The Beatles, much like the Beach Boys, were heralded with a squeaky clean image both in appearance and in their music. "Revolver" thankfully though was a departure from this image. In many ways it was the Beatles growing up as both men and songwriters. Prior to "Revolver" songs like Harrison's "Love You Too" would have never seen the light of day. The song was just too "out there" for the early part of their careers.
Contributing to this new "out there" kind of sound was something the Beatles openly admit to using. LSD attributed to "Revolver" much like a new ingredient to a meal you've made 1,000 times. It was noticeable, but depending on your taste, it made the meal a lot better or too messy. Personally I feel as though the experimentation, although dangerous, was a complete success for this album. For a group of guys who were already highly successful in songwriting it helped to deliver them a different avenue and perspective to write a group of songs they had never imaged before.
What was great about "Revolver" as well was their use of the studio. No artist had really shown the studio side of the business until this record. On the opening track "Tax Man" you hear Lennon count the song off in the studio giving listeners a glimpse into what it actually takes to record a song. Martin was genius as well using cymbal sounds in reverse and making incredible use of panning so that particular aspects of songs stood out. A good example of his panning use was how he panned the entire drum set to the left on "Yellow Submarine" and the vocals all to the right. Not a normal or convectional practice, but it works magnificently as he lets the unconventional tracks shine in the center. These were ground breaking ideas at their time and are still used today.
Instrumentation was a hugely different process for the Beatles on the "Revolver" album. On "Eleanor Rigby" there's not a single Beatle playing on it! Martin made the strings so rhythmic that it was unnecessary to cloud the track with any more instruments. On "Love You To" the Beatles even go so far as to experiment with the Indian sitar and make it shine. You even notice more use of brass instruments than before on such tracks like "Yellow Submarine". They Beatles were venturing far from their normal four piece to reach far beyond to another side of their songwriting. The instrumentation was even a little more darker than usual on some tracks. "I want to tell you" in particular has this mysterious piano sound going that is a departure from the super clean image they had before the album.
Listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows" tells you two things. One is that the Beatles were definitely using LSD. Ha! Two is that they were experimenting with sounds as well. You can hear the speeding of the tape reel and phase sounds that they had never dreamed of using before. I commend Martin for joining in the Beatles' experiment because he could have chose to reel them in, but instead chose to let the songs progress naturally. Another staple song for new sounds on this album is in "Yellow Submarine". From clanking glasses, to flutes, to brass, to wild commentation, it's all there. It was obvious the Beatles did not want to reproduce their previous songs. They wanted a new sound that was uniquely their own.
Though "Revolver" was made before my time it still has a huge influence on me. Being a huge fan of pop rock there is almost no better example of the genre than this album. The Beatles for the most part invented pop rock for me and this album was a staple of that sound. Through their use of melodies, harmonies, instrumentation, and experimentation it shows me just how creative we can go within ourselves to find something unique. It's a inspiration for me as musician.
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