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Poll Question: Was Revolver the first Beatles album with a relation to Prog??
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5 [19.23%]
2 [7.69%]
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J-Man View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Beatles-Revolver
    Posted: October 18 2008 at 10:34

I believe that Revolver was the first Betales album with complexity and diversity. Listen to the bass line in Taxman, the Indian instruments in Love You To and Tomorrow Never Knows, and the symphonic Eleanor Rigby. It's not prog like CTTE, but is one of the first albums (1966) to have any prog relation at all in my mind.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2008 at 10:46
I don't think the inclusion of Indian Instruments means it's prog, neither is  the presence of a violin quartet...This is eclectic for sure, but prog, no way.
 
I think the definition of prog is stretched to the max lately. To have a song startIng with a nice acoustic guitar arpeggio doesn't mean it's prog and the addition of a synth soundscape either.
Revolver is a nice Beatles album, diverse ,eclectic full of exquisite arrangements, doesn't mean it's prog imoWink
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2008 at 10:54
Originally posted by febus febus wrote:

I don't think the inclusion of Indian Instruments means it's prog, neither is  the presence of a violin quartet...This is eclectic for sure, but prog, no way.
 
I think the definition of prog is stretched to the max lately. To have a song startIng with a nice acoustic guitar arpeggio doesn't mean it's prog and the addition of a synth soundscape either.
Revolver is a nice Beatles album, diverse ,eclectic full of exquisite arrangements, doesn't mean it's prog imoWink
 
Like I said, it's not prog like CTTE or Foxtrot. But does it have a prog relation??? Yes. You can't get mad at an apple for not tasting like a banana. This is 1966, not 1976, so you can't expect full blown prog. The complexity and the arrangement of some of the songs really helped build prog. I fully agree that this isn't prog, but it certainly has a relation, and an importance in the history of prog.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2008 at 10:56
Originally posted by febus febus wrote:

I don't think the inclusion of Indian Instruments means it's prog, neither is  the presence of a violin quartet...This is eclectic for sure, but prog, no way.
 


He just asking if there's a relation, not if the album is prog. I say yes, defenatly.

Elinor Rigby
must have been an earopener for many youngsters. Very unusual and original for its time. ELO's brilliant barock'n roll debut wouldn't exist without it, I'm sure.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 19 2008 at 21:28
A definitely yep, a never heard a song like Eleanor Rigby before




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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 20 2008 at 00:15
Originally posted by febus febus wrote:

I don't think the inclusion of Indian Instruments means it's prog, neither is  the presence of a violin quartet...This is eclectic for sure, but prog, no way.
 
I think the definition of prog is stretched to the max lately. To have a song startIng with a nice acoustic guitar arpeggio doesn't mean it's prog and the addition of a synth soundscape either.
Revolver is a nice Beatles album, diverse ,eclectic full of exquisite arrangements, doesn't mean it's prog imoWink
 


Of course not, we're talking about being related to prog here, though...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 20 2008 at 13:33
I answered yes, but forgot Rubber Soul before that one, for me, that one marked their change in direction.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 20 2008 at 19:35
Progressive in many ways and it was not only influential on Progressive Rock but tracks like "I'm Only Sleeping", "She Said She Said and "Tomorrow Never Knows" are influential tracks for Indie Rock.
 
 "She Said She Said", "Good Day Sunshine" changes meters.  "Love You To" has sitar, tabla with guitar with extended modal sitar solo by Harrison and really no one was doing this in Rock Music.
 
"Tomorrow Never Knows" includes electronic music, repeated syncopated odd drum beat, musique concrete effects, processed vocals and mixed in real time. I would say that was progressive for rock music. "Eleanor Rigby" defies a genre name really with vocals/string combination only.
 
I give credit the Beatles Psychedelic sound was innovative with its use of backward tape. Indian Instruments, electronic music as started on "Tomorrow Never Knows" and furthered with "Strawberry Fields Forever.
 
