taylor-mayed's Full Review: Revolver by The Beatles
This album is often lauded not just as the best Beatles album ever, but perhaps the greatest album of all time. Thus there is a temptation just to try and be different and shoot it down in flames for no reason at all. While I certainly would not try and do that – it’s far too good an album just to dismiss – I would say that it does seem to be a touch overrated. While there is no doubting the consistent quality of the music, there is, for me, nothing about this album that sets it far and away above any other ever made, even just by the Beatles themselves.
It begins with the first of three George Harrison offerings, “Taxman”, a witty dig at the huge income tax burden high earners such as the Beatles had to face in Britain in the 1960s – 95% tax. Complete with references to the Labour and Conservative party leaders of the time, “Mr Wilson” and “Mr Heath”, this catchy tune is very firmly routed in 1960s Britain but makes a good, irreverent introduction to the rest of the album.
The second track is perhaps also the album’s best, “Eleanor Rigby”, a wonderfully poignant Paul McCartney song which features him performing solo, bar some help from Lennon on the backing vocals, backed by a string quartet. Quite possibly the finest song McCartney has ever written, the album really peaks here and it was perhaps a mistake to put this song so near the beginning, as the rest of the album can never hope to live up to it.
Track three is Lennon’s “I’m Only Sleeping”, and like all the best Beatles songs it has a catchy, hummable tune with some nice instrumentation, but it’s not in the first rank of his compositions by a long shot. Certainly not anywhere near the best Beatles songs is Harrison’s “Love You To”, which is by far and away the weakest song on the album. Very Eastern influenced, it fits uneasily on a disc of Western pop music, and frankly seems like an embarrassing relic from the hippy era thathas dated far more than the rest of the album.
Proceedings take a distinct turn for the better with the arrival of McCartney’s “Here, There and Everywhere”, a tender love ballad that slows the pace of the album down a little and shows off again McCartney’s immense song writing skills. Those who believe that Lennon was the superior songwriter of the two should listen to “Revolver”, and album on which all of McCartney’s tracks shine the brightest by far.
“Yellow Submarine” is a magnificently silly children’s song with timeless appeal, and it is difficult to imagine the tender McCartney, the pretentious Lennon or the spiritual Harrison being able to tackle the vocal. Fortunately, Ringo Starr’s plodding but happy vocal is perfectly suited to the task – limited he may have been, but when called for he could provide that common touch that the rest of the band perhaps lacked.
“She Said She Said” is a fairly average song from Lennon, immediately overshadowed by McCartney’s cheerful “Good Day Sunshine”, which is almost the epitome of a 1960s British pop song, yet also perfectly encapsulating the feel of a nice, happy, sunny summer’s day, the kind of song you always remember hearing on the radio on sunny mornings in July when you’re a child.
The following Lennon song “And Your Bird Can Sing” seems to be some sort of freedom metaphor, and it stands out from some of the other songs on the album as it contains that rare and precious thing – a Beatles guitar solo. This is one of the reasons I feel to label “Revolver” as the best album ever is a gross exaggeration, simply because the Beatles were much better writers and producers than they were musicians and singers.
“For No One” is another McCartney song that keeps up the consistency of the album while not standing out as much as some of his other contributions. It tells a melancholic story of moving on from a lost love, a tale that many listeners could no doubt identify with.
“Doctor Robert”, like “Eleanor Rigby” earlier on the album, continues the long Beatles tradition of singing songs about made-up people. “I Want to Tell You” is the third and final of Harrison’s contributions to the album and is definitely the best of the three, providing a welcome change from the usual Lennon/McCartney domination although not exactly standing out as one of the best of Harrison’s songs from his career.
McCartney’s final song on the album, “Got to Get You Into My Life” raises the quality back up to expected Beatles standard. The addition of a horn, played by Alan Civil, differentiates the sound of this song from much of the album in the same was the string quartet on McCartney’s “Eleanor Rigby” at the beginning of the album did, giving the song its own unique sound.
The album closes with a Lennon song, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which begins with a sound montage from some of the previous tracks on the album. It then becomes a psychedelic Lennon number very much in the style of the later “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, and far away from the simple, entertaining, happy-go-lucky pop songs he used to write at the beginning of The Beatles career.
So how do you sum up an album like “Revolver” then, one which has been so continuously praised by so many critics? It is certainly not a weak album – no record that contains such classics as “Eleanor Rigby”, “Yellow Submarine” and “Good Day Sunshine” could ever be accused of that. But there are too many songs that are average rather than special for it to be considered the greatest 35 minutes of recorded music in history.
If you’re a Beatles fan already but don’t have this album, then the chances are that you will enjoy it a great deal. However, if you’re thinking of buying your first ever Beatles album, then “Revolver” is not the one to start off with – if you’re just looking for consistent quality and value for money, go and buy “One” instead, over twice the running time for the same price and barely a weak song on it.
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