Introduction: The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper has been called the greatest album ever made...of all time...of any genre. I don't know about you but that has never scratched me the right way. One of the best albums ever made? Gawd yes. The best album ever made? I don't think so. And that's coming from a huuuuuuge Beatles fan. That's mainly because of my mother who even had some old Beatles' records. She would always hold Sgt. Pepper on some sort of higher ground with it's use of classical music and being a concept album. What? The Beach Boys integrated classical music with pop a year earlier and Frank Sinatra made a concept album about the moon a year earlier too. *sigh* Let's start this thing...
Cover Art: I believe that when you buy an album you not only pay for the songs but the cover art too. The cover art of an album should feel like an extension of the album itself. Almost like a doorway inviting you in. It's where the real music starts in our expectations. The cover for Sgt. Pepper shows the Beatles standing in the center dressed in colorful, fake military uniforms with the name for their fake band below them on a drum with the Beatles name below that made of flowers. Surrounding them are cardboard cutouts of famous celebrities like the Beatles themselves, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Sigmund Freud, etc. My interpretation of this has been that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of the most culturally significant groups of all time, but just as they are surrounded by cardboard cutouts they too are fake...
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: The song starts with the sound of an audience chattering and an orchestra tuning it's instruments. The beat and guitars start with Paul singing about Sgt. Pepper's resurgence after 20 years. We get a nice bridge full of horns and the audience laughing. As the song continues we get the usual amazing lyrics from Paul and an amazing blend of orchestration, pop, psychedelia, and hard rock all while being set up as a live comeback concert. Paul introduces Billy Shears and the crowd goes wild...
With a Little Help from My Friends: Ringo (I mean Billy) sings a very simple tune of pop rock. The lyrics contain the comedy I expect from a Beatles album "Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, and I'll try not to sing out of key." Poor Billy. The vocals have an echo to them that add to the "live" theme. He sings about the lack of love in his life and how his friends get him threw the hard times. I love the back and forth conversation between him and the rest of the band.
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds: Unlike most people I actually never thought this song was about drugs. Just about the type of girl who you catch in the corner of your eye for a brief moment. And I believe John when he says it's just based off a picture his son drew. The dream like feel of the opening is courtesy to George's tamboura (no idea what that is) and Lennon's surreal lyrics. The chorus just springs forth from the euphoric verses like a flower blooming. I find it weird that a production like this was included on a concept album about an over 20 year old band at a live concert. Still, a great song.
Getting Better: And now my favorite song from the album. Once again not following the concept of the album, but damn do I love these lyrics and this up beat tune. "I have to admit it's getting better. A little better all the time. It can't get no worse." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA this song always brings a smile to my face. Even though it also talks about beating woman during a very psychedelic section... *awkward turtle*
Fixing a Hole: After the Getting Better keys have faded we get some psychedelic rock song with it's own unique keys about mending issues and looking up... Or is it about Paul fixing a hole in his roof? I can never tell these days. My favorite part is halfway through when Paul says "hey, Hey, HEY" and George's solo rolls in. Nice backing vocals too.
She's Leaving Home: This song is so beautiful. I can actually imagine an audience watching a band playing this song live and just being quite the whole time so they can hear the violins and the harp adding to Lennon's lyrics about a girl who has run away from home. Such beauty, such tragedy. And yet, not a single member played an instrument.
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!: Why? Why the f*ck is this here? I remember my history of music professor stating that this album's concept was about relationships and then quickly stating that Mr. Kite didn't follow that route... NO, THE CONCEPT IS A LIVE COMEBACK CONCERT. YES, THIS SONG DOES NOT FOLLOW THAT ROUTE. Nice song about the circus though, but too overly complex for a live performance (it uses friggin' samples)
Within You Without You: Oh f*ck yes. A George Harrison only Indian classical song about how life flows in you and without you. Need I say more?
When I'm Sixty-Four: Another song that in no way sounds like it's from a live concert, but holy sh*t does it make me want to walk down a street and sing and dance. A great song about love that makes great use of clarinets and chimes. Yyyyeah.
Lovely Rita: Yay! Vocals that sound live and on a stage! Though it's probably just here for a psychedelic effect. I still can't believe Paul wrote a song about his affections toward a parking attendant and used a f*cking kazoo. Classic.
Good Morning Good Morning: This album has some strange inspirations. A child's picture, a leaky roof, a newspaper article, a circus poster, and a meter maid. This song has to have the funniest one though. Lennon was inspired to write this song after hearing the jingle for Kellogg's Corn Flakes... so anyways, a rooster call starts off the song and we get another song that makes us want to sing out loud in a public area thanks to it's hard rock/pop sound with brass instruments blasting everyone. It fades out with the sound of animals everywhere... *cou-Pet Sounds-gh*
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise): Imagine the intro except faster and harder. Thank Gawd for an audience here.
A Day in the Life: We segue into this masterpiece. Probably the best example of John and Paul heading in different directions. John's melancholic lyrics with it's use of drums and constant strumming end with an amazing orchestrated crescendo that suddenly turns into Paul's portion about waking up with a very upbeat tune that u turns back to John's ethereal undertone that ends in yet another crescendo expect bigger and louder that finally peaks with four pianos being struck at the same time creating a minute long note... Oh, and then a dog whistle and an infinite loop of gibberish... -_-
Conclusion: Frank Zappa did not like this album. At all. First concept album? He already made two! He felt that the Beatles simply used the flower power movement for monetary gain and were only in it for the money. Hell, his next album, We're Only in It for the Money, is based on this statement. And I agree with him...to an extent. See, only five songs were actually made for the concept of this album and even then only three made the cut (the intro, Friends, and the reprise). The rest of the tracks were inspired by random sh*t, shoved in, and then they still released the album as a concept album. And people loved it. The songs were structured beautifully and their was a great flow in the beginning and end as songs segued into each other. People usually remember the beginning and ending of a piece of art more than the middle because of first impressions and final thoughts. But I don't believe they were only in it for the money fully because of this short story: After finishing work on A Day in the Life Paul invited Brian Wilson over to listen to it. After listening to it Brian ended production on Smile. This doesn't sound like the story of a greedy man, but a man proud of his work. As he should be. Sgt. Pepper is a fantastic album, it just never follows through.
