REVOLVER

THE BEATLES had the perfect title for the seventh album REVOLVER as it truly acted as some sort of revolving door into a completely new dimension for the entire rock genre. Following in the footsteps of the previous album "Rubber Soul" which initiated some new interesting experiments into the unknown, REVOLVER can properly be considered the second of the transition albums that took The Fab Four out of the cut mop top phase of their career into a more serious endeavor that not only was instrumental in technological breakthroughs with all the snazzy recording studio techniques but also found a band weary of simplistic pop constructs and banal lyrics branching out into more philosophical arenas laced with greater emotional depth. While originally intended to be titled "Abracadabra," that title was scrapped after all the bugaboo caused by John Lennon's comment that THE BEATLES were bigger than Jesus, even though in many ways, he was spot on regarding the youth that supported the band.

While not often considered quite the creative apex of the band's career much like the lofty praise heaped upon the following "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band," REVOLVER nevertheless provided an important blueprint that bridged the experiments of "Rubber Soul" which would blossom into the magnanimity of progressive forward thinking exhibited by "Sgt Pepper's." The album was a landmark in not only THE BEATLES' own development but in the entire rock world and music industry in general. On a more personal note, this was the album where the dictatorship of the McCartney-Lennon domination of creative duties was beginning to soften. While Ringo Starr was only credited for the one track "Yellow Submarine," George Harrison was finally getting to unleash his true talents with three of his songs appearing on the album: "Taxman," "Love You To" and "I Want To Tell You" thus proving his songwriting abilities were of equal value and an interesting contrast to John and Paul.

On the production side of things, REVOLVER was revolutionary in many ways. Not only did producer George Martin pioneer the technique of artificial double tracking most noticeable on the album's final track "Tomorrow Never Knows" but the album was chock full of pioneering tape reverse techniques, audio loops as well as including an army of new instruments never heard before in a rock music paradigm. Simply perusing the credits of the album will convey the scope of it all where the sensual sounds of Indian sitars and tamburas sit side by side with maracas, cowbells and an infinite supply of keyboard instruments. While many of these techniques have become commonplace in the modern day world of DIY recording toys, all of these techniques were utterly unique upon the release of this album in August of 1966. Add to that the barrage of overdubbing and the extra-miking of Ringo's drums so that every single piece had its own pickup which gave every snare, tom and cymbal a much more dynamic power.

REVOLVER also upped the ante with a diverse delivery of songs where every single track contained its own poetic world of mystery with more dynamic lyricism, heavier doses of Eastern mysticism and in many ways launched the entire psychedelic rock scene that would take the latter half of the 60s by storm and redefine the rock paradigm forever. The band was also becoming more blatantly political which is vehemently declared right off the bat with the opening "Taxman," a song lambasting the outright theft of the public's hard earned money and a constant annoyance for the band members as they continued to enjoy the fruits of their phenomenally lucrative successes. While tracks like "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Doctor Robert" were throwbacks to "Rubber Soul" in style and appeared on the US only release "Yesterday And Today" released the same year as REVOLVER, tracks like "Eleanor RIgby" not only created a much darker atmosphere around THE BEATLES' lyrical content but went for the jugular in experimentations that included a massive string section that included several violins, violas and cellos that took The Fab Four's power pop into more symphonic arenas.

George Harrison was allowed to further explore his fascination with Indian raga music on "Love You To" where he played all guitars and provided lead vocals which demoted Paul to a mere backing vocalist and Ringo to playing tambourine. John was surprisingly completely absent from this track and guest musicians provided the tabla, sitar and tambura. The track was originally supposed to be titled "Granny Smith" after the apple. Good call changing that one! REVOLVER also saw the debut of the track "Yellow Submarine" which would go on to spawn its own animated film and gave Ringo the spotlight as lead singer and purveyor of cute and cuddly nonsensical children's tune which provided a folky pop breather between the more daring tracks. Remember this was 1966 and all of this seems tame by today's standards! Of course this was a BEATLES album so despite entering the period where the band delivered non-album singles such as "Paperback Writer" in conjunct with their albums that contained no singles, many of the tracks on REVOLVER easily could've been chart toppers. Such perfectly crafted pop songs like "Good Day Sunshine" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" kept THE BEATLES firmly planted in the pop world with instantly catchy melodies and ear hooks that penetrated deeply into the soul.

REVOLVER was and remains one of the masterpieces of rock music. Ranging from the feel good pop constructs of their earlier years to the more biting criticism in tracks like "Doctor Robert" as well as the psychedelically infused recording techniques of the album's closer "Tomorrow Never Knows." THE BEATLES unleashed a completely new paradigm into the world of rock and roll with an album that tackled multiple musical genres and an ever expansive range of subject matter to modulate upon. With THE BEATLES reaching unthinkable heights of popularity, REVOLVER marked the point where the band had burned out playing live and tackling all the challenges that went with the whole touring circuit. The Fab Four ended their live performances shortly after this album was released and performed their final concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on 29 August 1966 which ended the band's four year run of nonstop touring that included a whopping 1400 concert appearances all across the globe. The band would carry on to indulge in even more ambitious studio recordings that would culminate in the following album "Sgt Pepper's." While opinions vary widely as to which BEATLES album is the best, many have joined the camp that places REVOLVER on the top of the heap for its sheer audacity and boldness to take rock music where it had never gone before. For its sheer ingenuity it genuinely deserves plaudits for such accomplishments but in the end it's just a really great album with not one bad track.