Artist: The Beatles
Title: Revolver Special Edition (Capitol Records)
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Tell me more: The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver is widely considered one of the British band's most beloved albums. The newly-released Revolver Special Edition showcases just how brilliant John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — along with producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick — were at creating one of the greatest recordings of the 20th century over the course of a few short months leading up to its release in August 1966.
The range of material across the album astounds; listeners will be reminded how many light years ahead the Fab Four were compared to their contemporaries. The material ranges from Harrison's propulsive rocker "Taxman," yearning "I Want To Tell You" and Indian music-immersed "Love You To" to McCartney's beautiful Baroque gem "For No One" and rapturous R&B blast "Got To Get You Into My Life." Lennon's talents are showcased via the driving power pop nugget "And Your Bird Can Sing," rollicking "Doctor Robert" and experimental masterpiece "Tomorrow Never Knows."
The expanded deluxe edition of Revolver (the Super Deluxe 5CD Edition is the title reviewed in this column) includes a new stereo mix of the album by GRAMMY Award winning producer Giles Martin (son of the late George Martin) and Sam Okell, two "Sessions CDs" of outtakes, rehearsals, demos and studio chat, the original 1966 mono album, along with a bonus EP with stereo mixes and the original 1966 mono versions of "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" (those two epic singles preceded the release of Revolver). The expanded Revolver Special Edition also includes a 100-page book with a foreword by McCartney, an essay by Questlove, detailed track notes, photographs and ephemera including handwritten lyrics, tape boxes and extracts from artist Klaus Voormann's graphic novel on the making of the GRAMMY-winning original album cover.
Robert Kinsler
