REVOLVER

The Beatles' finest hour. 14 songs of genius, each one a carefully crafted classic. The drugs are clearly in evidence here, but didn't distract from the musc. Most of these songs are well-known to everyone, so here's some interesting facts about the album.

1) Taxman - the guitar solo is by McCartney and it also features (backwards) in "Tomorrow Never Knows"

2) Eleanor Rigby - the name "Eleanor" may have come from Eleanor Bron who was in "Help", but there is a gravestone for a real "Eleanor Rigby" near where McCartney lived.

3) I'm only sleeping - early use of backwards guitar.

4) Love you to - one of the few Beatles song where the title is not in the lyric. Harrison's first Indian song.

5) Here, there and everywhere - supposedly Macca's favourite of his songs. Just listen to the backing vocals and don't forget they were recorded live, not overdubbed.

6) Yellow submarine - written as a children's song, great sound effects.

7) She said, she said - "I know what it's like to be dead" is a quote from Peter Fonda during a trip.Covered to great effect by Lone Star.

8) Good day sunshine - barrelhouse piano, innovative use of panning in the intro.

9) And your bird can sing - brilliant guitar riff, played in parallel thirds by Lennon and Harrison. Very oblique lyric.

10) For no one - a beautiful McCartney number. Features the famous Alan Civil horn solo.

11) Dr Robert - the dentist who introduced the Beatles to LSD.

12) I want to tell you - Harrison's third song (the first time he'd had that many on a single album).

13) Got to get you into my life - McCartney's Motown number. The "you" in the title supposedly refers to drugs.

14) Tomorrow never knows - another song whose title is not in the lyrics. Lennon didn't get the Tibetan monks choir he wanted, but he got numerous tape loops instead. This was mixed live in the studio by a number of people standing at tape machines dotted around Abbey Road with the tape loops wrapped round pencils! The tape loops include McCartney laughing, an orchestra and a Mellotron. Also features stunning drums from Starr. One of the Beatles greatest works of genius.

This is possibly the most "progressive" album of all time - don't forget it was made 40 years ago without the benefit of computers and samplers. Has to be a 5-star album.

The real (forgotten) gem.

Many states Pepper as the first real progressive effort of the Beatles; I strongly disagree. Revolver has such a high level of ingenuity and freshness, this was a record way, way ahead of it's time, done with a ridiculous amount of technology.

Many times the Beatles shines with great advancing thinking, linking symphonic majestic with popish choruses with classics like Eleanor Rigby or For No One. But again, the magic operates miracles of mind opening with Love You To (precursor of Pepper's Within You Without You, on top with rather explicit lyrics...oh you naughty boys!), Yellow Submarine.

But the special mention of this album is because (and mostly) the best song ever created by the Fab Four is in Revolver: Tomorrow Never Knows. The title's been founded by Ringo, and the lyrics by Lennon, referring to Tibet's Book of the Dead. Oh wow! This is a step in the future, with multiple drumming repetitions (excellent job Ringo), pre-vocoder voices and hypnotic riffs and seagulls cries. Oh man, just writing about it is giving me the need to listen again!

Not the record for teen bops with lollipops chanting "I want you Paul!". The 'girls girls girls" period was almost buried alive with this fantastic record. Time to think in 3D now.

The craziest ride before the Pepper era.

This is the only Beatles album I ever get out. It has some fine songs (particularly Eleanor Rigby, Here There and Everywhere, And Your Bird can Sing and I Want To Tell You) in amongst some less sophisticated efforts (does anyone REALLY like Yellow Submarine, honestly?). As usual, it's Harrison who gives the band its class with some fine musicianship and some of the best songs but there are some innovative ideas from the others which make it worthy of inclusion in proto prog. A good album but definitely no masterpiece.

This is it - the absolute masterpiece in every aspect of its idea! "Revolver" is IMHO the best album of THE BEATLES and probably among the top 10 albums of all time (although I have not put it in my top 10 prog albums at my collab page here because they are not considered prog). Each and every song is excellent and has its own distinction, but the album overall is more than just a collection of good singles. Most of the experiments and proggie ideas usually associated with "Sgt. Pepper" actually started here. Songwriting and composing at its best! 5+

As I told yesterday in my review about the Sgt. Pepper album, this week I borrowed The Beatles CD's in order to review these for this site, for me it's a challenge to write an objective analysis from this legendary and highly acclaimed band. To many progheads Revolver deserves five stars and it is often named as "their finest hour" and "their best progressive effort". I have listened to Revolver a few times, ready and eager to make notes but how embarrassing: to me Revolver sounds nothing more than a bunch of pleasant and varied songs, alternating between pop and rock with some progressive elements (adding classical instrumentations, folk instruments like tablas and sitar and using a sophisticated studio sound). Eleanor Rigby is a wonderful track (I prefer Streetmark their rendition) and Tomorrow Never Knows has its moments but sounds superior in the version by Phil Manzanera his 801 Live band. There is some good rock guitar, the vocals by Paul and John are good and distinctive. But what is so innovative about Revolver, I really don't know, I have done my best to get into their music but I can name many bands from the late Sixties that are way more progressive and captivating and still has to be added to this site. Perhaps subjective? Ok but in my opinion the euphoric reviews about The Beatles too.

This is one of my favourite records from The Beatles` discography.

The first version of this album that I bought, in January 1982, was the U.S. version which lacked three songs in comparison to the original English version: "I`m Only Sleeping", "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Doctor Robert" (coincidentally the three songs were composed by John Lennon). As I knew months later when I listened to a series of FM Radio programmes about the history of The Beatles, the original English album has these three songs, and despite how good the U.S. L.P. version sounded (very good quality in sound), I was disappointed that these three songs were not included, but were previously included in an U.S. album called "Yesterday...and Today", with different mixes . Also, it was until then than I learned that their English and U. S. discographies were somewhat different. So, it was until 1987, when the original L.P. was released in the C.D. version, that I finally had the original "Revolver" album as it was released in England in 1966.

I consider this album as very influential in the development of Progressive Rock music. By 1966, The Beatles were a "mature" band, they had a lot new ideas to experiment in the studio, they were tired of touring, and they couldn`t play many of their new songs on stage as a quartet, because their new songs included a lot of instruments and arrangements which a quartet couldn`t play without additional musicians. George Martin again was very important in the production ideas and in the arrangements done with the Beatles. His role became even more important with this album.

The album starts with "Taxman", composed by George Harrison. This song has very good lyrics, IMO, and maybe these lyrics were not liked very much by the taxmen themselves in England and in othe parts of the world!

"Eleanor Rigby", composed by Paul McCartney, also has very good lyrics about loneliness and a very good string quartet arrangement by George Martin..

"I`m Only Sleeping", composed by John Lennon, is a "dreamy" song, maybe linked to the use of some "substances". It has a lead guitar part played "backwards".

