Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

People who are too young don't realize what a turning point in pop music history this album was. Released in June 1967, it changed the way musicians and people as a whole looked at albums. Before this release, with the exception of Revolver and Rubber Soul, most albums consisted of two or three hit songs and lots of filler. The Beatles raised the level of quality on albums to an art form. But the change was more pervasive. For better of for worse, it opened the gates for a new culture of drug-induced music. Let's face it, this album was a real experience under LSD, mescaline and even pot. The realm of time and space in a song form was creatively changed and also the concept of album art, production values and overall attitude. It was a landmark album, and although to many younger listeners it may seem dated, pretentious or weird, it was a historical cultural event that changed the course of pop music forever. It was said that it was influenced by Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, another turning point in pop music. But Sgt. Pepper blew the lid off and made the "single", a thing of the past. Essential! An icon in music!

I purchased this album when it first came out, but somehow it wandered, I think my younger sister has it and never returned it. I have recently been buying some of the earlier Beatles albums, and wanted to add this, so I could listen to it on headphones. Apparently George Martin was still only using 4 track recorders at this point, so what he achieved was pretty amazing. The album still sounds as good as ever. I have my favourite tracks but it's all good stuff. Listening to all the earlier Beatles albums reminds me how far they were ahead of the other bands at the time, especially with the quality of their original songs. I think only Brian Wilson was doing stuff as good or better than the Beatles/George Martin combination.

Phase 1 would be the "Mop-Top" "I Wanna Hold your Hand" part of their reign. Phase 2 really begins with RUBBER SOUL, continues thru REVOLVER and hits a zenith with this album. "Within You, Without You" has never been a favorite of mine (not crazy about sitars) but this album was supposedly a theme album but the actual interconnection only really last through the first three songs (the title song, "With A Little Help from my Friends" & "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). Not that I'm complaining this is a solid effort by a band that had, at this point, really honed their skills to a new level. The same cannot really be said about the albums that follow (THE WHITE ALBUM has moments, LET IT BE was never able to reach the level of the vision that launched it and MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR is more a complilation of things not included on SGT PEPPER than anything else.) except for ABBY ROAD.

Oh sorry fools you are!! can't you see he's really really dead? too many clues, he's dead??

Joe Franks

this is the very first beatles album i bought. i like most every song on it and i didnt live through the 60s. a must have for rock'n'rollers everywhere!