REVOLVER

"Revolver" was a landmark recording for The Beatles.  It documented the groups' transition from a pop group into an experimental rock band.  Prior to Revolver, the Beatles' content was jovial for the most part, and their songs were expressive of young love.  Revolver took a much different direction than any of their previous work.  The lyrical content focused on much less happy topics including but not limited to government, politics, life, death, and depression.  This change in lyrical content can be addressed to several things. For one, the band had been experimenting with exotic (and illegal) substances, which is apparent in many of the tunes on the album. While this was certainly one of the major influences for this album, they were also influenced by some of their other endeavors.  While shooting a Beatles movie, they were introduced to the Sitar, an Indian stringed instrument. Sitars can be heard on several of the songs on the album (Tomorrow Never Knows, Love You To) which I feel qualifies it as at least a minor influence.

On the Revolver album, the band made many innovations in order to produce such a unique and new sound.  Some of the techniques they used were Automatic Double Tracking, which instantly creates a double vocal, without having to do multiple takes.  The band also experimented heavily with tape loops and reversing guitar tracks to create entirely new sounds.  Other techniques used were running Lennon's vocals through a leslie cabinet to give it an "ethereal" sound.  Another technique they used that may not have been an entirely new idea, but I found interesting, was that the bass guitars were recorded by using a bass cabinet as the microphone. 

As a listener (and a long time Beatles fan) I really enjoy this album.  Some claim it to be "the best" rock album of all time, something I would not completely agree with.  However, I do enjoy it for being a step out of their essence and experimenting with sounds, while still employing some of their earlier sounds. 

From an industry professional standpoint, this album is a masterpiece. It was recorded incredibly well, and aside from that it is quite artistic.  I don't enjoy the endings of most of the songs, which seem to be long fade outs that were more than likely done by cutting the tape.  I feel the album could have been better if the band had made more defined endings to their songs, but it is their work, not mine, so who am I to complain?