Review: The Beatles ‘Rubber Soul (Super Deluxe)’ – Revisiting The Iconic LP
The Beatles have released the latest in their series of ‘Super Deluxe Editions,’ in this case a box set honoring their 1965 classic Rubber Soul. I’ve always loved this album and I must admit it was the first Beatles’ album I ever purchased.
I was a Stones guy, my brother was the Beatles guy and for odd reasons it wasn’t until college in the 80s that I finally started collecting Beatles albums, this being my initial plunge into their catalog.
As mentioned, this is the latest in a series of box sets dedicated to specific albums where Giles Martin, son of the legend George Martin (Beatles original producer) comes in and works some sorcery on the stereo mixes of classic Beatles LPs. They certainly are exceptional mixes.
In the 60s the mono versions were always considered the definitive version as that’s the mix the bands worked the hardest on… stereo was considered a fad, much like I thought of CDs.
Rubber Soul – Super Deluxe follows box sets for Revolver (1966), Sgt Peppers (1967), The Beatles (aka The White Album, 1968), Abbey Road (1969), and finally, Let It Be (1970). Each of these sets come with the new Giles Martin stereo mix with usually one or more discs of outtakes and early versions.
I’ve usually written these pieces through the lens of “is it worth it,” but it’s a Beatles LP, of course it’s worth it especially if you haven’t bought it before. But at over $200 for vinyl and $138 for CDs (current pricing, which can change), it’s worth asking the question.
While Rubber Soul was and is my first Beatles love, if you will, I have to admit to you I fell in love with the U.S. version. For rapacious reasons Capitol Records, the Beatles’ label in the U.S., would take their albums and edit them, removing some songs and adding others.
They did it so they could squeeze extra releases out with the spare songs like say, Yesterday And Today. Of course, when I fell in love with the U.S. version, where I live, I didn’t know they had UK versions. I mean, what record executive thought it was a good idea to mess with the Beatles original albums? Record companies, what are you gonna do?
On Rubber Soul Capitol removed “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” Ringo’s vocal turn “What Goes On” and George’s “If I Needed Someone” from the US version of the album and added “I’ve Just Seen A Face” and “It’s Only Love.” It took the album from 14 songs in its original incarnation down to 12. Capitol wanted to align the Beatles with the folk rock taking place at the time a la the Byrds and Dylan’s early electric stuff.
Once I discovered the UK version, it only made me love Rubber Soul even more. It’s hard to say that this album was a huge leap forward because all Beatles albums were steps in their amazing evolution. Each album represented a leap forward in sophistication and maturity.
But Rubber Soul to me, does seem to be that quantum leap forward. They were smoking pot and Lennon & Harrison were dabbling in LSD, famously dosed by their dentist (as if dentists aren’t creepy enough). That drug experimentation seems to have really opened their minds creatively. Even the album cover photo is slightly off kilter.
Sure they were still writing love songs but now the scenarios were a little more complicated. It was no longer “All My Loving” or “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” now suddenly it was “I’m Looking Through You” and “Run For Your Life.” I remember thinking maybe the songs were metaphors for their disillusionment with fame or perhaps the vibe like they’d explored on “Help!” or “I’m A Loser.”
In this new ‘Super Deluxe’ box the first disc is the Giles Martin new stereo mix on the UK version. My God it sounds wonderful, even streaming in the car. The themes on these songs are more complicated but so is the instrumentation – “Norwegian Wood” has the sitar. I think they knew they wouldn’t be able to play this stuff live in front of screaming teenage girls.
McCartney has the rocking “Drive My Car,” the wonderful disillusionment of “I’m Looking Through You” and “You Won’t See Me.” Lennon has the wonderful aforementioned “Norwegian Wood” and “Nowhere Man.” I love his song “Run For Your Life.” “In My Life” is a classic. The studio had become a tool to expand their sound.
McCartney and Lennon wrote with Ringo the countrified “What Goes On,” a style Ringo has returned to on his last two T. Bone Burnett produced records (including Long Long Road). George has the fuzzed up “Think For Yourself,” which is just good advice and “If I Needed Someone,” which sounds like the best Byrds’ song ever. It’s like the Beatles heard the Byrds and wanted to prove that anything you can do, we can do better.
My favorite song on this album was always “The Word.” It’s not just a love is groovy kind of track, it’s almost the birth of the whole 60s thing to me. “Say the word, the word is love.” It’s like the Beatles are inviting a generation to join them on the whole love and peace thing but then maybe I’m reading into it.
It’s a perfect album. Disc 3 is the original UK album in the mono mix which I already have. It’s nice that they provided both mixes. There’s not a bad song on this record.
Disc 4 is the modified US version of the album, mixed in a stereo version. I still love this album. “I’ve Just Seen A Face” is such a wonderful folk rock song. The jumbled order is different than the UK version but for those of us who grew up with the US version, we’re used to it.
Disc 2 in this set is the usual set of early, working versions of the songs. If you’re into the whole “window into the creative process” these are fascinating listens. There are really only three songs I could see myself returning to however.
While recording the album they also recorded the double A-side single “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” and 2023 stereo mixes of those songs are included at the end of disc 2. Imagine leaving those two classics off the album!
