Sometimes a band just knows it's hit the end of the line, and Abbey Road is the sound of the Beatles hitting that line. "The End" was the last time the Beatles recorded together and, as that song's title might suggest, the writing was already on the wall. Rather than sleepwalk through their final act, though, the Fab Four turned in a forward-thinking studio masterpiece to rival Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - while John Lennon quietly left the band six days before the album's release on Sept. 26, 1969. Let It Be would be released afterwards, just to make matters confusing, but this really was the end.

first listen: