Classic Rock Review Logo
Skip to content

4 Comments

  1. Kathleen McCormick
    May 27, 2014 @ 11:13 am

    Thanks for the great review of Revolver. It is interesting to learn the ins and outs of who did what and the technicalities of the production.

    As far as the album’s place in music history, I would agree that it marked a break from the past Beatles albums. The irony is, for many of us who were young and Beatles fans (I was 12-13 at the time), it also marked the transition for us from pop to psychedelia. Essentially, Revolver led us to “heavier” music. We became hippies and left our Beatlemania behind. It set the stage for Hendrix, Cream, the Jefferson Airplane, the Moody Blues, Love, etc. We never looked back. By the time Sargent Pepper came out we were on to other things. For me and many others, Revolver was a catalyst to our musical maturity.

    Reply

  2. The Beatles Prior To “Revolver” | alexmarston
    October 5, 2014 @ 9:17 pm

    […] Albano, K. (2011). Revolver by The Beatles. Classic Rock Review. Retrieved Oct. 5 2014 from https://classicrockreview.com/2011/09/1966-the-beatles-revolver/. […]

    Reply

  3. Robert Bykowski
    January 27, 2016 @ 9:25 pm

    In my opinion, ‘Revolver’ (the UK version, as it was meant to be) is the Beatles’ second greatest album, second only to the UK version of ‘Rubber Soul’. Songwriting-wise, ‘Rubber Soul’ is a little deeper and shows more emotion. However, ‘Revolver’ does represent the greatest work that Paul McCartney ever contributed to a Beatles album. “Here There and Everywhere” and “For No One” are beautiful ballads that are touching rather than syrupy, “Eleanor Rigby” is strikingly moving and sympathetic, “Got to Get You Into My Life” is a Stax/Volt soul tribute that can’t be bettered, and “Good Day Sunshine” recalls the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream”. Paul was at his peak on this record. Lennon’s songs are also excellent, but McCartney really shines big time.

    Sooo…what keeps this from being the very best Beatles album ? Two songs – “Love You To” is the first of Harrison’s many dreary, Hindu-influenced sitar mantras and “Yellow Submarine” is an annoying Ringo, kiddie sing-along that simply doesn’t fit in with the high standard of most of the rest of the songs. I love George’s contributions when he stays away from tha Hare Krishna stuff, and crap like “Yellow Submarine” and “Octopuss’ Garden” (from ‘Abbey Road’) are like putting blots on a pristine artwork.

    One of the really great things about ‘Revolver’, besides the songwriting, is the production flourishes, which hold up better than those used on ‘Sgt. Pepper’. The multi-tracked guitars on “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “I’m Only Sleeping”, the backwards tape loops, drums and chanting on “Tomorrow Never Knows” and the fuzz-toned guitar solo on “Taxman” remain stunning and evocative of a recording era where anything was possible when creativity was high. Many bands may have taken their cue from ‘Revolver’ and pushed psychedelia to new extremes, but few (if any) ever displayed the songcraft that seems so effortless as it does here.

    Reply

  4. MAR
    October 23, 2017 @ 2:12 pm

    This is their best. Abbey Road was another peak, but much of it was lyrically thrown away. Pepper is the most overrated album of the decade.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Kathleen McCormick Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *