Revolver Review

"Revolver" is widely known as one of the Beatles' transitional albums in to the second half of their musical career.  The album is filled with stellar classics such as "Eleanor Rigby", "Yellow Submarine", and "Taxman" just to name a few.  The jump from the poppy, boy band sound to a more mature, experimental sound is heard in snippets on this record.  "Revolver" is the predecessor to "Sgt Peppers" and you can hear the Beatles branching out a bit more on this album.

"Revolver" features songs from each member of the group individually.  Songs like "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" show John Lennon's personality in tenfold as these tracks serve as artistic achievements and milestones for Lennon's career.  McCartney served the band with some of the more somber/moody songs such as "Eleanor Rigby" and "For No One", but picked up the pace and energy with songs like "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got To Get You Into My Life".  Harrison had three songs credited to him.  "Love You To" is one of the first songs introducing the sitar into the Beatles' library and it showed signs of growth for Harrison as an individual song writer.  Even Ringo had a song to his credit with "Yellow Submarine"; one of the more iconic Beatles songs out there.

With each an every track on "Revolver" you see a band that is maturing into a fully cohesive unit while growing rapidly individually also.  This album fortified the belief that the Beatles weren't just a one-trick pop band; it showed that they had the ornate ability to create masterful pop songs that could stick in the annals of music history forever.  They mastered the early 60's with iconic songs that made all the girls go wild; but they defined themselves as artists with records like "Revolver".

Final Summary:

Overall, "Revolver" changed the definition of what a pop album is.  The transition for the group into full-fledged masters of their own destiny showed the evolution of the music industry; giving the artists full control of every aspect of their craft.  The Beatles were definitely pioneers of this new movement and with albums like "Sgt Peppers" and "The White Album" following this album; you could call "Revolver" the stepping stone needed to launch the band into the stratosphere.

Rating: 10/10