45 years separates us and this album. So how has it stood the test of time?

Is the White Album an eclectic masterpiece that captures the spirit of the age, or the rambling, unfocused indulgence of four egos on different journeys?

For me this album represents a disintegration of the Beatles as a coherent entity as much as it does a musical progression for the group. As such its probably the least 'Beatles-like' album they did.

It's a double album of course. The Epstein era Beatles might have condensed the 30 songs into one disc (or two separate albums) of the exceptional tracks, but Epstein was dead and the Beatles themselves were calling the shots.

The recording sessions lasted six months and were famously fractious. Ringo quit, only to be persuaded back two weeks' later. Harrison walked out shortly afterwards. Yoko Ono was a constant presence in the studio. A Hard Days Night (1964) must have seemed like a lifetime away to them.

OK that's enough preamble... I present the White Album... well I would except it's not on Spotify. But you've all got a copy right?

Wiki says some interesting things:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_%28album%29