It seems that ' Revolver' has surely and truly assumed the top spot as favourite Beatles album and maybe that's just. Some days it is my favourite, other days it's not. My top pick is a revolving door of several of their albums. It's never ' Abbey Road ' though and never their debut either but I like that one well enough. Anyway....one thing about 'Revolver' that's as clear as an azure sky is that it marks the moment that McCartney is on par with Lennon. Up until this point, Lennon dominated the group on all the albums . But here, McCartney comes to the fore in a most powerful way. I said before he is on par with Lennon but that's understating the situation. Fact is he overwhelms Lennon in every way. His songs are superior and among the finest of his career. Lennon's songs are good, very good but they are simply outmatched here.
I don't know about that, I suppose a case could be made. Lennon has "TNK" and "I'm Only Sleeping" and "She Said She Said". Macca has "Eleanor" and "Here There & Everywhere" and "For No One". They both have a few tracks I don't particularly love on here. I still prefer Lennon's work on the album, personally. I even think George's stuff is extremely strong, though I find "I Want To Tell You" very plodding (the outro vocal harmonies are terrific). Now you've got me wanting to spin Revolver.
Great observations, Cat. I think that Revolver is *the*album which showcases them all at their best as musicians and songwriters. I know that many people look to Rubber Soul or The White Album for John and, as an ALBUM, White is my favorite. But in a song per song basis he's on fire with Sleeping, SSSS, Bird and TNK. And I'll just repeat what I've said elsewhere...Revolver is when The Beatles went from Pop band to Rock band with eloquence, unmatched.
To me Revolver isn’t so much a point in the bands career where McCartney starts overwhelming Lennon, but rather the point where all four (plus George Martin and Geoff Emerick) were firing on all cylinders and each bringing their best to their own songs and especially their bandmates. (It happens throughout the Beatles career but probably never so much as here) I mean, Tomorrow Never Knows would have been far out the way they originally recorded it anyway, but then Paul comes in with those loops, Ringo plays that beat and it’s almost otherworldly.
It's my fav. Paul may write better songs on this album but I think the performances of the Lennon songs are more compelling. And Your Bird Can Sing is my fav track they recorded. Probably my Fav of the UK Beatles albums overall (though I prefer Yesterday & Today), but it would be even better if it included Paperback Writer and Rain and they had kicked Taxman & Love You To to the curb.
Nothing, except my lousy 1971 US reissue omits my favorite track "I'm Only Sleeping", along with "And Your Bird" and "Doctor Robert".
I don't know. I always feel "Things We Said Today" on A Hard Days Night was the first or one of the first times where Paul did something that wasn't a hit single but was special in a different way. I think John had been there for a while. And excuse me, but Doctor Robert, I'm Only Sleeping and especially And Your Bird Can Sing are my favorites from Revolver. And yes, For No One is towering. And isn't it wonderful that they both had more after this album?
McCartney’s contributions to Revolver are some of the strongest of his career. It’s true that Lennon overwhelmed him on Beatles albums … until they stopped giving away many of McCartney’s songs to other artists. If they’d kept more of Paul’s songs, the earlier albums wouldn’t have been so John- or cover-heavy.
IMO both Lennon and Macca are at the top of their game on Revolver. Seriously what other albums have songs like Here, There and Everywhere, She Said She Said, For No One and Tomorrow Never Knows? Just unreal.
That U.S ' Revolver' was the first one I heard ( I'm sure many here are in the same yellow submarine) and I totally dug it. But! The instant I got a hold of the U.K. edition the U.S. was shunned as it should be.
"And I Love Her" was also a very intriguing on AHDN as well, which was apparently a rare McCartney/Harrison concoction (ok, I've heard George contributed the riff). I grew up on the 1980's CD's, all UK version track lists, so it's very hard for me to hear the core albums any way other than that.
Yeah, like that [US & UK number] one! I’ve always really liked I’ll Keep You Satisfied, and it seems weird that they preferred covers, or, say, I’ll Get You, to that one. But anyway, Revolver - Yes.
No, no dear Cat! The Capitol album served its purpose for me as well, hearing it for the first time Christmas week in 1968, sixth grade. Granted it’s an even stronger album with the three Lennon tracks that were stolen for Y and T but it still had me mesmerized. The fact that it only had two John songs somehow, in its own way, made it even more enigmatic.
John may have had the lead in terms of quantity…but with All My Loving Paul easily matched him in terms of quality.
That riff in AILH defines the song both as a song and an arrangement. I consider it one of George’s most taken-for-granted greatest, most creative early lead guitar moments.
