Band's List Pop Rock The Beatles Revolver

Considered by many to be the herald of the famed psychedelic era of the 60s, Revolver features somewhat of a departure from the original rock-n-roll of the Beatles to Something that is both as melodic and acoustic as it is hard and "trippy."

Track one, a classic from the mind of George Harrison, features a bass-line that feels straight from the 60s, with lyrics about the "unfairness" of taxation by the greedy "taxman." Those who have listened to the Number 1 compilation album will recognize track two as the orchestral ballad of Eleanor Rigby, Father McKenzie and "All the lonely people."

Track three, as a contributing piece to the psychedelic masterpiece of Revolver, is definitely one of the more psychedelic songs on the album, with George Harrison's reversed guitar licks and solo. Its very peaceful, the song, echoing the message of peace that the Beatles helped bring to a world living in fear.

Track number four goes down into the land of the East, where master George Harrison and his unnamed group of Indian musicians bring a sitar-laden masterpiece to the album that defined the psychedelic era of the 60s. A nice, slow, easy-going song from Paul McCartney follows which isn't as Revolutionary as the past four tracks were.

Track number six proves that Seth McFarlane really doesn't know what he's talking about when he made a negative reference on his television show Family Guy to Beatles songs written by Ringo Starr. Let me just make it clear that not only did this song make it on to the Number 1 album and other jewels like "Revolution", "I'm Only Sleeping", "Taxman", "Helter Skelter", "Octopus' Garden", "I Am The Walrus", "Getting Better", "Within You Without You" and many others didn't, but this song, "Yellow Submarine", actually got an animated "musical" film made about it. Though it didn't star the Beatles as themselves, their songs appeared in it (the title track - obviously - almost everything from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, as well as "Nowhere Man" from Rubber Soul, "Love To You" and "Eleanor Rigby" from Revolver and several others, including the all-new "Hey Bulldog" made especially for the film), and they made cameo appearances as themselves at the end of the film for a reprise of "All Together Now."

Oh well, South Park doesn't like the Beatles at all. Just goes to show that you can't believe everything you hear on TV.

Track number seven has a delightful distorted guitar driving the song from beginning to end, but is regrettably too short. Another McCartney song, with more piano, follows as the eighth track. Another short, semi-distorted song follows. Despite the use of a wood-wind instrument, the tenth track (at least on the CD) doesn't say much more than another McCartney piano song. I wish I could say more about the next two tracks, but they flow into the same pattern: both semi-distorted and too short.

Track number thirteen features a jazzy brass ensemble, minimal guitar and no piano. Fans of R&B will recognize "Got To Get You Into My Life" as having been covered by the legendary Earth Wind and Fire. But this is the original one, just as good as EWF's version.

Now we close with the trippiest song on the album. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is almost trance-inducing, with John Lennon chanting words that implore the listener to "turn off your mind, float downstream" and discover the "truth." Distorted, reversed guitar bits by Harrison make this track feel more acidic, along with the existential lyrics. It also happens to be imposed as an introduction to the "music video" of "Within You Without You" in some cases. However, both songs stand well on their own two feet.

Having come to the end of the album, thoughts? Well, if you're a fan of the 60s, I suggest you get this one: the one that started it all. For that's what it is, since the movement of heavy metal also has its origins in the psychedelic era of the 60s. Even if you're not a metal-fan and just like good music, give this one a once-over.