Finally there’s a John Lennon demo on disc 2 “Little Girl” that is a stunner, albeit not complete, it’s a demo after all. But it’s a cool addition to the Rubber Soul legend. It’s probably been bootlegged but this was the first I had heard it.
So we get to the whole – is it worth it? My first instinct is to say, it’s everything you can think of that’s associated with Rubber Soul, of course it’s worth it. I love the stereo mix that Giles Martin has laid down here, but I have a stereo and mono mix of Rubber Soul already.
I have the US version on vinyl, from that college purchase. The early version stuff really doesn’t do much for me other than “Little Girl (John’s Demo).” At $200 for vinyl/$138 for CDs, I’ll probably wait and see if the price comes down. My advice is to stream this until that happens and it’s more affordable.
Other than my price concerns, this is a truly wonderful, immersive Rubber Soul experience and it’s hard not to love every minute of listening to this set. It’s an iconic, classic record and it deserves this deluxe treatment!
My apologies to those who got a very early version of this post as I hit “publish” instead of “save.” Sigh.
Cheers!
Great review, Ken. As you know, the Beatles are my all-time favorite band, but I haven’t been buying these Super Deluxe sets. They’re just too expensive, and there usually isn’t enough there to justify the price for me, especially when I already own several different versions of these albums on CD and vinyl. I usually listen to the outtakes once, think they’re interesting, and that’s enough.
For some reason, growing up the only Beatles albums we had were the Red and Blue greatest hits albums, along with a few singles on 45. I collected the rest later, including the U.S. versions on vinyl. I believe we’ve discussed my purchase of a bunch of those albums in a QuikTrip parking lot!
One other interesting thing about those U.S. albums is that Capitol didn’t just change the track listings. They also “Americanized” the sound. I have the U.S. albums from the two Capitol Albums CD box sets, and they still use those original U.S. mixes. The more recent U.S. CD releases use the original UK mixes for most of the songs, even though they recreate the American albums. You really can hear the difference.
So I’m pretty much where you are on this one. I’d love to hear Giles Martin’s new mix of Rubber Soul, but at that price, I’ll stream it. I’m not sure I need to buy Rubber Soul yet again!
I love that QuikTrip story… Yeah, this one is a stream only for me. The bonus disc has very little to recommend itself. I mean, it’s cool as it’s the Beatles, but it’s not something you’re going to return to.
Funny, but my parents had that Blue “greatest” double LP and I’d have killed for it but my dad sold his albums without telling me – which says a lot about how close we are, or perhaps in this case, not – so I lost my chance! I’d really wanted the Red one when I was younger but then I bought most of the US records.
I did buy the White Album (for the Esher demos) and Revolver and Let It Be but in those cases there was enough bonus stuff that actually held my interest. Not so much on Abbey Road or Sgt Peppers oddly enough…
Cheers!
To me, expensive box sets only become interesting when they are filled with unreleased songs, rarities, unique versions of well-known songs, live material, and complete albums that have been left on the shelf. Like most archive box sets and albums Neil Young has released over the last decades.
I haven’t followed it, but a great amount of songs and box sets by The Beatles have been released to please every Beatles fan. This box might attract new listeners, but the big fans already have it all, of course. And we shouldn’t forget that The Beatles only existed for 10 years, while more than 50 years have passed in the meantime.
Unlike Neil Young, who has been making music for 60 years now and is still ongoing. That is a big difference, of course.
It is unimaginable what The Beatles achieved in that relatively short period. They changed music, fashion, and the society, set the whole world in motion, and served as an inspiration for their contemporaries and all musicians who came after. Hats off to them. Keep them coming, Kenneth
Guy, I tend to agree with you about what content gets me interested in a box set. My first desire in a set is a contemporary live album from the tour connected with the album being memorialized in the box. Or if it’s a bigger vault collection, I’m always in for a live record from any period.
Next, I want unreleased songs. Give me a peak at some of those gems you held back as an artist for whatever reason. While I’m a sucker for an unreleased album, it’s unusual outside of Springsteen, Neil Young, or Prince for an artist to have complete albums that they shelved. But I love a good “lost album.”
For the Beatles, you make a good point, they were only around for 10 years. There’s a finite amount of material to work with. While ‘Rubber Soul’ is more a “streamer” for me, I did buy ‘The White Album’ set as I wanted the Esher demos. I also picked up ‘Let It Be’ as I wanted to hear some of that hours and hours of jamming the Beatles did. And then I picked up ‘Revolver’ in a fit of over exuberance.
But at this point, if you’re not new to the Beatles – and surprisingly there are a lot of young listeners who are still getting into this band, 60 years on – there’s not a lot to draw you to a box like this. Cheers!
What fascinates me is that four young English lads with no musical training whatsoever, evolved from a boy band playing cover versions of US rock songs into a band that completely changed the world. I can mostly cradit it to the “Fifth Beatle”—producer and arranger George Martin—who encouraged the individual members on to push their boundaries and to color outside the lines. But it was there all he time,and the masterful thing about it is that Martin saw it and brought it to the surface. And the rest is history.
Music that still holds up after 50 or more years deserves the designation to call it classical music.
I couldn’t have said it better!