Customer Reviews

Revolution in the Head

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The late Ian MacDonald really nailed it with this book. I try to read any comprehensive analysis of the Beatles recorded catalog that I can - and none even come close to this. Simply put, this book changed the way I listened to the Beatles music. It made me a more attentive, discerning listener. It broadened the scope of my knowledge of '60s music by pointing the way towards other music of the era that I hadn't yet heard. I find it hard to overstate the influence this book has had on me personally - I have read it cover to cover numerous times and still find myself going back to it.

This isn't a history of the Beatles - it is a song-by-song analysis, in the order the songs were recorded, of everything officially released by the group. And make no mistake, it is not an objective collection of facts - there ARE mostly reliable recording dates, release dates, and song credits for every entry, so it can be used as a quick reference. But this is a highly opinionated piece of writing - Mr. MacDonald was not afraid to ruffle feathers by offering critical evaluations of some of the Beatles most popular songs (he is quite harsh, for instance, towards classics like "Across the Universe" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps").

Mr. MacDonald does a great job of placing this body of work within the context of the time it was released - but he also manages to assess each song purely on its own terms, as well. While quite obviously a true-blue Beatles fan, MacDonald maintained a certain level of objectivity throughout - never getting caught up in fanboy idolization. He's tough on this music - when he feels a song isn't up to the band's established standards, he makes it very clear what he doesn't like. In a way, I think MacDonald managed to have a significant impact on certain aspects of popular opinion towards the Beatles music. That may sound like a bit much, but keep in mind that this book was originally published in 1994 and has become (arguably) the standard for critical analysis of the Beatles music.

Throughout the book, MacDonald challenges many of the long-held notions that had gone more or less unchallenged in many, many Beatles-related wiritings. Some of the stereotypes - i.e. John was the intellectual and innovator, Paul was the lightweight romantic - had practically become accepted as facts by music fans. There isn't so much revisionism for it's own sake in this book, but rather a serious re-examination of those popular opinions/theories that often yields a fresh perspective. That's where the value really can be found in this book - you may not agree with every idea MacDonald puts forth, but it is guaranteed you will be forced to take a fresh look at the Beatles music.

Revolution In the Head is a song by song survey and analysis of all the Beatles songs, and the fan will find himself fascinated by all the tidbits and details. The author shows how the songs were developed, and one leaves this book very appreciative of the "hooks" in their songs, and the undervalued importance of the "middle eight" and the "bridge" in pop music. One thinks of songs of the last decade of so, and how they contrast with the two and a half minute gems that Lennon and McCartney composed. Today's songs tend to drone on and on for 5 minutes, with no change of pace, and songs tend to have the whole bag of tricks thrown in right away. Reading this book was a refreshing antidote, especially playing the Beatles while reading this.

The author shows the good and bad, the brilliant mixes, the bad editing and cutting on some songs, especially the earlier ones, and gives credit where credit is due. He can get a bit too overbearing at times, I happen to love the keyboard solo in "In My Life", I hardly notice the little flourish at the end of it which the author dislikes. On certain songs such as "Revolution", the author dispenses with song analysis altogether and starts writing an essay about the politics and culture of the time. This I found a bit annoying. The Beatles were a phenomenon, but as John Lennon once said, "we were just a little band who made it big". The music is meant to be enjoyed, from "Little Child" to "Glass Onion" to "For No One", there's no great social meaning to all this, it's just a rich pop tapestry.

Overall, a fascinating book, well worth it for Beatles fans and for those just discovering them.

This is an indispensable book about Beatles music appreciation. MacDonald was one of the most idiosyncratic critics of music that ever lived. This book must be owned by anyone, especially musicians and songwriters, who wants to truly get to the heart of the music of the Beatles.

The only disappointment for me (and for anyone who's been faithfully buying and reading the updates of this book since its release in the mid-1990s) is that the 3rd edition is NOT REVISED. If you own the second edition, you do not need to buy this book. There is not one difference in the text.

Oddly enough, this edition has slightly better quality paper, for some reason, whereas the previous edition uses sort of newspaper/telephone book quality sheets that tear easily. Two other subtle changes are: a different pic on the front cover, and the omission of one of the members of Oasis' profanely worded endorsement of the book.

Happy reading if you've never been inside the book before, but if you have the 2nd revised edition, you can sit this one out.

I enjoyed reading the analysis of each song in the MacDonald book, but find the fad to minimize Lennon's contributions grating.

MacDonald seems to be saying: if a song is simple or simplistic (with the implied connotations) - or is lazy, then Lennon wrote SOME of it. If a song is astutely composed, then McCartney wrote ALL of it. Examples of this kind of criticism are displayed in reviews of the tracks from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, at least the Lennon songs - which is most of the LP: "I Should Have Known Better" is least distinguished; "I'll Cry Instead" is slight.

From the later period, MacDonald says that the song "Two of Us" is simple, which means that Lennon probably wrote it, right? After all, Lennon even said that he wrote it. However, MacDonald dismisses the assertion. Lennon actually might have had little to do with the song other than sing half of it. Yet MacDonald makes no qualms about subtracting credits from Lennon's side of the contribution side and adding them to McCartney's side. "Norwegian Wood" follows this critical trend; in this case, MacDonald gives half the credit of a "Lennon" song to McCartney. However, he does not even mention Lennon's name when discussing "Yesterday" (not even saying that Lennon's name is conspicuous by its absence. Yet were there not some quotes made at the time of the song's release saying that Lennon contributed finishing touches [ribbons and bows] to the song's creation?).

