Revolver

Cover art for "Revolver".

The Beatles were recognized and adored worldwide before coming out with Revolver. Previous albums already got platinum and gold commemorations like Rubber Soul, Help!, Beatles for Sale, With the Beatles, Please Please Me, and much more (RIAA, n.d.). Also, music and lyric contents was different prior the recording of the Revolver. The Beatles used to write and sing about simple topics like holding hands, driving a car, one-night stands, or anything superficial related to girls. “Revolver all three songwriters have gone “beyond” writing simple love songs.” (Newman, 2006).

The two greater influences (musically and non musically) that helped to shape Revolver were India and LSD (D-lysergic acid diethylamide).

George Harrison was the Beatle that got mostly influenced by India music, culture, and religion. In the song “Love You To” it is noticeable the use Indian instruments like the tabla, tambura, and sitar.

“It is surely significant that Lennon’s enthusiasm for this kind of writing waned after 1965. He first encountered LSD on the night of 27th March the same year.” (Newman, 2006). LSD changed Lennon’s writing style and perspective of life. In my opinion, this substance made Lennon to search new sounds (reverse guitars, different distortions, etc) and investigate his inner feelings to find those unreal hallucinations and make them “real”, resulting with the Revolver album.

The sessions of the recording of Revolver were unique, because the Beatles and George Martin (Producer) used the studio (Abbey Road) as if it was an instrument. Most of Revolver sessions were done in Studio 2 and 3. (Newman, 2006). Each studio had a different personality. Studio 2 is large and echoing, while studio 3 is small and dryer (not much of natural reverb). Also, the Beatles wanted to record an album in a place hard to then recreate in a live situation.

Also, some technological innovations were found and/or used on the Revolver’s sessions. George Martin came with the idea to use a Leslie speaker (Hammond organ speaker) to help create “the sound of a thousand monks chanting” (Newman, 2006) that Lennon wanted on “Tomorrow Never Known”. Also, they used reverse guitars recordings to give a more psychedelic feel to certain songs like “Tomorrow Never Knows”. This technique was never used before on a pop record (Newman, 2006).

Revolver has been one of my favorite albums from the Beatles, because it was done using a different formula than previous Beatles albums. Revolver was a proof that the Beatles had the courage to experiment with music and not only make records that sells well. Also, I am impressed how Revolver was well appreciated by the public when it first came out on August 5th, 1966. It surely was something different from the previous albums, but we the public understood where they were going. If not understood, at least we all enjoyed it.

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Pet Sounds

Album art for "Pet Sounds".

For the people that are not familiar with the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson is the leader and founder of the Beach Boys.  Brian began writing music since he was sixteen years old.  By the age of 21 Wilson already founded the Beach Boys and had the opportunity to have total production control by his record label at the time (Capitol Records).  

In 1964, the same year the Beach Boys got their first number 1 hit with the doubled side single “Don’t Worry Baby” and “I Get Around”, Brian Wilson decided to stop touring with the band, because of his mental illness (Howard, 2004).  Instead of touring around the world with the rest of the band, he stayed at home producing, writing, and arranging more songs for the Beach Boys.

Prior to the recording of Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys were recognized by their  “fun-in-the-sun songs” (Howard, 2004), like their album “Surfin’ Safari” that has songs that talked about “tanned girls, hot rod cars, and surfing endless waves.” (Howard, 2004).  Basically, their songs talked about the younger society in California and the United States in general.  The Beach Boys were well known worldwide before recording Pet Sounds.

Pet Sounds was Brian Wilson’s masterwork as described in the book “Sonic Alchemy” (Howard, 2004).  About two years before recording the album Pet Sounds, Brian was introduced to Marijuana and LSD. These two substances made a huge impact on Brian’s approach in music recording and production for Pet Sounds. His arrangements became richer and more complex, taking his production deeper than teenage-have-fun songs. There is a noticeable change in his production in the song “God Only Knows”. The horn section in the introduction of the song gave a different texture to the “Beach Boys sound”.  Also, the strings made the chord progressions thicker and the drums patterns helped to set a more psychedelic environment.

Another influence or reason for Wilson to make the Pet Sounds album was after listening to the album “Rubber Soul” by the Beatles.  Wilson’s first impressions were: “I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together.  Rubber Soul was a collection of songs... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, "That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album."(Stevens, 2007).

Pet Sounds was categorized as “one of the first psychedelic rock masterpieces” by J. DeRogatis in the book Turn On Your Mind (2007).  The use of organs and strings helped the album to set a mood that was not common in the 60s.  Also, Brian used Phil Spector’s session musicians, because he admired Spector and wanted to use his famous “wall of sound” and shape it to his own perspective.

Pet Sounds is an album that transports me to another place, a place where tranquility dominates.  The melodies in Pet Sounds make me feel that everything is going to be fine.  For example, in the song “God Only Knows” in the chorus section where it says “God only knows what I’d be with out you”.  Pet Sounds made an impact in the music industry in the mid 60s.  This album allowed artists from that time to experiment more deeply with music by finding and mixing different textures/sounds from different instruments and styles of music. 

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Welcome

Hello!

My name is Eduardo Lopez, I'm from Venezuela (South America) and I LOVE music. Also, I love playing drums, and take photos.

Right now I'm studying Recording Arts at Full Sail University (Orlando, FL).

My goal in life is to be a part of a successful band and built a music university in Latin America.