What's the landmark Beatles album

A.� It has to be Rubber Soul, a landmark album, not only for The Beatles, but also for pop and rock music as whole: it can be seen as the release that stands where 'rock' music actually began, and 'pop' ceased to be the only thing on music listeners' minds.

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Q.� What makes Rubber Soul so different

A.� This album reflects that huge changes that were occurring in youth culture, in music, and in The Beatles themselves. Tiring of the endless grind of tours where they were imprisoned in hotels, and unable to hear the music they were playing, The Beatles turned in on themselves, and created a record that shows the band at the peak of their creative and musical powers. Influences which are taken for granted these days, together with a thematic approach hitherto unknown in pop music joined together to create the masterpiece of The Beatles' formidable musical output.

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Q.� For example

A.� The sitar, used by George Harrison on Norwegian Wood as a reflection of his increasing immersion in Eastern culture and musical tradition, and even the lyrical content of the song itself, John Lennon chronicling the meeting of the woman who was to change and share the rest of his life�- all encapsulated in that one haunting song. The 'Greek' guitar sound on Michelle, with Paul working some rudimentary French into his apparently limitless ability to find romance in his musical world. The fuzz bass on Think For Yourself, once again showing George Harrison's maturity as a songwriter, and the willingness of Lennon and McCartney to allow him to stand alongside them as a creative force within the band. Nowhere Man, a quantum leap in compositional style for the band, a song that moved away from the romance and boy-meets-girl scenarios that had featured in their material from Song One onwards. All these are found in this one album, genuinely deserving of the term 'masterpiece'.

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�Q.� Could The Beatles be said to be growing up on this record

A.� That's an accurate summary of the atmosphere that surrounded the band at the time they wrote and recorded the album. Although producer George Martin still referred to 'the boys', The Beatles were all grown men with their own relationships outside the band, their own futures as individuals to consider, and their own pasts to draw on as inspiration�- reflected on the songs on this album far more than in their previous material.

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Q.� Can this album be called the first 'rock' album

A.� It is the first rock album in the true sense of the word, because previous to the release of Rubber Soul and all albums like it, LPs were made by taking a hit single or two, adding a fair amount of 'filler', and putting it out for the general public to consume. Of course The Beatles' 'filler' tracks were always streets ahead of the competition, but the collection of songs on Rubber Soul contain no filler whatsoever. For the first time, an album was created as a cohesive collection of songs, not just a couple of singles and some other stuff to fill the silence. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was so impressed by the sheer quality and depth of the material on this album, that it directly inspired him to create the groundbreaking Beach Boys album Pet Sounds.

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Q.� Any other ways in which it is unusual

A.� Several. This is the first Beatles album which doesn't feature the band's name on the cover. It's also the first album to credit all four of the band members as composers, and it's the first album with no compositions from outside the band.

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Q.� Should a new listener start their Beatles collection with this album

A.� It's probably best to listen to The Beatles in chronological order. This way, you get to hear the evolution of the band from the original fresh faced up-and-at-it pop songs of the first few albums, through the maturity process begun with Rubber Soul and continued and expanded on Revolver, and onwards as the band continued to grow and experiment with their ideas, and the growing musical technology that was made available to them.� One can only ponder what sort of music The Beatles could have made with the modern technology available today.

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Q.� So is this the best Beatles album

A.� It's a great record, but The Beatles never released anything substandard as a band�- the creative competition, especially between Lennon and McCartney, ensured that quality control was always a prime consideration. Opinions vary as to whether it is the greatest Beatles album, but for the reasons outlined above, it is a significant milestone in the musical journey of the greatest pop group in the world.

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By Andy Hughes