In August 1964, a legendary meeting between The Beatles and Bob Dylan took place at the Delmonico Hotel in New York. Dylan treated the foursome - with Lennon's "taster Ringo up front -" to a marijuana joint and it would change the band forever. The first consequences can be seen in the movie Help! and heard on Rubber Soul which was released in 1965.

This album is a breaking point in The Beatles' musical development and the album that inspired Brian Wilson to create Pet Sounds. Lennon & McCartney still mainly write love songs, but they get more depth and - for example in Norwegian Wood - a double bottom. It is also in this song that George Harrison introduces the sitar and that will lead to a whole new trend of psychedelics.

Lennon is compositionally in top form. In addition to Norwegian Wood, he wrote ultimate Beatle classics for the album, such as In My Life, Girl and the fantastic Nowhere Man. McCartney is not inferior to the melodic Michelle and I'm Looking Through You and as an instrumentalist in Harrison's Think For Yourself, which stands out for its use of fuzz on the bass. The Byrds were inspired by the 12-string Rickenbacker on A Hard Day's Night and Harrison in turn was inspired by their The Bells Of Rhymney in If I Needed Someone. And of course there is a Ringo song, this time What Goes On with an excellent George on lead guitar.