Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Makes Me Wonder What 'Hearts' is Doing Pluralized]

Overall Album Score: 10plus out of 10

This might not have been the world's first art-rock album ... HECK it wasn't even the world's first concept album! Yet, it is the world's most important rock album. Why? Because it finally made the people realize that rock-and-roll was an art form. Indeed, other people came up with a legitimate "art-rock" album before this ... more prominently would be The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds or The Kinks' Face to Face. There was also Frank Zappa's Freak Out!, which was even more 'daring' than this.

Yet, this album is largely credited for completing the rock-and-roll revolution. Surely, The Beach Boys' contribution wasn't enough to push it over the edge and, certainly, even if the Kinks were allowed to carry-out the daring plan they had for Face to Face, they most likely wouldn't have had the muscle to have had the same impact that this album did.

The concept of this album is either very simple or very complicated. I'm just going to illustrate the more simple theory. (Some people like to make it more complicated, which isn't a bad thing.) The album begins with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which is a song performed by "The Beatles." And every song after that are not actually being performed by the Beatles, but they are being performed by "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." The Beatles take over the spotlight again when the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" strikes up, and they depress us with "A Day in the Life."

Not only that, but it pushed the boundaries of rock by convincing the world that songs in a rock album don't necessarily have to be rock. If you were to listen to Paul McCartney's "When I'm 64" and "I'm Leaving Home" outside of the context of this album, you probably wouldn't recognize them as rock songs. I don't believe anybody tried something like that before. And, unlike how many rock critics and rock fans would have you believe, this album is actually full of all wonderful songs! Sure ... if you're narrow-minded tastes only allow for straight rock songs, then perhaps Sergeant Pepper isn't the album for you. While this might not be the Beatles's finests set of "Greatest Hits," it nevertheless illustrates the Beatles at songwriting heights! There is not one track in here that threatens not to be beautiful and catchy. Not one. Really. Even George's song.

This is also the first album to make something considerably artistic out of the studio. Sure, the Beatles experimented with it in Revolver, but they were ready to create an artistic masterpiece by this album. And, as far as the experimentation paying off, it worked even better than it did in Revolver!

There's a little bit of a discrepancy between this album and many fans' opinion of the discography. The general impression that I gathered from many people is while this was certainly an important album, it is rarely anyone's favorite. Is this album my favorite Beatles album? No. I wouldn't say that. Even though I do enjoy this album thoroughly, this isn't the single-most Beatles album that finds itself spinning in my CD player. Nope! Abbey Road is my favorite.

Overall Album Score: 10plus out of 10 (Ahhemmm... Did somebody just break the barriers of my rating system?!?!?!?!??? They'll never let you get away with it. This is one of the greatest albums ever made!)

Average Song Score: 9.9 (Oooooooooooh! It would have gotten a perfect score if I weren't being such a bastard. These are GREAT songs! Not a weak one among them.)

Album Tilt: 10 (Could you have expected a score any less? You might have ... but you were wrong!)

Artist Tilt: 10plus (The most artistically important album in HISTORY? How could I not give it a 10plus?)

Track Reviews

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 10/10

And the Beatles introduce the SHOW! Of course the song's use of crowd noises is utterly legendary ... And the tune, of course, is utterly memorable. Even though this song is unmistakably "rock," it does utilize early 20th century-tinged horns as a principle instrument.

With a Little Help From My Friends 10/10

Oh! How can I not give a perfect score to THIS song? Even though the version of it I'm more familiar with is the one sung by Joe Cocker, which became the "Wonder Years" theme song. This song is particularly lighter and more 'tuneful.' It's also sung by Ringo Starr. Nope. I can't criticize this song for anything. It even manages to lift my spirits.

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds 10/10

MAN! I was going to award this song with the 'plus' rating, but ... geez ... I'm going to feel SO guilty awarding too many 'plus' scores. Even though this song might deserve it. It's a psychedelic song that was apparently written about a picture John Lennon's son drew (...even though I suspect it's about something ELSE ... I don't know what on Earth I could be thinking about...) I'm sure you know this song! It's music-heaven! That's what it is! William Shatner likes it, too!

Getting Better All The Time 10/10

HGUSGUGRURUGNRUNGURURUGGNN! Would you guys stop singing such immaculate songs? I feel like my BRAINS about to explode. The tune is utterly perfect, and even the instrumentation is great here. (Check out the sitar thing in the background! ... It was also present in "Lucy in the Sky" even though I failed to mention it. Perfection. It's even better than Parmesan Cheese.

Fixing a Hole 9.5/10

Whew ... I can finally award a track a less-than 10 score. Not that I was looking forward to it or anything! It's still an entirely EXCELLENT song. It's slower, less happy, and the melody is WOOOOOOOW! That's good. (It's sort of foreshadows the eventual Beatles breakup.)

She's Leaving Home 10/10

This song made me cry once. I'm not sure why. I don't often cry when listening to music. But this made me! Once. It's an utterly gorgeous song about a girl leaving home. Hoooohohohooooooooo... I think I'm going to cry again... The only instruments it uses, too, is the harp and a string orchestra.

Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite 10/10

OH MAN! I can make NO excuse to give this song anything less than a 10. THERE'S NO EXCUSE. This is a circus-music-tinged song ... something which I would normally hate ... but I like it here. It doesn't remind me of the evil, sinister things I normally associate with circuses (...eh, I'm messed up ... I know it...), but with a much better tune than I normally hear at these EVIL places, it's pretty darn good. It even sounds a little bit like I spent too much time on a merry-go-round. (That is, if we left the circus and went to a carnival.)

Within You, Without You 9/10

Alright. I can safely dock a point here. This is an Indian song by none other than our favorite Indian-wannabe George Harrison. My problem with this song is mainly that it doesn't have a great tune ... even though it's not supposed to have a Western tune! But dang it! I want a Western tune! However, for Indian music, this is one of rock-and-roll's best creations of that. Even though it is ABSOLUTEY INSANE!!!!!! YEORGGGGGH!

When I'm Sixty-Four 9/10

This one was written by Paul McCartney when he was 15 years old or so. And ... wow ... it's pretty good! To really no surprise, it's a little bit show-tuney, but ya know that's okay. It's got a very catchy melody.

Lovely Rita 10/10

We're back to a more regular rock song. And this one is GREAT! It's got an excellent melody (of course) and it has an inspired echoey background vocals! Dat's lahke sometink dat I kin show all mah friendsah back in Sveeden, yah? JEIONK! A super song! You've GOT to admire their work in the studio for this one.

Good Morning, Good Morning 9.5/10

Now, this might be the most NORMAL rock song on the album, whereas many of the other songs on here are more WEIRD rock songs. Apart from a very odd set of horns being played and some animal sound effects (Pet Sounds! Get it?), this track is more or less straightforward. And it's a great song! Coitanly! There's like NOT NOT a great song on this album, is there? Neoooooooooowww.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (Reprise) 10/10

And it's over! This is the exact same tune that was played earlier, except its played DIFFERENTLY. This one is quicker and harder. And I LIKE IT!

A Day In the Life 10plus/10

I was refraining from awarding any 'plus' scores to any of the songs thus far in the album just so I could make room for THIS! The song is classic Lennon material. It's touching, utterly thought-provoking, utterly dynamic ... it's even more complex than the other songs of the album. It's coo! Yeah. That's the perfect term for it! "COOOOOO!" One of the greatest songs THE BEATLES HAVE EVER DONE! And that's saying something. The end of this track (the CD version of it, anyway) tries to recreate the intentional crack that was originally on the vinyl album of it. But be careful! It might make your CD player explode! (I'm just kidding of course.)

Is this album review correct in your opinion? Or should Sgt. Pepper poke me in the left eye with his clarinet? Leave your comments here

slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received August 3, 2004

I'm pretty sure SGT. PEPPER was my first Beatles album, which I got sometime around 1997/98. I'm think this is one of the very first 'concept' albums (even though it's a very loose concept) and it deserves its status of one of the top rock albums of the last 50 years.

Song Ratings:
1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (9)
2. With a Little Help From My Friends (9.5)
3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (9.5)
4. Getting Better (9)
5. Fixing a Hole (8.5)
6. She's Leaving Home (9)
7. Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite (8.5)
8. Within You, Without You (7)
9. When I'm Sixy-Four (9)
10. Lovely Rita (9.5)
11. Good Morning, Good Morning (7.5)
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (9.5)
13. A Day in the Life (10)
Album cover: (10)
Total Album Rating: 125.5/140 (90%)

bobtendy@aol.com (bobtendy) received Feb. 1, 2005 "This might not have been the world's first art-rock album ... HECK it wasn't even the world's first concept album! Yet, it is the world's most important rock album. Why? Because it finally made the people realize that rock-and-roll was an art form." Your words. You see? This album started rock musicians actually working on becoming great musicians. "The Lamb" came out in late '74 (I don't want to read your review of Tales of Topographic Oceans, a phenomenal piece of music, even with Alan White), and then 1975 hit and suddenly, if you tried to go forward with this, you were a "prog rocker" which is short for the record industry saying "this shit has got to stop." And it did. Whip it Good. Oh, crap, that still makes me sick. And then People magazine was born and the whole damn world went to hell. By the way, have you ever paid any attention at all to Dave Davies guitar work in "School Boys In Disgrace"? That alone should give it a 9.5 of 10. There are winds of musical change coming, though. I see it in the clubs. I believe the dark ages are about to end.

Don Ignacio responds: I'm actually a big fan of prog-rock. I am a bit disappointed that you automatically dismiss my review of Yes's "Tales of Topographic Oceans" without actually reading it first. (I know that you haven't read it, because I haven't reviewed it yet.) Speaking of School Boys in Disgrace, let me extract a quote from it.

"I'll tell ya what ... I LOVE the electric guitar noodling on this!"

I think that indicates that I've, at least, noticed Davies' guitar work.