Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

what can i say

it's sgt peppers lonely hearts club band

NEED TO HEAR RATING: NEED TO HEAR

Best song: A Day In The Life
Worst song: Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
Underrated: When I'm Sixty-Four

When I first started listening to music seriously all those years ago, back in the mists of time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, one of the first serious, critical opinions I came across was that this is the best pop / rock album of all time. And for a while, I nodded and went along with that opinion. It didn’t take long for me to realize, however, that this is not the case. I’m not trying to take anything away from this album—I love it, I rate it a perfect 5—but the best ever? Not even close. Anyway, it’s a fun album with a lot of different things going on. I mean, “When I’m Sixty Four” follows “Within You Without You”, the two most dissimilar tracks on the album, the former being a silly song with an old dancehall feel, the latter a philosophical exploration with a sitar.

This album took an unprecedented four months to make--unheard of in pop music at the time, and although it was supposed to be a concept album and inspired other concept albums for years to come, Ringo explained it best when he told an interviewer that The Beatles had an idea for a concept but part way through just said "oh sod it!" The album cover is brilliant, though, isn't it? A stained-glass window into the 20th century, chock full of athletes, politicians, artists, authors, and entertainers. It took two full weeks just to make that collage.

This album is recorded on four-track recording, where each voice and instrument is recorded on a separate track, and once combined, the tracks couldn't be altered. This therefore required better studio performances from the band. They had to do away with their characteristic carelessness and discipline themselves. The sounds solidify as the album progresses because there was no throwing away and re-doing. Overall, this gives the album a forward-thinking feel.

So what were the unique (at the time) features of Sgt. Pepper's? First, obviously, is the time put into production. Please Please Me took a total of 10 hours. That's it. Sgt Pepper's took 700 hours. Also on this album The Beatles insisted on being different for its own sake. They wanted new, interesting sounds, setting limits and adding compression or distortion. They put microphones on orchestral instruments. They used oscillators to vary the speed of the vocals and the instruments. They took tapes and chopped them up like cabbage, sticking them back together upside down and/or the wrong way around. And how about the end of the album? Those few seconds of nonsense tape-loop is one example of advanced studio trickery and yet another demonstration of John's penchant for experimentation.

i wrote a whole long thing but it didn't SAVE
basically it's good and undeniably influential but not my favorite Beatles but not my least favorite either, i love all the experimental weird stuff on this album but it's definitely not pet sounds

Classic.

Beatles...

Me lo voy a escuchar porque es la excusa para escucharmelo entero de arriba a abajo, que creo que es algo que nunca he hecho, pero ¿qué decir de rollo top 10 discos de la historia? Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, She's Leaving Home, For The Benefit of Mr. Kite, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, A Day In Life, es que...

Listened to it while at work, I stared nodding to Lucy in the sky with diamonds and the girl in front of me looked at me like I was crazy, it’s a banger!!!

classic but one of me last fave beatles records
still, banger after banger
don't understand why fixing a hole is such an annoying song to me
some of these other songs are also very eh
the closer alone is worth 5 stars though

Favorite track(s): Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, With a Little Help from My Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Fixing a Hole, She's Leaving Home, Within You Without You, Day in the Life

Unfortunately I still think this is the most overrated Beatles project. It's not even the best album of 1967. But it is pretty freakin' good!

First time listening to the 2017 remix.

Heard before
Previous rating: 8/10

Someone smarter than me said this album is carried on the weight of the beginning and end of the album and I fully agree. A few songs on this area right shite.

Ok

4.5/5. It was 59 years and 98 days ago (not today). when Sgt. Pepper released this album for you to play. Considered an early example of a concept album. Which has always been a bit funny, the concept is just that the Beatles are another band, and they don’t really stick with that concept outside of the first few songs.

But none of that matters when your album is this great. The opening title track is a perfect tone setter and then you get “with a little help from my friends” which is probably the best Beatles song sung by Ringo, it uses his friendly, more plain vocals very well. Sgt. Peppers is also where the Beatles leaned fully into the psychedelia (and psychedelic drugs) that they were starting to experiment with on revolver which really shows on tracks like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (which abbreviated to L.S.D.) or “Being for the Benefit of Mr. kite.” I also love the sitar heavy George track “Within you without you.”

But all of that pales in comparison to the album closer “A Day in the Life” which is probably the single best song the band ever made. You get a great opening section from John before it goes into a chaotic orchestral swell which gives me chills every time before going into a great section with Paul, then back to John. it takes so many things that shouldn’t work together and forms it into a perfect song.

So with how much I’ve gushed over this album, what stops it from being a 5/5 from me. Which is two main things. First being the two tracks “Lovely Rita” and “Good Morning Good Morning” which to me have always been noticeably weaker than the rest of the tracks here. And second is just that I simply prefer a number of other Beatles records over this one whether that be Revolver, Abbey Road, or maybe my hottest beatles take, Magical Mystery Tour (yes it’s just an EP with a second side of singles tacked on, but damn that tracklist is pretty much bulletproof in my mind.)

A triumph of pop music, one of the most important albums ever made, with some of the Beatles’ greatest songs. We hear the Beatles experimenting with recording techniques, harmonic material, and non-Western instruments. An early concept, a progenitor of prog rock. I’ve always loved “With A Little Help From My Friends,” but the crowning jewel is “A Day In The Life.” There’s a reason this album often tops rankings: it’s fantastic.

I can't fucking stand more beatles albums, if I see one more of them after 500 albums in I'm rating them 1 and skipping

real good
no skip album

Druggy Beatles are my favorite Beatles, but I still don't really like the Beatles.

Perhaps I was a little harsh on this last time I rated it, I still think it’s a little overrated with a couple of duds and day in the life is definitely not the best song ever like RYM thinks

Does have a lot of very good songs on here though

4

One of the best psychedelic tinged Beatles albums. So many good tracks here. Favorite track: Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds

It really is extremely good. This list has made me honestly believe that the Beatles may be underrated.

It’s the Beatles