The sensational sixth album for the even more sensational stars proved to be the start of something new for the group. Rubber Soul was the starting point for the band's new direction. It is the second album to feature only originals, the first being A Hard Day's Night. The record was released on 3 December 1965, only fours months after Help! The album is considered to be folk rock, also incorporating pop and soul styles. The immense success and popularity of this much-loved album is proven by its ranking at 5th on Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", trailing only future albums Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which would be the band's next two respective albums.
Influences for the music on Rubber Soul include Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys. A key feature that makes this album so revolutionary is a single song - Lennon's "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" featured the sitar, an Indian instrument, played by Harrison. He had been introduced to the sitar whilst filming Help! Thanks to George and his sitar, it is thought that "Norwegian Wood" sparked the craze for Indian rock and raga rock and the distinctive style of the mid-60s.
New and inventive exotic styles can be seen further on the album on tracks such as "Michelle" (which contains French lyrics) and "I'm Looking Through You" (in which Starr taps on a matchbook to create a beat). "In My Life", a Lennon song inspired by his childhood and memories, interestingly features producer George Martin on the piano. Lennon requested for the instrumental piano solo that Martin play something "Baroque-sounding", which proved impossible for Martin to do at the song's current tempo. His piano solo was sped up and made to be an octave higher, giving it sound much like a harpsichord. Harrison's contributions were "If I Needed Someone" and "Think For Yourself". Starr's lead vocals appear on "What Goes On", an early song which is credited to Lennon-McCartney-Starkey.
The photograph on the album cover has a distinctive slope or stretched appearance. This came about when the photographer projected the photos onto a piece of cardboard. When the cardboard fell backwards, the result was what is seen on the cover. The Beatles asked him to make the cover exactly like what they saw. Additionally, it is the first of their albums to not feature their name on the cover, an unusual tactic for 1965.
Unique to this Beatles album: an Indian sitar is played on "Norwegian Wood", introducing non-Western instruments into Western music.
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