The Beatles

When Abbey Road was recorded in April of 1969, The Beatles had just come out of their disappointing Get Back sessions (which became the Let It Be album). The members were barely speaking to each other by that point—which makes the final product even more incredible. Abbey Road shows the band taking full advantage of what the studio has to offer (it was also the first, and only, Beatles album recorded on an eight-track tape machine). The remaster is warmer and crisper—likely very close to what the band envisioned 30 years ago. Although the Beatles were (miraculously) at their creative zenith with Abbey Road, it’s definitely the band’s least-balanced record, coming off almost like two separate albums. And while Paul McCartney receives much repute for helping George Martin piece together the closing nine-song suite that kicks off with “You Never Give Me Your Money,” the medley remains only slightly interesting and somewhat flaccid. John Lennon’s “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is still the record’s centerpiece, with its groovy-to-doomy dynamics making it perhaps the most goose-bump-inducing seven minutes ever put to wax. Of course, on compact disc that song butts up perfectly against the George Harrison-penned “Here Comes the Sun”—one of the few benefits to owning a digital version of the album.