"Love You To", composed by Harrison, is a song played with sitar and other instruments from India with the help from Indian musicians. It is also an interesting song. Harrison`s influence started to be more important to the band. He contributed with his own musical ideas to the development of the music of the band.

"Here, There and Everywhere" is a ballad composed by McCartney, played by the band without the help from other musicians. A simple but very good ballad, but I have listened to better versions recorded by other bands, one in particular recorded by a band called The Lettermen, which includes a very good orchestral arrangement. (If someone is interested, this version was released in a various artists Capitol Records album called "Greatest Songs of The Beatles", in 1972; this was one of the first Quadraphonic albums that I listened in 1973, when my father bought it to play it in his own Quadraphonic sound system).

"Yellow Submarine" is a Lennon-McCartney song sung by Ringo Starr. It is a simple song but it has interesting sound effects and arrangements.

"She Said She Said", composed by Lennon, tells the story of a drug trip using LSD. I read that McCartney didn`t like the lyrics very much and wasn`t interested to record the song, but in the end he played the bass guitar, but Lennon sang the lead vocals accompanied by Harrison on backing vocals.

"Good Day Sunshine", composed by McCartney, has very good vocal arrangements sung by Paul, George and John, but the instruments were only played by Ringo and Paul plus George Martin playing another piano part.

"And Your Bird Can Sing", composed by Lennon, has strange lyrics, but musically it is a more "conventional" Rock song.

"For No One", composed by McCartney, is one of my favourite songs from this album. It has very good arrangements, particularly a horn arangement played by Alan Civil.

"Doctor Robert", composed by Lennon, has lyrics about a real Doctor which prescribed psychedelic drugs to his patients.

"I Want to Tell You" is a song composed by Harrison. It is also a good song which includes a piano part played by McCartney.

"Got to Get You Into my Life", composed by Paul, has very good wind instruments arrangements.

"Tomorrow Never Knows", composed by John, was the very first song tried for "Revolver", but the song had many changes in arrangements, with the final version being this one. The first version, more "experimental", was finally released in the "Anthology 1" album in 1995.

"Revolver" was released in August 1966, when The Beatles were doing their last tour, which was problematic due to very known facts. In that tour they didn`t play any songs from his album, but they played "Paperback Writer", a song recorded during the same recording sessions but which was only released as a single in 1966.

With the release of this recording a new plateau had been reached in modern music. The overwhelming success of "Rubber Soul" gave them carte blanche to go all out on this album with their imaginations unhindered. The result is a timeless masterpiece of creativity that every fan of music should have in their collection. The Beatles made no pretensions of producing a pop single, choosing to allow their admirers to follow them farther into new territory. Those of us who were still digesting their previous work were startled when this one hit the airwaves because, once again, we realized that they had run far, far ahead of us all and were waiting for us to catch up. We heard string quartets, Indian instrumentation, backwards guitar leads and insanely mixed tape loops. We got beautiful brass sections and lyrics that ran the gamut from existential themes to pill-dispensing doctors. We could see that little George was coming into his own with brave tunes like "I want to tell you" and "Taxman." We also got a beautiful love song and a whimsical trip under the waves. It was like being in a room with 14 doors, each one a different color and shape. And all of this accomplished on four studio tracks. Unbelievable. This is the first album by the foursome that I would definitely consider progressive rock and, as such, more than justifies the band being included on this site.

The Beatles 1966 record would be one of their most experimental. This would also be the last record that would be followed with a tour, after the show in Candlestick Park in San Francisco in late August 1966 they would become a strictly studio band. The albums that poured forth following Revolver were all of high caliber, and they were all highly experimental. They can all be rooted to this album, though, the often hailed masterpiece Revolver. While I don't think Revolver is a masterpiece, is certainly is an album to look for and it certainly has a lot of progressive tendencies. The Beatles were a creative factory, pumping out album after album of great works, and beginning with Rubber Soul, they really started to get cooking. Throughout the 14 tracks on this album you will be moved, you will hear rocking tunes, you will hear funny children's numbers, and you will hear Raga influenced pieces that really take you to another world, but in all this is a spectacular journey that everyone should take at least once.

The album opens with the first of three George Harrison pieces in Taxman. This song has an incredible bassline from McCartney as well as a killer McCartney guitar solo. Great opener (it might be one of the best opening songs they did). Eleanor Rigby is one of their first flirtations with an orchestra, with this piece being strictly orchestral. It has a nice melodic feel to it and the saddening piece is really heightened with the extensive string sections. I'm Only Sleeping is a playful piece with some intuitve guitar work and some fun vocals from Lennon. Love You To is the first of George Harrison's many excursions into Raga influenced indian music. He hired an array of musicians to help him acquire this atmosphere, and it comes off perfectly. It's my favorite Indian song of his and it really sheds light on his future projects with the Beatles. Here, There, and Everywhere is a wonderful Paul McCartney ballad (he often says it is one of his absolute favorites) with some great backing musicianship. Yellow Submarine is often considered to be a throwaway piece, but in my opinion is a great and fun number that would be the inspiration for an entire film. The entire atmosphere of this song is playful and quirky, with great vocals from Ringo and backing sound effects added to give the illusion of being on a submarine.

She Said She Said is one of the first acid trip songs from John Lennon, the title coming from when Peter Fonda told Lennon he knew what it was like to be dead (obviously changed from he to she). It's a poppy piece that is playful and fun. Good Day Sunshine has a great melody line and a fantastic walking pace to it, as well as uplifting lyrics and fantastic piano play from McCartney. And Your Bird Can Sing has some fantastic unison lead work from Harrison and Lennon as well as some quirky lyrics. The riffing on this song is utterly superb and it's one of my favorites on the album. For No One is another somber McCartney piece with a great french horn solo from Alan Civil. It would pave the way for songs like She's Leaving Home on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Doctor Robert is another fun piece from Lennon, with a great chord progression and some great hammond in the middle sections. I Want to Tell You is the third Harrison piece on the album, and it carries the same sort of sentiments and feelings as songs like Think For Yourself. It has some fun drumming from Ringo and a convincing vocal performance. Got to Get You Into My Life has some fun horn sections and some great vocals from McCartney as well as a nice walking piano line. Tomorrow Never Knows is a psychedelic masterpiece, full of backwards effects, varying sounds and a true sonic attack of music and vocals. It's easily the most creative and experimental song the Beatles had produced up to that point, and it really shows the progressive tendencies of the band.

In the end, Revolver is where things truly started getting progressive for the Beatles. Is it full blown progressive rock? No. What it is is highly experimental and highly original music that challenges the listener with a lot of varying moods, atmospheres, and instrumentation, and it comes off great. It isn't a masterpiece, in my opinion, but it's damn close to one. Comes highly recommended from me for fans looking for early progressive rock at its finest (albeit not 100% progressive rock). 4.5/5.

