The Beatles - Revolver (Revolver - The Beatles)

Member Name: Scottyboy_Peanut

Product:	Revolver - The Beatles
Date:	15/06/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: One of the best Beatles albums.

Disadvantages: A few weak tracks

Originally released in 1966 Revolver picked up what was started on Rubber Soul and ran with it.

What we have presented here is an album full of great melodies with just enough of the experimental edge.

This is one of my favourite Beatles album, the point in time when it was all right. The unusual was side by side with standard rock in just the right quantities. The Lennon/McCartney partnership did seem to be drifting by this time but they still worked together on songs. McCartney's song writing efforts tended to still be aiming towards the commercial market whereas Lennon has already entered his phase of doing just about whatever he fancied that he carried on until his tragic and untimely death.

Taxman
Eleanor Rigby
I'm Only Sleeping
Love You To
Here There And Everywhere
Yellow Submarine
She Said She Said
Good Day Sunshine
And Your Bird Can Sing
For No One
Dr Robert
I Want To Tell You
Got To Get You Into My Life
Tomorrow Never Knows


For me this is still a mix of good and bad songs however. The good are exceptional and outweigh the bad to such an extent that the weaker tracks are rendered harmless.

Starting with the bad we have Love You To. This isn't really a Beatle's song, it is George Harrison singing a song in English and playing Sitar with a group of Indian musicians. I have to admit, I don't' get the whole Indian music thing so I skip this one half the time. Sorry George!

Another not so good song is Yellow Submarine. This is a goofy and silly song with a lead by Ringo. I guess this is technically the weakest song on the album. I'm sure most people like it a lot more than I do anyway and there will be a few to tell me I'm totally missing the genius of it.

The album closes on a low point too. Tomorrow Never Knows is a song that has divided opinion. If you're like me you will hear it as an assortment of random noises and tape effects with a none too interesting melody sung over it. Other people love it and think it is very creative.

The rest of the album is the great. The picks are probably all really well known by everybody anyway.

The album opens on a high with the Harrison penned Taxman. As traditional with The Beatles openers it is up tempo. With a great vocal from Harrison and also some fabulous harmonies there's a lot to like in this. I reckon The Jam put this on repeat before starting their career.
The message here is as true today as it was back then. I don't know much about 1960's politics but I assume there was a Labour government at that time too. Curiously this is the first song with any kind of social statement from the Beatles, who would have thought that would come from George Harrison?

Eleanor Rigby is a team effort though it is mainly Paul McCartney's vision for all the lonely people. The strings really work wonders and are the making of this track. What would it be with a different arrangement? Still an excellent song I'm sure but possibly only half as great. This is one of those occasions where a song has perfect lyrics, melody and arrangement.

John Lennon's I'm Only Sleeping is laid back, dreamy and dare I say stoned? This has a really great melody and the kind of vocal that suits John Lennon perfectly. The plodding beat and acoustic guitar suit the theme. There are some nice tape effects here too that work really well and don't sound at all gimmicky.

Here' There and Everywhere is a Paul McCartney masterpiece inspired by Pet Sounds. He does a great job replicating those things that made Pet Sounds so great but still makes it sound like a Beatles song. The melody here is adorable as is the sentiment. I really like the ascending bass line too.

She Said She Said is another great Lennon track and is the first track with electric guitars aplenty since the opener. Nice harmonies and yet another strong melody backed up by Harrison's jangling guitar. Wonderful. It sits in the middle of the album with the excellent And Your Bird Can Sing with it's duelling guitars.

For No Ones is an outstanding track from McCartney and he sings a great lead here too. Just when you think the song has got stuck in a rut and doesn't know where to go along comes some brass to breathe new life into. I really like this one and I usually put it on repeat for a couple of spins.

The brassy Motown influenced Got To Get You Into My Life is really nicely done with probably Paul McCartney's best vocal on the album. Very soulful.

I Want To Tell You has some great harmonies and a pumping bass line. George Harrison's song writing came on in leaps and bounds during the recording of Revolver.

All in all this was very much a leap forward in the Beatles story. The sound is much more mature, even vocally they sound a little older here. It's starling to think that this was only recorded three years after their debut album Please Please Me.

By Beatles standards it isn't the most consistent album by there are a few songs I will skip practically every time. That doesn't' detract from what is great about this album though and as an entirety it works pretty well.

This is a worth addition to any music collection. The highs really shouldn't be missed.

Summary: Music doesn't get much better than this.