It seems remarkable that we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Rubber Soul just eight months ago. Now it's Revolver (it was released Aug. 5, 1966). And in only 10 months time, Sgt. Pepper will be 40 years old too.
Three groundbreaking albums, each released less than a year apart from one another. This was the period when the Fabs started making quantum leaps from record to record. Their sound, their appearances, even their philosophical outlooks changed radically. And while Sgt. Pepper generally gets credit as the big breakthrough, changing pop into art, Revolver may the most radical album of the three.
While Rubber Soul saw a transition into more introspective songwriting and the addition of new instrumental textures (such as the sitar on "Norwegian Wood,"), the first song recorded for Revolver was "Tomorrow Never Knows," a piece that forever changed people's expectations of what pop music could sound like and what pop musicians could do.
Everything about the tune was unique, new and experimental. The lyrics, which John Lennon cribbed from Timothy Leary's "The Psychedelic Experience," described cosmic transcendence via Eastern philosophy and L.S.D. Lennon's chanting dalai llama vocals were recorded by sending his voice through a revolving Lesley speaker. Over the top, Paul McCartney layered a series of musique concrete tape loops he'd recorded experimentally at home.
No pop record had ever sounded like this before. And it was released by the most popular and successful band on the planet, not some underground scruffs with artistic pretensions.
And this is just the most dramatic example on an album full of, as a review in Gramophone described it, "smoking hot newness."
"Taxman" blended a funky, Motown bassline with a searing Eastern-tinged guitar solo with lyrics lampooning the Inland Revenue and contemporary British politicians.
"Eleanor Rigby" wedded obscure, poetic lyrics to the dramatic, complex accompaniment of a classical string quartet.
"Yellow Submarine" supplemented its childlike tune and lyrics with off-the-wall sound effects and, months before the same trick was used on Sgt. Pepper's "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite," a brass band section developed by slicing up short sections of existing recordings and splicing them together at random.
"I'm Only Sleeping" celebrated sloth with a drowsy tempo and druggy, backwards guitars.
And those are just a few of the highlights.
Certainly, Revolver can be viewed as a transition from the folk/rock/soul of Rubber Soul to the full-blown psychedelia of Pepper, but there's a good case to be made of it being the Beatles' best, most signifcant album. If they'd quit after it's release and never done another thing, people would still be talking about it now. But amazingly, they went on to do even more.
More Revolver:
--Check out Ray Newman's free, online book on the album: "Abracadabra!"
--See the Best Beatles Sites on the Web.
Revolver UK version track list:
Side one
"Taxman"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"I'm Only Sleeping"
"Love You To"
"Here, There and Everywhere"
"Yellow Submarine"
"She Said She Said"
Side two
"Good Day Sunshine"
"And Your Bird Can Sing"
"For No One"
"Dr. Robert"
"I Want to Tell You"
"Got to Get You Into My Life"
"Tomorrow Never Knows"
Revolver US version track list:
Side one
"Taxman"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"Love You To"
"Here, There and Everywhere"
"Yellow Submarine"
"She Said She Said"
Side two
"Good Day Sunshine"
"For No One"
"I Want to Tell You"
"Got to Get You Into My Life"
"Tomorrow Never Knows"
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