In the minds of many Beatles fans, it ranks as their best album. At the very least it was another revolutionary move to the way albums were made, raising the bar for the rest of the music world ... as well as another HUGE leap forward in sophistication of sound ... these were no longer the "four mop-tops from Liverpool" belting out the catchy but simple lyrics of "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".
The British release boasted five new Paul McCartney classics: "Eleanor Rigby", "Got To Get You Into My Life", "Here, There And Everywhere", "Good Day Sunshine" and "For No One" plus THREE songs by George Harrison ("I Want To Tell You", "Love You To" and one of his best, "Taxman"), the hit Ringo single "Yellow Submarine" and two incredible stream-of-consciousness, psychedelic John Lennon tracks "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "She Said She Said" as well as "And Your Bird Can Sing", "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" ... quite a line-up of music. (Is it any wonder they would give up touring for good by the end of the month?)
Of course fans here in America were short-changed again with an LP containing only eleven tracks ... but that was the way Capitol operated back then. (While this made it a very "John-weak" release here in The States, with "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Dr. Robert" and "I'm Only Sleeping" missing, we actually got the jump on our British counterparts this time around, as these three tracks were released a few months earlier AHEAD of the UK "Revolver" release as part of a special "Yesterday ... And Today" compilation that Capitol released incorporating some leftover "Rubber Soul" tracks and both sides of several recent Beatles US singles.)
Any way you cut it, it's still a landmark LP. Dig your copy out today and give it a listen ... this is one that'll never go out of style.
