Last week, I covered the discography of The Beatles' studio albums through the years 1963 to 1965. However, as the Beatles moved away from their earlier years, they began to make a transition into some new musical concepts. The following is my take on their albums from 1966, into their final release in 1970!

Revolver (1966)

When the Beatles released Revolver in 1966, it became clear that they were experimenting with their sound more than ever. Although a few of their previous albums hinted towards a move into a new musical era for them, this is the record that made their new interest in psychedelia quite obvious. Although most of the album reflects this concept, I think Tomorrow Never Knows does it best. Take notice of the distant vocals, various synthesizer sounds in the background, and the overall drifty and repetitive sound of the beat.

Sgt. Pepper (1967)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band continues to expose the Beatles' new interest in psychedelic musical concepts. The album contains many hit tracks, as well as a handful of obscurities that may not be recognized by the common ear. Many of these tracks seem to tell stories, complete with fictitious characters and plot lines. A personal favorite of mine is the last track on the album, entitled ADay in The Life. The song begins in a fairly mellow tone, and follows the course of man's day, (which seems to be an odd one if I do say so myself). As the song progresses, the instrumental layers increase, and the tempo picks up, all to reach a rather abrupt ending. The ending of the song is especially notable, as it contains one of the longest-lasting chords in the history of music, spanning a time period of over 40 seconds. This was achieved by all 4 Beatles and their producer, George Martin, simultaneously playing the same chord very forcefully on multiple pianos.

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

This album was released in cooperation with a Beatles' film that goes by the same title. The movie follows the course of the band as they take a rather psychedelic trip into what often appears as another dimension, and the music certainly does a good job of reflecting the nature of the movie's plot. Nonsense lyrics and fictitious characters throughout the songs become more prominent. In fact, it was later rumored that The Beatles' purposefully produced nonsense or seemingly symbolic obscurities in their lyrics throughout this musical era in order to get people to pay attention to them. With that being said, I have nothing left to say other than I Am The Walrus. (If you have never heard this song before, be prepared to be thrown for quite the loop.)

The White Album (1968)

Alternately entitled simply "The Beatles," The White Album was the band's most substantial album. In fact, it was their only studio album that utilized two vinyl discs in order to provide enough room for the relatively large amount of material on it. There are many greats on this extremely diverse album, and many more obscurities. In fact, the track Revolution 9 is questionable in terms of even being a real song, which clearly highlights their interest in still continuing to throw their fans for some major loops. My personal favorite song from this album is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which features George Harrison on vocals, and friend to the Beatles Eric Clapton on guitar.

Yellow Submarine (1968)

Yellow Submarine is yet another Beatles album that coincides with a film of the same title. This Beatles film is a cartoon, and a particularly psychedelic one if I do say so myself. The movie follows the animated Beatles through the course of a submarine journey through many strange dimensions, in which they encounter many odd creatures and people. Much of the music on the album is orchestral, as it serves as background theme music for the many dimensions that are seen throughout the movie. Although not the most notable of their work, the title track of this album is perhaps one of the most well-known Beatles songs on the market. After all, who can resist the simplistic strains that tell the tale of the Yellow Submarine? A definite highlight on this record is Hey Bulldog. Although the band was clearly going for nonsense in terms of this song's lyrics, the bass line alone is enough to call this track infectious.

Abbey Road (1969)

The album cover for Abbey Road is perhaps one of the most iconic images not only in music, but in history itself. Even if you haven't listened to any of The Beatles' music (which if that's the case, I hope that may change after you have read this article), chances are you have at least seen this album cover. Although the Beatles released Abbey Road as their second to last studio album, it was actually the last album that they worked on as a band. The list of iconic tracks on this album is too long to name, but I think I have to highlight a classic for this one: Come Together may be one of the most well-known Beatles songs out there, but like much of their work, it's so unique in regards to music of the time that it is well worth mentioning. The instrumentation itself is simple, but the bass and the drums truly hold their own throughout the entirety of this track.

Let It Be (1970)

As mentioned previously, Let It Be and Abbey Road were released in reverse order, making this album the one that truly signified the end of an era for Beatles fans everywhere. Although new music was being released to the public, internal issues within the band had already caused the beginnings of break up almost a year before Let It Be's debut. The Beatles truly were an iconic group of musicians who accomplished a great deal of greatness throughout their career together, but like all good things, they too had come to an end. The track that shares a title with this album is perhaps one of the most well-known Beatles songs out there, but I feel that the rest of the record is fairly unknown to the common ear. My personal favorite song from the album is Two Of Us, as I truly feel that, despite the issues they were having at the end of the era of The Beatles, it signifies the friendship shared between John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the time that they worked together as bandmates and cooperating songwriters.