Thursday, January 18, 2007

Revolver Soul

Two of my Christmas gifts in 2006 were the seminal Beatles albums Rubber Soul and Revolver. They were released in 1965 and 1966 and are collectively thought of as a turning point in the Beatles' career. They showed an increasingly mature and experimental side of the Fab Four and cemented the members' reputations for musicianship and songcraft.

I'm sure this has probably been done before, but I wondered what it would be like if one took the best songs from both albums, put them together and made the Greatest Album In History. I've done just that tonight, literally five minutes ago. I chose what I think are the best songs from Rubber Soul and Revolver (but not necessarily my favorites - although most of the songs I chose are my favorites). I chose seven songs from each album for a total of 14 songs, the same number of songs on both original albums. Not only that, but I also gave thought to the song sequence. I also tried to mix the albums' songs in the running order and put the songs in unfamiliar spots. "Drive My Car" demanded to be first in the mix because of its rock energy and ability to start things off right. "Tomorrow Never Knows" would seem completely out of place anywhere but at the end of an album. Everything else was fair game for change and rearrangement.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you my very own Beatles mix,

Revolver Soul

1) Drive My Car
2) Good Day Sunshine
3) You Won't See Me
4) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
5) And Your Bird Can Sing
6) Eleanor Rigby
7) I'm Looking Through You
8) Nowhere Man
9) For No One
10) She Said She Said
11) If I Needed Someone
12) Got To Get You Into My Life
13) In My Life
14) Tomorrow Never Knows

2 comments:

Jeff said...

These are definitely two of the greatest albums ever, I like seeing what The White Album would have been like if it were condensed but I've never done this before. I like the list you made, I think I would add "Run For Your Life" to it.

The Mistress of the Dark said...

Think For Yourself would have made my list...and Yay you put Nowhere Man on there. My theme song :)