Well, who would have thought that I could squeeze one last album review in before the year-end? Well, not only did I save the best for last, but I also managed to have a story behind this one. I got to listen to this one on record, yes, I have a record player. The quality has deteriorated a bit, but I still enjoyed the experience.
This album is one of the most popular and famous albums ever, as on it's first released it topped every chart it landed, including, but not limited to, the US Billboard Top LPs, Canadian RPM Top LPs, Norwegian Albums Chart, and the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified 17x Platinum in the UK, 11x Platinum in the US, 8x Platinum in Canada, 4x Platinum in Australia and Gold in Italy, France and Brazil. It also helped popularize plenty of recording techniques and the idea of the concept album.
The album's concept can be discovered quite quickly from the opening track. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the opening track and it introduces the fictional band known as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This introduces the concept of a simulated live performance, which kind of worked, but we'll get to that one when we get there. Really the album starts with the classic "With a Little Help from My Friends" which is unique because it is the only song on the album (And as far as I know the entire band's discography) with vocals done by Ringo Starr. It's a pretty catchy tune and definitely an album highlight, and the melody will be in my head for a while now too.
Following all of that is my favourite track on the album, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". This is my favourite Beatles Song, as it has a beautiful sound to it, and the imagery in the song is wonderful. I just love the image of a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, and the final verse before the chorus is one of my favourite lyrics in any song, and considering "Time" by Pink Floyd and "Needle and the Damage Done" by Neil Young also have some of my favourite lyrics, that is not a small feat.
"She's Leaving Home" is another good song from the album, this time it tells a bit of a story, and when you analyze it closely, the real tragedy of it shines. Paul does put a bit of emphasis on some words but the chorus makes up for it buy having a vocal harmony between John and Paul and really putting the mood in the foreground. It's a nice and somber song.
Although, there are a few songs on the album that are not as good as the other tracks, "Fixing a Hole" and "Lovely Rita" are not very memorable and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is, although creative for it's time, more middle-of-the-road. "Within You Without You" also falls into this category, although the track is very creative and starts with a beautiful instrumentals, but it also is not very memorable, but it is a very beautiful song so I do recommend it.
Now as I said, the concept of this album was that the band played in a different band as alter egos, and this was like a live performance, well, it does not work very well, as the only indications of that being the opening track and the songs reprise, which is the penultimate track of the album. It basically just says that the "show" is almost over and transitions to the final track "A Day in the Life". Now, "A Day in the Life" has been known as one of the best songs ever, and considering songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody", "The Sound of Silence" and "More Than a Feeling" are also considered some of the best songs ever, that is incredible. But honestly, the song has some impressive moments of instrumentals and some relatable lyrics, so it kind of does deserve the "masterpiece status" it has.
Not only is this one of the best rock and roll albums ever, it's one of the best albums ever, period. It used new and inventive techniques to achieve unique sounds and features some of the best songs from the entire Beatles line up. Not every track hits bulls-eye but I can't think of any real duds, even if I am not a big fan of some songs, that does not make them bad songs. If you can find this album, I recommend it highly, it is one of the best things to come out of the 1960s, honestly, even better than Star Trek.
This has earned a full and honest 10/10. I'm the Entity of Darkness, and happy holidays and a happy New Year too.
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