Which Beatles album was the first where they seemed to care about art?

Rubber Soul was the first album where the Beatles treated the album as a cohesive artistic statement — no covers, consistent mood, and lyrics about real adult emotions. Songs like “Norwegian Wood” and “In My Life” showed they were bored with the same old rock format. It’s not their best album (that’s Revolver), but it’s the pivot point where they stopped being a pop band and started being artists.