High Instinct (Part One)

***High Instinct (Part One)*** is the twentieth studio album by the English-American rock band The Beatles. It was released on 14 March 1978 in the United Kingdom, on the Apple label. It is the first album in a two-album duology, succeeded by *High Instinct (Part Two)*, later the same year. The album was later re-released as a triple album bundled with *High Instinct (Part Two)*. The album hit number 1 in both the United Kingdom and United States. The album is regarded as one of the band's greatest albums, and one of the greatest albums of all time.

## Background

October 1977, it had been nearly two years since the Beatles had last recorded music together. With John still under house arrest and looking after his newborn child, Sean, the Beatles had embarked on solo endeavors in 1977, with the most notable being Paul McCartney releasing a solo album dubbed "Sunshine" which was received warmly.

However, in early November 1977, things would take a massive turn for the better, as it was discovered that the marijuana that was found in his house, and what led to Lennon being put under house arrest, was planted there by a cop. This enabled a series of proceedings that allowed John Lennon to be freed from his house Arrest on 8 November 1977. To celebrate, the Beatles all went out around London and '*just had a good time'*. During this night out, Paul would talk to John about a new album idea. This album, he stated, would be ambitious, magnificent, and hark back to their *“A Day In The Life”* days, where they were on another creative level. He saw it as a way to strengthen the bonds between the band again, and to get everyone's creativity flowing. John was open to the idea, and he had a backlog of songs/demos from his house arrest to record. Later in the night, the two would present the idea to the other four Beatles, who responded to the idea strongly. So, it was settled, the Beatles would return to the studio two weeks later and create an album truly like the good old days.

On 23 November 1977, the Beatles reconvened at EMI Studio 2 to record their next work. The sessions began as fruitful and joyous, with everyone simply being happy that they were able to work together again as a whole. However, tensions would slowly but surely begin to arise again, with John beginning to criticize some of Denny Laine's writing. It wasn't much at first, but it began to get on his nerves after some time. Still, he stayed with the group because he still did enjoy it. Material was so fruitful from the sessions that the album was nearly a triple album, but the label shot that down as they did not want to release another one. So, High Instinct was to be split into two albums.

## Reception

*High Instinct (Part One)* was released on 14 March 1978 to mostly overwhelming praise from both critics and the public alike. Everyone raved over the new and contemporary sound from the Beatles, which many had said it was like nothing they'd ever heard at times, even though some critics and listeners found the new sounds to be overall confusing.  The album shot up to #1 on the charts where it remained until it was replaced by its successor, *High Instinct (Part Two)*. It would remain on the charts for the next 4 years. The Beatles were immensely proud of the work that they had created, and the public knew it as well. The Beatles, once again, were back on top.

In terms of the album style, most listeners agree that the album mixes the psychedelic sounds and aspects of albums like *Revolver* and *A Day In The Life* with more contemporary sounds, like the progressive rock sound of bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Yes. Paul McCartney would later comment in the Anthology documentary,

*"We were very big fans of all that progressive rock music, you know, bands like Genesis and Pink Floyd were very big around that time. We wanted to make something that recalled our psychedelic years, but still sounded somewhat contemporary, and, uh, you know, I think we succeeded! \*[laughter]\*"*

Today, *High Instinct (Part One)* is looked back on as a masterclass in rock music, the culmination of the Beatles works up to that point, and one of the greatest albums of all time. Tracks from the album, such as *"Scarborough"*, *“Not Guilty”*, and *"The Pound Is Sinking/High Instinct/The Palace Of The King Of The Birds"* are placed 134, 201, and 297 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" list respectively, and *High Instinct (Part One)* would be ranked 89 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" list.

## Track listing

**Side one**

1. "Coney Island" (Lennon-P. McCartney-Harrison-Laine-Starkey-L. McCartney) - 2:02
2. "Radio Waves' (McCartney-Lennon-Laine) - 0:54
3. "Getting Closer" (McCartney) - 3:21
4. "The Note You Never Wrote" (Laine) - 4:24
5. "The One That You See" (McCartney) - 0:30
6. "Scared" (Lennon) - 4:22
7. "This Guitar Can't Keep From Crying" (Harrison) - 4:11

**Side two**

1. "I Am Your Singer" (P. McCartney-L. McCartney) - 2:51
2. "Beware Of Darkness" (Harrison) - 3:54
3. "Oh My Love" (Lennon) - 3:45
4. "Ancient Egypt" (Laine) - 4:29
5. "Scarborough" (P. McCartney-L. McCartney) - 6:20

**Side three**

1. "I Don't Wanna" (Lennon) - 6:00
2. "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" (Grieg) - 3:26
3. "Not Guilty" (Harrison) - 8:21

**Side four**

1. "You Can't Fight Lightning" (Starkey)
2. "A World You Won't Believe (Link)" (Laine)
3. "Bless You" (Lennon) - 4:36
4. "The Pound Is Sinking" (McCartney) - 2:53
5. "High Instinct" (Lennon-P. McCartney-Harrison-Laine-Starkey-L. McCartney) - 4:52
6. "The King Of The Birds" (Lennon-P. McCartney-Harrison-Laine-Starkey-L. McCartney) - 1:34