REVOLVER

"Revolver" is an extremely well-edited album, with no drop in quality, which alternates a wide variety of musical styles and arrangements, especially in the first side. The songs are still all short, contained between 2 and 3 minutes. Compared to "Rubber Soul", which is the continuation, the sound is much drier, electric and metallic, and the arrangements much more varied and always complete: the average quality of the songs is similar, and "Revolver" contains fewer melodic classics than "Rubber Soul", but on the whole is more compact as an album, the songs together give a synergistic effect. As well, Rubber seems to me to consist of slightly more inspired songs, though less carefully treated as a Revolver arrangement.

The Lp starts with a syncopated rock by Harrison, "Taxman (vote 8), one of his best songs, continues with a symphonic pop of McCartney ("Eleonor Rigby", vote 8,5/9), an absolute melodic masterpiece also thanks to the orchestration by George Martin, who wrote the notes for fabulous string quartet. It continues with a beautiful oriental rock ballad by Lennon (I'm Only Sleeping, vote 8), which includes a backward guitar solo and other sound effects.

The first three songs represent the pinnacle of the album and are emblematic of the style of the three composers. In fact in Revolver Harrison, which contributes with three songs, has a very rhythmic style, and shows off a rock song, an Indian pop- raga, and a blues song, all three very well-timed. McCartney, unique in the Beatles record, writes all retro melodic pop songs, with arrangements alien to rock bands, lapping an incredible range of musical styles; in practice each of his songs is an essay of a musical style, from symphonic pop (Eleonor Rigby) to the slow vocal complexes (Here, There and Everywhere), the piano swing (Good Day Sunshine), the refined melodic song with orchestral arrangement (For No One), to the soulful soul (Got to Get You Into My Life). On the contrary, Lennon writes all rock songs: two refined oriental ballads with sound effects (I'm Only Sleeping and Tomorrow Never Knows), his best compositions, and three rather conventional rock songs; none of his songs have a catchy melody. In no other Beatles album there has ever been, and more there will be, such a clear musical difference between Macca and Lennon, such a marked alternation between retro melodic pop songs by McCartney and contemporary rock songs with oriental or psychedelic effects by Lennon. Both McCartney and Lennon write two masterpieces (Macca almost three), and for the rest minor songs; McCartney still writes the best song on the album (Eleonor Rigby), and the weakest songs (Here, There and Everywhere and Good Day Sunshine), while Lennon writes the most refined from the point of view of the arrangement, but his songs have peaks and falls less conspicuous than those of Paul, they are more homogeneous as a quality, in fact a song by John is missing which stands out for its intrinsic quality.

Returning to the sequence of the songs, after the first three the first side repeats the sequence Harrison-Macca-Lennon: "Love You To" (vote 7,5/8) is an excellent fusion between Indian raga and Mersey-beat; "Here, There and Everywhere" (vote 7) is a slow song - styled vocal complexes of the 50s, a little too honeyed but with some delicious (vaguely French) harmonious passages; "She Said She Said" (vote 7,5) is a very rhythmic psychedelic rock, with great work by Ringo and acid guitars, but it does not take off. Among these there is a classic for children, "Yellow Submarine" (vote 6,5/7), written by McCartney and sung by Ringo, which also introduces sounds and naval noises in this colorful first side of the Beatles, which has seen all four members sing very different songs one from the other and yet the smoothness of the sequence is remarkable.

The second side as often happens is slightly lower, due to quality. It starts with the pre-war swing by McCartney "Good Day Sunshine" (vote 6,5/7), cute but stereotyped and without flashes, perhaps the weakest song on the album; it continues with the very fast rock of "And Your Bird Can Sing" (vote 7+), which slips away without giving time to remain imprinted; it continues with "For No One" (vote 8), beautiful melody and French horn solo (in fact the melody has again something of French), fantastic; it goes to the conventional rock of "Doctor Robert" (vote 7+) , which again lacks a real climax, and to Harrison's piano blues (I Want To Tell You, vote 7+), beautiful but without variations. Finally comes the soul of "Got to Get You Into My Life, vote 7,5/8) original composition of McCartney, which will remain unique as an arrangement in the discography of the Beatles, also this very rhythmic and well executed but missing something to get to be great; and lastly "Tomorrow Never Knows" (vote 8+) which is deliberately set on a single chord, contains all avant-garde sounds, reverse tapes, backward guitar solo, filtered voice, sitar in the distance, lyrics from the Tibetan Book of the Dead ... many compare this ending to the ending of the next album, Sgt Pepper, because even in that case the last song is the most refined. Certainly "Tomorrow" is one of the best pieces of Revolver but it is very far from the absolute masterpiece "A Day in the Life", contained in Sgt Pepper; and for the pleasure of listening, "Tomorrow" is under "Eleonor Rigby".

Overall, "Revolver" is an album that while respecting all the canons of the pop song format of 2-3 minutes, manages to show off the maximum care in the search for refined pop songs, I would say art-pop, both for the variety of the arrangement that of musical styles. Revolver is a great record, the most innovative, constant and edited by the Beatles up to that point; it is not an absolute masterpiece because the average quality of the pieces, both melodic and rock, is slightly less than "Rubber Soul" and less than the levels of the albums that will follow; moreover, so many stylistic and sound ideas need songs less harnessed in the strophe structure and pop refrain of 2 and a half minutes, to be better expressed: left more free to be self-indulgent with their own creativity, the Beatles will produce the masterpieces of the years 1967-69. Anyway, the greatness of the album, as a whole, is equal to that of "Rubber Soul".

Medium quality of the songs: 7,59. Vote album: 8,5. Rating: Four Stars.