My favorite album of The Beatles is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although virtually all of The Beatles’ music is great, this is my favorite album because it’s highly conceptual and experimental. This is their eighth studio album and it was released on June 1st, 1967. It immediately gained commercial and critical success and it remained at the top of the albums chart in the United Kingdom for 27 weeks and remained number one in the United States for 15 weeks. The album won four Grammy Awards in 1968 including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive the award.
The initial track “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is a straightforward rock song with ambiguous lyrics and the sounds of an interactive crowd that plays all throughout. The song is extremely catchy and it transitions smoothly into the second track, “With A Little Help From My Friends”. In this track, Ringo Starr gets to sing for one of few times that he did with the group and he sings lyrics like “I get by with a little help from my friends. I get high with a little help from my friends. I’m ‘gonna try with a little help from my friends.” The next rack is “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”. In my opinion, this track is one of the more obviously drug-influenced songs. People often connect the initial letters of the words Lucy, Sky, and Diamonds with “LSD”. This track is a great pop song and both the lyrics and the singing is quite dreamy. The use of a sitar is featured on this song and it gives it that sort of “psychedelic” tinge. “Getting Better” is the fourth song on the album and this song is a fun, playful, and uplifting song about feeling great overall even when life is supposed to be hard. The track that follows is “Fixing A Hole” and the song is quite reverb-soaked with the use of hard panning on instruments creates an illusion of a huge space. The next track is “She’s Leaving Home” and this song is one of the more orchestral and carefully composed songs on this album. Instruments like strings and harp are used on this song to accompany sweet, soaring melodies. The song seems to be about a woman of eighteen years or older leaving home and essentially growing up. The song’s overall sad feel truly makes listeners get in the shoes of someone else. The seventh song on the album is “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!” and it has this quirky circus style to it. The vocals are haunting and the song goes on an instrumental rollercoaster with organs, synthesizers, and other unorthodox sounds. “Within You Without You” is the most ethnically diverse track on this album, using instruments of origin in places like India and Asia. This is probably another one of those tracks written under the influence. The next track is “When I’m Sixty Four” and the song sounds quite cute and comedic. There is minimal instrumentation and the song has this up-chuck sort of beat to it that makes listeners feel like they are walking amongst cartoon animals at a farm. Essentially, the song discusses the fear of getting older and potentially losing the connection and care of loved ones. The tenth track on the album is “Lovely Rita” and this psychedelic track puts the listener through a journey of vocal melodies and pumping rhythm sections. The next track is “Good Morning Good Morning” and it’s possibly the weirdest track on the album. The song features actual animal sounds, something that was definitely unheard of at the time. The song illustrates an unpleasant way to be woken up. The second-to-last song on the album is a reprise of the first track and the tempo has been kicked up and the song features much more of a rock and roll sound. Finally, the last song on the album is “A Day In The Life” and this song is the most dynamic on the record. The song tells a truly sad, but honest depiction of what the world has come to, mostly alluding to the desensitization of people due to so many terrible things that happen to the world every day. The song also includes this crazy orchestral build up that absolutely catches listeners off guard and is quite shocking. Then, the entire album is put to an end with a huge major chord on the piano being struck, followed by creepy reversed voices.
I can’t recommend this album enough to people who have never heard it. Block out an hour out of your day and grab great headphones or speakers and soak in the fine artistry of The Beatles at their most creative peak.
