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THE BEATLES REVOLVER Reviewed & Reexamined
Super Deluxe 5 CD Edition
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By Jeff Elbel photo by Robert Whitaker courtesy of Apple Corps .
ertainly , Sgt . Pepper ’ s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road have advocates in the millions when it comes to naming the Beatles ’ best album . 1966 ’ s Revolver has its place in the debate , and justifiably so . The set finds the Fab Four and producer George Martin taking 14 tightly composed pop songs and adorning them with the type of sonic experimentation that would be integral to the band ’ s future work . Paul McCartney ’ s isolated character “ Eleanor Rigby ” sounds all the more lonely due to the song ’ s plaintive string quartet arrangement . George Harrison ’ s hedonistic “ Love You To ” adopts classical Indian sounds and ringing sitar aligned with Harrison ’ s interest in the music of Ravi Shankar . Drummer Ringo Starr is featured during the affable novelty “ Yellow Submarine ,” a vividly rendered cartoon of a song featuring sea-shanty acoustic guitar and nautical sound effects . John Lennon ’ s consciousness-altering tour de force “ Tomorrow Never Knows ” twists the senses with reeling psychedelia , backward sounds , tape loops , and human sounds manipulated to sound like synthetic seagulls .
It ' s worth noting for vintage purists that this Super Deluxe 5 CD Edition includes Revolver in its original mono master . For adventurous ears , however , the main feature will be an astonishing new stereo mix . Recorded to four-track tape in 1966 , Revolver ’ s familiar stereo mixes were limited by the technology of the day . During Harrison ’ s “ Taxman ,” Starr ’ s drums and McCartney ’ s bass occupy the left headphone channel , with tambourine and guitar solos pushed awkwardly to the right . Mc- Cartney ’ s vocals for “ Eleanor Rigby ” shift oddly from center stage to the right during adjacent segments of the song , accompanied by a couple of dubiously late punch-outs to mute tracks .
Through a miracle of acoustical physics and forensic audio software developed by Peter Jackson ' s WingNut Films Productions Ltd . that was deployed on the Get Back film documenting the development of Let it Be , commingled sounds from the original tape have been separated . The isolated parts were remixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios for heretofore unimaginable clarity . Nothing has been added or taken away . You ’ re simply hearing more of what the Beatles brought to the table , balanced into satisfying mixes with due reverence for the material . Martin ’ s own liner notes declare the original stereo and mono mixes from 1966 to be faultless while acknowledging that his father would have marveled at the new technology and the possibilities it enabled .
The main point of reference for this review was Revolver ’ s 2009 stereo remaster . The newly revised staging benefits Lennon ’ s chiming “ She Said , She Said ” and the laconic acoustic jangle of his “ I ’ m Only Sleeping .” McCartney ’ s vaudevillian “ Good Day , Sunshine ” sounds less like an afterthought or b-side with its careful new treatment , bringing richness to the Scott Joplin-inspired playing . The more natural sound spectrum for “ Yellow Submarine ” makes the song a more immersive escape into the headphones . You still won ’ t be able to understand most of the intentionally indistinct orders and responses exchanged by the sub ’ s crew over the intercom , though .
The ringing and shimmering “ And Your Bird Can Sing ” is more coherent and cohesive . The sly swing of Harrison ’ s “ I Want to Tell You ” and its dissonant piano hook become an arresting showstopper . McCartney ’ s optimistic “ Got to Get You Into My Life ” receives a major upgrade , taming the tambourine a bit from its previous over-prominence , bringing fullness and depth to Starr ’ s drums and McCartney ’ s bass , and revealing the previously obscured rhythm guitar track that supports the song ’ s joyful brass section . The sweet and sublime “ Here , There and Everywhere ” is similarly elevated .
A bonus EP includes the Revolver sessions ’ contemporaneous single tracks . Like the album , McCartney ’ s “ Paperback Writer ” and Lennon ’ s “ Rain ” are offered in new stereo mixes and the original mono mixes . Two Sessions discs invite you into the former EMI Studios along with the band as they work out the songs . The Sessions CD jacket fronts feature original concept art by Beatles photographer Robert Freeman that was scrapped in favor of Klaus Voorman ’ s Grammy-winning line art and collage . The jacket backs feature alternate Robert Whitaker images from the photo shoot
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