If you know me well you knew this was coming. I became a bona fide lifelong Beatlemaniac at a very young age, once again from discovering John, Paul, George & Ringo's infectious and innovative sound through my parents' collection which had the essentials to get any youngster hooked: Beatles '65, Help!, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road, as well as a slew of '45s to fill in for the missing albums that I eagerly snapped up along the way as my savings permitted. To pick one favorite album is an absurd proposition - almost as absurd as it is to realize the bulk of their unparalleled and transformative on-scene presence lasted barely more than six years - but if I could only take one with me to Quarantine Island, it would be Abbey Road, their last effort as a complete band. Every song is perfection caliber, with George's best-ever contributions ("Something" and "Here Comes the Sun") and Ringo's first-ever composition ("Octopus's Garden"), and I can't listen to this one without recalling the clanging halyards on my Dad's sailboat with this gem frequently in the cassette deck. (A close second for Quarantine Island would be the White Album, with the added benefit of being a double-record set).
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