Customer Reviews

Revolution in the Head: The " Beatles " Records and the Sixties

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This wonderful book hasn't left my side since publication in 1998. By far the best Beatles book ever, and likely to remain so, it can be dipped into endlessly for insights into their songs, which form a step-by-step chronological narrative of the group's evolution through the 60s. Macdonald writes as one who clearly loves their music, but he is not reluctant to criticise quite savagely [see Maxwell's Silver Hammer] when he feels it's due, and the balance thus achieved gives a weight to the book which unfettered praise could not have done. Plenty in here to agree and disagree with! And he writes beautifully. Try A Day In The Life or The Long And Winding Road, especially while listening to the songs, and I defy you to remain unmoved! His introduction and conclusion make superb reading. For all those who feel that nothing more can said about the Fabs, read this!
Sadly, Macdonald took his own life in August this year, profundly depressed about the state of the world, while working on a revision of the book following George Harrison's death. Unfortunately we are unlikely to see that, but this book, which places the Beatles' life-enhancing music where it belongs, remains a glowing tribute to him.

I would like to have able to come here to write a glowing review of this wonderful book. I would; and perhaps I will, at some future date.

Instead I'm here to mourn. Ian Macdonald took his own life on 20th August 2003, at the end of a long battle against depression.

REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD looks at every song the Beatles recorded (with a few exceptions). It looks at the music and the lyrics of the songs and analyses them in a way which will satisfy the musical specialist without scaring off the neophyte. Furthermore, it places each song in the context of the times, and of the individual Beatles as their career progressed. If this sounds dry; it ain't. The book is witty and affectionate; and is infused with a nostalgic regret for times which have passed, and may not ever be regained.

If you love the music of the Beatles, read this book. If you remember the freedom of spirit that characterised the 1960s, read this book. If you weren't alive then, but would like to get some idea of what it was like to live through those times, read this book. Whatever; read it.

A stunning examination of The Beatles, their music, the sixties, and by implication the state of modern popular music, "Revolution in the Head" is easily the best Beatles book ever published.

Written with an astonishing erudition acquired over his years as a music journailast for New Musical Express and other magazines, as well an obvious love for the music of the Fab Four, Ian MacDonald's book places the Beatles in the appropriate social and cultural context with exactitude,critical acumen and readability.

If you want to know why The Beatles are the most important pop group ever, or wish to reacquaint yourself with their genius, you must read this superb book. Along with Philip Norman's "Shout" and "Mark Lewisohn's" Beatles Sessions, "Revolution in the Head" is an undoubted masterpiece of Beatles scholarship.

I wish that I could give this book more than five stars. It is an absolutely brilliant and supremely entertaining analysis of every song recorded by The Beatles. For those with musical knowledge it provides detailed analysis of things such as chord structure and sequences. For those, such as myself, who are merely fans of this great music, the book provides endless insight and anecdotes about the recording process and events surrounding each song. After reading this book you will never listen to The Beatles' songs in the same way again. This is eye-opening work that puts all other rock/pop music analysis to shame. Get this one!!!

MacDonald uses the Beatles' music as the gravity well around which he orbits with his wonderfully entertaining stories about the lives of the Four Lads from Liverpool. At the core of his work, he delves deeply into each song they produced, writing about its origin, the studio sessions, who wrote, played and sang what on it.
The thoroughness of this edition is almost overwhelming. There are many songs here I, a fan since their first song crackled over the AM radio, never knew about before this book. But MacDonald also looks past the music into the Beatles themselves, the incidents in their lives that influenced them, as well as at the world outside. While the Beatles were making pop culture - in fact were the paragons of it for many years - they were also products of it and their creativity metamorphosized under the influence of others - the Beach Boys, the Maharishi, and so on. MacDonald gives us those parallel moments both within the music and in the appendices.
While not as densely encyclopedic as some similar works, RITH is far more enjoyable to read. He gives the Beatles a human face, where other works make them cutouts among a dreary collection of facts.
MacDonald's comments on the tunes often meander into the subjective, and his opinions will not always complement the reader's, but that makes it more enjoyable, a challenge to fans whose sensibilities he arouses. Mercifully, he doesn't drag us into the quagmire of dense critical analysis and pontificating on the music, but rather throws short chops at the reader and then rushes on to the next tune.
MacDonald's affection for the Beatles shines through, although he (thankfully) never appears a slavish, undiscriminating aficionado. That loving-yet-critical eye with which he views their works makes this book all the more valuable: it has an honesty many other works lack.
The style is easy and very readable, albeit authoritative, and supported by comprehensive content and a wealth of data.
It's not just a must-read for Beatles fans, it's an excellent window into the era of the Sixties, that brief period when the music was still alive and had not become consumed by commercialism.

This extraordinary book critiques most of the Beatles' songs. It dissects, analyzes and explains the lyrics of the Beatles' songs; it compliments the intelligence of all readers. Music professionals and novices alike will come away with added information; this is a book that will appeal to all readers regardless of place/proficiency on the musical scale.

This book serves as a time line; the Beatles' achievements and the times they were living in are chronicled neatly alongside Macdonald's analyses of the music. It's general tone is light and upbeat, yet a tone of bittersweet nostalgia underscores much of the passages. "There are places I remember..." John Lennon, 1965 could be the sound track of this book. So could John Lennon's 1968 Anthem of the Sixties, "you say you want a revolution, well you know we all want to change the world..."

Beatle fans and those who love and/or lived through the Dodge Dart Era of the 1960s will love this book. It is so worth reading.

This book's publication concludes on a sad footnote. Ian Macdonald ended his life on August 20, 2003. He had been clinically depressed.

I love this book and have read it several times. When I listen to Beatles recordings, I sometimes take it out and read up on the song, and its fun to see the work that was put into it (music flubs, line flubs, edit flubs). I just wish he hadn't beat up on George so much! Highly recommended

More a question than a book review here. This edition is described as being updated; comparing it to the original hardcover, however, I found only one update -- a footnote in which MacDonald briefly comments on the 'Live at the BBC' album. Otherwise it is identical to the first edition. There is nothing on the Anthology material. So the question is this: Is that one little footnote the extent of MacDonald's "revisions"? If there is a fatter, better edition out there, I'd love to have it.

Anyway, now that I'm here I might as well say that this is not only the best critical analysis of the Beatles' work ever written; it's almost the only such book I can even take seriously. MacDonald does come up with the occasional strange opinion here and there (his dismissals of "Day Tripper" and "Helter Skelter" come to mind), but critics are not machines, folks, and even the best of them are not infallible. For the most part MacDonald is serious in the best sense of the word; he is intensely attentive, and his mastery of the catalogue escapes pedantry -- it's just plain jaw-dropping.

... and it's obvious he was hardly a qualified music critic as he left no hesitation in his merciless attacks on the majority of the Beatle's works. Only a diehard fan would be interested in such a publication, yet, with all of his negativity unleashed, the author alienates the very reader he is critiquing "for". There is some useful information intermixed with scads of personal (and professional) attacks on each of the band members, particularly John. I found it hard to read with such harsh assaults; MacDonald with his heavy-handed criticisms and self-indulgent buffoonery dumped upon the Fab Four with his free license to defame. I am in complete amazement that so many readers rated this book so highly. Perhaps, they too are closet Beatle-haters. One can only surmise the contents of MacDonald's tortured psyche, but his suicide actually shed some light on this publication for me. This book was given to me and quickly dispensed of, in the garbage, where it belongs. If you are a true lover of the Beatles, this "piece" will only serve to infuriate you as it serves only to blacken the talent of the Beatle's wonderful legacy. This slanderous tripe is NOT RECOMMENDED!