 Trade In this Item for up to £0.30
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.30, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"MacDonald's inspired critique has become the work against which all other Beatles books are measured."
--"Observer"
"Arguably the most indispensable Beatles book ever published has just become more indispensable."
--"Uncut"
"A triumph -- compelling, seductive, delightful."
--Nick Hornby
--"Observer"
"Arguably the most indispensable Beatles book ever published has just become more indispensable."
--"Uncut"
"A triumph -- compelling, seductive, delightful."
--Nick Hornby
Book Description
This extraordinary work of popular criticism provides the story behind every single Beatles song ever recorded. Unprecedented and unparalleled.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The late Ian MacDonald's Revolution In The Head is, if not the best book on the music of The Beatles, certainly the best written, and arguably the most interesting. Comprising a mixture of fact and opinion, always set in the context of The Beatles total output, their lives in general, and the Sixties overall, it always holds the interests even when the author holds opinions one may not agree with. And the quality of the prose is a delight come what may.
This is a book I return to again and again.
This is a book I return to again and again.
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book details every known song the Beatles ever recorded from Love Me Do to Real Love, giving details of composition, recording, release and any other relevant info. It also includes a long introductory essay and a few shorter ones interspersed analysing 60's society and culture, and the Beatles place therein. At various points in the individual song entries, MacDonald also gives psychological analyses of the Beatles and their relationships with each other and all the factors that affected them.
MacDonald was a teenager during the sixties and clearly has a lifetime interest in the Beatles, though he is highly critical of their actions and their music, at times. It is this lack of sentimentality and nostalgia, as well as his considerable erudition and musical knowledge, that makes this book such a standout. His opinions, sometimes deviating from the critical consensus, are always objectively reasoned, and his negative judgements of such sacred cows as "All you need is Love" and "Across the Universe", are completely justified, in my opinion, and his contention that the Beatles' quality control and capacity for self-criticism went out the window post-Sgt. Pepper (expanded upon in the entry for "Magical Mystery Tour")is also a key point in considering their later work.
Some have suggested a pro-McCartney bias in this book, but this is a valid recognition of McCartney's greater work ethic and musical technique. He does not fail to recognise McCartneys "patronising" attitude to Harrison and Starr and pours scorn on Macca's "granny songs" like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". If he seems more in sympathy with McCartney, overall, this is a helpful corrective to the current consensus positing Lennon as the creative genius and McCartney as the talented but shallow craftsman, which fails to reflect the reality.
No Beatles fan will be able to read one page of this book without encountering an interesting new viewpoint on Beatles music. The writing is precise and to-the-point and this is one of the most readable books of its kind and a great book to dip into again and again. MacDonald's independence of mind is also refreshing and his deep appreciation for the music is clear, as is his understanding of the sonic and production techniques used,an important factor in much of the Beatle's best music. This book is as good as it gets.
This edition was updated in the late 90's to include, though not in huge detail, the anthology series and accompanying "new" songs Free as a Bird and Real Love, about which MacDonald is not complimentary.
MacDonald was a teenager during the sixties and clearly has a lifetime interest in the Beatles, though he is highly critical of their actions and their music, at times. It is this lack of sentimentality and nostalgia, as well as his considerable erudition and musical knowledge, that makes this book such a standout. His opinions, sometimes deviating from the critical consensus, are always objectively reasoned, and his negative judgements of such sacred cows as "All you need is Love" and "Across the Universe", are completely justified, in my opinion, and his contention that the Beatles' quality control and capacity for self-criticism went out the window post-Sgt. Pepper (expanded upon in the entry for "Magical Mystery Tour")is also a key point in considering their later work.
Some have suggested a pro-McCartney bias in this book, but this is a valid recognition of McCartney's greater work ethic and musical technique. He does not fail to recognise McCartneys "patronising" attitude to Harrison and Starr and pours scorn on Macca's "granny songs" like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". If he seems more in sympathy with McCartney, overall, this is a helpful corrective to the current consensus positing Lennon as the creative genius and McCartney as the talented but shallow craftsman, which fails to reflect the reality.
No Beatles fan will be able to read one page of this book without encountering an interesting new viewpoint on Beatles music. The writing is precise and to-the-point and this is one of the most readable books of its kind and a great book to dip into again and again. MacDonald's independence of mind is also refreshing and his deep appreciation for the music is clear, as is his understanding of the sonic and production techniques used,an important factor in much of the Beatle's best music. This book is as good as it gets.
This edition was updated in the late 90's to include, though not in huge detail, the anthology series and accompanying "new" songs Free as a Bird and Real Love, about which MacDonald is not complimentary.
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Revolution in the Head is one of those books that is impossible to put down once started. Nor can it be read just once. Every piece of information Ian McDonald provides is riveting and describes not just the writing and recording process, but the cultural and personal back stories behind each song and each band member.
The power of this book is the fresh light it throws on the Beatles as a dynamic unit, their thought processes, their relationships with the other Beatles and the outside world and their general approach to life encapsulated whilst writing and recording songs. Although muscicians will appreciate the detailed analysis of the songs' structure, it is not just a musicians' book, neither is it strictly for Beatles fans. But as it says on the cover, you will want to return to your record collection and hear the songs again in a re-evaluated light.
