Skip to main content

166. The Beatles: Revolver (1966)

Do you remember Ringo Starr, that one-hit wonder who won our hearts (and creeped us out) in 1973 with You're Sixteen (You're Beautiful and You're Mine)? Well, he had a band in the '60s! I'm right in the thick of reviewing every single one of their albums. Check it out:

I dropped hints and foreshadowed that it was coming. And here it is is. Revolver is the album where The Beatles grew up sonically and lyrically.

There's clear evidence of that from the very first song, Taxman. For one, it's the band's cleverest song to that point, and for another George Harrison proves capable of, gasp, bettering Paul McCartney and John Lennon, if only temporarily.

McCartney's Eleanor Rigby quickly ups the stakes again, with its staccato strings and mysterious lyrical detail. However, Lennon's I'm Only Sleeping is not quite at the same level, though the backwards guitar is a sign of things to come.

Harrison's growing fascination with Eastern sounds and thoughts is showcased on the tabla-driven Love You To. Despite the interesting grammatical choices, the song comes off more as an experiment than anything else.

The middle of the album finds things a bit more predictable, especially from the McCartney camp. Paul offers two sweet, bright throwback songs, Here, There And Everywhere and Good Day Sunshine. Got To Get You Into My Life is spirited and similarly toned. I could see an R & B outfit covering this one quite effectively.

John also gets in the happy-go-lucky game with the lively And Your Bird Can Sing, even if it is a bit more lyrically shady than Paul's offerings. And George adds I Want To Tell You to the mix, thus shattering his own record by placing 3 compositions on the same record. As on most Harrison songs, the backing vocals by John and Paul are very strong, as though they didn't want to let George have too much spotlight. Is it me, or is the piano flat on this one?

The Ringo Starr-led Yellow Submarine is a whole different animal. It's almost a children's song, and like most of those, contains some trippy imagry. And speaking of trippy, take a listen to Lennon's She Said She Said, with its psychedelic lyrics about the great beyond ("I know what it's like to be dead") and nostalgia ("When I was a boy, everything was right"). It begs the question, were The Beatles on drugs?

Well, no need to wait long for your answer. Check out the Byrdsian Dr.Robert, an ode to a pharmacist, or the album's crowning achievement, Tomorrow Never Knows. The latter is ultra-rhythmic, full of strange noodles, Eastern instrumentation and backwards loops. It's a credit to producer George Martin that the song never loses focus amidst the business. John's voice is far away and full of mystical searching.

Meanwhile, The Beatles had finally found what they were looking for.

Grade: A+
Fave Song: Taxman

Comments

shakspur said…
The titles of the songs are Love To You, and I'm Only Sleeping, but yes, hooray for George, and Tomorrow Never Knows is the song for the Ages. You know, the US release was short a few of the Lennon songs.

Popular posts from this blog

12 by Weezer

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This one features... I decided to take an unconventional route for this 12 by, and pretend Weezer have already released a "greatest hits." Here's what I think that would look like:  1) "Buddy Holly", 2) "Undone - the Sweater Song", 3) "My Name Is Jonas", 4) "The Good Life", 5) "El Scorcho", 6) "Hash Pipe", 7) "Island in the Sun", 8) "Dope Nose", 9) "Keep Fishin'", 10) "Beverly Hills", 11) "We Are All On Drugs", 12) "Pork and Beans".  Here's a different take: 1. " Say It Ain't So"  (from Weezer , 1994)  A little bit heavy, a little bit catchy, quiet-loud dynamics. So basically, it's Pixies lite. The song is interesting lyrically because it's basically nonsense until the "Dear daddy..." bridge, which lets out a t

12 by John Mayer

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This one features... With all of his failed celebrity romances and foot-in-his-mouth interviews, John Mayer the person isn't always easy to love. But John Mayer the musician is a different story . His virtuosity never supersedes his pop songcraft, and his lyrics are searching, wise, vulnerable, and relatable. In my mind, he's the closest thing we'll get to a Gen X James Taylor. This list covers the first 8 years of his career. K eep an eye out for 12 More by John Mayer, coming soon! If you have Amazon Music Unlimited, you can listen along here .  1. "No Such Thing" (from Room for Squares , 2001) I'm on record with the opinion that Weezer are the ultimate Gen X musicians, but John Mayer is a very close second. This song captures that feeling of disillusionment and freedom that comes with going out into the "real world" and discovering it's not a

12 by Vicious Vicious

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This one features... If you need a reference point for the work of Vicious Vicious mastermind Erik Appelwick, the most appropriate would be Beck. Like Mr. Hansen, Minnesota-based Appelwick has the ability to navigate between making you laugh and making you cry and making you want to dance, and embraces genres from country to R& B to folk to pop.  I've included songs from the two albums Appelwick did under the name Tropical Depression, because honestly there's not a lot of difference between that and Vicious Vicious.  I very literally  wrote the book  on Appelwick, so please feel confident you are hearing from an authority here.  If you have Amazon Music Unlimited, you can listen to an alternate version of list here  (sadly, not all of VV's music is on the service). 1. "Shake That Ass on the Dance Floor" (from Blood + Clover , 2003) A loungy, laconic come-on