The Beatle's Revolver pretty much changed everything. Watch the story behind its creation HERE.

THE BEATLES MADE THEIR DEBUT IN 1963 WITH PLEASE PLEASE ME….AND, OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FEW YEARS, THEY SET THE COLLECTIVE POP WORLD ON ITS EAR.  THEIR SUCCESS WAS UNPRECEDENTED BUT THE INCESSANT TOURING WAS STARTING TO TAKE A MAJOR TOLL ON THE FAB FOUR. AS A RESULT  JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY, GEORGE HARRISON AND RINGO STARR WANTED TO TAKE THE BEATLES IN A NEW DIRECTION.

BY 1965, AFTER THE RELEASE OF THEIR ALBUM RUBBER SOUL, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE FOUR LADS  FROM LIVERPOOL NO LONGER NEEDED TO SPEND THEIR LIVES ON THE ROAD. INSTEAD, THE IDEA OF BECOMING A STUDIO BAND BECAME MORE AND MORE PROMISING.

FIRST, THE BAND OPPOSED MANAGER BRIAN EPSTEIN’S IDEA TO MAKE A  FULL-BLOWN FILM TIED TO A NEW ALBUM, ALA A HARD DAYS NIGHT AND HELP! THE BEATLES WERE, IN FACT, EXHAUSTED, AND LONGED TO INFUSE THEIR MUSIC WITH THEIR GROWING INTERESTS IN EASTERN PHILOSOPHY, AND AVANT-GARDE ART—ALONG WITH THE RECREATIONAL USE OF LSD ON BEHALF AT LEAST HALF THE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP. IN FACT, THE BAND WAS ENTERING THEIR “PSYCHEDELIC PERIOD” WHEN THEY RETURNED TO ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS IN LONDON…AND WITH SO MANY NEW SPHERES OF INFLUENCE, THE BOYS KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE UNLIKE ANYTHING THEY’VE DONE BEFORE.

WITH LONG-TIME PRODUCER GEORGE MARTIN BEHIND THE BOARD JOINED BY NEWCOMER GEOFF EMERICK, THE FIRST SONG RECORDED FOR THE NEW ALBUM’S SESSIONS WAS THEIR MOST EXPERIMENTAL TO DATE. ORIGINALLY TITLED “THE VOID” BUT CHANGED TO “MARK 1,” AS TO NOT SCARE EXECS AT LABEL EMI, THE SONG WAS FULL OF PRE-RECORDED TAPE LOOPS SPED UP AND REVERSED, AND FEATURED JOHN LENNON SINGING THROUGH AN OSCILLATING SPEAKER. WITH LYRICS TAKEN FROM THE WORK OF ACID VISIONARY TIMOTHY LEARY, “TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS” BECAME THE FIRST “ACID SONG” ACCORDING TO LENNON HIMSELF.

EACH BEATLE HAD THEIR OWN TIME TO SHINE DURING THE RECORDING SESSIONS, WITH PAUL BRINGING MORE SERIOUS SONGWRITING FOR SONGS LIKE “ELEANOR RIGBY”, WHICH HIT NUMBER ONE ON THE UK SINGLES CHARTS UPON ITS RELEASE. GEORGE INCORPORATED HIS CONTINUING OBSESSION WITH THE SITAR ON “LOVE YOU TO” AND HIS GROWING INTEREST IN EXPERIMENTATION CREPT INTO “I’M ONLY SLEEPING” WITH HIS GUITAR SOLO RECORDED AND DUBBED BACKWARDS FOR THE FINAL CUT.

HOWEVER, IT WAS THE MOMENTS OF FULL-BAND COLLABORATION THAT LEAD TO SONGS LIKE “YELLOW SUBMARINE”, WITH JOHN BLOWING BUBBLES THROUGH A STRAW AND RINGO SINGING NAUTICAL-THEMED LYRICS IN A SING-SONGY VOICE. THE SONG DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON EVERY UK CHART, MAINTAINED ITS POSITION FOR FOUR WEEKS, AND STAYED ON THE CHARTS FOR THIRTEEN WEEKS.

SEVERAL TITLES WERE TOSSED AROUND FOR THE ALBUM, INCLUDING “AFTER GEOGRAPHY” AS A JAB AT THE ROLLING STONES’ ALBUM AFTERMATH. HOWEVER, THE BAND DECIDED ON REVOLVER AS A DOUBLE ENTENDRE FOR THE WAY A RECORD SPINS ON A TURNTABLE AND FOR THE CONSTANTLY REVOLVING FOCUS FROM ONE BEATLE TO THE NEXT ON THE RECORD.

ARTIST AND FRIEND OF THE BAND KLAUS VOORMAN DESIGNED THE ICONIC ALBUM COVER AS A COLLAGE OF PICTURES OF THE BAND, AND PROVIDED LINED CARICATURES OF THE BEATLES WHICH HE DREW FROM MEMORY. THE ALBUM COVER WOULD GO ON TO WIN  VOORMAN THE BEST RECORD-PACKAGING AWARD AT THE NINTH ANNUAL GRAMMYS…A FIRST FOR A ROCK ACT.

AFTER TWO MONTHS OF PURE EXPERIMENTING IN THE STUDIO, REVOLVER WAS RELEASED ON AUGUST 5th, 1996. PETER CLAYTON WRITING FOR GRAMOPHONE SAID THAT “THIS NEW DIET OF NEWNESS MIGHT GIVE THE ORDINARY POP-PICKER INDIGESTION”. RICHARD GOLDSTEIN OF THE VILLAGE VOICE DECLARED REVOLVER A MILESTONE IN THE PURSUIT OF ROCK N ROLL AS AN ARTISTIC PURSUIT.

RETROSPECTIVELY, REVOLVER IS PRAISED AS A CLASSIC ACROSS THE BOARD, AND IT'S NOTED FOR THE BAND’S ABILITY TO HIGHLIGHT THE STRENGTHS OF EACH MEMBER, AS WELL AS THEIR POWER AS A UNITED FRONT.

TWO DAYS AFTER THE ALBUM WAS FINISHED, THE BEATLES EMBARKED ON THEIR FINAL WORLD TOUR. NONE OF THE MATERIAL FROM REVOLVER WAS PLAYED, AS THE BAND BELIEVED IT TOO DIFFICULT TO RECREATE LIVE. HOWEVER, BY THEN, THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN WAS SET. THE MOP-TOP BOY BAND THAT WOWED LEGIONS OF SCREAMING GIRLS ACROSS THE WORLD WAS NO MORE.

REVOLVER IS THE SOUND OF ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS IN THE WORLD REACHING THEIR POINT OF MOST NOTABLE INFLUENCE. FOR ITS UNDENIABLE LEGACY AND UNCOMPROMISING EXPERIMENTATION FOR THE SAKE OF EVOLVING THE ART FORM, REVOLVER IS OUR GREATEST ALBUM EVER...THIS WEEK.

Arcade Fire broke through to the masses by creating a sprawling, introspective albu about where they came from. Watch the story HERE.

BEGINNING AS A MODEST PROJECT AMONG FRIENDS, ARCADE FIRE WAS FOUNDED IN 2000 IN MONTREAL BY FRONTMAN AND CHIEF SONGWRITER WIN BUTLER. HOWEVER, THE EXPLOSIVE CATHARSIS ON THE BAND’S 2004 DEBUT ALBUM, FUNERAL, AND THEIR UNCANNY ABILITY TO CONJURE ECHOES OF  BOTH THE CURE AND BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ON THEIR SOPHOMORE ALBUM NEON BIBLE, GAVE ARCADE FIRE A MASSIVE PLATFORM AS NOT ONLY THE FIGUREHEADS OF THE MONTREAL INDIE SCENE, BUT AS THE ZEITGEIST OF ALTERNATIVE ROCK FOR THE 2010's.

ACCOLADES ASIDE, WIN BUTLER KNEW HE WANTED TO CHANGE THE FORMULA FOR THE BAND’S THIRD ALBUM. ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER, MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST AND KEY ARCADE FIRE MEMBER WILLIAM BUTLER, WIN SOUGHT TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE HOUSTON, TEXAS SUBURBS WHERE HE GREW UP.

