10 Albums From The '60s That Changed Rock History

From the minute that they burst onto the rock scene with Love Me Do, there was nothing that could stop the Beatles’ momentum. The entire wave of Beatlemania that had consumed the world for the first half of the ‘60s was still on the rise, but the Fabs weren’t really interested in writing the same kind of love song that they had become their trade in the past few years. The moptop era was dying, and Revolver was one of the first steps towards something that no one had ever heard before.

Although Rubber Soul saw them going out of their comfort zone by working with folk styles, this record is where they took a quantum leap from traditional song structures. Though there are still traditional Beatles songs on here to be sure, every track feels like its own self contained musical adventure, from Paul McCartney making ballads like Here There and Everywhere to John Lennon getting in touch with the more sardonic side of himself on I’m Only Sleeping. The Beatles had three songwriters this time around though, as George Harrison stepped up with some of his greatest songs like Taxman and weaving in some Indian influence on Love You To.

The real standout for the record is Tomorrow Never Knows, which created an adventure in your mind with different tape loops and John Lennon singing through a speaker that was intended to be used on an organ. This was the real announcement of what the second phase of the Beatles’ career could be, and they would continue to play with the boundaries of rock for the next half of the decade.