why all the sgt pepper bashing?

I remember back in the 1980's in cultural and journalist circles Sgt Pepper was king. Best album ever hands down. King of the hill. It had this mystical aura about it. It seems that since then the sheen has been taking off sgt pepper and it has been knocked down a few notches. Revolver is now widely considered their best and even the white album, abbey road, and rubber soul are considered superior works. Even some of the biggest Beatles boosters in rock journalist circles seem to putdown Sgt Pepper refering to it as lightweight and overated.

Well I disagree. Perhaps Revolver really is better than Sgt Peppers but I think Pepper has taken so much heat recently that it has actually become under rated. Even if we exclude the legendary A day in the life, we have a fantastic platter of tunes here. With a little help from my friends is probably the most human song the beatles ever did, when i'm 64 is spot on mccartney whimsey, lucy in the sky with diamonds is a psychedelic pastiche that works to this day, getting better has some of the most crisp guitar playing I have ever heard....well I could go on on on. To keep it short sgt Pepper contains a fantastic and diverse array of songs that are innovative, sophisticated and even ground breaking. Its a classic to be sure and if ever you had any doubt A Day in the Life steps up to the plate at the end of the album and CRUSHES a 700 feet home run into the upperdecks. Ah cancel that, its hit straight out of the park. Slam dunk. Cose closed. Sgt Pepper is a masterpiece.

as always, you make some great points, matt. but if people are anything like me, their beatles tastes change w/ the wind- couple months ago, it was nothing but the LIB period, then it's early stuff, then middle, then WA and only WA. for me SP measures up less often than other stuff- just a personal, visceral thing. one thing that never fades, however, is the musicianship on AR- i still can't believe a band in such disarray could produce such brilliance.

I do love Sgt Pepper, but in my opinion compared to albums like Revolver, Rubber Soul and even Let It Be, it's not one of my favorites. I don't necessarily think Pepper was lightweight or overrated, but it was a true studio album, top heavy in the technical tricks and studio gimmicks and that's not really a bad thing, I guess I prefer a more organic rock and roll sound like in Let It Be, or the folk pop of Rubber Soul. Sgt Pepper is a brilliant artistic statement that came out at the right time and made a major impact on music, fashion, and pop culture and A Day In The Life is one of The Beatle's finest moments.

I'm not sure if it's just where I live (we're always a lot slower out here. ) but I think most people here still think Sgt. Peppers is better. Although I like Revolver more, I still think Sgt. Peppers is the better album, does that make sense? It seems a lot of kids at school are starting to get into Sgt. Peppers (and Abbey Road, actually), those two albums seem to be really "in". lol. While Revolver was a huge stepping stone for the Beatles, I feel Sgt. Peppers really kicked things off for them, it has so many brilliant, revolutionary songs on it.

Pepper has probably always been my least favorite Beatles album (well, unless you count Magical Mystery Tour....) and even though I have a whole new appreciation of it right now because I'm learning to play it, it's still probably my least favorite. Not that it's bad or anything, it's just that my personal taste doesn't run to psychedelia at all. I don't get that kind of lyrical imagery, those swirly hippy dippy skippy things just don't appeal to me. It's telling that probably my favorite song on "Pepper" is "Lovely Rita" - a total pure pop confection with a very concrete story-type lyric.

I'm probably one of the few people who thinks "A Day in the Life" is TOTALLY overrated. (Don't stone me!!! )

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Rellevart Posted:
I'm probably one of the few people who thinks "A Day in the Life" is TOTALLY overrated. (Don't stone me!!! )

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First case of HEAVY disagrement, I must say.

I think Pepper is a mastepiece and "A Day In The Life" is heaven. Revolver is a more elaborated and intense album, whilst Abbey Road and the White Album represent the pinnacles in terms of songwriting abbilities. But Pepper is, musically, a masterpiece. Even though it's NOT The Beatles' best album at all, we agree on that.

Those who praised 'Pepper' during the '80s probably lived through the period in which it was released and so their judgement is, understandably, clouded. If you separate the album from all the attendant 'summer of love' nonsense and look at it objectively, it isn't as good as 'Revolver' or 'The Beatles' (in my opinion).

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Paolo Meccano Posted:
Those who praised 'Pepper' during the '80s probably lived through the period in which it was released and so their judgement is, understandably, clouded. If you separate the album from all the attendant 'summer of love' nonsense and look at it objectively, it isn't as good as 'Revolver' or 'The Beatles' (in my opinion).

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Well I try not to put one beatles album above the over. Most of the latter Beatles albums are so good and different that they are practically impossible to directly compare. I've compared Sgt Pepper with Revolver on so many differnet levels (its probably possible to write a book comparing those 2 alone) and in my opinion its impossible to come to a conclusion. They are both elite albums in my mind.

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darkhorse Posted:
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Rellevart Posted:
I'm probably one of the few people who thinks "A Day in the Life" is TOTALLY overrated. (Don't stone me!!! )

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First case of HEAVY disagrement, I must say.



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Ah, we're allowed, once in a while.

I believe the White Album and Abbey Road to be better than Sgt Pepper ans still sound fresh to my ears today.
Sgt Pepper (to me) hasn't aged very well.

As many of you Pepper fans may already know, one of the outakes from Sgt Pepper was George's Only A Northern Song which ended up on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. I believe Pepper could have been truly greater than it was if Only A Northern Song was included in the album's lineup. I think it was a shame it wasn't included and that there was only one Harrison track on Pepper, Northern Song was truly a pyschadelic masterpiece and would have been perfect on the album, also albums like Help, Rubber Soul, and Revolver got two or more songs by George so why didn't Pepper? Of course that's my opinion I could be wrong.

Well i will say Pepper was what got me really into the Beatles. In the beginning it was my fav album, no question. But after I got into all their other music, I really found Revolver to be my fav. Not putting down Pepper, cuz I love it, but there's something about Revolver that i really really love that i cant put my finger on...

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beatlemad Posted:
Sgt Pepper (to me) hasn't aged very well.

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Yeah yeah, that's definitely part of it. It sounds more dated than most of the rest of their work.

<font color="red"> Well, once again I think we are talking about tastes here! To me Rubber Soul is superior to Sgt. Pepper's The whole of songs are better, maybe because JOHN's involvmenet in Sgt pepper's, if we except a coupe of songs, was practically nil... </font>

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beatlemad Posted:
I believe the White Album and Abbey Road to be better than Sgt Pepper ans still sound fresh to my ears today.
Sgt Pepper (to me) hasn't aged very well.

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To me its aged like a fine wine.

Speaking of Sgt Pepper being dated, that an often heard arguement I have seen hurled against it but I dont really agree with it. I agree that within you without you and lsd have dated somewhat but are still effective. On the flip slide a day in the life still sounds way ahead of its time even today.

That being said I dont believe any beatles track really becomes dated.

Listen, each album has its own value &amp; great tunes. I, personally LOVE Sgt. Pepper. I took a course on modern music recently &amp; the professor even found this to be an incredible blend of styles of music. It was ground breaking and every song on it is top notch. It is also the first Beatles album that my daughter (10) fell in love with. (Although, these days she'd agree that Rubber Soul is the better album.) Sgt. Pepper is legend &amp; I love it.

To me Sgt Pepper is a masterpiece. Then again, I believe all The Beatle albums are masterpieces. Sgt. Pepper seems different than the rest. I love it! It inspired many! Then again, The Beatles themselves inspired many! Anyone that doesn't like Sgt. Pepper, then that's their problem.

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NaomiMcCartney Posted:
Anyone that doesn't like Sgt. Pepper, then that's their problem.

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i've a couple friends who truly hate the beatles. really just leaves me speechless.

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peacenow68 Posted:
(Although, these days she'd agree that Rubber Soul is the better album.)

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<font color="red"> She has some criteria! </font>