The album is a mono mix, not a stereo mix, meaning that all instruments and vocals on any given song were collapsed into one stream of sound, as opposed to the modern approach of recording them on different tracks. Though Revolver finds the Beatles evolving into avant-garde songwriters, the technology used to record it was still fairly run-of-the-mill. Among its 14 tracks, the album includes the politically-charged “ Taxman” the orchestral, heartbreaking “ Eleanor Rigby” and “ Tomorrow Never Knows,” the swirling LSD anthem that opens with the lyrics, “Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.” They had started to morph from a suit-and-tie-clad boy band into a psychedelic, experimental rock project with 1965’s Rubber Soul on Revolver, that transformation appears complete. Originally released in 1966, Revolver was a turning point for the Beatles.

German artist Klaus Voormann holding his pop art album cover for Revolver Ullstein Bild via Getty Images Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (2017), The Beatles (2018) (also known as “the White Album”), Abbey Road (2019) and Let It Be (2021). Revolver is the fifth Beatles album that Martin has remixed and expanded. It also includes a number of unpolished studio recordings that offer glimpses into the band’s creative process. The reissue features newly-mixed versions of the album’s 14 tracks and 2 singles, as well as all of the originals.

The origin of “Yellow Submarine” is one of many surprises packed into the new Revolver. I said to Paul, ‘I always thought this was a song that you wrote and gave to Ringo.’” “I had no idea until I started going through the outtakes,” Martin tells Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield.

Beatles revolver cd cover