Revolver - review

Be massaged by strangers and enjoy it like the innocense of a child chasing the ice-cream man. Never before has such an assortment of mini-masterpieces been gathered in one place. Revolver is social commentaries, love (with a huge heart), and pure inspirational music. It is- probably not 'arguably'- the most experimental album the Beatles ever made, and like all sucessful experimental albums, from Inspiration Information, right up to Stankonia, Revolver manages to merge sincere human voice with the insane ramblings of the creative, musical soul.

The cutting-edge of tracks like Taxman and Eleanor Rigby ensure that the album immediately catches your attention, alerts you to the intellectual sharpness, and musical awareness that these guys have. Whilst Taxman rocks like nothing else, like the funkiest of James Brown tunes, Eleanor Rigby treads new territory with the orchestral stabs and sweeps making it difficult for any hip-hop producer to listen without waiting for "the part to sample".

I'm only sleeping ensures that the album moves on with the same swift genius with which it has started. The effects and sonic-mastery of this track is matched only by John Lennon's soulful voice and calming, innocent melodies, which themselves compliment the child-like lyrics, "Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping". Even with the insane outro of this track though, we are still yet to hear Revolver at it's most bold. Love to You has been critisised by many critics, and I don't know why. Maybe they're stupid. It's saturated Indian-groove is brought alive by the melodies, and the sitar itself serves as more than just a 'token Indian instrument', creating a dreamy, drugged out track that's hard to dislike. Given how little British people knew about Indian-culture back in the 60's, this track really does stand the test of time, significantly more than the more recent influx of Indian sampling in hip-hop music, which is 100 times less imaginative than on Love to You.

The boastful bragadoccio of And your Bird can Sing will bring a smile to the mildly-depressed and semi-conscious. It's arresting guitar solos and more than that, it's pure attitude will rock your universe. It is also one of those tracks that really shows how much The Beatles influenced later music, Oasis, for example, could have easily sung a song like this. The word? Triumphant! The traditional rock feeling of the whole album is constantly disturbed (pleasantly disturbed!) by the odd note or strange sound every now and then, and that's what makes this album so compelling. The flow of I Want to Tell You is pretty much standard until the notes get higher and higher and the piano-alarm bells begin to chime like intensity-on-fire.

The truth however, the insanity, the truthful insanity, is kept for the final masterpiece. Tommorow Never Knows somehow, like every other mini-masterpiece on this album, manages to clock in at under 3 minutes. Funny how so much life can be crammed into 2:56. The sonic-mayhem and deranged tape loops are taken a step further, with the effects becoming instruments themselves on this trippy journey. Unlike with I'm only sleeping however, all of the instruments on this track, from the deeply hypnotic bassline to the psychadelic drums, fully participate in the chaos. This track, completely unsurprisingly came from the mind of John Lennon, the most talented of them all. It gives me the greatest pleasure to end a review of one of the most varied yet choesive journeys into music by letting you hear this brilliant track.

Y.Misdaq

Turn off your mind, relax
and float down stream
It is not dying
It is not dying

Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining

That you may see
The meaning of within
It is being
It is being

That love is all
And love is everyone
It is knowing
It is knowing

That ignorance and hate
May mourn the dead
It is believing
It is believing

But listen to the
color of your dreams
It is not living
It is not living

Or play the game
existence to the end
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning.