The Best of the Best: The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

    This is a hard introduction to write. I'm drawing a blank. What do you say about arguably the most iconic piece of musical art ever? Everything is iconic about The Beatles' eight studio album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from the title itself to the cover to of course the sound and songs. It's one of the most parodied album covers and titles. The songs themselves are too original to be parodied almost. 

    Some history first. Most critics regard this album as one of the first concept albums. And we know how the musical landscape is littered with concept albums these days. So this album was a pioneer in many ways. It spoke to the era's youth culture of the time, and it is beloved for its innovation. In short, it's high art. But! It bridged the divide of the popular and high art. Sgt. Pepper is also considered one of the first art rock records. And you can really hear that in the records first 10 seconds. It opens, on the title track, with a crowd in the background and instruments tuning up. Then the drums and guitars kick in and you're blown away by the sound. Not to mention the vocal effects which make it feel like McCartney's singing in front of a live crowd and not a studio. And... The horns are just gorgeous before the chorus.

    Then it moseys right into the next track after an applause, "With a Little Help From My Friends." This song is absolutely iconic. Takeuchi Mariya sampled this song on the refrain of her song "Forever Friends." Just to show you how far this song's influence goes.  Honestly, Starr's main vocals are superb here. None of the other members could have done it better. 

    The lyrics of "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" are so beautiful and psychedelic. The production is damn near immaculate. On every track, actually. You can't ignore not one song on this LP. It's such a fun listen to this day.

    I often wonder what it was like listening to all of these "greatest" records when they were first released. Can you imagine? How blown away were people when they heard the first half of Sgt. Pepper? The soul-barring funk of What's Going On. The grit and grunge of Nevermind. I bet they all instantly became fans or fell deeper in love with the artists themselves.     

    But the innovation and advances of the 60s had to be something to witness. There are a few instances of aging like milk though. The most obvious being the domestic abuse lyrics of "Getting Better." Those The Beatles do have songs like this where you're just like "wow. You can tell this isn't a record from 2024."

    I was surprised to learn that critics debate Sgt. Pepper's place, not only in The Beatles' discography, but in rock and roll as a whole. If not the music landscape as a whole. I get that some may see it as too polished and posh for a rock album. It's not raw, perse. It's sophisticated. But there's an ingenuity and raw creativeness here that is rock and roll. And it's no wonder this album has inspired and endured for generations. 

    Overall, I mean... Come on, it's The Beatles. You don't need some nobody to tell you that it's great. It's legacy itself tells you that. Their impact will never be forgotten and will always have a place. Generations for decades will discover and rediscover them just like the rest of us do. 

Rank: S...gt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Recommendation: when you're smoking something funny... Or feeling artsy in a vintage way.

Standouts:

    Every song on this record plays a part for the whole.