AlthoughRodriguez writes in tones of fandom, FAQ2.0 is not an uncritical gush of praise. “Like John and Yoko’s trio ofinitial releases,” he writes of George Harrison’s obscure solo debut, Electronic Sound, “the album says moreabout George’s apparent belief that anything he committed to tape was worthy ofpublic consumption (or qualified as ‘art’) than it did about the Beatles’traditional handle on quality control.” Rodriguez surely agrees that theBeatles together were greater than the sum of its members, and the restraininginfluence they exerted on each other was healthy, yet he makes a strong casethat the best of their ‘70s solo albums deserve to be ranked with their bandaccomplishments from the ‘60s.
Althoughfew would argue with Rodriguez over the greatness of Harrison’s All Things Must Pass or Lennon’s Imagine, FAQ 2.0 is a reminder that Ringo Starr also produced albums thathave held up well and the best of their ‘70s solo recordings sound timeless allthese years later. As for Paul McCartney and Wings, Rodriguez actually seems tolike those silly love songs. At least he makes a case for McCartney’s way withmelody
FAQ 2.0 suffers from cliché fan boy writinga girlfriend is a “squeeze,”Eric Clapton is a “guitar slinger” and Starr is “the Ringed One,” not once butmany time within the same chapter. While the assassination of Lennon at theclose of 1980 provides a good excuse to lower the curtain, in truth, any FAQ 3.0, covering the ensuing years,would make dispirited reading. Aside from Harrison’s eccentric TravelingWilburys side project, there would be little of interest to report beyondpersonal tragedy.