THE SOUND OF THE NEW ALBUM WOULD BE A COMBINATION OF “DEPECHE MODE AND NEIL YOUNG”, THE ARTISTS THAT THE BUTLERS GREW UP LISTENING TO.  AND WHILE THE RECORD WOULD FOCUS ON THE YOUTHFUL MALAISE OF SUBURBAN LIFE, IT WOULDN’T BE A CRITIQUE. WIN BUTLER HAS SINCE SAID THE ALBUM WAS “NEITHER A LOVE LETTER TO, NOR AN INDICTMENT OF THE SUBURBS - BUT A LETTER FROM THE SUBURBS.”

MOST OF THE WORK ON THE SUBURBS TOOK PLACE AT WIN BUTLER’S HOME STUDIO IN MONTREAL, WHERE HE LIVED WITH ARCADE FIRE CO-FOUNDER AND HIS WIFE, MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST REGINE CHASSAGNE. THE BAND AT THE TIME CONSISTED OF THE BUTLERS, REGINE, DRUMMER JEREMY GARA, VIOLINIST SARAH NEUFELD, AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALISTS TIM KINGSBURY AND RICHARD REED PARRY.

WHILE THE RECORD WAS PRODUCED BY THE BAND, THEY WERE JOINED IN-STUDIO BY VETERAN MARKUS DRAVS, WHO HAD WORKED WITH THEM PREVIOUSLY ON NEON BIBLE. HE WOULD ALSO WORK WITH ARCADE FIRE ON THEIR NEXT ALBUM, 2013's REFLEKTOR, AND WOULD WIN A GRAMMY FOR HIS WORK ON COLDPLAY’S VIVA LA VIDA, A GIG HE ACQUIRED COURTESY OF WIN BUTLER’S RECOMMENDATION TO CHRIS MARTIN.

THE ALBUM’S RELEASE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY SIX SINGLES, FIVE OF WHICH APPEARED ON THE FINAL CUT. FIRST SINGLE, “THE SUBURBS”/”MONTH OF MAY” SHOWCASED THE BAND’S AFFECTION FOR MAXIMALIST AND BAROQUE INSTRUMENTATION, WHILE MAINTAINING THE RAW YOUTHFUL AGGRESSION WIN BUTLER WANTED FOR THE ALBUM. OTHER SINGLES INCLUDED “CITY WITH NO CHILDREN”, “SPRAWL II (MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS)”, AND “READY TO START”, REACHING A NEW BILLBOARD PEAK FOR THE BAND AT NUMBER SIXTEEN ON THE ALTERNATIVE SONGS CHART.

RELEASED ON AUGUST 2, 2010, THE SUBURBS DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE IRISH AND UK ALBUMS CHARTS, AS WELL AS ON THE U.S. BILLBOARD TOP TWO-HUNDRED AND CANADIAN ALBUMS CHART. IT WAS A COMMERCIAL AND CRITICAL TRIUMPH FOR THE BAND, WINNING THEM ALBUM OF THE YEAR AT THE 2011 GRAMMYS AND THE 2011 JUNO AWARDS, AS WELL AS BEST INTERNATIONAL ALBUM AT THE 2011 BRIT AWARDS.

THE SUBURBS WENT ON TO TOP MANY END OF THE YEAR AND END OF THE DECADE LISTS, INCLUDING THOSE FROM BBC 6, CLASH! MAGAZINE, AND EXCLAIM! IT WAS PITCHFORK’S ELEVENTH FAVORITE ALBUM OF 2010 AND ROLLING STONE’S FOURTH FAVORITE.

COMPLEMENT THE ALBUM WITH A SHORT FILM DIRECTED BY SPIKE JONZE, AND IT’S CLEAR THAT THE SUBURBS WAS A GAME-CHANGER, INSPIRING SOME OF THE TOP ALTERNATIVE ACTS OF THE 2010's, FROM FLORENCE + THE MACHINE TO MUMFORD AND SONS TO LORDE.  FOR IT’S LYRICS DEALING WITH CLASS STRUGGLE, EXPLOSIVE YET COMPOSED MUSICIANSHIP, AND FOR PROPELLING WIN BUTLER AND COMPANY INTO INTERNATIONAL STARDOM, THE SUBURBS BY ARCADE FIRE IS OUR GREATEST ALBUM EVER... THIS WEEK.