MacDonald takes contributor Barry Miles' words and gives them equal weight to Lennon's original comments. Take for example the song, "There's A Place." MacDonald uses Miles' assessment (albeit in a footnote) that McCartney contributed more to the song than Lennon - because McCartney owned the WEST SIDE STORY single by the same name. What?? Lennon sang most of the song. The song sounds like a "Lennon" song. Lennon said that he wrote it. However, Barry Miles has been McCartney's friend since Beatlemania, and thus is not predisposed to objectivity regarding his friend's writings - which MacDonald did not emphasize enough.

I'll rely on the Lennon HIT PARADER Interviews from 1972 and his PLAYBOY interviews from 1980 that McCartney "approved" at the time for accuracy regarding who wrote what.

Though Amazon.com has this book backordered, Amazon.co.uk has the UPATED version (paperback and hardcover) in stock!

Yep--you guessed it: all the tracks from the BBC and the Anthology 1 - 3 CDs are now included in MacDonald's critical analyses, rendering the 1994 edition obsolete.

If you're a Beatles devotee, you must own this book.

What MacDonald does better than other writers that attempt to examine the music of The Beatles is make the reader sit with the book open and the stereo on. Each entry examines not just the songs, but the actual recordings of the songs, and analyzes of each one's sound, arrangement, production, recording techniques, instrumentation, and many other elements that less-well-structured books normally omit. MacDonald even lists specific points of time on each track so that the reader will know exactly what part of the track is being pointed out and discussed: whereas other books might refer to "the third measure of the bridge," or "the second inverted submediant," MacDonald refers to the point of time on the CD so that all readers, not just those who read sheet music, can find the part in question. Ever since the Beatles' became household names, music scholars have applied traditionally trained musicians' and musicologists' vocabulary and concepts to their music; MacDonald uses absolutely no musical notation in his analyses, yet he examines the music more effectively than music critics and writers whose analyses have meaning only to those who read music (thousands of Beatle fans can't, yet they may want to appreciate the music without first taking a course in music composition).

Though the book was published before the BBC and Anthology CDs were released, MacDonald examines every Beatles single and album track, not just the popular ones; he does not include photographs, nor does he discuss in great detail the lyrics of the songs, as other Beatles "music critics" have done. His speculation about the songwriting power struggle between Lennon and McCartney is intriguing, particularly when he analyzes the progression of each one's distinct composition process, from "Love Me Do" to the final recordings.

Most critics attempt to analyze the Beatles' music by avoiding it entirely, and instead examine lyrics, biographical information, photos, concerts, history, interview quotes, and so forth, but MacDonald's primary focus is on The Beatles' music, which is and will always be its legacy.

So put away your music theory dictionaries, open "Revolution in the Head," and pop in your favorite Beatles CD. You will never fully appreciate the music until you explore it with this book. Happy reading (and listening)!

"Revolution in the Head" is a vast, intelligent, subtle, lucid, and thoroughly engaging masterpiece. Ian MacDonald captures the essence of each track precisely, with a natural insight into the workings of pop music and lyrics. His writing displays taste and concision throughout, putting most similar books in the shade.

In place of cold dissection of the score, or tedious misinterpretation of the "meaning" of the songs, MacDonald proposes an explanation of how and why each Beatles song affects us. His critical stance is refreshingly honest: for example, few others have dared to give the White Album the treatment it deserves. Nevertheless, I have yet to discover a book that crystallises the magic of The Beatles with such grace and compassion.

The book is imbued with a sense of loss for the passing of the decade that produced all the music. I suspect that this must put off certain readers; to them I suggest that a careful reading of the Introduction is essential. But it's hard to imagine anyone with respect for the Beatles' legacy failing to enjoy this book.

Ian MacDonald wrote this book to try and give a more musicianly insight into the songs, while placing them in their cultural context. This is how every book on the Beatles should be written, in my opinion; the songs are what matters and the lives and times of the band members are interesting insofar as they affect why and how the music was made. Trivia for its own sake, or worse still, scandal for the sake of pandering to the lascivious reader is a dead waste of time.

Where the book goes a little off the rails for me is that the author has a tendency to state his opinions as fact. As opinions, they're interesting, but to imply that because a song makes a particular impression on him then that's the only way to hear it is taking it a bit too far. Where he sticks to facts, it's a most informative book. Once he starts introducing adjectives, he often loses me as I simply don't hear the song in the same way as he does.

I suppose to some extent we all see what we want to see. I notice some reviewers believe MacDonald was biased towards McCartney, but my impression is that he felt that the more significant work came from Lennon (personally I feel that without the others none of the Beatles work would be as good as it is). Be that as it may, he does have interesting opinions and his technical analysis is first-rate. A book well worth reading.

I loved reading about the origins, form and analysis of the songs as i listened to them, particularly. The paragraphs that describe each song are a strange mixture of contextual knowledge, musical analysis, and historical background all of which are enjoyable to read about - but in some places Macdonald is *too* quick to dismiss songs, at least in my opinion. It is good that the accounts are more objective than many accounts obviously created by fanatics, but I can find something good in every beatles song I hear, *every* one, and the author is a little quick to call certain tracks 'throwaways'et cetera. Fortunately this doesnt retract from a very good read, and can act as a good reference book for years to come.

This book is thoroughly absorbing, taking us on a ride through each and every Beatle recorded song. It's done in order of recording, not release, so there are some surprises on the way. The author brilliantly ties in the sociological climate of the time, adding interest to the songs. He is subjective on much of the songs, stating his opinions without much tact, causing yours truly to think again about what I like or love. The downside to the book for a layman like me is that so much of each song review is laden with musical terminology, in my opinion making really heavy going of something that should flow. However, I'm sure the intellectual musos will love it!