Revolver: By Emily Wilson

As one of the best rock albums ever to exist, Revolver is a turning point in Beatles history, showcasing a mix of classic upbeat tunes, experimentation with psychedelia, and significant lyrical contributions from each member of the band. As the seventh Beatles album, coming out in August of 1966, it was made right in the middle of The Beatles career and came out only weeks before their last concert. No song on Revolver was ever played live, for they consisted of new music styles that were too complex to perform on stage. The album starts with a “one, two, three, four, one, two,” a bizarre introduction that draws the listener in from the beginning. Harrison emerges for the first time as a songwriter, kicking it off with his own political “Taxman”.

    The length of each song all end within a minute of each other, the longest one lasting only seconds over three minutes, displaying Revolver’s strong consistency and smooth flow. McCartney performs incredibly throughout the album. His impressive display of loneliness with “Eleanor Rigby” uses powerful imagery that leaves the listener almost depressed. However, as the album goes on he shows multiple sides of his personality with the beautiful love song “Here, There and Everywhere”, optimistic “Good Day Sunshine”, and sorrowful “For No One”. McCartney shines in “Got To Get You Into My Life,” arguably one of the best Beatles songs ever. His use of “the Motown sound” to depict his desire for LSD is brilliant, and the desperation that he exposes in the chorus when he yells, “got to get you into my life!” makes this song very entertaining. McCartney proves himself to be an extremely talented pop musician.

    Along with “Taxman”, Harrison comes through successfully with two other tracks off of Revolver. As one of his first songs that illustrated his growing interest in Indian music, “Love You To” is one of the stranger songs on the album. George is known to have been the shyest Beatle, and he expresses this quality through “I Want To Tell You”. Here, he addresses his inability to communicate his thoughts, which he shows when he says, “but if I seem to act unkind, it’s only me, it’s not my mind, that is confusing things.” Ringo’s only song on Revolver is the playful and well-known “Yellow Submarine”. Although he did not write the song, Ringo’s voice in the song is prominent because it sounds deeper than the rest of the vocals sung by other Beatles members throughout the album. Ironically, it is one of the most light-hearted tracks on the album.

    As for Lennon, his songs on Revolver are all very trippy. Lennon began to get really experimental with his songs starting on this album. He sounds like he’s under the influence of LSD while singing each of his songs. On his first song on the album, “I’m Only Sleeping”, he sings about his dreams, which are most likely a metaphor for acid trips. An instantly popular song on the album was Lennon’s “Doctor Robert”, which is known to be an ode to his dealer. The most impressive Lennon song on Revolver is the finale of the album, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, known to many as the first song to ever be categorized as psychedelic music. The song uses all kinds of instruments and distorted sounds, which make it different from any song yet recorded by The Beatles. The lyrics straightforwardly call attention to an LSD trip, for the song starts with the words “turn off your mind, relax and float down stream, it is not dying, it is not dying”. The song, and therefore the album, ends with an increased level of these distorted sounds, giving way to The Beatles continuation with psychedelic music in future albums.

    Revolver is a genius work of art. There is not one song that is not better than decent. It is terrifically well balanced and consistent, giving the listener a taste of all the Beatles have to offer. Revolver is by far the Beatles strongest and most impressive album.

Comments

[fred wilson]

testing the comments. i hope this works

[MichaelR]

I'd have to say Revolver is better. I don't really like Rubber Soul all that much.

Let's see, favorite songs on Revolver:

Taxman - awesome. Love the beat and the attitude.

Eleanor Rigby - pure genius. Highest level of art

Yellow Submarine - what a surprisingly fun song on this album

Good Day Sunshine - love it. Beautiful harmony singing.

And Your Bird Can Sing - love the melody. Some songs just do it for me like this one does

Doctor Robert - love the attitude. Love. "Well well well" love that part.

Got to Get You into My Life rocks.

My favorite albums are: Help!, Revolver, and Sgt. Peppers.

Help! is so raw and rocking. The later stuff is polished and original sounding, while Help sounds more like the Beatles are sticking to a well-known rock framework (and working that framework brilliantly).

Interesting fact: in his interview with Rolling Stone in 1970, John Lennon said that Help was one of his favorites. I think he might have said Rubber Soul too. Anyway, he said that Help was the most "real" and that he was really feeling the things he way singing. The interview is on iTunes for free (it's about 4 hours long, I highly recommend it).

[John A Arkansawyer]

Revolver is and has long been my favorite, and I think their best, but my second favorite is With The Beatles. The beautiful vocal work, especially on those great covers, gets me every time.

[Alex Gawley]

Great post Emily. Revolver is truly awe inspiring creative work. The songwriting is technically brilliant, the musicianship is tight and the production (for the first time on a rock album) is intricate and innovative.

The album showcases The Beatles ability to turn there hands to any musical style and nail it better than the current state of the art.

Should listen to this album in conjunction with Paperback Writer and (most importantly) Rain to get the full effect.

My top 3 tracks:

Taxman
For no one (the French horn!)
Tomorrow never knows

[Dr Wires]

wonderfully written, you have real skill. quite a strong claim of 'genius' despite faint praise of 'not one song not better than decent'. what are the criteria used to make the judgment of genius? these seem to be interspersed in the text and clear to you, less so to the reader [or, at least, to dr wires]. are the criteria all internally-focused, that is, without view of other musicians and the genres of the day? this implies you believe that genius is about internal values and consistencies, is that right? again, the flow, clarity, and expressiveness of your prose is great.

[ben s]

sorry, i'm a rubber soul guy.. not a bad note here..

1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won't See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. The Word
7. Michelle
8. What Goes On
9. Girl
10. I'm Looking Through You
11. In My Life
12. Wait
13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life

[Jon Auman]

I agree -- I've always thought of "Revolver" as the album one could point to and claim that the Beatles had grown up.

They've moved on from Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies to lamenting Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath taking a 95% marginal tax rate out of their impressive and growing residual streams.

Harrison really comes into his own, McCartney shows his range, and Lennon finally gives in to his dark side. While it's some of his best work, it also marks the the jump from his constructively edgy Lennon-McCartney musical persona to his more destructive F***-You-I'm-John-F***ing-Lennon persona.

It was an unstable and artistically productive time for the Beatles. One can simultaneously enjoy their genius and observe the seeds of their destruction.

[Ethan Bauley]

Good points and well written, Emily!

One technical thing worth talking about that differentiates the two: George Martin expanding the sonic palette with backwards tapes on "Tomorrow never knows".

There may be some other instances of that, I'm noo Beatles historian but I suspect the Beatles Anthology DVD has all the answers.

It's also worth noting that "Tomorrow never knows" contains the world's greatest drumbeat.

Ringo is an incredible drummer with an unbelievably awesome groove. NOBODY plays like him.

Also Paul is basically the illest bass player ever.

I hope to the stars you've seen that Anthology DVD...

[Jake de Grazia]

I love your individual song analyses, Emily, but I have to say you left us hanging by not digging deep into And Your Bird Can Sing. I'm curious. I want to know how you think it fits into the album.

[ryan]

got to get you into my life was actually an ode to weed and dr. robert was written as an ode to bob dylan, who i guess you could say was their dealer at the time, other than that, pretty good review, revolver is my favorite album. period.

[ryan]

also...."There is not one song that is not better than decent."....bit confusing

[chris motes]

Revolver has an amazing block of 4 consecutive songs:
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert

Doesn't get much better than that!