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This might be The Beatles best record for overall songwriting and song selection, but that's hard to say. The rest of the songs on the record alternate between Jon's material, Paul's material and George's material, with even Ringo singing lead vocals on Yellow Submarine. Starting with Taxman, the best track on the record, we get a clear impression of The Beatles as a band, performing in the studio. Taxman never sounded better, you can really hear the bass, and guitar, not to mention the cowbell.
First, the good, and there are a load of good and great songs on this album. I was never a big fan of Paul McCartney's "Good Day Sunshine" either, as I think it's too cloyingly cheerful and fake. "Eleanor Rigby" is an appropriately haunting tune eerily involving the bad death and burial of an old spinster. It's lyrically repetitious, and though always timely thematically, it still could have been done better.
Overall, this is a fine Beatles disc whose songs nevertheless fail to completely bowl me over, as a whole. Paul redeems himself mightily with "Here, There and Everywhere." Despite an overly simplistic title, it is a fine examination of the various permutations of romantic love. Lastly, "And Your Bird Can Sing" rounds out what is a mixed bag of huge hits and odd misses on this Fab Four album. Maybe this was the album taken most directly from its time(at this point, 1966) and thus struggles, albeit in a small way, to be truly timeless. It is musically interesting, and lyrically up to par, but the enthusiasm and wonderful creativity of, say, "A Hard Day's Night" or "Help." (the songs, not the albums), just is not there. John Lennon's timeless vocal and some intriguing mixtures of instruments make "I'm Only Sleeping" one of the best songs on this CD, and an arguably underrated Beatles song.
John Lennon's "Doctor Robert" may have been a veiled reference to the hippie drug culture of the '60's, but I believe it's still one of the most durable songs on this CD. At any rate, it is still worth the time of any music lover to check this CD out, as it is flexible enough to appeal to a wide range of people. I am an unashamed fan of "Yellow Submarine." It is a fun, lyrically fascinating song which also features one of Ringo Starr's most entertaining lead vocals with the band.Heading the list of hugely overrated songs on this album is "Taxman," one of George Harrison's first major hits with The Beatles. Perhaps if they had made it bigger instrumentally or used an overall different musical arrangement it would have been crisper.
I highly recommend Revolver (remastered). I am also an audio phile and am very particular about recording quality. The remastering of Revolver is very well done. I am a big Beatle's fan and saw them in concert in Portland, OR 1963. R.E. I lost these albums mainly to loaning them out and never getting them back. At one point in my life I owned most Beatle's albums, Revolver being one of them. I think Revolver has some of the best songs that the Beatle's ever wrote.
And that's putting it nicely.'Revolver' was released in 1966. They were becoming much more than a "Beat group from Liverpool." Now, they were becoming experimental and ready to change music forever. 'Tomorrow Never Knows' gave listeners a great taste of what was to come. Folk rock ('I'm Only Sleeping'), baroque pop rock ('Eleanor Rigby'), psychedelic rock ('Tomorrow Never Knows'), and blues rock ('Got to Get You into My Life'), among others. Also released that year was 'Help.,' a soundtrack to the movie which also showed (in my honest opinion, anyway) how much the Fab Four matured in a year. You need to have 'Revolver' in your record collection, regardless if it is big or small. It's a record that we've never seen anything like before or since. It should be a felony not to.Highly, highly, highly, highly recommended to anybody who appreciates great music regardless of the genre.
This is not the only time he sang with a string quartet; his 1965 #1 hit 'Yesterday' also featured a string quartet accompaniment. The Beatles have just recently released 'Rubber Soul' (the previous year, 1965) and critics are hailing it as their best, most mature record yet. The Beatles' 1966 album 'Revolver' is revolutionary. There were two different track listings. A ton of people have covered this classic, including Ray Charles.Other songs like 'Love You To' (perhaps the Beatles' first exploration into Indian music, and certainly not their last), 'Good Day Sunshine,' 'Doctor Robert,' 'She Said She Said,' and of course, the #1 hit 'Yellow Submarine' all showed just how quickly the boys were growing up.Perhaps my personal favorite Beatles song on the album is 'For No One.' Personally, I have always thought that this would have been a truly perfect fit on the band's previous album, 'Rubber Soul.' Right between 'Think For Yourself' and 'The Word.' If only it had been written and recorded in 1965 (sigh).
