The Beatles‘ Revolver

The Beatles originally wrote in a very straightforward manner.  Their songs were about love and relationships, which was consistent with many of the pop artists in Britain and the U.S. at the time.  When they were first breaking out in the 60’s, they were essentially a mega-star quartet that wrote and preformed their own songs.  They were a group of very interesting and unique characters who didn’t take their popularity too seriously.  (Beatles Anthology)

Around the time “Revolver” was written, LSD and other drugs were becoming more popular.  Particularly when writing music, John would use LSD to fuel his creative process.  This caused the Beatles to dabble in psychedelic music, which was most apparent in songs like “Tomorrow Never Knows”.  Both John and Paul got many of their lyrics from books.  Whenever they were reading and found something that inspired them, they would often find ways to incorporate it into their songs.  (Everything was Right)

The Beatles were very innovative in their methods of creating a unique sound in the studio.  Paul would sometimes record his bass guitar using another guitar cabinet as a microphone.  This created a notably muted and beefy tone that was famous in “Revolver”.  For some their songs, John would record his vocals through the Leslie cabinet intended for the organ.  As the cabinet internals are constantly moving this created an interesting Doppler effect on the vocals.  (Everything was Right)

In “Yellow Submarine” several field recordings and foley samples were used to create the mood for the song.  In “Tomorrow Never Knows” the Beatles used reversed tape samples throughout the song.  At the time this was a very new and inventive effect.  It also added to the psychedelic feel of the song.  (Everything was Right)

“Revolver” seems to hold the overall style the Beatles were originally known for while also reaching out into more experimental styles of music.  While the Beatles wrote countless songs and albums, “Revolver” may have been the one album that transitioned their music into the psychedelic style that dominated the 70’s.  It made good use of new technology and was lyrically deeper than the Beatle’s previous albums. 
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The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds

Initially, The Beach Boys were an upbeat, harmonic quartet that wrote songs about catching a wave or driving fast cars.  Band member Brian Wilson, who wrote, arranged, and produced most of the Beach Boys’ material, was still writing relatively simple arrangements with fewer instruments.  This began to change as Brian matured as a musician and the band became more popular.  (Brian Wilson Podcast)

Brian Wilson was the backbone of the Beach Boys and most of the content they created either came from or went through him.  He also preformed in all of the songs he wrote.  In a sense, Brian was more important to the Beach Boys than John Lennon was to the Beatles.  Of course the strain of writing, performing, producing, and touring with the band would pick away at Brian and caused him to sometimes act sporadically.  Nevertheless, Brian was the heart and soul of the Beach Boys and would remain so throughout the years. (Brian Wilson Podcast)

The album “Pet Sounds” was essentially Brian Wilson’s response to rising competition with the increasingly popular band, “The Beatles”.  After listening to the Beatles’ recent album “Revolver”, he decided he wanted to make an album with just as much impact.  He wanted the songs in the new album to flow well together and reduce the number of filler songs between the hits.  (Brian Wilson Podcast)

“Pet Sounds” was a unique album in many ways.  Brian Wilson began to write in more complex arrangements and layer instruments in a more complex way.  He had spent a good amount of time around Phil Spektor, whose influence can be heard throughout the album.  Phil’s experimental “Wall of Sound” is present in many of the songs and creates a unique feeling to the album.  Brian’s lyrics started to shift from surfing and fun to complicated relationships and almost psychological material.  (The Making of Pet Sounds)

To me, “Pet Sounds” gives the impression of an album that was made for a general audience.  The production choices made and the content of the lyrics live up to the standards of what a pop album should sound like.  Brian filled the arrangements much better than previous albums and created a much larger sound.  It is so big and complex that at times it can almost sound cluttered.  Regardless Brian clearly matured as a musician in the writing of “Pet Sounds” and it is arguably his best album.
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Welcome

My name is Andrew Scott and I am undergoing the Recording Arts Bachelors degree at Full Sail University.  I like several types of music but I mostly listen to rock and electronic.