Favorite song on Revolver? | Page 16 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Timothy said
On Revolver , Lennon's tracks were all built around a similiar sound. Like those tracks, Walls And Bridges features songs with a similar sound. Old Dirt Road, Bless You and #9 Dream.

  

That Walls And Bridges sound is bizzare. I like it a lot, but that envelope filter on the guitar almost sounds cheap, and the whole thing is kind of washed out, but somehow it works. Its almost the opposite production as Revolver . Any sort of trick (aside from the backwards guitar and tape loops) from the engineering and producers is completely invisible, and the 3 dimensional sonic mapping of the stereo mix makes space for every instrument to perfectly nestle into its place. Every instrument and voice can be clearly heard, but the complete sound of each song is cohesive. Its one of the best mixed albums Ive ever heard.

Walls And Bridges on the other hand throws the kitched sink at the production and many of the audio effects and are overpowering against the full mix. Still I actually like the production of Walls And Bridges . I dont know if they were using a Mu-Tron on the guitar or if its just well execution wah footwork, but it predates the mid/late 70s Grateful Dead where Jerry really pioneered the use of that sound. Zappa had used the Mu Tron not long after the release of the pedal, I hear it in the Roxy Performances in 73, apparently it can be spotted on his board in the film (although ive listened to the shows I havent watched the movie. By the way if you like keyboards listen to the Roxy Performances for genius keyboard work from George Duke.)

Either way many of the production choices from Walls And Bridges aren't as clean as what we hear on Revolver but theyre very cool and I think John pulls it off. Old Dirt Road would be the same if the "cool water" line was not paid off with that water envelope lick. 

Anyway sorry if that went to off topic into gear stuff (Im not sure I buy that John was even aware of what pedals Zappa or Jerry Garcia were using during their American live shows in the mid 70s.) My favorite song on Revolver is I'm Only Sleeping , second is Tomorrow Never Knows . Psychedelic rock at its finest. The experimental approach to recording combined with George Martin's glossy production makes them so strangely beautiful to listen to.