A solid five star rating for ' Revolver'. This and the' Double White' album have to be the best material ever produced by the Beatles. The opener ' Taxman' full of bittersweet lyrics, the nostalgic ' Eleanor Rigby', ' Here There and Everywhere'. Everything about this album is pure class. I cannot really fault it at all. The musicians were at their peak ( even Ringo) and the quality material only eclipsed by the ' White' album. ' Revolver' is regarded as one of the all time great albums and if you don't own it you need to quickley as you will be rewarded 1000fold. 5 Stars like a walk in the park.

I've decided to submit a review on this one because the connexion with the beginning of progressive rock seems a bit more evident than on the other albums. However I continue to think that considering this band as the roots of progressive music is a really "weird" idea. I don't see many convincing arguments for an inclusion. This album reveals a sunny and psych pop vibe with many easy & effective melodies. "Taxman" is a fresh composition dominated by guitars and a nice groove. Not so bad and in the real spirit of the 60s. "Eleanor Rigby" is one of these soft, naive ballads, musically weak with a basic pop structure. "I'm Only Sleeping" is a rather "plaintive" ballad with evident poppy accents. The moderate force of this album comes in part from "tomorrow never knows" with its raga like sonorities and psych flavour. This album is honest but non-creative and really too simplistic to be considered by prog-head CD collections. During the same period The Animals made more adventurous things. The most brilliant works in proto-prog must be captured in Arthur Brown's music, Seventh Sons, Moondog, Third Ear Band, Sun Ra, Oriental sunshine and a few others.

On their previous record "Rubber Soul" the band was singing about girls and love, but on "Revolver" the band has grown up. This is a more adventerous album, especially the final song "Tomorrow Never Knows" an experimental, psychedelic song with tape loops, a backward guitar part, and lyrics borrowed from Timothy Leary's version of "The Tibetan Book Of The Dead".

Of course there are lots of radio friendly songs like the opener "Taxman" with Mr.Harrison complaining about being taxed to death. Some really good scorching guitar as well. "Eleanor Rigby" has long been a favourite of mine, a strings driven song. Some of my other favourites from this record are "Love To You", a Harrison song with sitar and tabla, very Indian sounding. "Here, There And Everywhere" is such a good ballad. "Good Day Sunshine" is a fun, upbeat tune. While "Doctor Robert" is a song that for some reason gets stuck in my head everytime I hear it.

The band's sound is starting to expand even more on this record, yes they are progressing ! A historic record.

"Revolver" clearly indicates a change of direction of the Fab Four music. More elaborate than anything they have released so far.

It paved the way for "Peppers" and its psychedelic mood. It is the Fab Four seventh release in three years 'time!!! Another top one on both sides of the Atlantic.

For the first time, more credit is given to Georges who is signing three songs and will introduce the use of rare instruments. One of their hardest song "Taxman" is an acid attack about the British tax system. The band was actually paying huge taxes and the violent rhythm depicts quite well their feeling about it. It was not frequent to get a Georges song as an opener (but there will be other ones in the future).

On the other end of the scope, "Eleanor Rigby" is a diamond of a melody featuring an awesome chords section (like during "Yestraday"..

Some psychedelic mood during "I'm Only Sleeping". This describes John's foundness for ...sleeping! Some saw some relation with drug (ab) use, but that seems not to be confirmed.

The band had experienced already some sitar on "Norwegian Wood", so now Georges is introducing another Indian instrument on "Love You To" : the tabla. One of the very few "Beatles" song which doesn't figure neither Paul nor John. Only Georges and Ringo backed up by an Indian musician on the tabla. Very pleasant and fully original.

One of the more melancholic songs from this very good album is "Here, There and Everywhere". It is an extraordinary ballad where the harmonies are just gigantic. A highlight and rather a contrast with "Yellow Submarine". Even if it features some original arrangements, it is not at all one of my fave. The lead vocals is from Ringo, and unfortunately as during each of them I just feel a bit disappointed.

The next good one is a McCartney song : "Good day Sunshine". Vocals are particularly well performed. Actually, Georges and John are just doing the backings here. They don't play any instrument while Georges Martin is playing the piano.

The rocking sound of this album is perpetuated by John. "And Your Bird Can Sing" is a mix of rock and harmony. Another very good song from John which is less known. Just like most of the ones from this "Revolver" album.

"For No One" is another melodic tune. It is also a track in which two members are not involved in the recording (Georges and John). The use of different instrument is also a feature : Paul playing clavichord (a medieval instrument ancestor of the piano in some sort) while Ringo plays tambourine. There is even horn played by a guest.

Lots of horns as well during "Got To Get You Into My Life" which got a strange life cycle. This song was released as a single in ... 1976 in the US to promote a compilation. would you believe that it peaked at the seventh spot in the US charts? Way after they broke up!

The most psychedelic song of all here is "Tomorrow never Knows". Remember this album was released in 1966. Floyd hasn't yet released "Piper" nor "The Doors" their first album and Airplane was in its infancy. This song is really precursory of a whole movement which will soon invade the musical scene. A great and very interesting closing number, although not very well known either.

This album can hardly considered as prog. It was original and influential. And it is a very good one.

Four stars.

"Revolver" made the name of the band sky rocketing because through this excellent album they can even make much more depth of their arrangements. Look at "Eleanor Rigby" which has all the dimensions of progressive music: the melody, the vocal harmonies and the arrangements are all excellent. In fact, this song has been taken by many progressive bands to be re-arranged based on their own version. My best favorite arrangement is those by Esperanto from the album "The Last Tango". The arrangement is using violin with dynamic rock music. The second one that I like is the one re-arranged by God Bless from my country. The "Eleanor Rigby" interpretation is so dynamic. But let's come back to the original version of this song by The Beatles. The song contains challenging notes that build a strong composition.

"Taxman" is a great rocker and it has simple arrangement and rhythm section. It's very clear that Lennon and McCartney collaboration in songwriting has proven to be very effective. This song with pondering beats is well-suited as opening track. "Here, There and Everywhere" is also another excellent example of how The Beatles paid attention in details so that the song has a solid composition. "Yellow Submarine" experienced tremendous success as major hit followed with "Got to Get Into My Life" which once was popular being covered by funky brass section band Earth, Wind & Fire. I personally love "For No One" and "Dr Robert". These two songs have great groove and tight bass lines. There are ambient notes that lead to prog music elements.

Overall, this is a truly excellent music offering by The Beatles where the band had solidified their music style since "Help" was released. As far as prog concern, "Eleanor Rigby" can be considered as the band's exploration into prog scene. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

As far as Psychedelia goes, this is a masterpiece along with The Zombies - Oddesey & Oracle. Here There and Everywhere always reminded me of Kerry Minnear of Gentle Giant and some of GG's other ballads like Think Of Me With Kindness and His Last Voyage. I happen to think Dr. Robert is one of the best rock tunes ever written on Revolver, and it's a wonder to me why no one ever covers it. Tomorrow Never Knows also gets a mention for coolest drum track(simple it is not...although it sounds simple). Revolver gets 5 stars for _psychedelic masterpiece_, 3 stars for prog. fans, though.

