FILE - The Beatles, standing from left George Harrison and John Lennon; seated, Paul McCartney, left, and Ringo Starr display their MBE medals during a news conference in London, England, Oct. 26, 1965. They were made members of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace. The queen inevitably became the subject of many a pop song. The Beatles immortalized the queen with the tongue-in-cheek “Her Majesty,” calling her “a pretty nice girl” though “she doesn’t have a lot to say.” The brief song, sung by Paul McCartney and recorded in 1969, appeared at the end of the album “Abbey Road.” (AP Photo, File)

For those people from across multiple generations who, every now and then, might be inclined to pause and look back across the parched and weathered landscape of popular music, 1966 stands as a pivotal year in the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll history. In April of that year, the Beatles released the ‘Revolver’ album on an unsuspecting public. In doing so, the most successful band that the world has ever known took a huge step in what would be perhaps the most ambitious and creative effort in their career.

In truth, I have always seen ‘Revolver’ as the Beatles at their most brilliant. For it was the album that changed everything. In fact, it was THE album that ushered-in a dynamic new era of creative innovation that knocked the spinning world of popular music right off its axis. Even the swirling psychedelic artwork of the album cover was, and still is, cool. Across its 14 tracks this album was an announcement that everything had changed. Simply put, ‘Revolver’ eclipsed everything else in music.

Running the risk of incurring the collective wrath of some Beatles fans, in my mind, I’ve always felt that ‘Revolver’ was superior to ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band’ as it swamped the norms of conventional rock music under a rising floodtide of cultural change.

The new Beatles special edition ‘Revolver’ box set, produced by Giles Martin, the son of the late George Martin, the legendary Beatles producer, was released on October 28th. As is the case with previous reissues of Beatles collections, this one is based on the original British release. As I say, it is a new-old offering that shines a bright light on the brilliance of the Beatles, and the things that influenced their creative output at a point in time. For the most part, the Box Set shows clearly how the band was influenced not only by psychedelia, but also by Eastern philosophy which comes through in George Harrison’s contributions. ‘Revolver’s’ only traditional and tailor made love songs come from Paul McCartney in the beautiful and melodic ‘Here, There and Everywhere,” and in ‘For No One” a haunting ode to lost love. Through the use of new cutting edge recording technology, another McCartney classic, the brassy up-tempo ‘Got to Get You into My Life,’ an outcropping of Paul’s experimentation with LSD sounds even more crisp, vibrant and full today.

The upgraded version of John Lennon’s ‘Doctor Robert,’ the true life toe-tapping musical portrait of a seedy Doctor who made various drugs available to the Beatles back in the day offers a tangible proof point as to the increasingly heavy influence of drugs on the band in 1966.

When all is said and done, George Harrison’s classic ‘Taxman,’ the scathing indictment of the British Tax system of the 60’s that saw the Beatles being taxed on an astounding 95% of their earnings, “Should 5% appear too small, be thankful I don’t take it all cause I’m the taxman, and you’re working for no one but me” sounds as clear and brand new in reissue as if it was recorded last week.

For Beatles fans, and for others as well, this reissue is definitely worth checking out. In its way, it pulls back the veil on a time that now only lives only in the memories of those who came of age in the 60’s. It beckons one to step back in time to 1966; the gilded age of rock music. It is an all too brief moment when the world was all a-buzz with new forms of artistic expression emanating from a new breed of singer-songwriters and poets who had something to share that was worth listening too.

‘Revolver’ comes out of a long-ago time that has now faded into the mists of history. Looking back at this far away moment, it was indeed the time of the Beatles. For they reigned supreme over the music world.

Their lyrical innovation and musical creativity was like a slow burn that ultimately engulfed everything in its path like a raging out of control wild fire sweeping across a tinder-dry forest in mid-summer. For people who were not yet born when the original was released, it offers them a chance to discover a distant time in music through 21st century sound technology. From Ringo’s whimsically trippy ‘Yellow Submarine,’ a song that you always find yourself singing along with, to Paul’s stark study of the loneliness of the elderly in ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ ‘Revolver’ was a harbinger of things to come, and still has much to offer today.

There are simply not enough superlatives to fully capture the scope of all of the songs in this retro album. The guitar-driven effort from John Lennon in ‘And Your Bird Can Sing,’ scoops one up sweeps them along as it delves into an observation of shallow person who possesses all the material things that money can buy, and yet is still emotionally penniless. McCartney’s ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ crafted a stark study into the loneliness of the elderly signaling that Revolver was indeed a harbinger of things to come.

For me, ‘Revolver’ still stands alone as a testament to the enduring cultural impact of the Beatles. Its tracks amplify the sound of four brilliant artists who, as a unit, reached well beyond that limits of being a simple rock band. It was a moment when, after retiring from the frenzied world of touring, they finally had the time shut the world out, and unlock the door to their creative pursuits. It was a moment in time when they stood light years away from being the fab four mop tops from Liverpool singing ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand;’ a time when, using the recording studio as their launch pad, they became the architects of a cultural revolution.

Paul Collins is a freelance writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.