Throwback Thursday: Revolver

  

Revolver marks the halfway point for the band, album-wise, being their seventh out of thirteen.  It also signifies a pivotal point in their musical development.  They started to experiment with different styles and even invent new techniques.  Revolver was the precursor for the famed and much-loved subsequent album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is often classified as the most experimental and pivotal album in, not only The Beatles themselves' history, but in the history of rock and pop music.  It is also said to have heralded the beginning of the psychedelic era.  Like most of their albums, this LP contains fourteen songs.  However this time George Harrison was lucky enough to get three of his songs featured on the album.

Whilst many of the songs are much-loved and well-known (the likes of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yellow Submarine"), it's the lesser-known, more obscure compositions which exhibited fresh musical techniques and styles.  Harrison plays the sitar on his track "Love You To", much like he did the previous year on Rubber Soul's "Norwegian Wood". Harrison also contributed opening track "Taxman" and "I Want To Tell You".  Adding to the list of 'firsts' that The Beatles provided to the musical world, Lennon's "I'm Only Sleeping" contains a guitar solo - but not just any guitar solo.  Oh no, it's a backwards guitar solo, played by Harrison, created by running the tape backwards.  This was a unique technique in 1966.  "Tomorrow Never Knows" may be the most experimental one, with the entire song consisting of different random tapes looped and played in odd sequences, with the final result being sounds such as the 'seagull' sound heard throughout the song.

Many are under the impression that drummer Ringo penned the popular "Yellow Submarine" due to his deep baritone vocals dominating the tune.  In actual fact, Paul dreamed up the song with Ringo in mind.  Of course, the immensely popular single went on to become an animated film and an album for the quartet, released three years later.

The album cover illustration was created by bassist Klaus Voormann, an old friend of the group whom they'd met in their Hamburg days.  The artwork is a mixture between line drawings and photo collages.  Voormann's name can be seen woven into the right side of Harrison's hair.  There are certainly many aspects of Revolver which make it unforgettable, loveable and revolutionary.

Unique to this Beatles album: the album features the first backwards guitar solo, seen on "I'm Only Sleeping"