ewe2
16-02-2006, 04:40 AM
You tell me that you've heard every sound there is
And your bird can swing but you don't get me
You don't get me
-- And Your Bird Can Sing
Like most genuine artists, you cannot characterize the Beatles on a single album, and choosing a representative sample has unique dangers in this case, for there are none. But in terms of the arc of the Beatles musical development Revolver stands at a turning-point, and those who love it will point to its advantages over the others: tighter than the White album, stronger than the psychadelic albums, more complete and just as rocked-out as Abbey Road, etc. Its importance doesn't just derive from the techniques used in making it, but the effect of the new music on all popular music since. Once again the Beatles sounded fresh, with a new direction for us to explore.
There are dozens of reviews of this album all over the net, some more partisan than others. I must make a statement here concerning the ridiculous rivalry that has grown between fans of the Beach Boys and The Beatles: neither existed in a vaccum. Whether musique concrète came first, or the chicken, or Brian Wilson is quite beside the point, because whether you like it or not, the Beatles got the credit for popularizing the ideas in the first place. I won't be adding qualifications because a review is not an essay nor a treatise.
As was customary in those days, the singles were never included on the actual album itself. So Paperback Writer/Rain are not normally thought of as part of Revolver even if they were recorded at the same time. But they represent the beginning of a new period. They heavily use the new ADT technique invented by engineer Ken Townsend, a form of phasing before such effects as chorus, flange or phasing itself were commonplace. They gave vocals a unique strength, coupled with the by now routine technique of linking two 4-track recorders together to enable more flexible multi-tracking and effective stereo panning. Rain in particular was recorded at one speed, slowed down to another, overdubbed and included the first backwards vocals in a popular song. It also includes Ringo's first "air fills" which later became his trademark in lieu of drum solos which he hated. Not your average B-side, in fact a double-A single.
Revolver begins with another double-first: with a jokey in-studio count-in at its beginning, Taxman is the first Harrison composition to start a Beatles album and the first Beatles song to have any kind of social commentary. It also unusually includes a guitar solo by Paul. Following the success of Yesterday the Beatles gave a fuller treatment to the string quartet motif in Eleanor Rigby, with lyrics inspired by George and Ringo, and uncharacteristically metaphoric for Paul. I'm Only Sleeping is John's first Revolver song with a beautiful lazy melody, jaunty rhythm and prominent backwards guitars. Love You To is George's first sitar-based song, with an odd lyric seemingly bored with everything. Next, Paul pulls out a classic ballad with Here, There and Everywhere and Ringo leads a wonderfully silly Yellow Submarine, John particularly responsible for the manic voices in the background. I've never understood why so many reject that song, it's classic Beatle humour.
She Said She Said with its scalding guitars, disorientating shifts in tempo and argumentative lyric is psychadelia by stealth, as is Good Day Sunshine. The psychadelia continues for And Your Bird Can Sing where the vocal harmonies are offset by those of the acid-drenched guitars. For No One is another narrative with an unusual accompaniment by harpsichord, and we are treated to a classic Lennon-MacCartney dual vocal on Doctor Robert which is yet another covert reference to acid masquerading as sunny pop. George contributes I Want To Tell You, one of his collection of edgy almost dissonant pieces, and then the brass of Got To Get You Into My Life blares an entrance into an upbeat big-band paen to....marijuana.
The close of Revolver is probably no less drug-inspired but for all that a breathtaking departure. Tomorrow Never Knows is lyrically based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, but the enthusiastic use of tape loops with every single technical trickery they could think up, combined with a powerful drone of bass drums and sitar and John's heavily treated vocals is also out of this world of pop and into something very different. It literally stands between the old Beatles and the new. It was the next big thing.
There is also one other component of this album that stands out, particularly to me, and that is the remarkable evolution in Paul's bassplaying. For a start, you could actually hear it clearly, a situation that had been improving during Rubber Soul but with Paperback Writer/Rain, and the new emphasis on stereo panning there was space to hear it, and Paul developed a new way of approaching the instrument in pop. Before he took it much further in later albums, Paul was probably just experimenting with the sound of his new Rickenbacker bass (Rickenbacker guitars being a prominent part of the Beatles sound since Rubber Soul), and realizing it could have its own unique voice besides a rhythmic underpinning of the song's chord structure. Apart from the double-A single, the new bass style is most clearly seen in Taxman and And Your Bird Can Sing.
The production is still glorious 40 years later, clear as a bell, sharp as a tack, incredible on such immensely outdated equipment. It's an album you keep coming back to because of the Beatle knack for evocative phrases like "...cos she's making me feel like I've never been born.." or those bizarre seagull sounds on Tomorrow Never Knows. The well-known Beatle variety of style really took root here, as a consequence of the increasing differentation between John and Paul's writing styles and the inclusion of George and Ringo's compositions. The clever ambiguity of the album's title Revolver suggests the Beatles knew it was a pivotal moment, each song a fresh bullet, and a cover with each Beatle showing a different face. What more could you ask of any artist?
