Having actually included MAGNET as one of my favorite things (and I promise that’s not sucking up, I really love the publication), you can imagine how chuffed I was at the prospect of a guest editorship. Over the past, well, several years of the Sharp Things‘ existence, Eric Miller has been a friend and an advocate, even when no one else was, so I’m honored to be able to ramble on a bit about a bunch of shit that I dig, because I want everyone to know about it and, more significantly, because it makes me feel important. 😉 Over to you, me …
To have even put this particular album on my short list of faves, you know you’re dealing with an over-zealous Beatles fan. Please. I could have just as well found reasons to drop Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles (White Album), Let It Be, Abbey Road, even Magical Mystery Tour up in this shit, but I choose Revolver. Why? Because while it was Rubber Soul that arguably did the about face on the moptops, it was Revolver that not only hinted at the Fab Four’s bottomless talents at this juncture. It betrayed a maturity that was staggering for a bunch of blokes in their mid-20s, even though this was already their seventh album. It was also, in my estimation, the album that gave us equal billing, Lennon to McCartney, featuring some top shelf songwriting by any standards. In addition, the album sports the best Harrison track recorded to that date, the kick off, “Taxman.” Immediately followed by McCartney classic “Eleanor Rigby,” one of the first to utilize a string quartet. As for Macca, this album presents a handful of his finest moments ever. This is the LP that gives us the timeless melodies of “Here, There And Everywhere,” and the heartbreaking, “For No One,” among others. As for Lennon, it’s an equal triumph of attitude as well as songsmithing, with tunes like “I’m Only Sleeping,” “Doctor Robert” and “And Your Bird Can Sing.” Records, especially these days, rarely get better than this.
Video after the jump.
