REVOLVER

The Beatles had made influential albums prior to this one, but this is one of the undeniable milestones of rock music, as well as being their first album which really fits in the "proto-prog" category. Starting with the fairly straightforward Taxman - one of George Harrison's more down to earth numbers - we're still dealing with a major departure from the Beatles' earlier career, especially when you consider the lyrics, in which the Beatles for the first time take on political subject matter. By the time you get to closing track, the phenomenal Tomorrow Never Knows - psychedelic, groundbreaking, and years ahead of its time - the Four have covered classical string quarters (Eleanor Rigby), modernist tape experiments (in Tomorrow Never Knows and I'm Only Sleeping), and everything in between.

Really, what can be said about Revolver that hasn't been said already? We all know that the Four were rising to the challenge posed by albums like the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, we all know how they were enjoying the latest studio techniques and dabbling in musique concrete (perhaps inspired by Zappa's Freak Out!), we all know how important it is both to prog and to rock music in general. What's left to say?

Well, I have to say that whilst I do appreciate everything the album did to put the various musical styles it dabbled in on the map, demonstrating that underground musical subgenres could achieve success with a mainstream audience, I can't any more really say that I love it.

For one thing, there's Yellow Submarine, a jolly children's song sung by Ringo sitting smack in the middle of the running order. It's not terrible as far as children's songs go, mind; I just find that to my ear it doesn't fit. It ruins the flow of the album, bringing the momentum of fast-paced full-steam ahead experimentation to a complete stop. And whilst, like I say, it isn't bad, it's not particularly great either. I can't, in good conscience, give a perfect mark to an album which includes a track so jarring I have to skip it whenever I listen to the thing; by my money, a five-star album ought to be one where you can listen to it from beginning to end and find enjoyment in each and every track.

Moreover, as mindblowing as Revolver is when you first hear it, over time it does begin to wear thin. The sentiment behind Taxman might be presented as the gripe of an everyday person trying to make ends meet, but we all know that this wasn't the case - it was being presented by rich musicians who were making stacks of money and resented having to pay their way societally, and that's a sentiment which I have less and less sympathy for as time goes by. The naivity of the album at points verges on the Pollyannaish, the experiments indulged in increasingly feel like shallow paddling in pools that were more successfully explored in depth by others, and the adventurous rock music the album inspired has long since left Revolver in its shadow. Worth a listen, and most music listeners go through an intense phase of Revolver appreciation at some point in their lives, but there's a hollowness to it (along with much of the late Beatles catalogue) that I increasingly dislike.