It's hard to choose only one album to do a review on when all the Beatles albums have their fair share of great songs. After a bit of time though I was able to decide that Revolver is my favorite album. Instrumentation is a big thing for me and this album seems to show off just how wide the amount of instruments the Beatles were familiar with and liked to use in their songs. Revolver seems to do it all, from fast paced songs, love songs, slow songs, sad songs, psychedelic songs, and all that sort. So enough of that then and on to each individual song.Track List:
Side 1:
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here, There and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said She Said
Side 2:
1. Good Day Sunshine
2. And Your Bird Can Sing
3. For No One
4. Doctor Robert 5. I Want To Tell You
6. Got to Get You into My Life 7. Tomorrow Never Knows
When listening to The Beatles, I always prefer listening to a vinyl record rather than a CD or mp3. Just sitting at home on my bed, with a bit of coffee, watching as the needle moves along the ever so fine ridges of the record. Simply blissful really. But anyway before I stop this review so I can go listen to a sweet record, I should start with side one, the first song being Taxman.
Unlike most Beatles songs, this one was written by George Harrison rather than the great Lennon/McCartney duo. Despite Lennon and McCartney hogging up all the room for songs, George was able to squeeze in a couple songs in each album. One thing I find interesting about this one is the way it begins by having a man count off the song. I've heard somewhere that The Beatles started the whole counting 1,2,3,4 before beginning a song, and it's evident that they did it quite often with their songs, but this count off isn't one of the Beatles counting. The inspiration for this song came to George when he found out how much money they were losing to taxes. The lyrics are pretty clear that he's against the whole taxes thing. The one line that catches my attention most is "now my advice for those who die, declare the pennies on your eyes", because he really gets it across that he believes taxmen are out get every single ounce of money they can, even if it means taking it from a dead person. And finally, who doesn't like guitar solos? Paul McCartney gives an excellent guitar solo towards the end of the song, so go ahead and give it a listen.
Eleanor Rigby is up next. The best thing about this song has definitely got to be the strings. Paul McCartney came up with most of the lyrics on his own with a bit of help from John Lennon (big shocker there, eh?). Loneliness and sadness seem to both be key concepts of this song. No instrument does a better job at providing an eerie and sad feeling like violins and violas. By keeping the song mainly short strokes with the occasional violin speaking up, an almost terrifying sense of feeling is given. I don't know much about chords, majors, minors, and all that, but I believe this song is written in a minor chord, adding to the sad/lonely effect. Eleanor Rigby showed why the Beatles were so popular among all sorts of people. It seems they have a song for just about anyone no matter what your taste in music is.
Number three on side one is I'm Only Sleeping. Currently this song is set as my alarm clock since it's quite up there on my personal list of favorite songs. There isn't very much depth to the lyrics other than sleep. Sleep: the one thing most everyone loves to do and what most teens lack. Everyone has those days where they simply lack any will power to get out of bed and that's what this song revolves around. Written by John Lennon, the lyrics are simple and to the point. With his line "everybody seems to think I'm lazy, I don't mind, think they're crazy. Running everywhere at such a speed, till they find there's no need", he points out how many people are constantly rushing and hardly realize that they have more time than they feel they do. One interesting thing about the song is the odd guitar playing. Rather than playing it straight forward, a little mishap with the tape gave George the inspiration to play his solo backwards.
Love You To is number four on side one of the record. Another song by George! Around the time he wrote this song, his interest in Indian music was growing greatly. This song was made solely for the sitar and besides the tambourine played by Ringo, the other two Beatles didn't have much of a part in this song. Instrumentation was narrowed down to only Indian instruments because this is what George wanted. This isn't exactly the type of song you'd put to play in your car and blast the volume up to, but instead this is more of a relaxing song with meaningful lyrics.
Written by Paul, Here, There, and Everywhere is your typical love song. Typical might not be the right word, though nonetheless it is a love song. This song just seems to flow together so nicely. It could be the soothing "ooh, ooh"s in the background or perhaps just the way Paul sings it, as if it's a single connective line. The lyrics are sweet and provide an insight of what love is. There isn't anything really complicated with this song, no crazy solos or weird time signatures, just simple. Perhaps it being simple is why this song works out so nicely. Especially after hearing the odd sound of the sitar.
Yellow Submarine, one of the few songs to be sung by Ringo, is number six. Ringo is always being put down about being a terrible singer compared to the other three Beatles. Considering he's my favorite Beatle, it might be a bit biased to say that I don't think he's as bad some people believe. Ringo, however, was the only one who could not reach higher notes and most of the songs that were written for him had to be written with very few notes, mainly consisting in the lower range. Paul wrote the song keeping the words simple with intentions of younger children being able to sing along. I've got a godson who's only a year old but you can bet I'll be introducing him to this song so he can sing along with me once he can speak! It's an interesting little song with all sorts of sound effects to really add to the whole theme of the submarine. Go ahead and give it a listen, no way you won't want to sing along.
