It’s almost impossible to quantify what the Beatles did over the career. Popular music without them is unthinkable. They effectively skated the dragon of cynical Svengali-driven cynical pop, writing their own stuff and proving that, once that happened, all sorts of unbelievable things can happen. There’s plenty of very good chart pop around, even today, but nothing Svengali-driven will ever amount to anything. Yes, that means Cowell and his ilk have never done anything worthwhile and never will.
Early Beatles sounds pretty much like the popular music of the time, only better. But it’s at this point, mid-career, that they really start to lush into uncharted territory. None of which stops Revolver from having an identity of its own as an album, of course. It’s very Paul-heavy, with most of the standout tracks (“Eleanor Rigby” most of all) being his, much as the great “For No One” is one of those love songs by him with disturbingly controlling lyrics. Yet it’s John’s “Tomorrow Never Knows” that points to dizzying possibilities that will take decades to explore. And a fair proportion of the sounds on the album sound awfully close to show tunes.
But this album is a watershed of another kind; it’s the last album which was followed by a tour. In that sense, it’s the swansong of the Beatles as a band as we know it, all playing together on stage. It’s a masterpiece, but one that belongs right in the middle of their career in more ways than one.
No comments:
Post a Comment