most admired beatle album, though not favorite

There's plenty of reason for 27 straight weeks in the number one spot and four grammy awards. The songwriting, engineering and visual artistry were not so much ahead of their time, but rose above the standard, while doing something only classical musicians had tried to do before 1967, make a timeless definitive statement.



Most popular and most mentioned songs people note, include With a Little Help from My Friends, When I'm Sixty-Four, and the darker A Day in the Life.



I was always taken with the contemplative She's Leaving Home and Fixing a Hole.



One thing I like about my CD re-release over my original LP (aside from the fact the LP is worn out) is that I can program out Good Morning and Lovely Rita Meter Maid. With those two gone, I enjoy the album almost as much as I do Abbey Road.

This Is How Star Thing Works, Deux.

First of all, this is about the Beatles, so everything has to have five stars, right?



Not necessarily. One star is a blank CD or a book without text. Two stars represents a defective issue in some profound way, I don't want to listen to/watch/or read more than five minutes of it. Three stars is pathetic, middling mediocrity, not bad but identical in almost all respects to billions and billions of other records/books/DVD's/whatnot. Not worth the money.... Four stars is excellent but not supreme, it won't likely be remembered in ten years except by specialists.



Five stars is something that passes the test of time -on its own. Great credit is given in our money-mad society for 'success' which Mae West associated in some profound way with notoriety. There is a kind of handicapping aspect to this, I like some things better than others and I will give five stars. Few artists will garner repeat five stars without fitting into a 'genius' category. Not all geniuses are successful. One result of the Beatles' run of successes was that many worthy musical figures were subsumed by a mass, collective rejection. Many luminaries who had made serious contributions to all forms of music, in fact influential to the Beatles themselves, were buried under a tidal wave of 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs!'



The issue here isn't so much the Beatles out of context, but their intimate relationship with their audience. The Beatles probably more than any other group of musicians reflected the collective desires -and consumption patterns- of their listeners. Any investigation of the Beatles invariably winds up in the middle of a crowd of tens of millions.... who remember. The question becomes, are the Beatles here or elsewhere greater than the sum of their listeners?



Can the Beatles BE separated from their audience?



There are two sides to this story. On one hand is the production innovations represented by this record. The Lads -mostly Beatle Paul with input from napping John Lennon and uber-producer George Martin- managed to craft a nimble and musically diverse set that both hangs together musically but at the same time is distinctive from one number to the next. The listeners' attention never wavers as there is one musical surprise after another.



Also, the Beatles give (over)due homage to sources; Sir Arthur Sullivan -of Gilbert and Sullivan- as well as to English Vaudevillians and American Tin Pan Alley. In lesser hands than the Beatles' this collection could have wound up being a 'Sound Of Music' or 'Oklahoma' with a rhythm section appended thereto.



Plus, the Beats' were on a songwriting/crafting roll. The intervening years have not dimmed either recollection or appreciation of 'When I'm Sixty Four', 'A Day In The Life' and 'Fixing A Hole'. These are interesting, novel, clever songs!



Having said this, the entire enterprise cloys with 'Hello Kitty' cuteness. The Beatles' specialty was childrens' songs and this is a collection of same. The content level of this recording is nill. It has -leaving nostalgia out of the equation- the emotional depth of a saucer.



The issue then, is the memory of millions what makes Sgt. Pepper's great or is it the recording itself? The fact that it is a bit of both makes this a not quite work of genius. Once the Beatles' audience advances into senility, it will be forgotten except by specialists. Buy in order to keep it around to impress guests.

When Beatles made History

1967 was a great year for Beatles and for music history, "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart club Band" was released, and still to this day it's one of the best, if not the best album ever made. Beatles had since "Rubber Soul" been producing their new rock sound and eventually on this album it reached it's climax. It was creative and it was well made all the way and countless of classics came out of this recording and also influented others.



The album starts with the title song which is some kind of introduction, although it's actually 2 minutes long. McCartney's "With A little Help from My friend's" is the second song here and it's been covered from so many others afterwards. It's a midtempo song that basically talks about friendship. lennon continues with "Lucy In the Sky" which actually is rather odd, I don't know if it's about the inspiration of drugs or what it's really about. Essential song however. The next song is one of my favorites "Getting Better" has a positive feeling and it featured on a tv commercial some years ago so I have a soft spot for it. "Fixing a Hole" a a midtempo song from McCartney, good lyrics and sound. "She's Leaving Home" is slow, almost a semi-ballad. "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite's" is odd with many exprimental sounds, It's also difficult to hear what Lennon sings without checking the lyrics in the book.



Harrison's number is the Indian inspired "With You Without You", it's slow and strange. McCartney's "When I'm SixtyFour" is a timeless classic and he's actually aproaching the age of 64 pretty soon. "Lovely Rita" is a happy McCartney song aswell and one of the best songs here. "Good Morning, Good Morning" is uptempo from Lennon it also got some great guitar playing which is actually rare on this album. Next up is a reprise of Sgt Pepper and the last song is a very slow and sad song called "A Day in the Life".



Sgt. Pepper is a true classic and considered the best album of all time probably, I like Abbey Road better but obviously this one is a 5 star album aswell that lead the way to others and later to albums like "White Album" "Mystery Tour" and "Abbey Road" that are all great. Sgt Pepper is not to miss out.