History Music / TheWhiteAlbum

* TheInsomniac: John narrates his real life trouble with this on "I'm So Tired", which could be seen as a bitter sequel to "I'm Only Sleeping" from ''Music/{{Revolver}}''.

* MinimalisticCoverArt: The cover, designed by British Pop Art veteran [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hamilton_(artist) Richard Hamilton]], is all white, save for the name of the album embossed onto it, and on some LP printings, a unique serial number stamped on it (going for a bit of irony in something so plain also being unique from every other copy of it, as well as trying to emulate a limited edition abstract artwork or self-published book). Ever since, fans have called it ''The White Album''. In fact, this might be the UrExample or at the very least TropeCodifier, since most album covers until then looked more like advertising posters (not to mention some of the more artistic ones, like the Beatles' own ''Music/{{Revolver}}'' and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', as well as Music/TheRollingStones' ''Music/TheirSatanicMajestiesRequest''). Some LP editions were made using white vinyl rather than the usual black, as well.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Side Three contains some of the hardest rocking the band ever did. "Helter Skelter", probably the band's single hardest song, is rated a 6 by TV Tropes.

** "Wild Honey Pie" ("HONEY PIE! HONEY PIE!") and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?", widely considered to be [[IncrediblyLamePun White]] AlbumFiller.

** The Take that was used for "Revolution 1" (20) actually lasted 10 Minutes. The first 4 Minutes are the same as "Revolution 1" (minus the Horns and loud Electric Guitar), but the song keeps going for 5 more minutes, gradually descending into chaos, and eventually ''morphing'' into the Ending of "Revolution 9" for the last Minute. Eventually, "Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9" were separated into their respective tracks.

* FakeOutFadeOut: "Helter Skelter", and too many times to count on "Revolution 9".

* MurderBallad: "Rocky Raccoon" where Rocky is shot down, "Piggies" where a bunch of pigs are whacked down and eaten.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", which Lennon used as a reference to Yoko's clitoris.
** By the time Paul came up with "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" the radar had apparently given up.
** "But when you talk about destruction, don't you know you can count me out... In..." from Revolution #1. When asked about this in the film "Imagine" John said the addition of "in" was him keeping his options open in case he ever changed his mind. Yet when the electric version came out as a single John had apparently settled on "out" because the tacked-on "in" is absent in that particular recording.
** "Revolution 9" slips in a PrecisionFStrike with the line "join the fucking navy." Not to mention John's suggestive moaning and panting halfway through and Yoko talking about "if you become naked".
** The photo collage poster included with the album has a fairly large photo of John sitting bare-assed on a bed, a nude line-drawn self-portrait of John (with Yoko) and a small pic of a naked Paul in a bathroom mirror (with a strategically placed pole covering his genitals).

** The photo collage poster included with the album has a nude line-drawn self-portrait of John (with Yoko) and a pic of a naked Paul in a bathroom mirror (with a strategically placed pole covering his genitals).

* IncrediblyLongNote: The last minute and 12 seconds of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" consists of George Harrison singing Still my guitar gently weeeeeeeee-eeeeeeee-EEEEEEEE accompanied by his powerful guitar and his haunting Aaah... Aaah... and Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! which can be heard in the background.

This was the last Beatles album to have a separate stereo and mono mix as more popular music listeners were acquiring stereo record players. The mono version was only released in the U.K. and would be the last mono release by the band.

This was the last Beatles album to have a separate stereo and mono mix as more people were acquiring stereo record players. The mono version was only released in the U.K. and would be the last mono release by the band.

** "Sexy Sadie" was aimed at the Maharishi.

This was the last Beatles album to have a separate stereo and mono mix, with more people acquiring stereo record players. The mono version was only released in the U.K. and would be the last mono release by the band.

Though not as popular as other Beatle records like ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' or ''Music/AbbeyRoad'', this album still a huge inspiration for numerous rock bands. When something gets compared to the White Album, it's almost invariably a shorthand way of saying "long album with huge [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly variety of styles]], inevitably will attract complaints about AlbumFiller". But everyone agrees it is an important and influential record. It generated hits such as "Back in the USSR", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", and "Revolution" (though the single version is a totally different arrangement). "Helter Skelter", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Don't Pass Me By", "Sexy Sadie", and "Blackbird" have become fan favourites, while "Revolution #9" is perhaps the most notorious and audacious track: exciting for AvantGardeMusic fans and AlbumFiller to most other people.

** "Revolution 9" has musical quotes from Jean Sibelius' "Seventh Symphony" (the finale), Music/RobertSchumann's "Symphonic Studies" (the finale, played backwards), Music/LudwigVanBeethoven's "Choral Fantasy", the musical standard "The Streets of Cairo", violins from "A Day in the Life" (from ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'') and the Arabic song "Awal Hamsa" by Farid al-Atrash and unused shouts of "right" and "alright" taken from a long jam from an unused take of "Revolution 1".

** "Helter Skelter" is basically a proto-ThrashMetal song.

** The Paul is Dead myth centers on a number alleged clues from this album, most famously the claim that "number nine" becomes "turn me on, dead man" when it's played backwards.

Though not as popular as other Beatle records like ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' or ''Music/AbbeyRoad'', this album still a huge inspiration for numerous rock bands. When something gets compared to the White Album, it's almost invariably a shorthand way of saying "long album with huge [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly variety of styles]], inevitably will attract complaints about AlbumFiller". But everyone agrees it is an important and influential record. It generated hits such as "Back in the USSR", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", and "Revolution" (though the single version is a totally different arrangement). "Helter Skelter", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Don't Pass Me By", "Sexy Sadie", and "Blackbird" have become fan favourites, while "Revolution 9" is perhaps the most notorious and audacious track: exciting for AvantGardeMusic fans and AlbumFiller to most other people.

* AvantGardeMusic: The infamous "Revolution #9".

** "Helter Skelter" started off as a slow, bluesy piece, with LoopedLyrics and extended jamming (most infamously running 27 minutes in one of its takes), before it got tightened up into a slightly faster proto-HeavyMetal number.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/600px-TheBeatles68LP_7544.jpg]]

''The Beatles'' is the tenth studio album by Music/TheBeatles, released in 1968. "The White Album" is the unofficial moniker for the album, owing to its [[MinimalisticCoverArt completely white album cover]]. Nowadays most people refer to this nickname rather than the official title.

* OneWomanSong: "Dear Prudence", "Julia", "Martha, My Dear" and "Sexy Sadie".

* AbortedArc: Despite being called "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" the song just ends and isn't referred to anywhere else on the album.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Back In the U.S.S.R." → "Dear Prudence".

The album had its roots in the group's extended visit to Rishikesh, India in early 1968, where they took part in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_in_India retreat at the ashram of Transcendental Meditation founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]]. While the retreat ended in disappointment, all four Beatles had found the isolated environment to be musically stimulating, and they arrived back from India with dozens of new songs. After putting together a set of demos of the songs at George's house in Esher, recording formally commenced at the end of May with John's "Revolution 1". Four-and-a-half months later, another Lennon song, "Julia", was the 30th and final song recorded for an album that had experienced a dramatically TroubledProduction.

** Amazinglyly, this wasn't even the most minimalistic artwork considered for the album. George Harrison said that the idea of transparent vinyl in a transparent cover was briefly kicked around. Music/TalkingHeads would eventually pull a similar stunt with the limited-edition release of ''Music/SpeakingInTongues'' in 1983, albeit with rotatable cyan, yellow, and magenta translucent discs in the front and back of the transparent case.