I doubt there's ever been a piece of music that's had as much of an effect on my life as Revolver. Never mind that it was recorded half a decade before I was born. In fact, I wouldn't hear it until the early 1980's, when the survivors of the "psychedelic culture" supposedly inspired by this record had gone on to become corporate raiders and investment bankers.
According to some sources, the Beatles were somewhat influential on musical trends and cultural movements in the late 1960's. I wasn't around for that, and I couldn't have cared less. What attracted me to them was the sheer talent they had, and the quality of their output, which has never been matched.
Like just about everyone else, I've heard their early output all my life. It's hardwired into our cultural DNA. I wasn't as familiar with their middle-period input until a friend gave me a copy of Revolver. It was the old Capitol mono mix, and I'd end up literally wearing it out as I pored over every minute detail month after month. To this day, I know every note and nuance of the record.
With this record, the Beatles had gone from catchy pop band to true artists and innovators. We take many of the studio techniques they used for granted today, but on Revolver, they were revolutionary. More to the point, they were judiciously used to complement a suite of nearly perfect songs.
Then 1987 came, and I got to hear the record in stereo when their catalog was issued on Compact Disc. To say the least, I was disappointed. I imagine that the CD masters were what George Martin thought people expected, but I found them to be harsh, brittle and completely sterile.
We'd be stuck with those for another twenty years.