Wrapping things up on side one is She Said She Said. Now I know I said before that many people believe that the Beatles centered their songs only around drugs and that they're wrong. A lot of the time there's meaning behind a song other than drugs, but in this case I can't say so. I didn't know much about this song besides what the lyrics were so after a bit of research on the Internet, I was able to find that this song came about when John was tripping pretty hard on acid with an actor, Peter Fonda. The "she" in the song is actually Peter and the lyrics are basically the conversation they engaged in while on the drug. This is one song that when I first listened to, I didn't like all too much. After a few listens though the guitars really drew me in. The guitars really make this song great and is probably the main proponent for drawing listeners in and keeping their attention.
Finally side two! If you'd read up to this point then just bare with me, it'll soon be over.
Good Day Sunshine is number one on the flip side of this record album. Like Here, There, and Everywhere, this is another love song by Paul. However it takes a bit of a different approach. While the other song was simple and calming, this one is a bit more uptempo. To me, Good Day Sunshine is more about taking your love and really declaring it to the world, almost showing it off that you've got someone. In Here, There, and Everywhere though, it was more of a conserved love, it did not need to be declared to the world as long as the two lovers knew how they felt. Even if you don't have a love in your life this song really helps to pick up your mood with ease. Everyday is a good day when you can listen to the Beatles.
And Your Bird Can Sing, written by John, is number two on side two. Besides the quick guitar and catchy lyrics there isn't much behind this song. It's said that this song might have been inspired because of a rivalry between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I love the Beatles with all my heart but there's always gonna be those very few songs that you just can't get into. For me, this happens to be one of the songs. I still enjoy listening to this song every now and then but out of all the songs on this album, it's probably my least favorite. I would still recommend listening to it however because if you don't care much for meaning behind the lyrics and just some great guitar playing, then give it a listen.
One of my favorite Beatles songs of all time is number three on side two and that is For No One. I could honestly take this song and listen to it on repeat for hours. What I really enjoy about this song is the french horn. French horn is one of the most haunting yet beautiful sounding instruments ever. Being a song of dying love, the french horn with it's unique, sad sound was perfect for this piece. The instrumentation and the lyrics combine beyond well to create this wonderful song. Out of all the songs on this album, For No One would be my highest recommended song to listen to. Really got to hand it to Paul for writing this one.
Number four on side two is Doctor Robert. Like She Said She Said, I had to do a bit of research to see just what this song was about. Low and behold, it happened to be another song by John about drugs. Apparently it was just his and Paul's way of laughing at the idea of people going to a special doctor who would supply them with drugs. Nothing too complicated once again, this song seems to be in a simple 4/4 time signature and guitars that repeat a lot throughout the song. However, one interesting fact about this song is that John double tracked his voice to give his voice an almost distorted sound. It's said to reflect a trip on some sort of drug.
I Want To Tell You makes that three total songs by George so far on this album. Unlike Love You To, this song doesn't incorporate much Indian influences. Putting the sitar aside, this song uses the main rock instruments: guitar and drums. However when Paul sings the lyrics "I've got time", he uses melisma, which is a type of singing that uses many notes to one syllable. It was a form often used in the baroque period but was used much less in the Renaissance era when people realized it was harder to understand what was being said (that music appreciation class I took really did come in handy!). It's pretty neat to see the comparison between an earlier Beatle's song like A Hard Day's Night and this one which was only written two years later. It really proves just how many new ideas and changes the Beatles experienced.
Number six was written by the ever so charming Paul McCartney on side two. Got to Get You into My Life is yet another one of my top favorite Beatles songs. While the lyrics seem to be talking about a girl that he wants to stay in his life, Paul has admitted that he was actually talking about a drug. I absolutely love the instrumentation used in this song. Big, powerful brass sound is used throughout the entire song. They stay beneath Paul's voice but as soon as he stops they increase their sound and give a big bang but fade out enough to have Paul come in strong once again. They sort of do a whole call and answer thing. Paul calling out and the brass answering him, back and forth. If you can get past the whole drug inspiration, then what's left is a great song with awesome brass.
Finally, number seven and the last song Revolver, is Tomorrow Never Knows. Like psychedelic songs? Then this is definitely the song for you! Written by John Lennon, this song incorporates many sound effects using tape loops and also features the sitar. It's hard to try and explain this song because it's just so. . .unique. John wanted this song to basically express a trip of LSD. The video game footage of this song is mixed with another one of their songs called Within You Without You, and you'd be lying if you didn't think John achieved his purpose of his song Tomorrow Never Knows. The video below is the song itself, but the video game footage can be seen here. I'd recommend watching the video game footage, maybe even go out and play Beatles Rockband. It's difficult to focus on what drum pad to hit next when you've got all those colors flashing in your face. You really feel like you're tripping out to this song.
That wraps up my review on my favorite Beatles album! Thanks for reading :)
