2: REVOLVER (U.K. VERSION) | THE BEATLES
'66: This is John Lennon's greatest album with the Beatles. His contributions to this record, like 'She Said She Said', 'Im Only Sleeping', And Your Bird Can Sing & 'Tomorrow Never Knows' are monumental. One of my least favorite Beatles songs, 'Here There & Everywhere', is on this record and Revolver is still number two of all time.
Unlike most Beatles records Revolver has 3 Harrison tunes, instead of the usual 2 (well 4 on the White Album). All three are perfect including 'Love You To' the first of the two of George's great Sitar based tracks learned under the great Ravi Shankar.
Scott Plagenhoef @ Pitchfork writes: Revolver was also the first record in which the impression of the Beatles as a holistic gang was disrupted. The group had taken three months off prior to Revolver-- easily its longest break since the start of its recording career-- and each band member went his own separate way after years of moving around the world as a unit. Even without the break, it's possible that the group would continue to explore individual concerns: After starting to do just that on Rubber Soul, it was only natural that the Beatles wished to continue to highlight their individual strengths on its follow-up, and they did by listing each song's lead singer on the record sleeve.
The first, surprisingly, was George Harrison, who kicks off the record with another stab at politics on "Taxman", and then later offers philosophical musings on "I Want to Tell You" and the Indian-flavored "Love You To". Over the next year or two, Harrison's guitar played a more background role in the group's recordings-- fortuitously, then, that time also corresponded with the years in which the Beatles were pleased to bunker down in the studio and most explore the dynamic tension between their individual interests and their final stretch of camaraderie and mutual respect.
Lennon's primary interest throughout much of this time was himself, something that continued throughout his career-- he was always suspicious, even dismissive, of Paul McCartney's character songs, but once he and Yoko Ono joined forces, her Fluxus-rooted belief in art-as-subjectivity became orthodoxy in his mind. Lennon's early explorations of self and mind that began on Rubber Soul continued on Revolver, as the suburbanite spent much of his time at home indulging his zest for the exploratory powers of LSD. He contributes five songs to Revolver, and, indeed, each is concerned with drugs, the creative mind, a suspicion of the outside world, or all three.
Each is also uniformly wonderful, and together they provide a tapestry of Lennon's burgeoning art-pop, which, along with Martin's inventive arrangements and playful effects, would peak the next year with the triumphs of "I Am the Walrus", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "A Day in the Life". The gauzy "I'm Only Sleeping" and rollicking 1-2 of "She Said She Said" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" aren't nearly as demonstrative as the songs he'd write in their wake-- as a result each remains oddly underrated-- but they function as some of Lennon's most purely satisfying pop songs.
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is another thing entirely. While "Doctor Robert" or "She Said She Said" touched on drug culture playfully or privately, "Tomorrow Never Knows" was a full-on attempt to recreate the immersive experience of LSD-- complete with lyrics borrowed from Timothy Leary's Tibetan Book of the Dead-inspired writings. Remarkably, though, much of it due to Martin's experimental production, tape loops, and musique concrète-inspired backdrop, the song is lively and giddy instead of self-serious or preachy. Even Martin's primitive psychedelia could have been thudding and ponderous, and yet more than four decades later the entire thing seems less a clear product of its time than not only most art or experimental rock, but most Beatles records as well.
The album was recorded in various locations, but mainly in Abbey Road Studios in London, between April and June 1966. The band had stopped touring and had more time and freedom to explore new sounds and techniques in the studio. They also used a variety of instruments, such as sitar, tabla, clavichord, harmonium, and tape loops, to create different musical textures and atmospheres. The album was the band’s deliberate attempt to move into more experimental recording methods and away from their pop and rock ‘n’ roll roots.
The album featured some of the most innovative and groundbreaking songs in the band’s career, such as “Tomorrow Never Knows”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Taxman”, and “Yellow Submarine”. The songs reflected the band’s interest in psychedelic drugs, Eastern philosophy, social commentary, and humor, as well as their personal struggles and relationships. The songs also showcased the band’s remarkable musicianship, as well as the contributions of various guest artists, such as classical string players, brass players, and Indian musicians.