The Beatles Revolver: A Revolutionary Album In Music History

The Making of Revolver

Discuss about the the Beatles Revolver.

In North America, Oceania and Europe, 1960s has been the decade that has been particularly revolutionary in terms of popular music (Shepherd and Horn 2012). The year saw the evolution of rock music. The beginning of the decade saw the emergence of the rock and roll and pop trends. In the early 1960s, the rock and roll in their purest form was gradually overtaken by psychedelic rock, folk rock, pop rock and blues rock (Shuker 2016). The year also saw the rise in popularity of the several Western popular music groups such as The Beatles. The Beatles derived their name form the American beat band of the era, Crickets (Hoffmann, Cooper and Haney 2013). The Beatles was followed by a number of performers in Liverpool, after the national success of the band in 1962 in Britain (Feldman-Barrett 2014). By the end of the year, the band drew a wide range of Americans influences including the rhythm, should music and blues. The band also infused their original rock compositions with the increasing complex distinctive sound and musical ideas. The Beatles never rested on their achievements. They had been constantly stretching the boundaries of pop music. The band had been creating achievements and experimented with the sounds and music. This incorporation of the innovative ideas and techniques in the music has made The Beatles to become the biggest selling rock band of all time (Haas 2013).

Being influenced by the psychedelic culture, The Beatles infused their music with the replication of enhanced mind altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs (Cox 2016). John, Ringo, Paul and George are the featuring members of the band, “The Beatles”. It took almost three decades for the music historians to get the work of the Beetles into proper perspective. In 2000, the “Q” magazine enlisted the Revolver to be the most daring and innovative album of all times by The Beatles (Montgomery 2014). The Beatles released the 7th Studio album and titled it as “Revolver” in the year 1966. This album has been the favorite album of the music lovers of all time (Greene 2016). The launch of the album was the most defining moments of growth and development in the long lived carriers of The Beatles. The Revolver symbolizes an evolutionary period for The Beatles which could be evident after listening to the album. The album includes the lyrics which has a feeling with every chord change. With Revolver, The Beatles transformed from being heartthrobs of teenagers into rock stars. The album has no pop songs and there are explorations of Innocence, loneliness, and dream state.

Influences on Revolver

During the period of the making of the 1966 masterpiece, the band made experiments with the non musical influences as could be evident from the “Revolver” album through a great extent (King 2015).  As for example, the lyrics of the song goes like “She said” that had been influenced by a conversation between Harrison, Starr and Peter during an acid trip. The contribution from the outside influence to the Revolver can be evident in the song “Tomorrow Never knows”. The lyrics in the song had been inspired by the book “The Psychedelic Experience” written by Timothy Lear (Psenicka 2014). However, the book was not the only non musical influence that contributed for the song. The album was also influenced by the Indian contribution for the song “Love to you” which was written particularly for the Indian sitars (Braae 2015). This was the year of emergence of the Indian classical music to the top of the records in the US. The album was rapidly becoming popular among the population around the globe. The Beatles experimented with the recordings by playing backwards or slow or speeding up. They tried to lay the recording backwards just to check the outcome of the resultant sound. The interest of the band was in the tomes which were as a result of the variations in the speed of the tape. These variations were extended to record a basic track. They made variations at a faster beat then what they intended for the song to sound on the disc.

All the songs in the album were composed soon after the returning of the band from their North American tour (Lebovic 2016). The band broadened their sound in the album which influenced not only the vocal harmony pop of the Beach boys but also the contemporary folk rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan (Sanchez 2014). The band also expanded the instrument resources of the rock and roll music. They had used the technique in the song “Norwegian Wood” though the Indian sitar of George (Christiansen 2014). George had been introduced to the sitar through the instrumental score. “Norwegian Wood”, the song, spanked off musical craze by creating the sound from the novel instrument during 1960s. The song branched out into Indian rock and the raga rock genres. The song is now acknowledged as the cornerstone of the world music today. Moreover, it was a major milestone in creating a trend towards the incorporation of the Western music with the non-Western musical influence.

