Music documentary Echo in the Canyon beautifully captures Jakob Dylan's search for the best lessons in collaboration from pioneering California Sound supergroups.

Music

The 21 Best Album Re-Issues of 2018

In 2018, the music world saw amazing reissues spanning rock titans to indie upstarts and electronic to pop of all stripes.

Music

Bleached: The Beatles' White Album Effect on the US Alt-rock Explosion of 1988-95

The Beatles' White Album has been credited with a lot of things over its 50-year history, but how about as the single biggest influence on US alternative rock as it burst into the mainstream in the late '80s and early '90s? Well, it's not as crazy as you might think.

Books

Graphic Novel 'The Beatles Yellow Submarine' Is Pure Delight

Bill Morrison's The Beatles Yellow Submarine mixes its psychedelia to fully represent the strange combinations found in George Dunning's 1968 film.

Music

The Beatles' 'White Album' Sounds Glorious on the 50th Anniversary Edition

Sketches, alternatives, and a beautiful 50th anniversary restoration of the eponymously titled landmark Beatles double LP.

Books

Really, Really Loving the Beatles: Carol Tyler's 'Fab4 Mania'

Tyler's excitement and seemingly never-ending thrill from the point of view of her younger self as a Beatles fan nearly leaps from the page.

Books

'Jimi Hendrix and Philosophy' Is a Mixed Bag, Man

Jumping into the fire, howling wind, and bombs bursting in air with the uber rock god.

Music

The 10 Most Famous Albums That Never Saw the Light of Day

Here's 10 albums that never happened but are still discussed among fans and often recreated in some shape or form by the original artists, inspired musicians, or just hungry fans.

Music

Say It Loud! 100 Great Protest Songs: Part 2 - Steve Reich to the Sex Pistols

PopMatters has scoured the musical spectrum for the best examples of the protest song form, including anthems of great popularity and obscurity alike. Stay tuned all week as we unveil the top 100.

Music

Relisten Without Prejudice to Yoko Ono's 'Plastic Ono Band'

Americans in the '70s would not accommodate a female Japanese performer of experimental music that is designed to provoke. Have we grown since then?

Music

The 21 Best Album Re-Issues of 2017

In 2017, the music world saw amazing reissues from all over the genre map, spanning rock titans to indie upstarts and jazz to soul.

Books

'Smithsonian Rock and Roll' Welcomes the Amateur Concert Photographer

This new book featuring concert photos taken by fans is a stylish, interesting, and absorbing, yet somewhat incomplete look at the history of popular music.

Music

Treasuring Memories of Paul McCartney on 'One on One' Tour

McCartney welcomed Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt out for a song at Madison Square Garden.

Music

Lost Chords, Major Chords, Minor Chords, Dissonant Counter-melodies: 'Dreaming the Beatles'

This biography of the Beatles illustrates how their personality dynamics served as both a necessary elixir and an addictive poison in the creation of their music.

Music

You're Such a Lovely Audience: 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

Celebrating Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with a little help from their friends; Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Joe Cocker, Neil Young and the Mona Lisa Twins.

News

The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' Album to Get Deluxe 50th-Anniversary Edition

The most ambitious reissue yet of an individual album from the Beatles' catalog is coming May 26.

Randy Lewis

Music

Phil Collins: Singles

The main question with Singles is this: does Phil Collins really deserve all the critical revilement he's gotten for decades?

Music

Paul McCartney Takes Nothing for Granted on 'One on One' Tour

Paul McCartney showered the Philly audience with love and even helped one couple get engaged.

Music

Ringo Starr Embodies Peace As He Leads Thrilling All-Starr Band

Starr's show is one of the most surprising and enjoyable throwbacks of the year.

Books

'Paul McCartney: The Life' Doesn't Whitewash or Sensationalize

Philip Norman's latest biography is loaded with wonderful passages, fascinating stories and cracking humor.

Jeremy Mikula

Music

Five 'Revolver'-era Songs That Prove George Martin's Impact on the Music World

Revolver marks the moment the Beatles leaped forward to become the most influential studio artists in rock 'n' roll history. George Martin had a huge role in that progression.

Timothy Malcolm

Music

The Glorious, Quixotic Mess That Is the Beatles' 'White Album'

The crabbed, irate, confounding nature of the Beatles' White Album -- a hard dose of reality compared to the fantasy offered the year before -- fit well with the zeitgeist of 1968.

Music

John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero': Boundaries, Mobility, and Honesty

The working class song has to speak of boundaries and ambition, but it also has to say where the performer stands among the people, among the classes—or where he thinks he stands, or wants to stand.

Music

In 'Beatlebone', Kevin Barry Brings John Lennon Back for an Encore

Barry imagines a lonely 1978 pilgrimage taking Lennon to the uninhabited island off the west coast of Ireland that Lennon had purchased a decade earlier.

Mike Fischer

Music

Come Together: Barb Jungr and John McDaniel Perform the Beatles

With their beautiful and thrilling new show, Barb Jungr and John McDaniel bring fresh insights, great humour and searing passion to familiar Beatles compositions.

Music

Ringo Starr Releases 'Photograph' Collection and is Subject of Short Doc

Famed drummer Ringo Starr is also an avid photographer. At the Strand, Starr discussed images from his collection Photograph with Little Steven Van Zandt.

