Why ‘Revolver’ Is Better Than ‘Sgt. Pepper’

Sam Graham, Los Angeles musician and Beatles disciple

One track alone sets Revolver apart from Sgt. Pepper, says Graham. “With its tape loops, sampling, speed manipulations and hypnotic drone, ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ is the album’s most radical track, an astonishing collision of song, performance and production unlike anything that came before or after.

“But Revolver also brought us horns for the first time on a Beatles record, backwards guitar solos and a host of other studio innovations, a fuller realization of George Harrison’s Indian inclinations than on Rubber Soul, a kind of dense sonic texture previously unheard on a Beatles recording and, of course, a few pretty decent tunes. 

“There’s none of McCartney’s cloyingly twee ‘granny music,’ as John Lennon mockingly described it, that populates Pepper and later records. Instead of ‘When I’m 64’ or ‘Lovely Rita,’ we get ‘Here, There and Everywhere,’ ‘For No One’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ three deathless classics. Harrison’s ‘Taxman’ is a killer first track. And with the inclusion of Lennon’s songs, you’ve got a record that’s not just better than Pepper, but the Fabs’ best overall.”

The Beatles' "Revolver" album cover

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Robert Hilburn, former Los Angeles Times music critic

“Aside from the classic ‘A Day in the Life’ and the enchanting ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ and ‘When I’m 64,’ the songs on Sgt. Pepper now feel largely mediocre by the standards the Beatles themselves had set in two previous albums — songs that showed the band moving from youthful exuberance to writing about the adult world with remarkable character and insight.

“The transition began with ‘Norwegian Wood’ and ‘In My Life’ on Rubber Soul and moved even higher with the likes of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ from Revolver. Sgt. Pepper was a wonderful moment during the Summer of Love, but Rubber Soul and, especially, Revolver were and remain better expressions of the artistic heart of the band.”

Steve Marinucci, veteran Beatles reporter

“There were several incredible leaps forward in Revolver. McCartney’s ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was a genius jump into classical sounds. And there were ‘Good Day Sunshine,’ the effervescent ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ and ‘Your Bird Can Sing,’ all joyful pop ballads that remain among the best they ever did. The guitar solo on ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ still crackles with delight after all these years. Lennon’s contributions were more psychedelic. Then there was Ringo’s vocal contribution, ‘Yellow Submarine,’ a delightful children’s song that has taken on a cottage industry of its own with a fantastic animated movie and consumer goods ranging from shirts and jackets to lava lamps.”

Gene Sculatti, author of For the Records: Close Encounters with Pop Music

Living in San Francisco when Revolver arrived in 1966 had much to do with his preference, says Sculatti. “Musical explosions were firing weekly the world over then, and Revolver was one of them. It fit. Paul’s ebullient ‘Good Day Sunshine’ easily cohabits with the hazy swoon of John’s ‘I’m Only Sleeping.’ And if ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ represents the opening shot of electronica, it was fired by musicians who, mercifully, valued melody just as much as they dug rhythm.

"In 1966, the Beatles’ adventurousness was still constrained by the rules of conventional pop: Keep it tuneful and economical. Pepper’s flow is diffuse; it’s like a flea market where each stall finds a vendor hawking wildly different goods, which is probably why the band chose the circus metaphor to frame the album.”

The Beatles during filming of the "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" promotional films at Chiswick House in London on May 20, 1966.

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Sam Sutherland, former Billboard music journalist and producer

“After six studio albums recorded within a few weeks (or, on their debut, a single day), the band and George Martin were spurred toward experimentation by advances in studio technology and fresh influences drawn from beyond the pop charts on Revolver. The Beatles lavished nearly three months to capture its 14 songs, as well as an edgy new double A-side single pairing ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain,’ both stepping beyond the harmonic bloom of their earlier hits to tap into hypnotic drones.

“‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ dispenses with the familiar guardrails of guitars, bass and drums, weaves tape loops, reverse guitars and Lennon’s heavily processed vocal reciting instructions culled from Timothy Leary’s musings on psychedelia and The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

“For this fan, Revolver anticipated much of Sgt. Pepper’s advances and surpassed it in end-to-end pleasure, a verdict borne out by how easily and how often I return to the 1966 album. It shares its more celebrated successor’s sonic audacity, as well as its balance of nostalgia and futurism — while also rocking harder.”