And now everything marched rightly when we compared the Brazilian release with its British equivalent: same name, same cover, same track listing and order, same release year. and as a paean to so much agreement: a superb album! Something was under preparation inside Beatles' factory, and it could be perceived just after thanks to the previous album, Rubber Soul, and a couple of singles containing exquisite moods like 'We can work it out' and 'Rain'. Also the guys were being more and more influenced by producer George Martin and were working with a vast array of musicians that brought new trends to their sound.

One of these trends came directly from India, with raga tunes, sitars & tablas, etc, and was discreetly noted in some songs heard previously but with Revolver they came really noticeable with the frenzy 'Love you to' - this oriental flavor, together with other great tracks like 'Tomorrow never knows', 'She said, she said' and 'I'm only sleeping' helped to make Revolver a clear psychedelic work which is part of the prog- rock roots.

But the plethora of marvels continues with great proto-symphonic songs like 'Eleanor Rigby' and 'For no one', folk tunes like 'Good day sunshine', the funky 'Got to get you into my life' and pure rocks like 'Taxman' and 'And your bird can sing'. Even average songs like 'I want to tell you' and 'Dr. Robert' or the extremely cheesy 'Here, there and everywhere' run smoothly amid so good companions. The only disappointment is just the disjointed 'Yellow submarine', actually one of the most remembered songs done by the quartet.

All in all, considering how (r)evolving Revolver was if we check the era it was issued and the high quality of the songs displayed, it becomes clear that we are facing a timeless masterpiece.

First words: My REVOLVER rewrite is occurring on Sept. 12, 2009, just a few days after Beatle-mania gets revived for a short time.

REVOLVER is highly lauded by fans, critics, and people alike as one of the best overall examples of recorded music. I've convinced myself that if we ever discover intelligent life on other planets, we'll send them a Beatles record (maybe this one...) to show them what we call ''music''. I respect the opinion of people crowning this album the best ever, but I can't see eye-to-eye with them.

A good bulk of the album is what I consider very good pop, even at times progressive pop. There's the incorporation of the sitar on songs like ''Tomorrow Never Knows'' and ''Love to You'', the string orchestrations on ''Eleanor Rigby'' and the brass things on ''Got to Get You Into My Life'' that makes this album special and innovative for 1966. There are also a few good doses of hard rock like ''Taxman''.

Somehow, I can't understand the whole majesty of REVOLVER. I blame the hype surrounding the Beatles and everything they've done to me not getting full enjoyment out of this. Too many sleepy ballads such as ''For No One'' and unnecessary oddities like ''Yellow Submarine'' prevent me from giving the album a high rating. For the most part, I really can't get any enjoyment out of this album; it's missing an aura that I just can't explain.

The Beatles are definitely an important band to include in any type of music collection. REVOLVER may have a spot in your heart, but don't expect it to be the ''be all, end all'' of all albums. Historically significant, not much more.

People so often credit the incredible Sgt. Pepper to the invention of the beginning of progressive music. Somehow, I find that very difficult to believe. While Sgt. Pepper is more experimental, this is really where thier experimintantion with Indian music, going against typical music layout, and having more complexity and a pshycadelic feel began. They also used backward tape loops, which indicate experimintation. The opening, TAXMAN is a great hard rock song with a great solo by Harrison. While everything here's great (with the exception of YELLOW SUBMARINE), the standout on the album are the two songs using more Indian-type classical music. The better of the two is LOVE YOU TO, though both are great. In fact, the whole album's incredible. This is where the first prog band started making progressive-type music, and is an incredible album, not just on a progressive scale.

Really, this is a must own for anyone. For prog historians, collectors, or just average people who listen to prog, this is something that will make anyone's prog collection better.

This album is the 60's in an album...not Sergeant Pepper's which like the White Album has moments of brilliance and moments of self-indulgent waste. On the other hand, the excellent Rubber Soul was starting to incorporate more experimentation into the deceptively not-so-simple songcraft of the early Beatles, but only in a rudimentary way. Revolver (along with the several similar timed singles like Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane) represent the balance point where it all comes together and it all works.

Fifth Beatle George Martin is all over this album, and George Harrison also has a strong hand. As in later releases, new recording techniques were created for the album, and here it all works. Heavy psychedelics (the Fabs had moved from speed and weed to LSD at this point in earnest) and some of the best depictions of tripping are on this album. And yet this is the album of the timeless Elenor Rigby and the best Ringo-romp Yellow Submarine.

This is the album that cracked open the gates to the flood of experimentation that changed what an album could be. Brian Wilson has said that Pet Sounds was an attempt to match this album, and was hailed as a masterpiece of redefining what an album was. Sergeant Pepper was the Beatles return volley, and really just finished the job that Revolver started.

The songs have been described individually and most people know them already. I simply want to put my vote in for this album as the beginning of the experimental rock album, the apex of the essential late 60's era.

'Revolver' - The Beatles (8.5/10)

Before releasing 'Revolver' in 1966, The Beatles were still basically a completely-pop oriented band. The songs were pretty in tune with the common style of the day, and while the songwriting was obviously far superior to alot of the material generally being released (hence the band's overwhelming popularity and acclaim) there wasn't really a big factor of true innovation about their music. Suddenly, 'Revolver' comes along, and all of a sudden, The Beatles are experimenting; push the barriers of popular music to new heights. In context, this could be considered one of the most prog albums of all time, simply because it was so ahead of it's time. The psychedelic era wouldn't start for at least another year, and the prog movement in general was practically unheard of. A truly forward-thinking release from one of the most popular groups of the time was sure to cause a stir.

This is (possibly disregarding 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.') my favourite Beatles release, and there's good reason as to why. There are obvious pop-oriented tunes, but there are also more creative techniques used in some of the material. The most progressive song on here, without a doubt is the psychedelic 'Tommorow Never Knows.' Despite being a relatively short piece, it's my favourite Beatles song, and one of the most progressive songs ever recorded. The song is essentially designed in order to emulate an acid trip, and a great deal of effects are used. The lyrics are very cerebral/cryptic, and discard alot of the romantic leanings they have with alot of their material. It's a song that I can listen to over and over again and still be amazed.

The fact that all of the songs fall under being four minutes long might turn off some progressive listeners, but one must accept 'Revolver' for what it is, a 'pop' album that helped pave the way to more progressive things. I find the poppier numbers quite enjoyable to listen to (especially the ones that incoperate hefty doses of psychedelia.)

'Revolver' would be the first Beatle's album that could be considered a 'masterpiece.' While it's critically overshadowed by 'Sgt. Peppers,' it forever holds a place in my heart as being one of the inaugural works of progressive rock. An obvious essential.

"Revolver" is the 7th full-length studio album by UK pop/rock act The Beatles. The album was released through Parlophone Records in August 1966. The material for the album was recorded from April to June 1966 at Abbey Road Studios and the album was produced by George Martin. The Beatles had begun their transformation from a single based act to an album based act on their previous album "Rubber Soul (1965)" and that development was continued on "Revolver".

