Revolver

Hi.  My name is Ryan Boda... and The Beatles are my favorite band.  The genius of the fab four cannot be measured, but if Revolver was any inclination, then they can only be considered one of the greatest bands that has, or will ever exist.  Crafted by 14 of the most innovative tracks, this perfect package has to be one of my favorite records of all time.  I have been a fan of this long before needing to analyze it for school so this was not only a breeze, but also a lot of fun.  The Beatles, before this, had already brought in the British Invasion to America and were on the top of their game.  In 1965, the previous year, they had made HELP!, which lead to the beginning of their experimentation for Rubber Soul.  As they were getting more and more fed up with touring, they decided to create an album that couldn’t be reproduced live.  What they got was an extraordinary production that simply blows my mind.  I saw this as a gradual stepping-stone.  Rubber Soul was an introduction and infant shot at innovation, Revolver brings the adolescent full force experimentation, then Srgt. Pepper was a mature application of what they learned.  This is of course just my opinion.  Yes, drugs influenced them.  I get extremely aggravated when so much attention is brought to this, however.  People are influenced by everything they come in contact with.  The Beatles had soaked up influences from all sorts of music, and drugs, but I also don’t think enough attention was brought to what they could have gone through on their own.  They were kept in close quarters during a lot of the main developmental years of their lives; not being able to go anywhere because of their fame.  This could have simulated change in them that many others wouldn’t experience.  All of these could have had an equal affect on them, not the drugs that I have to constantly hear about. 

         The Beatles took the studio and used it in ways no one had ever really done before.  They created techniques that are still in some form used today.  One of these would have to be the automatic doubled vocals on many of their tracks.  By adding a slight delay to a copy, it made the appearance of two tracks.  This was a great way to beef up anything.  Also, with the use of at home tape machines, they could bring in samples they recorded at home.  An example of this would be the loop of Paul laughing, which they altered and added to the intro of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.  This album was also the first where they used compression as a way to compliment the voices sonically, not just dynamically.  They showed they could go into a studio and be the best.  Their live shows had been suffering due to the technology of live sound still in it’s beginning stages. Revolver struck me as them saying they hadn’t fallen behind, but that they were bored of the norm.  Instead of creating another Rubber Soul, which still would have sold and probably have been fantastic, they went a different way.