Innovative Techniques on Revolver

The album was not only the turning point of The Beatles, but was also time for development and experimentation in the studio. The Beatles actually used the studio in several ways as an instrument. As for example, the song called “Tax Man” opens with a countdown. The song sounds like a coughing when heard fin the background (Ursulesku 2016). Every track on “Revolver” features technical innovations including the use of Leslie speakers, speed manipulation, and backward tapes where each of these innovations played a crucial role in the creation of the album (Devi 2016). Example, the song “Tomorrow Never knows”, was released with sounds from the Hammond organ after moving the speaker components and rigging into the microphone of John Lennon in order to create these swirling vocal sounds (Devi 2016).

Another innovation that could be evident after listening to the Revolver album is that it incorporates the use of the compression on the drums (Barry 2013). It was for the first time that compression had been used as a sonic tool for creating a music album in the history of the music industry. The team of engineers in The Beatles had been credited for the invention of the Artificial Double Tracking or ADT during the music sessions of the “Revolver” (Russo 2015). The ADT was utilised as a time saving technique for the vocal treatments. This technique involves the implementation of two linked tape recorders that automatically creates a doubled vocal track. The technique issued to double the vocal where the main trick is to sing the same piece two times onto a multitask tape. This invention made The Beatles delighted and they had used the technique extensively into their album, Revolver (Russo 2015). The ADT technique has now become a standard pop production method. This technique has further led to the development of the artificial chorus effect. 

Revolver incorporates the sound of better drugs and good times. The album also relates to the individual members of the greatest brand in the history of pop music which is peaking at the exact time and knowing it (Green 2013). They wrote with the unwavering confidence. The members played with reckless disregard for any and all the rules with unwavering confidence. They wrote the album by breaking the rules that ever existed in the history of pop music back then. Bill Hicks, one of the noted prophets had once made a comment that Beatles had been so high that one needed to pull them off the ceiling with a rake. This comment of the prophet influenced them with their sound “Help! And Rubber Soul,” where they mimicked the sound of the joint on one song (Hamelman 2015). The drugs of choice were slightly stronger in case of the Revolver. The song “Yellow Submarine” shows how much the Beatles were high in 1966. Despite being absurd by the fact that they let Ringo sing lead, the song became arguably the top song of all times (Choi 2013). The song is the most dated moment on the album. It offered the best glimpse of the movement in the music industry in s early as 1960s. The song carried freedom to the spirit of humans which still is being intoxicating and a bit silly.

The Significance of Revolver

The band broadened their sound in the album which influenced not only the vocal harmony pop of the Beach boys but also the contemporary folk rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan (Hamelman 2015). The band also expanded the instrument resources of the rock and roll music. The album is now acknowledged as the cornerstone of the world music today. Moreover, it was a major milestone in cresting a trend towards the incorporation of the Western music with the non-Western musical influence. The album was not only the turning point of The Beatles, but was also time for development and experimentation in the studio. The Beatles actually used the studio in several ways as an instrument.

The essay helped in assessing the accomplishment of The Beatles in their 1966 masterpiece form the various perspectives related to the technological influence, innovations, and development of their rock music as we are enjoying today. The album, Revolver as released by the band had made the audiences of the several generations to be more guns crazy. The band, through the album had been able to grab the audiences by the ears. The band has been able to influence the generation so the audience and is still continuing to be having a profound impact in the music industry. The band not only changed music but also altered the way it’s being made. The casualness innovativeness of The Beatles that are still being followed helped the band in setting up the musical trends. They had been credited for the invention of the Artificial Double Tracking or ADT during the music sessions of the “Revolver”. The ADT was utilized as a time saving technique for the vocal treatments. The power of the Beatles also influenced the generation through the feeling of love. “Revolver “is one of the most innovative and captivating albums of all time. It is an experience rather than just a musical album. The album takes its audiences to a psychedelic journey which is being innovated by the minds of four brilliant artists that has changed the way we had been listening to rock music. The power of the Beatles also influenced the generation through the feeling of love. Revolver has left a lasting impression in the music industry. 

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