Stylistically "Revolver" is also the natural successor to "Rubber Soul (1965)", but it sees The Beatles experiment even more with various recording effects and studio technology innovations (reverse tape loops, backwards played sections, the use of automatic double tracking) and also incorporates the band´s (particularly George Harrison´s) new found interest in Indian music and culture, and ethnic Indian instruments like citar and tambura. The latter instruments and the experimental use of effects and recording methods often give the songs on "Revolver" a psychadelic twist.

"Revolver" opens with the hard rocking and quite angry sounding "Taxman" but immediately changes into a somber melancholic mood on "Eleanor Rigby". A track featuring only Paul McCartney´s lead vocals, John Lennon and George Harrison's harmony vocals, and a string octet arrangement by George Martin. Other highlights include "I´m Only Sleeping", "Love You To", "For No One", "Doctor Robert", "Got to Get You Into My Life" and "Tomorrow Never Knows". The latter a particularly innovative track in terms of studio recording techniques and use of Indian instruments and definitely one of the most interesting tracks in the band´s discography. The comedy pop/rock track "Yellow Submarine" needs to mentioned too as it´s a standout track on the album. It´s up for debate if it´s a great track with its childish main melody and flat and slightly out of tune lead vocals by Ringo Starr, but it arguably stands out.

"Revolver" may be a huge step forward for The Beatles in terms of creating a full album experience and the above mentioned innovative recording techniques provides the album with something special (especially considering that it´s a 1966 release), but the core ingredients of The Beatles are still here in abundance. The relatively simple vers/chorus song structures (save for a few tracks), the instantly catchy melodies and sing along choruses, and the exquisite vocal melodies and choir/harmony arrangements.

"Revolver" is a landmark release in The Beatles discography. "Rubber Soul (1965)" introduced some psychadelic ideas, but "Revolver" more fully embraces those ideas, while still retaining their melodic pop/rock sensibilities. It´s the stylistic diversity which is the great strength of "Revolver" (and it´s incredibly detailed and well sounding production), and what makes it such an intriguing listen from start to finish. Every song sounds unmistakably like The Beatles, but can still be very different in sound and style from the track preceding it. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

"the acid album" -John Lennon

Lennon had named Rubber Soul "the pot album" for the band's substance of choice during 1965. Sometime late in that year, John, Cynthia, George, and Pattie drove into London for a social evening with their dentist and his girlfriend. At his house, without their consent, the four of them were "dosed" by this guy and officially sent on their first LSD trip. For the shy and straight-laced Cynthia, the evening was the most horrible thing she'd ever experienced, having to drive around to clubs with loud, crazy people while freaking out on A-bomb. John and George also had some scary hallucinations but unlike Cyn would be left wanting more rather than running from it. And so the period of writing and recording Revolver would become The Beatles LSD experimentation phase, leading Lennon to christen the results "the acid album."

Following the release of the killer Rubber Soul album, the boys played some dates in the UK before taking a break. Returning to Abbey Road Studios in the spring of 1966 they recorded all of the tracks for Revolver and their next single (Paperback Writer/Rain) between April and June. They would spend about three times more recording time on Revolver than on Rubber Soul as their interest in studio trickery, fueled by ever increasing psychedelics, became more doable with the increased time their status allowed. George Martin noted that their pre-8track trick of track "bouncing" increased now to almost every song on Revolver, whereas it was used only once on Rubber Soul. The result was another great album that many people consider their finest though I personally feel the songs were better on Rubber Soul. Yeah Revolver has more tricks up it sleeves, but Rubber Soul was the nicer shirt.

Side one of Revolver was really the great stuff. Harrison's "Taxman" is a scorching opener with a wickedly scranked-up guitar sound and biting lyrics, along with a more aggressive solo. Then came the McCartney masterpiece "Eleanor Rigby" which was a story about a lonely woman whose gravestone John and Paul used to see in their childhood, yes, she did exist. While Lennon dominated Rubber Soul it is McCartney who had the most impressive songs on Revolver. Besides "Rigby" there was the love letter to girlfriend Jane Asher "Here, There and Everywhere" with its gorgeous, velvety vocals. And there is the somber, dramatic "For no one" with its delightful horn part which sort of foretold stuff like "Penny Lane." Paul's triumphs continued with "Good day sunshine" and "Got to get you into my life." John's material was fairly average by his own high standards, which are still better than most of course. The best was "She said she said" featuring a line fed to him by Peter Fonda, the infamous "I know what it's like to be dead." But in my view most of his stuff here is pretty average sans the bells and whistles. "Dr. Robert" sounds more like something from Meet the Beatles than Revolver, pretty stock compared to the exotic "Love you to" with sitar and tabla.

Revolver is a must for Beatles fans and anyone really, but roles were switching a bit and Paul was stepping out front for most of the Beatles second act. It is my opinion that the combination of more drugs, less unity, and nonsense like the Indian spiritual retreat would lead the boys to albums that still had some great material, but would have their share of stuff that may have been "mind blowing" at the time, but may not hold up as well today.

The Beatles "Revolver" album is a romp through psychedelic 60s dystopia.

The great thing about it is the cover that really captured the imagination of the 60s generation, particularly the love-in generation of tune in, turn on, drop out drug culture. On offer is enough psych to appease the trippy hippy masses of the flower power movement.

'Taxman' begins with the coughing spluttering count in and a wonderful crashing guitar riff. 'Eleanor Rigby' is simply a masterpiece with full blown orchestras as a backing under Paul's heartfelt plea, "look at all the lonely people". The dreamy 'I'm Only Sleeping' si intriguing and a real sleeper (no pun, honest!). 'Love You To' is weird and wonderful tripping pysch rock. 'Here, There and Everywhere' is a slow paced track heavily reliant on harmonies and a catchy title line. 'Yellow Submarine' is a silly but infectious children's song from Ringo, similar to 'Octopus's Garden' yet to come on "Abbey Road". 'She Said She Said' is a throwaway but an excellent track nonetheless only found on this album. I love the bridge on this, "no, no, no you're wrong girl, when I was a boy, everything was alright". 'Good Day Sunshine' is a bonafide classic featuring strong harmonies and melodies. 'And Your Bird can Sing' is very melodious and has a powerful riff to drive it. The next three tracks are more forgettable and real curios that you will rarely hear, at least on radio. However 'Got to get you into My lIfe' saves the tracklist from spiralling into obscure numbers, and it all end son a positive high note with the incomparable 'Tomorrow Never Knows' This track could well be the proggiest Beatles number focusing on an eastern mystical feel and very trippy acid fuelled lyrics. The music is incredibly Indian in nature and psychedelic. It is one of the most powerful Beatles songs and sung by the wonderful Harrison.

