I am one of the few people who did not grow up much with The Beatles. I know the same hits as everyone else, but the records themselves and anything beyond basic knowledge escaped me. This is my story with many classic bands and artists throughout recorded music’s history. I wanted to change that because I am a songwriter and an artist who believes that learning from the best and the history of the industry will inform my art and journey moving forward. Last semester, I decided to take the Bob Dylan course at MTSU, and I am currently taking The Beatles and The British Invasion course to further my musical education and listening experience.
If you have read more of my reviews, you know it takes me a good bit of time to acclimate to an album/artist/or band. The Beatles were enjoyable to me in their early records, but Rubber Soul is where I fell deeply in love and was the first record that truly resonated with me. This record was an immediate love, and I cannot stop listening to it. Rubber Soul is widely known as the first great record from The Beatles, and I can’t help but agree. I do love the early records, but Rubber Soul has a stronger consistency and level of quality throughout all of the songs, along with a new, more experimental direction. Rubber Soul was The Beatles’ sixth record and followed a pretty interesting line of evolution from the prior records. Help! felt like The Beatles were taking a cautious first step in this direction away from their early music, while Rubber Soul no longer had that fear and was a giant leap forward.
I first listened to Rubber Soul recently on October 1st, the day before the new Giles Martin 2026 remix came out. Funny timing, but I am glad to have experienced Rubber Soul at this time in my life. Rubber Soul matches perfectly with the fall season thanks to the aesthetics on the album cover and the cool yet warm atmosphere of the record. The summer in Middle Tennessee is miserably hot, so when October comes around, and all that is left is a cool wind and warm surroundings, I truly become happy and at peace. My morning walk to campus with Rubber Soul in my ears and the cool wind running through my hair is delightful. The record puts a pep in my step and has renewed my energy and outlook on life. The end of summer and start of fall can be a difficult period in people’s lives, with the warmth of the summer pulling away and life’s responsibilities hitting like a freight train. I find the early days of fall to be difficult, with the new school year beginning and my day-to-day routine changing at this time of year. When October comes around, I truly start to appreciate the season with most of the warmth gone now and my responsibilities and life coming back down to a healthy rhythm. Rubber Soul feels like the safe and balanced fall as opposed to the chaotic and hot start of fall.
The new mixes are a fantastic addition to the experience as well, with a deeper emphasis on the low end, showing off the work of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The previous 2009 mixes of The Beatles leave a lot to be desired, with hard panning the instruments on the left and the vocals on the right, so I am grateful for getting to experience and love Rubber Soul with a proper modern approach to mixing for stereo. Giles Martin has the difficult task of maintaining the original feel of a record while at the same time modernizing them and bringing them to the present. He takes good and thoughtful care of Rubber Soul with his 2026 mix and deeply improves the listening experience. Giles preserved the original, warm feel of the record while allowing listeners to appreciate a proper stereo image of the tracks.
The tracklist of Rubber Soul is the strongest yet in their catalogue; later releases tend to overshadow Rubber Soul in the public consciousness and discussions, but Rubber Soul is a very strong and consistent record, especially when compared to the records from before. Rubber Soul is absolutely loaded with heavy-hitting tracks like “Norwegian Wood”, “In My Life”, and “Michelle,” and my personal favorites include “Think For Yourself” and “What Goes On”. The entire record flows so well from song to song, with the only hiccup being “Run For Your Life,” although I still enjoy that song musically. I keep mentioning Rubber Soul’s tracklist and consistency because in prior releases from The Beatles, there feels like a lot of fluff and filler, whether it is covers or weaker songs, but Rubber Soul is an incredibly strong record with no fluff or filler. This record feels like The Beatles finally decided that albums are important rather than just a collection of songs thrown together. The overall vibe and aesthetics of the album are consistent as well as the songwriting material and instrumentation. Bob Dylan is often cited as one of the biggest influences on The Beatles, and Rubber Soul is the first record that truly displays this influence in their songwriting, instrumentation, experimentation, and drug use. Help! showcased the beginnings of what this impact would look like, but Rubber Soul is where the influence of Dylan fully broke through and started developing in The Beatles.
Even though I am 60 years late to the 60s and finally experiencing this great period of music, I am so blown away. I can’t express how important The Beatles are and how well they hold up in the present day. Even after all these years, The Beatles’ musicality and songwriting sounds so unique and fresh. The new mixes from Giles Martin help solidify this even more, but the creativity and power of The Beatles are unmatched. Rubber Soul is just as amazing today as it was 60 years ago. You should give the new 2026 mix of Rubber Soul a listen, whether you’ve heard the record a million times or if it is as new for you as it was for me.
