The Beatles - Revolver [UK]
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Free Music Notes for Revolver [UK]
Free Music Review: It's Probably Been Covered
Hit: 5 Stars
I think I can save you nice folks some time and give you a quick preview of the majority of the reviews that you'll run across for Revolver:
1. The Glowing Recommendation - You'll get a lot of these, including my own, and I'll get to that later.
2. The Comparison. "Revolver is nice, but [insert other Beatles album] is better." This review may have stars missing. I recommend that, unless you are a connoisseur, it's mostly irrelevant to your buying. The reviewer is really saying something to the effect of, "A million dollars is great, but I'd give it all up for a little more."
3. The Non-Specific Derision. This will be a low-rank review that questions the talent, composition, or general overrated nature of The Beatles as a musical group. This may or may not interest you, but most of them are faulty and exaggerated, so I would recommend also ignoring these.
Those are the major categories. The first one is the only one that really matters, and here's why:
I'm not a person that has "bests" and "favorites," unless you can let everything be my best and everything else be my favorite. Superlatives might fall out of me as a literary device, but I don't really feel them myself. That said, this record is, unquestionably, within the top ten recordings of popular music ever made available to the listening public. George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon all hit their peak simultaneously during the production of this album (as Rolling Stone will be happy to tell you, in essentially those words), and it shows.
Mind you, there are tracks on here I'm not the biggest fan of. I've gone on record as saying that the sitar is a sort of musical genocide visited upon Western listeners by the Quiet Beatle, and I stand by the remark, but in a remarkable turn, Harrison's obsession with the beast and his less-witty-than-advertised reflections ("Taxman" suffers from the sort of repetitiveness that plagues a great amount of pop music, for instance, and it isn't really so biting compared to much of what you could hear around April 15 of any year in the United States) don't hurt the record. John Lennon's personal dedication to psychedelia, depressive introspection, and whininess in general doesn't hurt the record (and, indeed, is mitigated to a great extent). Paul McCartney's occasionally obnoxious pop balladeering doesn't hurt the record. Nothing in this record hurts this record.
This album was created in the studio as the individual band members were starting to grow apart, and while they were first discovering some of the creative things that the recording studio allows a musician to do that live performance denies him, and both of those crucial facts help this recording along. Each of the songs included here feels and sounds different, in large part because each of the primary writers (and there are very few true collaborations) was himself in the process of becoming a different person. At the same time, the unifying influence of the producer (George Martin, who deserves a salute) and the band's identity as a whole irons what would otherwise have turned into an ugly mash-up of individual projects into a cohesive sonic experience. Sgt. Pepper's may have been the first album that The Beatles really designed as an album, but this certainly works as a single piece.
I can't even begin to list all of the things that are right about this album. The pacing is perfect. The arrangement is spot-on. And oh yeah--the performers have a modicum of talent as well. Nothing goes on longer than it should and nothing feels shorter than it ought to be. The lyrics are meaningful, but not so insipid and literary that you can't bear to sing along.
The long and the short of it is that Revolver is everything that an album of popular music should aspire to be. It ranks at the top of my Beatles collection and shares the throne at the top of my broader music collection with a few select others. Any fan of music owes it to himself to get this record into his life.
Free Music Review: Revolver Album Details
Hit: 5 Stars
Track Listing
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here, There And Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said She Said
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want To Tell You
13. Got To Get You Into My Life
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
Album Notes
The Beatles: George Harrison (vocals, guitar, sitar); Paul McCartney (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, bass); John Lennon (vocals, guitar); Ringo Starr (vocals, drums).
Additional personnel includes: Alan Civil (French horn); Anil Bhagwat (tabla); Brian Jones (background vocals).
Arguably the first psychedelic rock album, REVOLVER was praised for its musical experimentation--the Indian sounds of "Love You To," the Motown-inspired "Got To Get You Into My Life," the backwards guitar in "I'm Only Sleeping." "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the most radical departure from previous Beatles' recordings for its skeletal bass/drums propulsion enhanced only with tape loops (contributed by all four Beatles and added in the mix-down process), more backwards guitar, and an eerie John Lennon vocal.
Still, the Beatles' experimentation grew out of their songwriting, which had matured beyond formula pop. "Tomorrow Never Knows" was inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Harrison's "Taxman" was a bitter diatribe, and McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby" was a bleak portrait of loneliness. Balanced with upbeat songs like "Good Day Sunshine" and "Yellow Submarine," REVOLVER proved The Beatles were not mere pop stars, but musical artists in search of new sounds and ideas.
Editorial reviews
Ranked #2 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
Melody Maker (10/02/1993)
Ranked #10 in Rolling Stone's 50 Coolest Records (04/11/2002)
Details
Playing time: 34 min.
Contributing artists: Brian Jones
Producer: George Martin
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution
Recording type: Studio
Recording mode: Stereo
SPAR Code: AAD
Free Music Review: Great! But not quite as good as Rubber Soul.
Hit: 4 Stars
I really like this album. Right now anyway, my favorite song is "Good Day Sunshine." Other songs I like are: "Taxman": a song written in rebellion against British Taxes, "Elenor Rigby": a song about a woman who did actually live. Her name is on a grave stone at a church where Paul and John Met. "I'm Only Sleeping": a song about how people thought John was lazy but in reality he wasn't. He just really liked to contemplate life as he lied on his bed. "Doctor Robert": a song about a doctor who would give drugs to rock stars. "Yellow Submarine": a song that was designed for young children to sing. "She Said She Said: recalls a coversation between Peter Fonda and John when were they were under the influence of acid. and finally "And Your Bird Can Sing." Those songs are faster paced.
I'm not particularly crazy about "Here There and Everywhere." It's a real slow love song, but I can see where some people might like it.
Overall, there are a few weak songs, but the good far outweighs the bad on this album.
In my opinion, you should check out this album. I liked it so much that I want to explore more music by The Beatles. That is why I just ordered a copy of Sgt. Pepper.
Free Music Review: This is the transition to greatness cd for the Beatles
Hit: 5 Stars
Super DVD.....I met Klauss Voorman who drew the cover design. There is nothing not to like here.Get it today.Free Music Review: My Sweet Surprise
Hit: 5 Stars
I was a mere toddler at the time of this album's release, and I recall hearing the singles released from it on radio. In my teen years, I grew intensely attracted to the Beatles. I purchased 7 or 8 of their albums and thought I'd heard it all (or all that I needed to hear). Fast forward twenty years: after the births of my two children, I decided to buy the entire Beatles collection of albums on CD, including some (such as Revolver) that I hadn't previously owned. Oh my gosh, was I in for a real treat! As I was attempting to expose my children to the Beatles, I realized I was still discovering them myself!! I was absolutely carried away by this album in particular. In 1966, the Beatles were way ahead of their time; this album clearly influenced so much music that came in its wake. Also, like so many other Beatles albums, there is something in it for everyone. I think the extent of their reach to so many generations and walks of life was such a great part of their magic. I recommend Revolver highly.