Drive My Car - 3
Norwegian Wood - 4
You Won't See Me - 3
Nowhere Man - 3
Think For Yourself - 3
The Word - 3
Michelle - 4
What Goes On - 3
Girl - 4
I'm Looking Through You - 4
In My Life - 4
Wait - 3
If I Needed Someone - 3
Run For Your Life - 3
Total - 47 stars / 14 tracks = 3.36 stars, normalized to 3.5 stars
Some day I am going to have to resolve something in my head. Which, between this album and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds is the more overrated? Immediate backlash and the effigy of myself currently burning on my front walk demonstrate how passionately people feel that these are among the best. albums. EVER! Talking strictly about Rubber Soul now, the album is listed at #22 on RateYourMusic.com's Greatest Albums Of All Time, whereas Rolling Stone as it listed as #5 on theirs. Personally, I have it around #143, somewhere between XTC's Nonsuch and Elton John's The Big Picture.
By no means do I wish to convey a distaste for the music on Rubber Soul. I definitely think that there is enjoyment to be found in many parts of the album, but songs like "You Won't See Me" and "Nowhere Man" just don't stand up to the Beatles' future and better efforts. If these kinds of simple, harmony-driven okay pieces are what make up the greatest albums ever, then, given a few decades to age, there's no reason that 5ive's Invincible won't soon be joining the mix.
Furthermore, if I could listen to this album in a total vaccuum, there wouldn't be any talk of disappointment. It's better than decent on its own, but it's not. It's an album by the freaking Beatles and, no matter how unfairly, it has nearly flawless siblings to live up to. It doesn't, but that doesn't mean it's not a good album.
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