Music

The Beatles 'Abbey Road' -- But Oh, That Magic Feeling, Nowhere to Go

Abbey Road still fills me with the sense of wonder and fascination it did when listening to it over and over on my dad’s turntable.

Reviews

MetalMatters: The Best New Heavy Metal Albums of September 2020

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PopMatters is moving to WordPress. We will publish a few essays daily while we develop the new site. We hope the beta will be up sometime late next week.

The 10 Best Snippets from the Solo Sonic Psychology of John Winston Ono Lennon.

The Lumineers' Wesley Schultz recalls the Beatles' influence on his band, perhaps most of all the Let It Be album, released 50 years ago this month and the subject of a forthcoming documentary.

The Beatles' 1968 self-titled double LP has been referenced by everyone from Joan Didion to Charles Manson and analyzed literally backward and forward. Mendelsohn and Klinger, always smiling and arriving late for tea, discuss the Number 14 album on the Big List.

Number five on the list is practically synonymous with Great Artistic Statements. But was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band really the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper"? A splendid time is guaranteed for all as Counterbalance figures it out.

In this installment of the tag-team series Counterbalance, we take on the Beatles’ 1966 bellwether Revolver. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream!

In 2019, the music world saw amazing reissues spanning rock legends to foundational electronic artists, soul and jazz to pop of all stripes.

Step back 10 years when we presented our 20 best re-issues of 2009, highlighted by the long overdue remastering of the Beatles oeuvre, a number of '80s and '90s classics, and one of the most storied catalogues in electronic music.

The Beatles 'Abbey Road Super Deluxe Edition' box set reissue is lovingly curated and mixed in stereo 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos by Giles Martin and Sam Okell.

In Solid State, acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road. (excerpt)

Music documentary Echo in the Canyon beautifully captures Jakob Dylan's search for the best lessons in collaboration from pioneering California Sound supergroups.

In 2018, the music world saw amazing reissues spanning rock titans to indie upstarts and electronic to pop of all stripes.

The Beatles' White Album has been credited with a lot of things over its 50-year history, but how about as the single biggest influence on US alternative rock as it burst into the mainstream in the late '80s and early '90s? Well, it's not as crazy as you might think.

Bill Morrison's The Beatles Yellow Submarine mixes its psychedelia to fully represent the strange combinations found in George Dunning's 1968 film.

Sketches, alternatives, and a beautiful 50th anniversary restoration of the eponymously titled landmark Beatles double LP.

Tyler's excitement and seemingly never-ending thrill from the point of view of her younger self as a Beatles fan nearly leaps from the page.

Jumping into the fire, howling wind, and bombs bursting in air with the uber rock god.

Here's 10 albums that never happened but are still discussed among fans and often recreated in some shape or form by the original artists, inspired musicians, or just hungry fans.

PopMatters has scoured the musical spectrum for the best examples of the protest song form, including anthems of great popularity and obscurity alike. Stay tuned all week as we unveil the top 100.

Americans in the '70s would not accommodate a female Japanese performer of experimental music that is designed to provoke. Have we grown since then?

In 2017, the music world saw amazing reissues from all over the genre map, spanning rock titans to indie upstarts and jazz to soul.

This new book featuring concert photos taken by fans is a stylish, interesting, and absorbing, yet somewhat incomplete look at the history of popular music.

McCartney welcomed Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt out for a song at Madison Square Garden.

This biography of the Beatles illustrates how their personality dynamics served as both a necessary elixir and an addictive poison in the creation of their music.

Celebrating Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with a little help from their friends; Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Joe Cocker, Neil Young and the Mona Lisa Twins.

The most ambitious reissue yet of an individual album from the Beatles' catalog is coming May 26.

These are not necessarily the “best songs" in the Beatles' storied catalogue, but these are the songs through which we might gain the deepest appreciation for their popular genius.

The main question with Singles is this: does Phil Collins really deserve all the critical revilement he's gotten for decades?

Paul McCartney showered the Philly audience with love and even helped one couple get engaged.

Starr's show is one of the most surprising and enjoyable throwbacks of the year.

Philip Norman's latest biography is loaded with wonderful passages, fascinating stories and cracking humor.

Revolver marks the moment the Beatles leaped forward to become the most influential studio artists in rock 'n' roll history. George Martin had a huge role in that progression.

The crabbed, irate, confounding nature of the Beatles' White Album -- a hard dose of reality compared to the fantasy offered the year before -- fit well with the zeitgeist of 1968.

The working class song has to speak of boundaries and ambition, but it also has to say where the performer stands among the people, among the classes—or where he thinks he stands, or wants to stand.

Barry imagines a lonely 1978 pilgrimage taking Lennon to the uninhabited island off the west coast of Ireland that Lennon had purchased a decade earlier.

With their beautiful and thrilling new show, Barb Jungr and John McDaniel bring fresh insights, great humour and searing passion to familiar Beatles compositions.

Famed drummer Ringo Starr is also an avid photographer. At the Strand, Starr discussed images from his collection Photograph with Little Steven Van Zandt.

Abbey Road still fills me with the sense of wonder and fascination it did when listening to it over and over on my dad’s turntable.