Although it was seen as a contractual obligation by The Beatles, Yellow Submarine remains a fascinating piece. An A-side littered with some of their all-time best works, and a B-side which heard George Martin fill in the blanks for a band which were trying to focus on their double album powerhouse, The White Album. Recorded before and released after that pivotal moment, Yellow Submarine is, perhaps rightly, cast aside. Either because its title is derived from a Ringo Starr track which, once covered at a concert hall on ukulele, will haunt your dreams, or because the B-side filler is performed with little reason or link to the A-side thrills. It feels like a hang-up of the psychedelic period, with All You Need Is Love channelling that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band feeling more than this release, and yet the obligation is fulfilled. Their tenth album is messy but rewarding in its own way.
Yellow Submarine is easy enough to consider as just another headache of contractual trouble, but it does hold real value, not just because of the A-side thrills. The title track, a Starr-penned classic which felt more like an invasion of pop culture than a deserved best-of feature, has grown affectionately with time. Yellow Submarine is home to the hits which did not fit around what was to come, nor what preceded the animated film. A charming track, as is the case for many Starr efforts, not least the likes of Goodnight Vienna and Look Up. Yellow Submarine, both song and album, hold their own through the longevity now associated with the film and the A-side. All You Need is Love and Hey Bulldog are heavy hitters which deserve more than to be featured on a movie soundtrack release. Yet this is often where the best of The Beatles can be found.
A Hard Day’s Night is the best of their pre-Rubber Soul releases and Magical Mystery Tour, like it or not, is musically stronger than Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Only a Northern Song and All Together Now are relatively light efforts, the contractual obligation feeling on both tracks is hard to shake. The latter song, at least, is of the same camaraderie as All You Need Is Love. It is hard to disagree with what John Lennon said about the George Martin orchestral pieces, though. They are a bit underwhelming. Disney-like slop which is meant to tug at the heartstrings. There are pockets of brilliance. Sea of Time is a marvel in mood setting though Pepperland is a particularly weak offering. That latter half of the album is fine enough, instrumental filler at times, but it is at least a better fate than being carried off and beaten by Blue Meanies.
Either it is the wine or the fever caused by a cold, but the Martin-led orchestra work is nothing more than a stock selection of instrumentals. The sort of music you would expect from a set of musicians tasked with covering The Beatles in the most copyright-free manner possible. A sad state of affairs for the latter half, though soundtrack albums are where filler is most likely to appear. Somewhat of a disappointment, but given the refreshing thrills of a quality-laden A-side, it is hard to not appreciate Yellow Submarine. The Beatles find a spot for a few overlooked classics, compiling them on an offering which would have been better suited to an EP release, but for contractual reasons, could not be released as such.
