Sgt Pepper - iconic album or indulgent whimsy ?

I recognize the revolutionary techniques and ideas on the album, but I wouldn't put any of the songs in my top 250 favourite tracks. In fact, for me, some covers are better than the Beatles' recordings - like Joe Cocker's Help From My Friends.

I also don't get that it's often described as a concept album. All the tracks seem unrelated. How can you link Within You, Without You to any of the other songs.

Incidentally, the NY Times critic who panned the album (remembered by Macca earlier this year) evidently played it on provably faulty equipment - which may have slightly influenced his reaction. But even with decent audio, I wouldn't take it to a Desert Island.

You wouldn't say A Day In The Life is in your top 250?

I'm a Beatles fan but I cant remember the last time I listened to Sgt.Pepper. I don't get the whole fuss about it either, Revolver or Abbey Rd. for me.
Though She's leaving home is an utterly beautiful song.

Apart from a Day in the Life, I think it's shite tbh

It's not really a concept album, but maybe it says something that they established the concept so strongly at the start and end (reprise, anyway) that it has stuck.

It's rarely in any Beatles fans' top three albums, but Day In The Life and Shes Leaving Home are fantastic, as has been said. I also think Getting Better is very underrated.

With my music geek hat (or maybe headphones) on, I'm pretty interested to hear how this new mix is different to the one I'm used to.

Is it a concept album? No. In fact elements of it are more unrelated and have less flow than other Beatles albums.

Track by track
Sgt Pepper - Good song, very McCartney. He copied the idea to more effect with Band on the Run.
Little Help from my friends - Never liked this song.
End of Concept

Lucy in the Sky - I loved the song in my teens, don't like it at all now.

Getting Better - McCartney. Poor song apart from the "I used to be cruel..." bit it is vacuous.

Fixing a Hole - McCartney - good vocal performance, good bass, nothing great, it's alright.

She's leaving home - I first heard Sgt Pepper in a music lesson. This song stood out, and has always been a personal favourite. One of McCartney's finest songs.

Mr Kite - Pointless song from Lennon

Within You - Harrison, probably sounded from a different world in 1967. Skip past it if I ever listen now.

When I'm 64 - eeeeurgh. McCartney wrote it when he was 14, and apparently it was played during a power cut in the Cavern in 1961/2. People assumed it was an old song. As bad as anything they did.

Lovely Rita - I like this song, a little bit naughty postcardy "took her home, nearly made it" lyrically fine, vocals a bit off. In fact, quite a few tunes on the album seem to remind me of Blackpool and sea sides. McCartney.

Good morning - Always enjoyed this song from Lennon. Great vocals, good lyrics.

Sgt Pepper reprise - McCartney again - back to the "concept" for 80 seconds before...

A Day in the Life. One of my favourite tracks of all time. Clever lyrics, beautifully produced, great vocals. Lennon at his absolute peak.

As a kid, only two tracks really stood out. I'd now increase it to 3 . It's obviously McCartney's baby and I wonder how it would have been received minus A Day in the Life.

If I were to rate their albums

Revolver
Rubber Soul
Abbey Road
White Album
Sgt Pepper
Let It Be

An element of the Emperor's New Clothes when I see it ranked as the best album, or in the top 5. It isn't that good, but who knows. At the time it may have stood out more and maybe, if I were a teenager or in my young 20s in '67, I'd view it more favourably. Purely for nostalgia, and a lot of songs (McCartney influence) are swimming in a pool of band stands, parks, and early relationship nostalgia.

Pile of shite. The Beatles = The poor mans Bee Gees.

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Originally Posted by TH63

Apart from a Day in the Life, I think it's shite tbh

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I would buy the album purely for this track if I were in the year 1967.

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Originally Posted by ian gibson

Pile of shite. The Beatles = The poor mans Bee Gees.

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Oh Gawd, can you remember the Bee Gee version and film. Frankie Howerd said it was like Saturday Night Fever without the fever.

Barry Gibbs claimed that their version would be the one people remembered.

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Originally Posted by Kris

Oh Gawd, can you remember the Bee Gee version and film. Frankie Howerd said it was like Saturday Night Fever without the fever.

Barry Gibbs claimed that their version would be the one people remembered.

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:hehe:

The second half of abbey road is peak Beatles imo.
I think this was a very important album though, it has dated but it was groundbreaking.

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Originally Posted by Kris

Oh Gawd, can you remember the Bee Gee version and film. Frankie Howerd said it was like Saturday Night Fever without the fever.

Barry Gibbs claimed that their version would be the one people remembered.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPKW6JggdKs
:hehe:

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Originally Posted by ian gibson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPKW6JggdKs
:hehe:

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I think that it was amazing when it came out. Expanded the concept of pop music in a way that is difficult to appreciate for those who listened to it a generation later.

Hendrix covered Sgt Pepper (the song, not the whole album) at a gig just a couple of days after it came out.

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Originally Posted by ian gibson

Pile of shite. The Beatles = The poor mans Bee Gees.

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Ok

Reading Kris's track by track has made me realise just how much I do dislike this album.
Apart from She's leaving home and maybe Day in the life there is not a single track that I feel the urge to listen to.

But I do understand, culturally that it was a big step up at the time of release and to be able to create such a thing using only 4 track recording equipment is a major feat in itself, huge props to George Martin for the engineering and production of it, it just doesn't hold up that well.

Wasn't it a concept album because there were pretending to be somebody else?

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Wasn't it a concept album because there were pretending to be somebody else?