Overall this is an excellent album with some of the proggiest Beatles moments so worth listening, no matter what your tastes, as a sheer indispensable piece of rock history. 5 solid stars

Trying to evolve is not enough

Many state that "Revolver" is the first Progressive Rock BEATLES release, I strongly disagree with this, even though it's an effort to leave behind the good boys Pop hits from the early years, they still don't manage to start a real transition to Psyche or Proto Prog, and the album is way behind "Abbey Road" and even the overrated "Sgt Peppers"

The album starts with "Taxman" and honestly don't get what they pretend, sounds as Proto Punk rather than Proto Prog, the constant repetition of a couple of chords is simply boring,. even when the vocal work is much better than the instrumental.

"Eleanor Rigby" is a great leap, at last the are trying to create an almost Symphonic mood (before Symphonic Rock even existed), the delicate and melancholic string arrangements adds a perfect touch, because unlike other bands who added artificial orchestral intros and codas, here the orchestration is an integral part of the song, just perfect.

"I'm only Sleeping" is an attempt of early Psychedelia, still they can't live the simplicity of early years but they are advancing, not great result, but as I said before, it's an advance. As usual the underrated George Harrison adds the Eastern sound with Indian instruments and interesting arrangements, THE BEATLES are starting to embrace early Psychedelia, with an interesting fusion of Rock and Ethnic music.

"Here, There and Everywhere" is a nice but non transcendental song, somehow they resist to leave the sound that lead them to be the most important band of the early 60's.

"Yellow Submarine" must be the most boring, repetitive and dull song I ever heard, I simply can't understand how a couple of talented composers like Lennon & Mc'Cartney released something so absurd and ridiculous, sounds almost a caricature.

"She Said" is a nice trippy song with the spirit of the late 60's, a huge improvement since the last previous horrendous track or the following song ("Good Day Sunshine") which doesn't interests me a bit.

"And Your Bird Can Sing" is a nice track, not spectacular, but at least have good timing and doesn't bore the listener like "For No One", which despite the wing arrangements sends me to sleep each time I play it.

"Doctor Robert" is a good Rock song with nothing new to offer, but again it's catchy, now, "I Want to Tell You" is a nice example of experimentation, at last THE BEATLES dare to deal with dissonances, entering into a previously unexplored territory (by them), that's what I expected from all the album.

The album ends with the strong "Got to Get You Out of My Life" and the highly experimental "Tomorrow Never Knows", a good closure for an uneven album, with extremely high moments as in "Eleanor Rigby" and others that offer nothing new.

Reviewing "Revolver" wasn't as hard as I thought, but rating it was a nightmare, being that I was between 2 and 3 stars, so I had to use my usual method, first I compared it with ELP's debut which I rated with 3 stars and "Revolver" is light years behind.

But the definitive decision was taken when I noticed that had rated Sgt Peppers with threw stars and "Revolver" is not remotely in the level, so if I want to be honest, can't rate this album with more than 2 stars.

This is the Beatles second foray into experimental music. Sure, there are some pop songs, and most of the experimental tunes still have a link to their pop beginnings. But still, this was 1966. What do you expect.

Taxman begins the album well. Although it is mostly a straight ahead rock song, the angular guitar style was ahead of it's time. Eleanor Rigby, with it's double string quartet instrumentation, inspired by Vivaldi, is certainly progressive. Love You To with sitar throughout also fills the bill. And She Said She Said is pure psychedelia. And speaking of psychedelia, Tomorrow Never Knows still ranks as one of the best in that genre.

So if someone complains that the Beatles aren't prog, and shouldn't be on this site, point them here.

Revolver was the first truly historically important release from the Beatles that could also be considered their first Proto-Prog album.

It was time for the fab four to transition to a much more rock-oriented sound compared to the almost folky undertones that dominated Rubber Soul. This album is also where, in my opinion, Paul McCartney and George Harrison really started to show their very own distinguishable styles from what their individual songwriting achieved previously. Harrison surprises by writing a more direct and also surprisingly politically charged Taxman. This is also the only time when Harrison made an exception from his 2 songs/album rule by contributing 3 compositions, which also includes the pleasant I Want To Tell You and the more forgettable Love You To.

Paul McCartney offers us some of his best ballads like Here, There And Everywhere and For No One, not to mention, the melancholy-sounding melody of Eleanor Rigby. John might not be my favorite contributor for this release but he does carve out a solid platform for the other members' individual highlights with tracks like I'm Only Sleeping, And Your Bird Can Sing and who can forget that weird outro song Tomorrow Never Knows?

This is the first true Proto-Prog album from the Beatles that has united both the fans and critics in considering it a masterpiece of the '60s music scene. I personally will settle for an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection recommendation on my part since the best is still yet to come!

***** star songs: Eleanor Rigby (2:07) Here, There And Everywhere (2:25) Yellow Submarine (2:40) For No One (2:01)

**** star songs: Taxman (2:39) I'm Only Sleeping (3:01) She Said She Said (2:37) Good Day Sunshine (2:09) And Your Bird Can Sing (2:01) I Want To Tell You (2:29) Got to Get You Into My Life (2:30) Tomorrow Never Knows (2:57)

*** star songs: Love You To (3:01) Doctor Robert (2:15)

The first 'proto-prog' album from the fab four. They had started to experiment a bit on Rubber Soul, but here they get even more experimental. Only Brian Wilson and Frank Zappa were also coming up with adventurous rock music at the time. This is the only studio album they did in 1966; before they released two a year. This was released around the same time that they decided to no longer tour. None of the songs here were ever perfomrd live by the group. For the first time George Harrison gets three of his songs on a Beatles record.

The intro to "Taxman" was added after the song was recorded. McCartney plays the awesome guitar solo. Only John, Paul and George appear on "Eleanor Rigby"...as vocalists. All the music is done by a string section. Lyrically, it's the most 'serious' song they did up to this point. "I'm Only Sleeping" features backwards guitars. The Beatles accidentally invented the backwards tape stuff; when they recorded the B-side to the 1966 single "Paperback Writer" called "Rain" a tape operator by mistake played John's vocals backwards at the end. Lennon loved the effect so much he wanted to release the whole song backwards!

"Love You To" features Indian musicians on sitar and tabla. George does the vocals which at times sound vaguely Indian. Most of the Beatles fans at the time had never heard music like this before. "Yellow Submarine" is of course a great kids song with sound effects. "She Said She Said" has some great drumming from Ringo. Not many Beatles songs make you want to play air drums to them. "Good Day Sunshine" is an underrated song for these guys. I've always liked it. There is an overdubbed Ringo in the chorus(or is it McCartney?).

"For No One" is a McCartney 'love song' with some great French horn. "Got To Get You Into My Life" is an R&B song with a horn section. "Tomorrow Never Knows" was unlike anything else that came out in 1966. Lennon was really getting into LSD by the time Revolver was recorded. At one point he wanted a group of Tibetan monks to sing on the song. The whole song is based around Ringo's hypnotic drum pattern. There is sitar, bass, piano and all sorts of effects. Backwards guitar, backwards Mellotron...backwards everything. Lennon's vocals have been treated as well. Working with 4-track recording technology in early 1966, it's amazing how much effort was put into this song. A great experimental song that should be heard by everyone.