Although the author includes every song recorded by the band, he quite rightly only concentrates his efforts on those songs worth evaluating. So, for example 'A Day in the Life' covers about 5 pages, whereas 'Baby You're a Rich Man' barely receives a paragraph. McDonald is not afraid to criticise band members as well as the song when required, but his criticisms are always supported with strong arguments and are often even-handed. This is summed-up perfectly in his analysis of the the friction between Lennon and McCartney towards the break-up, by way of his evaluation of 'The Long and Winding Road', which is nothing short of exceptional. Neither Lennon or McCartney come out on top, instead you feel that you have been given a priviledged insight into the minds of two great artists, who had their own agendas for their own reasons. Personally I don't buy in to the McCartney bias either; McDonald is simply setting the record straight and isn't afraid to pull his punches - against any Beatle. In fact, the only member of the band who survives more-or-less intact is Ringo. What McDonald does is remind us that the Beatles were truly unique in that they were - and always will be - the only pop group to have two genius songwiters. Yet despite their brilliance, they were also annoying, unbearable and human, in their own way.
The only criticism I have about the book is the author's synopsis 'Fabled Foursome: Disappearing Decade' (this is in earlier editions of the book, I'm not sure if it is still included); a 30-odd page analysis which basically boils down to the argument that the 60s was the high watermark for popular music and culture and nothing after would ever match it. This is just plain wrong: great music is great music, irrespective of the decade or genre it comes from. Who can say that the music of the Beatles and their contemporaries was any better than David Bowie, Elvis, The Clash or Radiohead in their time? With no disrepect to the dead, his critique comes across as some grumpy old man, regurgitating the same old "music isn't what it used to be" routine. Because this basic premise is flawed, the whole thesis becomes a house of cards.
Notwithstanding this crticism, the rest of the book is so precise, perfectly observed and compelling that it can only be given five stars.
The power of this book is the fresh light it throws on the Beatles as a dynamic unit, their thought processes, their relationships with the other Beatles and the outside world and their general approach to life encapsulated whilst writing and recording songs. Although muscicians will appreciate the detailed analysis of the songs' structure, it is not just a musicians' book, neither is it strictly for Beatles fans. But as it says on the cover, you will want to return to your record collection and hear the songs again in a re-evaluated light.
Although the author includes every song recorded by the band, he quite rightly only concentrates his efforts on those songs worth evaluating. So, for example 'A Day in the Life' covers about 5 pages, whereas 'Baby You're a Rich Man' barely receives a paragraph. McDonald is not afraid to criticise band members as well as the song when required, but his criticisms are always supported with strong arguments and are often even-handed. This is summed-up perfectly in his analysis of the the friction between Lennon and McCartney towards the break-up, by way of his evaluation of 'The Long and Winding Road', which is nothing short of exceptional. Neither Lennon or McCartney come out on top, instead you feel that you have been given a priviledged insight into the minds of two great artists, who had their own agendas for their own reasons. Personally I don't buy in to the McCartney bias either; McDonald is simply setting the record straight and isn't afraid to pull his punches - against any Beatle. In fact, the only member of the band who survives more-or-less intact is Ringo. What McDonald does is remind us that the Beatles were truly unique in that they were - and always will be - the only pop group to have two genius songwiters. Yet despite their brilliance, they were also annoying, unbearable and human, in their own way.
The only criticism I have about the book is the author's synopsis 'Fabled Foursome: Disappearing Decade' (this is in earlier editions of the book, I'm not sure if it is still included); a 30-odd page analysis which basically boils down to the argument that the 60s was the high watermark for popular music and culture and nothing after would ever match it. This is just plain wrong: great music is great music, irrespective of the decade or genre it comes from. Who can say that the music of the Beatles and their contemporaries was any better than David Bowie, Elvis, The Clash or Radiohead in their time? With no disrepect to the dead, his critique comes across as some grumpy old man, regurgitating the same old "music isn't what it used to be" routine. Because this basic premise is flawed, the whole thesis becomes a house of cards.
Notwithstanding this crticism, the rest of the book is so precise, perfectly observed and compelling that it can only be given five stars.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Best of the Beatles
The best book about the Beatles yet written. Ian MacDonald listens to the records and takes you back to listen to them again, and he is very sound on the music and the history. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Timothy J. Haigh
Not as good as the Beatles
Beatles lovers cannot help being attracted to this book for its comprehensiveness (as well as its reputation). Read more
Published 4 months ago by J
An Amazing Book
If you like the Beatles and want to understand how they came up with all those wonderful songs then this is the book for you. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Peter Jay
A must for all Beatles boffins
I had heard glowing reports about this book, so was pleased to purchase it. It goes into minute detail about every song the Beatles recorded - even those that were not released -... Read more
Published 5 months ago by HornchurchJohn
The heat death of popular music
The value of the sections on each Beatles song goes without saying. However, for me it is the accompanying essays that constitute the real value of this book, and which demonstrate... Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Patterson
An Excellent Beatles Book
Revolution in the Head is in my opinion one of THE best books written about the music of The Beatles. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Andrew Whitby
Beatlephile
The early Beatles were before my time, but time makes me realise just how great they were, how unique and how ground-breaking. Read more
Published 10 months ago by MalCo
Fabber than Fab
Magnificent, enthralling, thought-provoking, opinionated, insightful, compendious, educational. Almost as wonderful as the band themselves. Read more
Published 12 months ago by I. S. Macarthur
Just Excellent...
I can't fault the content of the book. I walk around now like a walking Beatles Encycladedia and I also found the way it was written really interesting. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Tom Peach
fantastic book
An incredible book. Added bonus is that the intro is an amazing summary the Sixties in general... of the social context within which the Beatles & their music occurred.
Published 15 months ago by snowball
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
