UPDATE: With the news of EMI’s impending sale of Abbey Road Studios sending a shockwave of nostalgia and doom through the music community, it’s probably a suitable time to focus on the former.

In September 2009, MusicRadar celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Beatles’ Abbey Road LP by paying tribute to 11 other legendary studios to rival the one it was recorded in. Read on for last year’s celebration… just try not to count how many will be left if Abbey Road bites the dust (that’s the ‘doom’ bit).

On 26 September 1969, The Beatles released Abbey Road - their penultimate studio release oft considered the final Fab Four LP because it was recorded after Let It Be.

Contrary to popular belief, the album was named after the street where its recording studio is situated, not the studio itself (EMI Studios became Abbey Road Studios in 1970 after the album’s release). Regardless, The Beatles are synonymous with ‘Abbey Road’ (street and studio), placing it firmly on the map as (probably) the most famous recording facility in the world.

But while 90% of The Beatles’ output was laid down there, even they, at times, ventured elsewhere (for one in ten tracks!). Other studios were making engineering, musical or technological innovations that would inspire generations to come: from The Rolling Stones’ Mobile Studio to‘genius-cum-all-round-tragic eccentric’ Joe Meek’s lounge-turned-control-centre.

So, to ‘celebrate’ 40 years of Abbey Road, here are 11 other legendary recording studios to rival it. Happy Birthday…