The Beatles influenced many people to want to pick up a guitar. With Revolver, they influenced many who wanted to experiment with the studio. One of the reasons they gave for not playing live anymore was that they could not duplicate the studio recordings on stage. One of the best albums of the 1960s and a great Proto-Prog album. 4 stars.

In my opinion, Revolver is The Beatles' most consistently good album, and that's including Yellow Submarine. None of the songs are longer than 3 minutes, and there's hardly a time signature change to be seen, yet this may be the most 'progressive' album they released. The word 'progressive' is always hard to define, but usually you will find a mention of a group trying to 'push back the boundaries of rock and pop' and listening to this album, you will find that this is exactly what the Beatles are doing. Gone are the likes of songs such as 'She Loves You' and 'From Me To You'. The Beatles, now satisfied with being one of the most popular groups of all time, decided to try and become more experimental and different with their music, rather than just release pop record after pop record, which is perhaps what makes them one of the most highly regarded bands of all time. What we find on this record are a collection of very mature, well thought out songs. This album was the only one they released in 1966, along with the single 'Paperback Writer/Rain' which implies that they spent more time writing the songs. The idea of pushing the boundaries of rock as far back as 1966 is why I believe the Beatles were one of the earliest 'progressive' groups.

Taxman There are not one, but three Harrison tracks on Revolver. Taxman is a haunting song about a greedy tax collector. While I'm not a fan of the main riff, which repeats for the entire duration of the song, I very much like the way the backing vocals are arranged, and also the guitar solo in the middle and end is very cool.

Eleanor Rigby This is one of the better known songs from the album. Paul is joined by a string quartet for this very melancholic song about 'lonely people'. The lyrics are very memorable, and very mature, for a man who was singing 'For I have got Another Girl' just the year before. This song is great, but personally I'm not a huge fan of the string quartet, and I prefer when the band play their instruments.

I'm Only Sleeping The atmosphere changes completely once again for this very relaxing song. I love the lyrics; how many people haven't thought at one point 'Please don't wake me, I'm only sleeping.'? The highlight for me is when the instruments all cut out, but suddenly come back in for the 'Keeping an eye...' lyric. A very psychedelic song, and easy to get confused with 'I'm So Tired'.

Love You To Harrison's second outing on this album, is extremely influenced by Indian music. I've never been a fan of the Indian side to Harrison's music, as I felt the songs we're sometimes a bit dull and sounded very out of place on the Beatles' albums. While I'm not a great fan of this song, I think it is a lot better than 'Within You Without You' from the Sgt Pepper's album, as it is far shorter (and therefore has a less dominating presence on the album) and also more energised.

Here, There And Everywhere Paul's contributions to this album far outweigh the others in my opinion. This is one of the loveliest songs ever written, such a beautiful melody, and so relaxing. The 'ooh's in the background are exquisite. The perfect love song, wholly original, and in no way cringey.

Yellow Submarine You knew it was coming, they had to let old Ringo have a song to himself. In an album full of mature compositions, one wonders what a childrens' song is doing on here. You'll listen to it, sing along to it, laugh at it on occasions, but in reality it's one of those songs that you'd rather skip when listening to the album. Further boosting Ringo's reputation as the comic relief of the Beatles, this is another song to put in the Beatles bad songs bin. Quite ironic really that it's become one of the most famous songs by the band.

She Said She Said After the childrens nightmare song, we are faced with another truly bizarre song. The lyrics are very incomprehensible, and there is a good chance the Beatles were quite high when they wrote and recorded this. However, it has some very positive qualities as well. Ringo really lets himself go on the drums, performing a different drum fill every 4 bars or so. There is also a time signature change from 4/4 to 3/4 in the bridge section. I personally like this one, but I can imagine it annoying others.

Good Day Sunshine Side 2 opens with the best sounding track on the album. The rich piano sound on this song is very appealing indeed, and the melody played on the piano during the verse is positively fantastic. The instrumental consists of a very short but effective piano solo. Also interesting is Ringo's use of polyrhythms during the chorus. With great lyrics on top, this a brilliant little track, and one of my favourites from the album.

And Your Bird Can Sing While the preceding track is geared towards piano, this one makes a large use of the guitars, with the guitar solo being unforgettable. The lyrics don't make that much sense, but this is still a really good song.

FOR NO ONE At a mere two minutes long, the shortest song on the album is also the best in my opinion. The use of a clavichord, is a truly inspired move on Paul's part, but it suits the song perfectly. Go to Wikipedia and you'll see it describes the song as being Baroque Pop, a funny prospect. The lyrics are mind-blowing, every time I listen to them, I am always moved by their meaning. You can listen again and again, and the emotion is never lost. The French horn solo is also absolutely perfect in this song, and fits perfectly. The best song on the album for me.

Doctor Robert This song has a very similar feel to Taxman. The song has a drug theme, but the lyrics really don't go anywhere and just confuse the listener. Musically, there isn't anything that interesting about this song, and it is very repetitive.

I Want To Tell You Harrison's last contribution to this album is his best. The lyrics are good, but the melody is fantastic. The highlights are Ringo's loud drum fills after the bridges.

Got To Get You Into My Life You have to love the energised feel that the brass section gives this song. This song is a lot of fun to listen to, with the only downside being that the 'chorus' is ridiculously short. The brass section compliment Paul's bass guitar very well, and there is even a spot for some lead guitar in there. This song is another good reason to listen to Revolver.

Tomorrow Never Knows This song shows John's successful experimenting with tape loops. Although brief, the song sucks you into into its world, where you become mesmerised. The drone continues for the entire song, and only one note is played on the bass guitar. Ringo's drumming is also fantastic here, and the repetitive nature adds to the drone. A very cool song to finish the album.

There is truly something for everyone on this album. I particularly enjoy the album cover, which shows how album art was becoming more than just showing a picture of the band, and actually being taken seriously. The fact that the Beatles had the guts to try new things, rather than sticking to the same formula, and also getting it right, is what made them so successful.

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.

Revolver is today extremely acclaimed, but in the 60s was never as popular as Sgt Pepper, or even Rubber Soul. It shows The Beatles at the very centre of a heavily creative period, in which, having previously moved beyond simple rock & roll, they would travel from carefully crafted baroque, folk, rock and pop songs through to increasingly experimental and psychedelic material, culminating in the film and album of Magical Mystery Tour. The pairing of Revolver and Sgt Pepper are probably the favourites because they have the best balance of light, friendly folk and pop (Rubber Soul) and crazy, over-produced, psychedelia (Magical Mystery Tour). Of this middle period, Revolver maintains a more guitar-based, rocky sound, but isn't without it's violins and oboes either.