There are a number of songs that sound unlike anything in Pop or Rock Music at this time.  Other tracks are the pre-Allman Brothers twin guitar attack of  "And Your Bird Can Sing" and the classically influenced "For No One"


Edited by KarmaPolice - October 20 2008 at 19:36
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 30 2008 at 17:16
It's difficult to say, since Rubber Soul had been getting to it, though surely in Revolver it was clearer and better. And then Sgt. Pepper's would equal it or for some, being better.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 30 2008 at 23:24
My husband is a pretty big Beatles fan (me - not so much, but I respect them).  However, he was not too familiar with their catalogue. So, I bought "Revolver" for him and it is his favorite album. Eleanor Rigby, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Strawberry Fields, Day in the Life, Taxman, Mr. Kite, Blackbird and Rocky Raccoon are his favorite songs.

Edited by pelican - October 30 2008 at 23:25
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 18 2008 at 21:19
Great album as well
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 18 2008 at 22:35
certainly Revolver is astounding, possibly the finest rock album ever made, at least in its time  ..however in terms of the first glimpses of their move away form standard form to a progressive approach, I give it to Yesterday and Today ;  'We Can Work it Out' and  'Yesterday' of particular significance


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 09:01
Being old enough to relate that I was in my mid teens when it hit the shelves, it fairly well blew everyone's minds who thought they knew what the Beatles were about.  Rubber Soul had hints that a revolution was about but the sounds that came out of Revolver were unlike any that had come before.  It really changed everything about modern music and progressive seeds were definitely sown.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 10:42
Yes, definitely. If you consider the year it was created in and compare it to other music at the time it was miles ahead, and therfore progressive, not to mention the amount of artists that were influenced by it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 10:55
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

certainly Revolver is astounding, possibly the finest rock album ever made, at least in its time  ..however in terms of the first glimpses of their move away form standard form to a progressive approach, I give it to Yesterday and Today ;  'We Can Work it Out' and  'Yesterday' of particular significance
The first state Butcher cover of Yesterday and Today was a bit proggy in a surrealist sort of way. Musically, I think Revolver marked the shift more than Y&T thanks to "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", and "Tomorrow Never Knows".
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 18:01
Originally posted by jimidom jimidom wrote:

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

certainly Revolver is astounding, possibly the finest rock album ever made, at least in its time  ..however in terms of the first glimpses of their move away form standard form to a progressive approach, I give it to Yesterday and Today ;  'We Can Work it Out' and  'Yesterday' of particular significance
The first state Butcher cover of Yesterday and Today was a bit proggy in a surrealist sort of way. Musically, I think Revolver marked the shift more than Y&T thanks to "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", and "Tomorrow Never Knows".


Revolver
was a progressive album no doubt, Y&T merely a North American collection,  but released the summer of '66, it makes  the material significant  in terms of impact in the U.S. and Canada as a forst glimpse of their potential to go beyond the pop form




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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 20:33
Yesterday and Today was not a Beatle-conceived album; it was pure Capitol Records product.  Most of the songs had already been released as singles, and while it contained some evolutionary songs (Yesterday for example) I don't recall it having the impact that Revolver would have.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2008 at 23:01
If only for "Tomorrow Never Knows".  Overall a disjointed, uneven album but with enough flashes of the Beatles genius that's it's a success.  Sgt. Pepper's seemed to master the styles mix a lot better and the songs, overall, were better. How prog would it have sounded without TNK?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 18:19
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

I answered yes, but forgot Rubber Soul before that one, for me, that one marked their change in direction.
 
Sure, it marked their change in direction, but really isn't proggy much at all. It's different than Please Please Me, but still really isn't proggy like Revolver is. It's much more like folk-rock.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 19:39
Originally posted by Abrawang Abrawang wrote:

If only for "Tomorrow Never Knows".  Overall a disjointed, uneven album but with enough flashes of the Beatles genius that's it's a success.  Sgt. Pepper's seemed to master the styles mix a lot better and the songs, overall, were better. How prog would it have sounded without TNK?
It would have sounded proggy throuh Eleanor Rigby, the other Indian piece, and various other songs. Sure, TNK is the proggiest song on the album, but all the other songs (except Yellow Submarine) have a prog relation as well.

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