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In much the same way that Ziggy Stardust is classed as a concept album.

Which is 35 years old today. Happy birthday Ziggy.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Wasn't it a concept album because there were pretending to be somebody else?

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I believe the original idea was for it to be a concept album but it soon evolved into something else.

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Originally Posted by Charlie

In much the same way that Ziggy Stardust is classed as a concept album.

Which is 35 years old today. Happy birthday Ziggy.

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That is a great album, I'll listen to that quite frequently.

An era I am really interested in and considering what else was around Album wise in 1967, it is hard to think Sgt peppers Album got that much attention. Some of the tracks are good. But compared to Hendrix two albums of that year, and the Likes of Floyd’s Pipers at the gates of dawn; Jefferson Airplane’s releases and a few others, then overall the tracks on Sgt Peppers were pretty ordinary. Interestingly enough, I followed a few links to 1967 Albums and Forever Changes by Love was given rave reviews. I have never heard much about them apart from that they wrote ‘Hey Joe’ that Hendrix covered. Just listened to a few tracks off the Album; really not bad.
Spedger

Give Forever Changes a few listens, the songs kind of seep into your brain without realising.
Fantastic album.

Can't believe it's been 70 years since Sgt Pepper taught the band to play.

Think the Velvet Underground and Kinks were way better .

Beatles were not a bad pop band ,and this it for me .

The decision not to include Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane looks crazy in hindsight.

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Originally Posted by Charlie

Give Forever Changes a few listens, the songs kind of seep into your brain without realising.
Fantastic album.

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Agreed. I found this album recently because I decided just to run through the Rolling Stone Top 500 songs list.

Alone Again Or was Number 470 ish, and it blew me away. The album is great.

Pet Sounds, released a year earlier, is superior to Sgt Pepper in every way (A Day in the Life excluded).

I still cannot see why Pepper was so highly regarded at the time and now.

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Originally Posted by Geraint Pillock

The decision not to include Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane looks crazy in hindsight.

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I don't think those songs were ready. Both great tracks, and I think they were toying with an idea for a "Liverpool" album. That may have been interesting.

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Originally Posted by Geraint Pillock

The decision not to include Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane looks crazy in hindsight.

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Yeah, I read about that too.

Did they not slot right in with the concept then?

Joking aside (and I know it had to do with filthy lucre), they don't have the same feel as the rest of the album to my untutored ear.

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Originally Posted by life on mars

Think the Velvet Underground and Kinks were way better .

Beatles were not a bad pop band ,and this it for me .

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The Kinks are still vastly under rated. The Cardiff incident was costly because it prevented them from cracking America. Waterloo Sunset was genius. Also, the humour in their songs was distinctly British.

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Originally Posted by ian gibson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPKW6JggdKs
:hehe:

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WTF is that :hehe::hehe:

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Originally Posted by Charlie

Give Forever Changes a few listens, the songs kind of seep into your brain without realising.
Fantastic album.

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Forever Changes :thumbup: great album, as is Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies. Odyssey having been misspelt by the cover artist, the band didn't have the heart to tell him, so the story goes...

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Originally Posted by Charlie

Give Forever Changes a few listens, the songs kind of seep into your brain without realising.
Fantastic album.

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Forever Changes :thumbup: great album, as is Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies. Odyssey having been misspelt by the cover artist, and the band didn't have the heart to tell him, so the story goes...

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Originally Posted by Cyclops

Yeah, I read about that too.

Did they not slot right in with the concept then?

Joking aside (and I know it had to do with filthy lucre), they don't have the same feel as the rest of the album to my untutored ear.

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I stand corrected, both songs were recorded in time for the album.

It looks like they didn't release any Sgt Pepper tracks as singles?

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Originally Posted by Charlie

Give Forever Changes a few listens, the songs kind of seep into your brain without realising.
Fantastic album.

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:thumbup:Second time round as I am typing Charlie.
Spedger

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Originally Posted by Kris

I stand corrected, both songs were recorded in time for the album.

It looks like they didn't release any Sgt Pepper tracks as singles?

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I think there were rules in place where album tracks couldn't be released as singles in the same year. Hence Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane never appearing on an album.

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Originally Posted by lardy

I think there were rules in place where album tracks couldn't be released as singles in the same year. Hence Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane never appearing on an album.

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There were never many singles released off Beatles albums. That's what made them such good value.

Not my words, the words of my dad who still has a pretty impressive collection of Beatles vinyl

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Originally Posted by Sloop_Jon_Bee

:thumbup:Second time round as I am typing Charlie.
Spedger

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Its not an instant album, but once the songs are in your head they are there forever.

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Originally Posted by Rjk

There were never many singles released off Beatles albums. That's what made them such good value.

Not my words, the words of my dad who still has a pretty impressive collection of Beatles vinyl

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I am sure it's because of an industry rule, but I can't find anything to support it on Google. The closest I can find is George Martin saying they didn't think it gives fans value for money to release twice.

So it must be one of those Mandela Effect things in my head. Need to find the Beatles book I thought I read it in.

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Originally Posted by Charlie

In much the same way that Ziggy Stardust is classed as a concept album.

Which is 35 years old today. Happy birthday Ziggy.

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This should have read 45 years old today..

I've always preferred the Beatles stuff up to 1966 compared to their later recordings. Around 1967, music got self indulgent for a almost a decade and this eventually led to the tedium that was prog rock. In my view, Sergeant Pepper is thought of as a classic because of it's "cleverness" - I agree with those who say Revolver was the Beatles' best album.