72. Revolver - The Beatles

Revolver is one of the Beatles albums that I know best, having quite arbitrarily picked it out as the Beatles album to listen to when I was much younger. It is often regarded as their finest album, and whilst I'm not going to wade into that discussion, it does capture some of their best songwriting.

Revolver was released in August 1966, and was the number one album in the UK for 7 weeks. It made innovative use of new studio techniques, including Automatic Double Tracking, where a tape recorder would automatically make a slightly varied recording of a vocal performance to add depth to the voice. Varispeeding was also used for the first time, where recordings would be played back at a different speed to the original. All of these techniques pushed the group even further ahead of their peers, and showed that experimental pop music was not an oxymoron. Indeed, it regularly tops lists of greatest albums ever, or at least places in the top handful, and whilst it's success may have been slightly muted in the US when released due to Lennon's "Bigger than Jesus" claim, it has since gone five times platinum.

Taxman is one of the greatest opening songs of all time. Not only is the guitar jaw droppingly good, but the lyrics are great too. Given that income tax rates were 95% on high earners, you can see the band's point, although I can't imagine many groups getting away with moaning about taxes these days. Eleanor Rigby follows this, which has an incredible string section alongside Paul's best vocal work. I have always loved this song, and it simply got better as the week went on, with the intensity of the sound never failing to hit home.  I'm Only Sleeping slows things down, but with a delicacy that the band are tight enough to get away with. Love You To cleverly combines the Indian sounds that had such an influence on the group at this time with standard Western fare. The double tracking on the voice is slightly eery, but that works perfectly over the sitar. Here, There and Everywhere is one of my wife's favourite love songs, and I can see why. The simplicity of the song, alongside the heartfelt lyrics make it one that feels familiar even the first time it's heard; testament to what great songwriters can do with a guitar and drum. The next song is the annoyance that just does not fit on this album. Yellow Submarine is a terrible song, and I admit I had to skip it many times this week. I don't really understand the rationale behind this being added to the album. She Said She Said starts with such a devastatingly strong guitar that still sounds fresh to modern ears. It is a track that I would often not notice, but with sustained listening it demonstrates just how consistently good, and innovative, the songwriting is. Good Day Sunshine is certainly not one of the stronger tracks, but the swinging rhythm and lilting piano work very well together.  And Your Bird Can Sing is a stunning song, the guitar in particular a stand out. For No One doesn't add a lot, but is enjoyable. Doctor Robert is a classic slice of pop-rock which is almost impossible not to sing along with. I Want To Tell You has a wonderful collaboration of guitar and piano, but doesn't match the splendor of Got To Get You Into My Life, where the horn section is just sublime. The desperation of the vocals conveys the song's message exceptionally well. Tomorrow Never Knows is one of Chloe's favourite songs, and is a real slice of psychedelic wonder, using tape loops and recordings played backwards to great effect. It pretty much gave the Chemical Brothers their entire sound, and sounds almost identical to their song Setting Sun.

The difficulty in rating this album is simply how to justify not giving it a ten. My justification is that I really, really don't like Yellow Submarine. Everything else is simply one of the best bands ever at the peak of their powers.

Chloe's rating: 8

Chloe's favourite track: 5. Here, There and Everywhere

Olly's rating: 9

Olly's favourite track: 2. Eleanor Rigby

2017 is being kind to us - next week is 731. Debut by Bjork.