'Taxman'; George's very cool rocker that the band decided was good enough to open an album. 'Eleanor Rigby'; AKA the greatest song ever recorded that only contains a string octet and a vocal. 'I'm Only Sleeping'; well-written psych-folk from Lennon with first ever use of backwards guitar. Talk about a good opening to an album! Then it's 'Love You To', a fine sitar-based ditty from George but weaker than 'Within You Without You', 'Here, There and Everywhere', one of Paul's less interesting ballads, 'Yellow Submarine', the nautical sing-along with Ringo, and 'She Said, She Said', a John number that helped contribute to the very idea of what rock music was, and would become. Side one is great with only a couple of moments of mediocrity.

'Good Day Sunshine' is potentially the happiest piece of music I've ever heard, which makes me happy too. 'And Your Bird Can Sing', maybe the one throwaway track on the album, because it's just a basic rock song with a forgettable melody. 'For No One' = my favourite. Paul plays the clavichord and sings this dark ballad, with a horn solo. Simple but effective. 'Doctor Robert' is a great song that grows on you, with some cool changes of key and lovely breaks with Hammond organ. 'I Want To Tell You' is George's third on the album, and in the same league as his two cracking rockers on Rubber Soul. Then it's Paul's 'Got To Get You Into My Life', which is an okay piece of 'white soul' but a little enthusiastic on the brass. Finally, 'Tomorrow Never Knows', a philosophical, heavily treated, psychedelic, wonderous, droning journey of tape loops, repetitive vocals and amazing drums. Lennon here reveals that he is not only sleeping, but that he is writing great songs during this period of domination from McCartney.

I consider a Beatles album successful if I find myself wanting to repeatedly listen to at least ten of the songs...... on Revolver I do that with eleven, and it's particularly great if you ever get bored of the over-production on the next two colourful albums. 5 stars, no less.

The seventh album "Revolver" is one of my favourite creations by The BEATLES, both as for the content and as for the sleeve, but simultaneously I guess every Beatlemania might have got bewildered with such a political, introspective, and depressive, and especially innovative soundscape. In 1966, they decided to quit gigging upon stage and to exert much concentration upon studio-based recording. Using tape loops or reverses frequently, they (especially John) would have dug more and more psychic, psychedelic inner world out. Aside from a sweet love song "Here There And Everywhere" or a funky relaxing stuff "Yellow Submarine" (this stuff is flooded with effective sounds or noises quite novelly though), every single track in this album is thoughtful, and tough to digest linearly. And their novelty upon melodic, rhythmic, and directly auditory presentation would have completely ignored the audience's mind (the audience completely followed the bizarre combo, nonetheless!).

The first attack "Taxman" is one of George's masterpieces featuring his loud, powerful, exciting guitar grandeur. Quite dry melody and sound along with political, cynical lyrics is kinda difficulty, we could not often listen to in those days. On the other hand, the following "Eleanor Rigby" composed mainly Paul is crazy introspective and complex, against loneliness around life and death. We can feel such a severity in the life via his simple composition, complicated lyrics, and instrumental set / formation. This severity itself can be heard in another gem "For No One" by Paul. Both tracks feature instrumental simpleness indeed. "Got To Get You Into My Life", covered by Earth Wind And Fire later, is characterized with bombastic brass sounds and Paul's intensive shouts. John launches splendid psychedelia through "She Said, She Said" that notifies us of serious life and death, and "Tomorrow Never Knows" under starry, meditative condition produced by hallucinogenic agents maybe. Even if these songs only are in, this album is worth purchasing and listening to, let me say.

Anyway my fave upon this lp is a superb salubrious, danceable one "And Your Bird Can Sing" honest to say. ;)

"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.

Had the Beatles broken up after Rubber Soul, they'd be recognized as an all-time great band; just replace the last two songs on the "Red Album" (1962-1966) with "Twist and Shout" and "Rock and Roll Music," or with "The Word" and "You Won't See Me," or with "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and "You're Going to Lose That Girl" and you'll get the idea; in the US alone, the band had already accumulated 41 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including eleven number-one songs. And yet not one George Harrison composition had even "bubbled under" the Hot 100, and they had yet to release their all-time classic single "Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever." Their five highest-rated albums were still in the future.

Pardon the hyperbole, but Revolver launches the Beatles into the stratosphere. Among its number are four Beatles classics?Harrison's "Taxman," Paul McCartney's "Good Day Sunshine" and "Eleanor Rigby," and John Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows"?and a number of songs ("Yellow Submarine," "Here, There and Everywhere," "Got to Get You into My Life," "And Your Bird Can Sing") whose quality is the equal of the classics of most other groups. But beyond the songs themselves is the fact that Revolver is a cohesive artistic work, a superbly sequenced pop album.

Amazingly, the stratospheric Revolver doesn't even represent the Beatles' zenith. Nonetheless it's not only a five-star pop album; it's also an important proto-progressive work. While producer George Martin's genre-defying (or perhaps genre-defining) arrangements on songs like "Eleanor Rigby," "I'm Only Sleeping," and "Yellow Submarine" are historically significant, it's "Tomorrow Never Knows" that solidifies the Beatles' importance as progenitors of progressive rock. A track without rhymes or key changes, "Tomorrow Never Knows" relies heavily on studio trickery. Nonetheless, it's easily recognizable as rock music; the fact that it's been covered by Phil Collins and 801 (among many others) attests to this. And yet its merger of the melodic and the avant-garde is the song's real legacy. Along the same lines but more broadly, Revolver's claim to greatness is both its excellent composition and its groundbreaking approach to studio recording.

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.

Not one of my favorite Beatles albums, it is much better than The White Album or Yellow Submarine. The hits from the album became known to me before the album due to my mother's acquisition of the "red" and "blue" history albums that came out in the early 1970s. It wasn't until years later that I came to hear, know, and enjoy the full album, with songs like "Im Only Sleeping," "Here, There and Everywhere," "She Said She Said," "And Your Bird Can Sing," and "Dr. Robert" entering my lexicon of familiarity. And I like it! It's still got some of that fresh, innocence the band's earliest stuff while showing their penchant for experimentation in the studio and engineering room. Still, this is not a great, amazing, life-changing album (despite some of the "advances" made by "Eleanor Rigby" and "Tomorrow Never Knows"). Can't wait for stereo!

This was the biggest turning point for The Beatles. After 3 love focused pop songs, and 3 more albums that took the band in a bit of an experimental direction, here we see the cultivation of what the band can lead too and what will follow. While still retaining their early sort of flow, they knew that with a changing time, they knew love songs won't make them as big as they were in their hay day, so they simply got with the times in their own Beatles-ey way. I say Eleanor Rigby has to be their most progressive song they made. It is extremely different and interesting to listen too, and probably was the introduction to so many people back then too a more progressive and interesting music. Heck I say this is their most progressive album, aside from the white album. Not saying there wasn't any progressive rock back then but I feel like The Beatles established the genre to the public, whether they meant it or not. A very good album all around.