And your bird can swing but you don't get me
You don't get me
-- And Your Bird Can Sing
Like most genuine artists, you cannot characterize the Beatles on a single album, and choosing a representative sample has unique dangers in this case, for there are none. But in terms of the arc of the Beatles musical development Revolver stands at a turning-point, and those who love it will point to its advantages over the others: tighter than the White album, stronger than the psychadelic albums, more complete and just as rocked-out as Abbey Road, etc. Its importance doesn't just derive from the techniques used in making it, but the effect of the new music on all popular music since. Once again the Beatles sounded fresh, with a new direction for us to explore.
There are dozens of reviews of this album all over the net, some more partisan than others. I must make a statement here concerning the ridiculous rivalry that has grown between fans of the Beach Boys and The Beatles: neither existed in a vaccum. Whether musique concrète came first, or the chicken, or Brian Wilson is quite beside the point, because whether you like it or not, the Beatles got the credit for popularizing the ideas in the first place. I won't be adding qualifications because a review is not an essay nor a treatise.
As was customary in those days, the singles were never included on the actual album itself. So Paperback Writer/Rain are not normally thought of as part of Revolver even if they were recorded at the same time. But they represent the beginning of a new period. They heavily use the new ADT technique invented by engineer Ken Townsend, a form of phasing before such effects as chorus, flange or phasing itself were commonplace. They gave vocals a unique strength, coupled with the by now routine technique of linking two 4-track recorders together to enable more flexible multi-tracking and effective stereo panning. Rain in particular was recorded at one speed, slowed down to another, overdubbed and included the first backwards vocals in a popular song. It also includes Ringo's first "air fills" which later became his trademark in lieu of drum solos which he hated. Not your average B-side, in fact a double-A single.
Revolver begins with another double-first: with a jokey in-studio count-in at its beginning, Taxman is the first Harrison composition to start a Beatles album and the first Beatles song to have any kind of social commentary. It also unusually includes a guitar solo by Paul. Following the success of Yesterday the Beatles gave a fuller treatment to the string quartet motif in Eleanor Rigby, with lyrics inspired by George and Ringo, and uncharacteristically metaphoric for Paul. I'm Only Sleeping is John's first Revolver song with a beautiful lazy melody, jaunty rhythm and prominent backwards guitars. Love You To is George's first sitar-based song, with an odd lyric seemingly bored with everything. Next, Paul pulls out a classic ballad with Here, There and Everywhere and Ringo leads a wonderfully silly Yellow Submarine, John particularly responsible for the manic voices in the background. I've never understood why so many reject that song, it's classic Beatle humour.
She Said She Said with its scalding guitars, disorientating shifts in tempo and argumentative lyric is psychadelia by stealth, as is Good Day Sunshine. The psychadelia continues for And Your Bird Can Sing where the vocal harmonies are offset by those of the acid-drenched guitars. For No One is another narrative with an unusual accompaniment by harpsichord, and we are treated to a classic Lennon-MacCartney dual vocal on Doctor Robert which is yet another covert reference to acid masquerading as sunny pop. George contributes I Want To Tell You, one of his collection of edgy almost dissonant pieces, and then the brass of Got To Get You Into My Life blares an entrance into an upbeat big-band paen to....marijuana.
The close of Revolver is probably no less drug-inspired but for all that a breathtaking departure. Tomorrow Never Knows is lyrically based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, but the enthusiastic use of tape loops with every single technical trickery they could think up, combined with a powerful drone of bass drums and sitar and John's heavily treated vocals is also out of this world of pop and into something very different. It literally stands between the old Beatles and the new. It was the next big thing.
There is also one other component of this album that stands out, particularly to me, and that is the remarkable evolution in Paul's bassplaying. For a start, you could actually hear it clearly, a situation that had been improving during Rubber Soul but with Paperback Writer/Rain, and the new emphasis on stereo panning there was space to hear it, and Paul developed a new way of approaching the instrument in pop. Before he took it much further in later albums, Paul was probably just experimenting with the sound of his new Rickenbacker bass (Rickenbacker guitars being a prominent part of the Beatles sound since Rubber Soul), and realizing it could have its own unique voice besides a rhythmic underpinning of the song's chord structure. Apart from the double-A single, the new bass style is most clearly seen in Taxman and And Your Bird Can Sing.
The production is still glorious 40 years later, clear as a bell, sharp as a tack, incredible on such immensely outdated equipment. It's an album you keep coming back to because of the Beatle knack for evocative phrases like "...cos she's making me feel like I've never been born.." or those bizarre seagull sounds on Tomorrow Never Knows. The well-known Beatle variety of style really took root here, as a consequence of the increasing differentation between John and Paul's writing styles and the inclusion of George and Ringo's compositions. The clever ambiguity of the album's title Revolver suggests the Beatles knew it was a pivotal moment, each song a fresh bullet, and a cover with each Beatle showing a different face. What more could you ask of any artist?