When the Beatles albums got re-issued this past September I went to the store and bought a few and I also bought the Mono Box Set. I always was in awe of the talent that they had. Every since I was a young kid I thought Yellow Submarine was the coolest song ever. The first two re-issues I picked up were Revolver and The White Album. If I had to pick my favorite Beatles album I would pick Revolver followed by The White Album and the Rubber Soul and lastly Sgt. Pepper. My Beatles bootlegs, which I have a fair share of I have most bootlegs from the the first three I mentioned above.
Revolver is an interesting album to me. At this time in they career they are way past there simple pop jingle and now they are into uncharted territory. This is why I like this album. I love an artist who wants to go outside the box, and finds something new and exciting and sometimes earth shattering that at first glance it maybe be unconventional, but after a few listens equal the payoff.
I think I like Revolver because the songs include some of George Harrison's first penned songs. George being my favorite Beatle. He has three songs on this album of fourteen songs. This album also features a song, written by Harrison that features Indian instruments, unlike Norwegian Wood, this song includes percussion and sitar, it is also sung by George as well. What I like about George Harrison is that he is the unconventional Beatle. He use to play a twelve string Rickenbacker. This beautiful guitar was noticed by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds. He was quiet and not to vocal, but that made up for his song writing. He made an electronic album in 1969 and in 1970 made one of my favorite albums of all time All Things Must Pass.
George is not the only thing I like about this album. I like the songs. Tomorrow Never Knows is still my favorite Beatles song of all time. The use of of vocals through a Leslie speaker is one of the reasons and the other is the use of tape loops. The use of LSD by the Beatles is evident and the song it's self is amazing. You can see it's an influence of Stockhausen and his piece Gesang der Junglinge.
I used to play with my fathers old real to real tape player having fun creating sounds and playing them back fast and slow and even backwards. This song has intrigued me ever since that time. I may have not known it but somehow it did.
Other songs on this album I like are Taxman. Taxman is a political song and I think it is their first political song. The Song takes a jab at the progressive tax that Britain had and talks about it. On my bootlegs of this album there are moments that are caught on tape that actually make it fun to listen to and the studio chatter for the song is what makes this song a gem.
One other song I like is And Your Bird Can Sing. I like it because again the LSD is known and the outtakes are funny and as a whole the song has a great feel to it. It is a song that has a great beat as well as a nice guitar sound.
I could go on and on about how great this album is, but truth be known most of us know the album well, weather you think this is your favorite Beatles album I am sure you wear out the groves on this album like so many others of their albums. This is an album that is only about 35 minutes, but as a complete album goes there is no bad songs. We can see in the future just a bit and see that the Beatles are experimenting and what will lead to more experimenting on Sgt. Pepper.
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Growing up as a kid I heard a lot of Beatles tunes because my mother is a big fan. She really liked their pre-LSD stuff the most since she was pretty young when that came out. In high school a guy I was working with gave me a bunch of CD's one day that changed my listening style forever. Notably he gave me Sgt Pepper's and the White Album. I listened to those for a year or so before I bought Revolver and I wish I had heard that first.
ReplyDeleteEarl, my co-worker, didn't know Revolver and when I let him borrow it he couldn't believe how he had over looked that album. We talked about that album to death when we worked together and were amazed at the complexity and texture of the songs.
I forget the magazine, but sometime back there was a list of the 'Most Influential Brit Rock Albums' and for some reason Joshua Tree beat our Revolver. Earl and I were stunned. To me Revolver will always be better than Joshua Tree, just listen to Taxman that is all it took for me. Good pick.
Fizz
Revolver is overall my fave Beatles and the Beatles are one of my very favorite bands! What is interesting to me (since I'm actually old enough to remember when the Beatles broke up, though too young to have seen them on Ed Sullivan) is that the profile of Revolver has gone way up while Sgt. Pepper's has slipped down a notch or two. When I was younger Pepper was THE Beatles album and everything else was judged to have paled in comparison. Now I don't think Pepper gets enough credit. It's become fashionable to rate it as lesser in comparison to the White Album or some of the others. Of the four major Beatles albums you mention (RS, Revolver, Pepper, White Album) the White Album is my least fave...too many throw-away ditties like Bungalow Bill and Wild Honey Pie. Pepper and Revolver feature one great tune after another. Anyway, Revolver is simply an amazing album and thanks for featuring it. And, as you point out, Matt, it has some of Harrison's best and certainly his largest input of any of the Beatles albums. (And Abbey Road is great as well...with two Harrison classics on that.)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work on this blog. I love the photos on the right BTW.
DV