The Beatles' Revolver

I do not even know where to start for The Beatles “Revolver” album.  The work they put into this album definitely shows, and is still a piece of art in today’s society.  I just need to say that “Eleanor Rigby” is by far the best song.  The string octet is epic and Paul blends very well with them in this song.  Not one song on this album goes over three minutes, and some only reaching two minutes.  I think of Alice In Chains “We Die Young” is two minutes thirty-one seconds, and it seems like it gets cut off.  On this album, you do not get that feeling.  The timing fits each individual song.  I also need to mention that I hate listening to this album in stereo.  In almost every song, everything besides vocals is completely panned hard left or right.  This is very distracting.  “Revolver” has music that really stands out.  All the effects (reverse guitar/vocals, Leslie Cabinet, etc) took lots of effort and you can tell.  A lot of the effects they used in the 60s are something that we are now using digitally.  That thought is crazy and I bet they never expected music to go where it did after albums like this.

The Beatles started out as an ill-mannered band wearing jeans, cursing, smoking, and eating on stage.  Soon they were wearing matching suits and behaving better on stage.  Before Revolver, teenagers that were into the latest fads followed The Beatles.  After Revolver, more college age students joined the following.  There were several influences other than music that contributed to Revolver.  John Lennon was inspired by a book called “The Psychedelic Experience, and all the Beatles were influenced by LSD, marijuana, and Eastern religion.  Three new ground breaking techniques were used for the first time in the making of Revolver.  These include artificial double tracking, close micing, and backwards tapes.  In the song “Tomorrow Never Knows,” they had eight tape decks that they put all around the studio, and they changed the movement of loops when recording.  Since the four-track recorder was invented, they could take two takes of the vocals.  Being able to fake a double is something that I think is very common now, and the Beatles did it in the 60s.  This can be heard on songs like “Eleanor Rigby” (vocals) and “Here, There And Everywhere” (guitar).

References:

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Everything Was Right: The Beatles' Revolver. (n.d.). PRX. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from www.prx.org/pieces/15368-everything-was-right-the-beatles-revolver

Marck, J. T. (n.d.). Oh Look Out! Part 7, Revolver - Music History. Oh Look Out! Part 7, Revolver. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1008.html

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The Beatles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles

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Wilson&Alroy's Record Reviews. (n.d.). The Beatles. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from www.warr.org/beatles.html