But enough of me playing the "Adjective Game," let's get onto the review.Take yourself back to 1966. A #1 hit for the Fab Four, the song features Paul McCartney being accompanied by a string quartet. The American release had 11 tracks (three of them had appeared on The Beatles' earlier studio album, 'Yesterday.And Today.,' a highly collectable Beatles record that's extremely rare -- but that's another story), and the British release, which had 14 songs.When Parlophone/Capitol were rereleasing The Beatles catalogue for CD in 1990, the British edition was released on compact disc, and wisely so.'Taxman' shows George Harrison at his angriest. It's groundbreaking.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'And that's part of the charm of 'Revolver.' The Beatles explore with so many different styles here. "Turn of your mind, relax, and float down stream." is one of the best lines ever written in the history of the psychedelic rock genre, bar none. This is one of The Beatles' finest moments and well deserving of a thousand stars (five stars doesn't even touch how I feel about this album). But it fits very well here too, and it has always been one of my favorites.But perhaps technically the best song on the album is the last song. If you listen, you can hear traces of what the band would explore even further with on their next album, 'Sgt.
Harrison's voice is maturing here, and it certainly has matured a lot since the 'Help.' album. Pepper.' It's just so experimental.Overall, you don't have a rock and roll collection until you have 'Revolver.' It's a fact. ENJOY. I'm quite convinced the Beatles took more chances with 'Revolver' than any other album, even 'Sgt. Any positive adjective can describe 'Revolver.' It's otherworldly.
In fact, a perfect taste of things to come. What a great way to open up this brilliant masterpiece.'Eleanor Rigby' has become one of the Beatles' most recognizable and memorable songs. But by the time '66 rolled around, the Beatles were a fully matured band. It is one of the best anti-tax songs you'll find anywhere, if not, THE best.
Robert" are more classic rock / blues, - though with very innovative guitar solo on "I'm Only Sleeping". Ringo sings the silly "Yellow Submarine", which of course was extremely popular at its time, and even today is a popular melody for football chants. Revolver was the last album the Beatles released before they stopped touring. Musically it is a very varied album, spanning over many different genres, a development which should continue on the next album "Sgt Pepper". "Good Day Sunshine" is also a good number, with elements from both the music-hall and Motwn. Psychedelia is evident on Lennon's songs "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "She Said, She Said". The other three Lennon songs, "And Your Bird Can Sing", "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr.
McCartney vocally displays great form on the Motown-inspired "Got To Get You Into My Life". It is worth noting that McCartney with "Eleanor Rigby" demonstrates ability of lyrics with food for thought.
McCartney's songs range widely from Motown ("Got to Get You Into My Life"), over classic-inspired pop("Eleanor Rigby") , to pure-pop balladry ("Here, There and Everywhere") Harrison, in charge of opening track "Taxman", demonstrates many places on the album his recent interest in Indian music, not least his own "Love You To." Among Harrison's three contributions, I find "Taxman" by far the greatest, though one must acknowledge his ability and desire to seek new paths with his two other songs. His love of sentimental ballads is reflected on the beautiful "Eleanor Rigby" and "Here There and Everywhere".
None of the songs from the album were included, as far as I know, on the group's live repertoire - apart from "Paperback Writer" which was recorded during the same sessions, but which was not included on the album. McCartney's songs are especially ranging far.
Despite the album's versatility, it works fine as a whole, and like most of the group's output, it has become a milestone in rock history. The new psychedelic wave which emerged around 1966 is apparent on several tracks, especially on Harrison's and Lennon's songs.
Both are among the most important songs on the album, without being melodically as strong as Lennon's best.
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