Additional information
Each copy of this limited edition is sequentially numbered. The packaging recreates the original double-gatefold sleeve and includes the original poster as well as the individual photos of each band member. The Beatles: George Harrison (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, violin, organ, bass, tambourine, firebell); John Lennon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, saxophone, piano, organ, harmonium, bass, 6-string bass, maracas, tambourine, tape loops); Paul McCartney (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, flute, flugelhorn, piano, Hammond organ, bass, drums, bongos, timpani, percussion); Ringo Starr (vocals, piano, drums, bongos, maracas, castanets, tambourine). Additional personnel includes: Yoko Ono (vocals); Eric Clapton (electric guitar); Mal Evans (trumpet, tambourine); George Martin (piano, harmonium); Chris Thomas (harpsichord, Mellotron); Maureen Starkey, Patti Harrison (background vocals). Recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Trident Studios, London, England between May and October 1968. THE BEATLES (generally known as "The White Album" because of its cover) was a sprawling two-record set, highlighting the distinct personalities in the group as they matured and moved further away from each other. With the four Beatles playing like session men on each other's songs, the making of the album was fraught with tension. John Lennon's songs included a bitter take on people who read too much into the Beatles' lyrics ("Glass Onion"), reflections on loneliness and alienation ("Yer Blues," "I'm So Tired"), and the avant garde sound collage "Revolution 9." George Harrison's songs offered black humor ("Piggies") and tender sadness ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps," with Eric Clapton on guitar). Paul McCartney provided both light, lyric songs ("Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," "Honey Pie"), and rockers ("Back In The U.S.S.R.," the explosive "Helter Skelter"). Ringo Starr made his solo songwriting debut with the goofy country/ska lilt of "Don't Pass Me By" and sang the album closer "Good Night."
Reviews
Rolling Stone - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t was the group's longest, most eclectic and emotionally blunt record -- an admission of frayed nerves and strained bonds in the zigzag of garage-roots rock, delicate balladry, proto-metal fury, country ham and radical experiment." Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.90) - Ranked #10 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...THE WHITE ALBUM is an exhilarating sprawl - some of the Beatles' most daring and delicate work..." Q (6/00, p.86) - Ranked #7 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...[Out of] boundless enthusiasm and creeping paranoia - comes [their] most peculiar record....Childish, colorful, antiquated and faintly macabre..." Uncut - "[A] labyrinth through which dark currents run, beauty and surrealism mingling with absurdity and recrimination." Vibe (12/99, p.157) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Q (Magazine) (p.120) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "It's the most honest portrait of a band breaking some limits and banging their heads against others." NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #8 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.' Paste (magazine) (p.60) - "Each track is anchored by the unmistakable collaboration of The Beatles as a solid musical unit."