Revolver (Beatles album) transcendentalist lyrics, all kinds of rhythmic and harmonic surprises, and a filter that made John Lennon sound like God singing through a foghorn". In the 2004 edition of "The Rolling Stone Album Guide", Rob Sheffield wrote that "Revolver" found the Beatles "at the peak of their powers, competing with one another because nobody else could touch them"; he described it as "the best album the Beatles ever made, which means the best album by anybody". Writing for PopMatters that year, David Medsker said that "Revolver" showed the four band members "peaking at the exact same time", and he deemed it
The Beatles (album) the album as "self-indulgent and at times unlistenable" but identified "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and "Helter Skelter" as "fascinating standouts" that made it a worthwhile purchase. According to "Slant Magazine"s Eric Henderson, "The Beatles" is a rarity among the band's recorded works, in that it "resists reflexive canonisation, which, along with society's continued fragmentation, keeps the album fresh and surprising". In his review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that because of its wide variety of musical styles, the album can be "a frustratingly scattershot record or a singularly gripping musical experience, depending on