Rank 'em how you like, Rubber Soul is an undeniable pivot point in the Fab Four's varied discography no matter where, or how, you first heard it. The album was softened up in its original 12-song American edition to jibe with the Dylan/Byrds folk-rock sound, as well as squeeze money from the Parlophone catalog. The 14-song U.K. edition-- the version now available on compact disc--is a different, more dynamic, and ultimately more accomplished achievement. So many classics: "Drive My Car" and "Nowhere Man" (both omitted from the U.S. edition) merge the early combustible Beatifics to a burgeoning studio consciousness; "The Word" can be read as a pre-psych warning shot; the sitar- laden "Norwegian Wood" and the evocative "Girl" (the latter written on the last night of the sessions) stand as turning points in John Lennon's oeuvre. George finally emerges too, with the McGuinn-ish "If I Needed Someone." --Don Harrison
Side A (LP)
1. Drive My Car Lennon/McCartney
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) Lennon/McCartney
3. You Won't See Me Lennon/McCartney
4. Nowhere Man Lennon/McCartney
5. Think For Yourself Harrison
6. The Word Lennon/McCartney
7. Michelle Lennon/McCartney
Side B (LP)
8. What Goes On Lennon/McCartney/Starkey
9. Girl Lennon/McCartney
10. I'm Looking Through You Lennon/McCartney
11. In My Life Lennon/McCartney
12. Wait Lennon/McCartney
13. If I Needed Someone Harrison
14. Run For Your Life Lennon/McCartney
