Beatles: Rubber Soul or Revolver? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

I prefer Rubber Soul to Revolver as of the right now but I have gone back and forth for years on which one I like best.

Many people will point to Revolver because of the acid rock style of tape loop collages, backward tape music which was not the norm for rock bands in early 1966 and the pretty of the left-field instrumentation on songs as "Eleanor Rigby" or "Love You To". I could see how this had an influence on psychedelic/prog rock music on a whole as we are still talking 1966 and not 1969.

Rubber Soul to me is perfecting the folk and country influences with rock music they started on Beatles For Sale which interestingly predicts what The Byrds would make their own afterwards. The R&B influences are still there as well as George Harrison 12 string sound.

New sounds come from maybe the most heavy bass track in rock music at that time in "Think For Yourself" and the sitar "Norwegian Wood" which would a become major sound in psychedelic rock. You hear the prototypical lyrical hippie song "The Word" which contains some psychedelic sounding harmonium parts. Some of the songs have interesting uses of mode mixture like "Norwegian Wood" and "Think For Yourself.

Walter Everett comments on the book The Beatles As Musicians Revolver Through The Anthology that the experimental nature of both Rubber Soul and Revolver were the key albums that would influence musicians that would eventually create Progressive Rock

The American version of Rubber Soul was the one that caught the ears of people like Brian Wilson and Ray Manzarek for example.

Edited by NYSPORTSFAN - February 02 2019 at 08:05

I like them both. Revolver sounds like the natural progression from Rubber Soul.

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Rubber Soul transitional, Revolver transformational.

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I used to prefer Rubber Soul for the sheer beauty of the songwriting, but nowadays I just love the experimentation of Revolver.

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BarryGlibb wrote:

Howard the Duck wrote:

Rubber Soul - Revolver has never had as many standout tracks for me and I think it's a bit overrated. I like some of the later stuff but I have a soft spot for the mid-range era of albums (like Help and Soul).

Overrated? No stand out track?

I was actually alive when Revolver was released and my older brother had it....it is still my favorite Beatles album

Taxman?

Eleanor Rigby isn't a stand out track? It maybe the greatest composition that's ever been recorded in the history of popular music...20th and 21st century included (IMHO).

I'm Only Sleeping?

Love You To?

Here There Everywhere?

Yellow Submarine...OK, it's a kids' song, but hey, it still stands out.

She Said She Said?

Good Day Sunshine?

And Your Bird Can Sing?

For No One?

Doctor Robert......OK, I have found one that definitely doesn't stand out, Dr Robert is the weakest Beatles track of their entire career (IMHO)

I Want To Tell You?

Got To Get You Into My Life?

Tomorrow Never Knows?

.....Hmm some people have very high standards when it comes to standout tracks!

Everyone has different tastes, I can think of quite a few Beatle songs worse than Dr Robert, starting with Mr Moonlight.

Well I'm the kind of person who, for whatever reason, tends to be unmoved by some of the best-known and well-loved Beatles songs - and Eleanor Rigby is a very good example of that for me.

Also I don't actually mind Dr. Robert, but I have a soft spot for John's songs with those kinds of guitar chords.

John's songs in general I tend to prefer (he also had some great tracks on his solo albums, esp. the first 2). George's songs come in 2nd, but I don't tend to like much of his solo work. Paul comes in third, but some of his early solo is also decent.

I actually feel that both John and Paul's vocals were at their strongest on their first two solo albums - and I'm not just saying that because they're now isolated from their fellow beatles!

Edited by Howard the Duck - August 12 2019 at 14:38

MacGyver can do a super guitar solo with a broom and an elastic band. Can you do better?

Rubber Soul as it's probably their most consistent in terms of quality right through. After that there was more experimentation with some fantastic results but less consistency overall imo

Argh! This thread has got The Word in my head and only Got To Get You Into My Life can drown out. That's better.
Off the fence to avoid a tie. Rubber Soul is really very, very good. If Sgt. Pepper obscured Revolver then Revolver obscured Rubber Soul.
Rubber Soul the better Beatles album ever. And then came the streak of Revolver, Sgt.Pepper then the White Album The Beatles and Abbey Road.
Gets impossible to pinpoint exact difference. But
Revolver.

It's hard to say which is my favourite album between Rubber Soul and Revolver, but Abbey Road is my favourite Beatles album overall.