Isbjørn

Artist: The Beatles
Album: Revolver
Year: 1966
Chronological position: Seventh album
Genre: Psychedelic rock/pop rock

I'm starting this review with a shout-out to Taxman, whose name is taken from the first song on the album, and Pet_Sounds, who gave me the idea of reviewing the album by posing this question (he just started his own journal, by the way):

I decided to review this album track by track, instead of following the mini-review format I've been using lately.

The first track on the album is named Taxman, and is a rather straightforward rock song with hooks and cowbells. Next up is Eleanor Rigby, which is more baroque pop-tinged and, in my opinion, the most depressing song on the album, though the Beatles don't really write depressing songs. I'm Only Sleeping is the first real psychedelic track on the album, with a brief solo sounding like it's being played backwards, and one of my personal favourites. Gotta love that bridge! The follow-up, Love You To, is obviously written by George Harrison (it's Indian raga). It's pretty interesting, but not a favourite of mine, so I'll say it's one of the weaker songs on the album*, along with Here, There and Everywhere, which is way too slow and sentimental. Ah, Yellow Submarine! Everyone needs some nonsense lyrics and repetition once in a while. A very catchy and fun song. It's followed by another great song, She Said, She Said, which was inspired by something Peter Fonda said during an LSD trip. The line "you're making me feel I've never been born" was what John Lennon responded to him to make him shut up, and it's really sticking in my head. Good Day Sunshine is a piano-driven pop song which, to me, sounds a bit bluesy, at least in the chorus. I think it proves that The Beatles can be great without even trying, because I like it even though it sounds so incredibly simple. And Your Bird Can Sing is my favourite song on the album, because of its beautiful melody and excellent vocal delivery. It is followed by For No One, which is similar to "Here, There and Everywhere" in theme and nature, but more baroque. I like the horns. Doctor Robert is alright, but to me it does little more than prepare the listener for I Want to Tell You, which is infectiously catchy and great in its simplicity. Got to Get You Into My Life was The Beatles' last top ten hit in in USA until 1995, when "Free as a Bird" was released. Even more nice horns, sweet. At the very end of the album, our beloved Beatles go insane with the song Tomorrow Never Knows, a psychotic mix between experimental, raga and psychedelia.

Of the merely seven full Beatles albums I have heard, this one is my favourite. Most critics tend to favour Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and while I agree that that one is a great album, too, this is the one I will sit down and listen to in its entirety whenever I'm in the mood for some Beatles. It marks the transition between the pop rock of their earlier albums and the experimental stuff on the later ones, and I think it's a near-perfect mix between the two styles.


5/5

*The weakest tracks on the album are not bad in any way. They just fade in comparison to the rest.

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