The Beatles - Revolver (1966)
15-02-2025
I mean dude, it’s Revolver. You expect me to say anything new here? The Beatles go full flower power to great success, emphasis on flower.
“Got to Get You Into My Life was an ode to pot.” - Macca
The record is comprised of short eclectic tunes that play on the outer skirts of rock music’s conventions while keeping things accessible. That being said, I’m sure that some of this material would have sounded like unearthed martian technology back when it was hot off the presses. The Beatles had flirted with experimental techniques such as employing cutting-edge technology (the single “I Feel Fine” was one of the first successful pop songs to use deliberate guitar feedback), utilizing the studio as an instrument (with “In My Life” having a piano solo performed at half speed then sped up in studio), incorporating Hindustani influences (with “Norwegian Wood” marking the first time George Harrison used the Sitar as a flourish), and cutting-edge drug technology (The Beatles were first introduced to LSD in April 1965, with George and John going on a bender after their “Dentist” spiked their tea). Knowing the guitarists were the most prolific users of ‘cid is important to understanding Revolver, trust me. It feels eclectic because McCartney wasn’t tripping as much and as such didn’t do the homework necessary for the exam. Sometimes winging it and going with intuition pays off, and it certainly did in this case. McCartney’s penned tracks bring some sweetness to counterbalance the edgier tracks from Lennon and Harrison. The album packaging is just elite, Klaus Voormann designed the greatest colouring page of all time. The album title is also great and cheeky. This was the Beatles album that was mostly left out of my musical upbringing as a child. I discovered this album when going through their discography and it blew my mind at how psychedelic it was. I knew “Yellow Submarine”, “Here There and Everywhere” and most of Rubber Soul, and so the seeds were sown for my favourite era of The Beatles, 65-66. It was only years later that I got around to listening to Revolver in full, in mono, on good hardware. And yeah these tracks blew my mind at their consistency, sequencing and quality. There isn’t a single bad or lesser track on here, they all complement the whole album and it would be a worse record if any of these were removed or swapped for Paperback Writer or some shit. Trust me I tried alternate sequencing and nothing flows better than the original Revolver. Nothing can be altered to make it superior, but you may feel differently. This is one of those elusive 5.00 records I reserve the top tier of my ratings for. Life altering music that turns every day into a spiritual experience. Yeah it’s hippy dippy teeny bopper bullshit and they’re rich men larping as long-haired peace loving freaks but holy fuck can they put together a record of musical ideas. I know The Mothers were making shit that made this sound like drive-in restaurant RnR but frankly, it’s not a competiton (unless I’m raving about Frank Zappa, in which case he’s a genius that did everything first while yall were sucking your mother’s dick). Anyways this album has tracks on it, here’s some words.“Taxman” kicks things off energetically with sharp guitar blasts and bright percussion. Harrison pens one of his most classic guitar rockers with poignant lyrics and a tasty guitar solo (Played by Macca).
“Eleanor Rigby” is a huge musical left turn, diving straight into a dense string arrangement playing a melodious Baroque Pop track riffing on the Psycho stings. Some of McCartney’s greatest lyrics and corresponding melodies are on this track, definitely in my top 25 Beatles tracks of all time.
“I’m Only Sleeping” was a monumental discovery for me. My Beatles upbringing was mostly Macca love songs, the 1 Album, Red/Blue compilations, and Abbey Road. I knew I loved the sound of certain tracks but without knowing the timeline or context of their recording I was unsure of what my favourite record/era from them was. This track cemented Revolver as my top Beatles album. I discovered one of my new top 25 Beatles tracks of all time long after being acquainted with the group, it’s a good feeling.
If “Eleanor Rigby” didn’t shake you around leaving you disoriented seeking common ground between these rock songs, “Love You To” will annihilate your preconceptions of Rock music. To be in the pre-Internet age, dropping the needle on this in 1966 must have felt like a portal to another land. That is unless you’re familiar with Hindustani classical music, in which you’ll likely see this as pure exoticism. That being said, Harrison has been quite consistent with his fondness for Indian culture, and he would go on to compose “Within You Without You” on their followup album (review coming shortly).
“Here There and Everywhere” is a nice Macca sensual ballad. Harrison’s guitar accents are sharp and memorable, the harmonies are lovely and it is a moving composition, some would say among his best. Doesn’t quite crack the top 25 for me but it’s gotta be in the top 50 somewhere.
If you got filtered by “Yellow Submarine”, this album might not be for you. Always interpreted this one as an analogue for their touring days being trapped in airplanes getting mad stoned (sky of blue, sea of green)... regardless it’s a nice simple track and Ringo brings some nice vocal variety.
“She Said She Said” is similar to “I’m Only Sleeping” for me. I only unearthed it years after being acquainted with the Beatles and it quickly rose to the status of my favourite tracks. I suggest looking up the backstory to this song on your own time.
“Good Day Sunshine” is just a happy song from Macca that perfectly encapsulates the feelings associated with a Good Day’s Sunshine.
“And Your Bird Can Sing” just blows me away every time despite being overlooked by most everyone I talk to. Maybe it’s just the guitarist in me but the guitar and bass parts in this track are just so sublime. Some of Lennon’s most obtuse lyrics are featured on here, my take is that it is a mockery and deconstruction of materialist philosophy.
“For No One” is another Baroque inspired track by McCartney. One of the most heartbreaking tracks from The Beatles and some of Macca’s best lyrics. The horn solo is just the icing on the cake. Just perfectly fills up the time with musical ideas.
“Doctor Robert” is a nice edgy Lennon banger about the aforementioned “Dentist” bender (“Take a drink from his special cup”, “He’ll make you [high]”. Quite a fun one to play on guitar too, this does bring up the question of why exactly The Beatles stopped touring? I’ve heard it described as a mixture of two factors: Increased reliance on studio effects for compositions, and “The Screeching”. I can totally understand the latter, but the former? I have played through this album on guitar more times than I can count, the parts aren’t too difficult. Paul is dead guys.
“I Want To Tell You” is another fantastic contribution by Harrison. Also look up the backstory to this song on your own time.
“Got To Get You Into My Life” is another happy Macca song in the vein of “Good Day Sunshine”. It has the obvious drug/addiction parallel that was confirmed by Macca. Prime stoner tchune.
And then there’s “Tomorrow Never Knows”. The first track recorded during the Revolver sessions intended by Lennon to push as far into a psychedelic direction as possible. Timothy Leary, some washed up grifter that pushed LSD for the CIA provides the lyrics from his book “The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead”. Some common sense shit that anyone who tripped once could tell you.
Overall I find this to be the most consistently enjoyable studio album by The Beatles. It doesn’t contain any lesser tracks and the whole package is impossible to improve upon. Despite not being the first or most psychedelic, it is revolutionary in popular music for being a huge success while being experimental and strange. To me, nothing is more emblematic of what I picture when I hear “Beatles”. This is the peak era, tensions would arise later and their work would suffer for it. This is the benchmark other Beatles albums should be compared to. Absolutely the definitive Beatles ‘sound’ and set of songs.
Also, please don’t do LSD - do Mushrooms instead. LSD + MKULTRA = fractured psyche that can be manipulated into becoming switches/sleeper agents to carry out acts of violence for the CIA.
“We must always remember to thank the CIA and the Army for LSD. That's what people forget.... They invented LSD to control people and what they did was give us freedom.” - John Lennon, September 1980
Lennon died three months later after an assassin shot him in the back at his residence.