Editorial Review:Product Description:\N
Amazon.com essential recording:Before
Sgt. Pepper, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with 'A Little Help' from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 30-plus years, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,' the carnival-like 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite') and McCartney's music hall-styled 'When I'm 64,' to Harrison's Eastern-leaning 'Within You Without You,' and the avant-garde mini-suite, 'A Day in the Life,'
Sgt. Pepper was a milestone for both '60s music and popular culture.
--Billy Altman
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Disc 1:- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- With A Little Help From My Friends
- Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
- Getting Better
- Fixing A Hole
- She's Leaving Home
- Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
- Within You Without You
- When I'm Sixty-Four
- Lovely Rita
- Good Morning Good Morning
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
- A Day In The Life
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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buying this CD is good for "fixing a hole"in your collection!
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!
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Pop music's first opera
The final two minutes of Sgt. Pepper is far and away the greatest finale in rock history. After John's lazy proclamation that he loves to turn you on (albeit facetiously), the band carouses into a whirlwind of cacophony with reckless drums and horns and noises into the climax, a sustained piano drone keyed by all the members, followed by a bunch of nonsense chatter by the band (it sounds like "never-oozy-awsa-ohna-wa"). In the history of rock music, there has never been anything like it before or since. As far as the rest of the album goes, it just about lives up to the hype. In the expansive oeuvre of the Beatles, Sgt. Pepper is not the best, but it is certainly the most famous album of them all and with good reason. The no-pause method between songs was a first. The album reached for being more than a collection of songs, but rather one contained unit, which remains vastly influential to this day (Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet being an example). The Beatles aimed for originality on Sgt. Pepper and they succeeded in spades. In songs like "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and "Good Morning Good Morning", they employed sound effects to serve the song rather than to show off, unlike some psychedelic bands of the time. The songs remained simple, but the concept did not, since the Beatles wanted to expand on the inventiveness of the previous year's Pet Sounds, which remains Paul's favorite album. Brian Wilson wanted to outdo Rubber Soul and Paul wanted to outdo Pet Sounds is how Sgt. Pepper came to fruition. Although John was the band's genius, Paul deserves the majority of the credit for Sgt. Pepper. It's as if a light bulb went on in Paul's head after he heard Pet Sounds. The basic theme of the album is that they are playing at a concert, until the riveting closing studio extravaganza of "A Day in the Life", which ranks second only to Revolver's "Tomorrow Never Knows" as the Beatles' most extraordinary album closer. The songs flow together cohesively and the album has actually aged very well. The reason Sgt. Pepper holds up is because of Sir George Martin's pristine, cutting-edge production, which amazes to this day. It ranks as one of the all-time great production jobs, rivaling Pet Sounds and the works of Phil Spector. Sgt. Pepper is not perfect however. All of the Beatles' albums have duds and on here the dud is "She's Leaving Home", masterfully conceived, played, and written, but sounds like a boring snooze-a-thon. Everything else is golden. Sgt. Pepper is a landmark album that changed the game forever. Legendary. A
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The Mastery Of Sgt. Pepper
Sgt. Pepper changed it all,after Revolver,The Beatles tried a different approach that changed Rock-n-Roll forever,not only the classical music,the whole concept of wearing band uniforms,the longer hair,each sporting facial hair,changing their whole image and not to mention the greatest cover in the history of Rock-n-Roll with wax celebrities in the background,Marilyn Monroe,Cassius Clay,Fred Astaire,Bob Dylan,Laurel and Hardy,the early Beatles,flat out ingenious and so is the timeless music,A Little Help From My Friends,Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,She's Leaving Home,Lovely Rita,Fixing A Hole,and When I'm Sixty Four,don't forget one of the most distinctive and famous intros on a rock song ever,a simple,yet powerfully affective drumbeat on the title track,Sgt. Pepper,Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,enough said.
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A true classic
One of the best rock albums ever made. I have been teaching voice students from this album for years. These songs are so singable, catchy and just fantastic. Everyone who hears this album- no matter the generation will love them.
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Landmark
From its elaborate cover (the most expensive in LP history), to its printed inner-sleeve lyrics, to its (in the original LP issue, anyway) toy insignia cutouts, to its complete lack of 45-r.p.m. singles, "Sgt. Pepper", from the summer of 1967, was groundbreaking in many ways. The Beatles, already the most famous musical entity in the world, had retreated from touring the previous year and devoted themselves to the recording studio full-time. This was the result. The idea of an alter-ego to the group was originally Paul McCartney's; the other Beatles joined in the concept, creating a loose framework for a wide variety of material. Paul indulged his penchant for music hall ditties with "When I'm Sixty-Four"; John Lennon got both ethereal, with "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds", and earthy, in "Good Morning, Good Morning"; George Harrison's Indian absorption is reflected in "Within You Without You"; and Ringo, who always got at least one song to sing, sallies forth bravely as Billy Shears with a little help from his friends. It should be noted that "Pepper" was produced with the aid of hallucinogens, so the record, given its brilliance, can't really be used as an anti-drug argument. The rock album was born.