Beatles' Rubber Soul Back at No. 1 After Deluxe Reissue
The Beatles are back at No. 1. The deluxe reissue of Rubber Soul, released on 2 October, has put the 1965 album on top of Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart dated 17 October.
It is a sharp return. The album earned 58,000 equivalent album units, the measure that rolls album sales and streams into one figure, in the United States in the week ending 8 October, according to Luminate data reported by Billboard. That was up 1,626% from 4,000 in the previous tracking period.
Sales did the heavy work. About 50,000 of the total came as album sales, which sent Rubber Soul back to No. 1 on Billboard's all-genre Top Album Sales chart. It is the band's eighth No. 1 on that chart since it began in 1991.
Vinyl buyers were a large part of the story. The album topped Billboard's Vinyl Albums chart with 24,000 copies sold on vinyl. It is the group's seventh No. 1 on that chart.
Sixty years on, it is back in the top five. Rubber Soul re-entered the all-genre Billboard 200 at No. 4. Billboard said it is the album's first week in the chart's top 10 since the chart dated 9 April 1966. The album spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 between the 8 January and 12 February charts of 1966.
The No. 1 is also the band's seventh on Top Rock Albums, a chart that began in 2006. The Beatles first led it in 2007 with Love, the companion album to its Cirque du Soleil show. Reissues of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2017 and Abbey Road in 2019 also led the chart, followed by the 2022 reissue of Revolver. For chart purposes, Billboard combines all versions of an album.
The new Special Edition centres on a new stereo mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, according to The Beatles. It also includes the original mono mix, the Capitol US album version and Dolby Atmos mixes, alongside never-before-released session recordings and demos.
The set adds the singles “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out”. It also contains a home demo of “Little Girl”, a previously unheard song written and recorded by John Lennon. The reissue was offered in several configurations, including a four-CD edition and a five-LP edition with original and new mixes, demos and alternate session takes.
Rubber Soul was first released as an LP on 3 December 1965, the band's sixth album. It became their sixth consecutive No. 1 album in the United Kingdom. The track list includes “Drive My Car”, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, “Nowhere Man”, “Michelle”, “Girl” and “In My Life”.
The result in Britain was different this time. Rubber Soul was held off the top of the UK albums chart by Blossoms' Songs From the Wedding Cake, reported by Billboard.
For fans, this means choice. The Special Edition was made available on LP, CD and Blu-ray, with a Super Deluxe version offered as a 5LP and 7-inch single box set.
