Abbey Road is not the Beatles at their most radical, nor at their most sincere. It is the Beatles at their most composed. Its greatness lies in restraint: an ability to finish well without pretending that things were whole. If earlier albums gesture toward possibility, Abbey Road accepts finality—not tragically, not triumphantly, but cleanly.
Side one features a collection of individual tracks, showcasing a range of styles. The tracks include the John Lennon-led rocker "Come Together" and George Harrison's ballad "Something," which became the first Harrison composition released as a single A-side for the band and was a favorite of both Lennon and Frank Sinatra. Paul McCartney's doo-wop style "Oh! Darling" and Ringo Starr's second self-penned song, "Octopus's Garden," are also included. Lennon's nearly eight-minute progressive rock-influenced "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" closes the side with a jarring, sudden edit.
Side two is famous for its 16-minute medley, or "The Long One," of shorter song fragments blended into a continuous suite, culminating in "The End". This final track is notable for featuring Ringo Starr's only drum solo in the Beatles' catalogue and interwoven guitar solos traded between McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon. The album concludes with the memorable final line, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make". A 28-second hidden track, "Her Majesty," appears after a period of silence at the very end of the album.