That's valid too. I honestly don't believe that many find it to be a classic. I agree plenty of huge Beatles fans find it lame. But also feel the major fans of the band who claim it's a classic, are being disingenuous.
They may regard everything the Beatles did as classic. Which is fine, but not helpful for comparison.
I think genius is too strong a word, but putting an 8 minute piece of musique concrete on an album by the biggest pop group of the century was a great move.
Would it be fair to say “evil genius” considering this haunting track gave me the creeps upon its release when I was 14 years old?
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Let's compromise, "Rev.9"-haters: Perhaps, with the addition of 3 (or 4) more 'genre-hops' to "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)",that would've make a great replacement for "Rev.9"!
Not Lame but it is definitely polarizing. Or it appears to be in the Forum. Prolly no more or less than the Show Tunes and Vaudeville songs McCartney brought to the band. I think that's why they are relevant even today. Four very different guys in a band that made it very very BIG !
Like I said too, I can deal with it, simply because it's The Beatles/Lennon. I doubt if it were anyone else that I'd find it worthwhile at all.
I am a Beatles fanatic. I don't know (or care) whether "Revolution No. 9" is "genius." I just like it. I like it more , and find it far more interesting than, a number of Beatles tunes.
I perceive Revolution #9 as audible abstract art, and an integral part of a wonderfully adventurous album. I can't listen to that selection exclusively though, and I doubt few folks would choose to. The BEATLES is my all time favorite album, but ironically 'The Beatles' are one of my least liked popular bands.
I wouldn't call it genius either, but I never skip it. The White Album is my fave Beatles LP, and the whole everything-but-the-kitchen-sink aspect of it is what I love. I hear all the chaos of 1968 in "Revolution #9." There's a bit of the Democratic Convention in Chicago there, also Vietnam (battle of Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive, and the My Lai Massacre), the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, and Bobby Kennedy, even the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. I mean you can read anything into it. 1968 was a completely different vibe than 1967, and The White Album is no Sgt. Pepper's.
Cool to see it all typed out like that. Great work! I’ve always loved it and I think it makes the WA better. It’s also perfectly placed before Good Night. If they had made a whole album of sound collages, then okay I’d not really be that interested, but to just put one there, on such an already eclectic album plants a flag in the ground. Like “see, there’s really no limit to what you can be influenced by”. Anything goes. I can’t imagine my precious White Album without it…
Exactly! It's a totally unique experiment in psychoacoustics, and I quite enjoy it. It's interesting and mysterious, unnerving to many, pleasurably relaxing and / or exciting to some. I regard its inclusion on The BEATLES as genius!
Genius? No but a good tape piece that fits perfectly at that point in the album. Doesn't seem that Lennon repeated that success with his other avant garde efforts though.
For me, it's better than Pepper. It indeed fit the turmoil of 1968. The #9 piece is a signpost of its time. Better encapsulating that year than anything short of an encyclopedia set issued in 68 and a whole lot more fun.
The mono mix is so much better. Especially without the poorly timed stereo panning moves. It’s pretty cool actually.
