Let It Be
In some ways
Let it Be came with a lot more baggage for me the other albums I've reviewed in this thread thus far. The biggest piece, a huge honking steamer trunk of baggage, was of course the album's reputation as being kind of a weak final act for them. The other bit of baggage, maybe more of an overhead carryon that doesn't fit well in the overhead compartment, is that I'm a big fan of Laibach's 1988 humorous reinterpretation of this album as rousing fascist marching tunes. Going in, on some gut level, I think I was a bit reluctant to give the original version much of a chance, and the first time I listened to this album sometime last year I really didn't like it. It seemed as tepid as its reputation suggested. But a funny thing happened on the way to writing this review, I listened to it many more times, often with long lapses of time in between, and much to my amazement it began to grow on me.
It begins fairly strongly with "Two of Us", a jangly, summery tune with a sweet propulsive bass line courtesy of George and some nice minimalistic yet creative drumming from Ringo. "Dig a Pony" is up next, and though it's not among their best songs it does have some positive attributes, namely the down and dirty guitar and the soaring vocals courtesy of Lennon. "Across the Universe" is another quality track and probably the biggest throwback to their psychedelic era. With a few tweaks to the arrangement it's not hard to imagine it fitting right in on
Sgt. Pepper. "I Me Mine" flows nicely out of this and is a solid piece of orchestral pop fused with electric blues—the background horns in particular really make the song for me. The Rolling Stones aping "Dig It" serves as an odd little interlude and then we arrive the centerpiece of the album, the title track. Even going in I already loved "Let It Be", and though I do like the single version better than this one, it's still a magnificent, bittersweet song with a captivating and dynamic structure. Unfortunately, after the soaring heights of this song, the album never quite finds its way again. It's not horrible or anything, just a bit middle-of-the-road. There are a couple highlights though in the form of "I've Got a Feeling", which sounds like it comes from some hairier, harder rocking band, and the country-ish "For You Blue", which features some of the best vocals on the album and some lovely slide guitar playing.
It's not a perfect album by any means, but there's something about its more stripped down style that in many ways does make it seem like the perfect epilogue to their career. I know it was part of McCartney's intent to bring things back somewhat to their early years with this release and I think they succeeded, not just in doing that, but actually in surpassing all of those early albums. Is this the first album I'd reach for if I was in the mood for the Beatles? No. But it's still a solid album with a certainly rainy Sunday appeal. Thanks to Burning Down for sending it my way!
Up next:
Beatles for Sale
P.S. If you're curious about the Laibach version of this album that I mentioned above here's a little sample: