The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - 1967
What can I possibly say about this album that hasn't been said many times before?Well, for starters, like I mentioned when I talked about Revolver, I don't think this is the greatest Beatles' album. And listening to it in full again, after quite a while, that impression, if anything, is much clearer.
It's amazingly well produced, indeed, and there's a lot of musical experimentation in it. So I guess that this is a brilliant album from the point of view of execution. From the point of view of composition, though, I think this one is slightly inferior to its predecessor. It feels sometimes as if they were trying too hard, throwing everything (kitchen sink included) at it just to experiment. Which is fine and well, but not really enough for me.
At times, it works, and when it does, it's simply brilliant. But, for the most part, I keep getting the feeling that they grabbed some fillers and spent the longest hours in the studio producing them, experimenting with sounds, adding musicians to the mix.
- The title track opens and (almost) closes the album, which is something that was rare at the time, and rarer for The Beatles. It's a very cool song, the closest to rock they came in this album (especially the reprise) and a great mixture of energy and experimentation.
- "With a Little Help from my Friends", sang by Ringo, is actually not a bad song at all, but after you hear what Joe Cocker found in the song, this version feels pale and anaemic in comparison.
- One of the greatest songs in this album, of course, is "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". I love the shift between the dreamy 3/4 time signature of the verses and the rockier 4/4 of the chorus. The intricate instrumentation works perfectly to convey a world of fantasy, which the lyrics paint brilliantly. It's a gem of a song, regardless of whether it was inspired by drugs, Lewis Carroll or Julian's drawing. Mostly, all of the above.
- Another quite good tune here is "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", a song that feels like you were teleported into an old carnival, with calliopes and fairground sounds, again a section at 3/4, that adds to the circus atmosphere, strange chords. It's like the soundtrack for a cheerful version of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this Way Comes.
- Other than George's forays into Eastern music, "She's Leaving Home" has consistently been my least favourite Beatles' song of all times. It's sad, and well orchestrated, and in that sense I guess it could be like an "Eleanor Rigby". But this one doesn't reach that depth of feelings or musical brilliance, and feels trite and conventional.
- And, of course, there's "A Day in the Life". I sometimes wonder if it isn't this song alone that gave this album such a high reputation. This one is a masterpiece, from the slow, unassuming beginning with acoustic guitar and piano, to that crazy orchestral midsection, both Paul and John singing their parts to perfection, the way the orchestra seems to usher John into the last verse. Everything about this song is perfect.
Have you seen her all in gold?
The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request - 1967
Of course, I had to put these two together. They have been, many times, considered like that, as if this one, released 6 months after the Beatles' one, was a response to the other one, or a different side of the same coin.
In a way, I agree, I think both are a bit overrated. But this one, on top of that, sounds a bit "fake" to me, in retrospect. While The Beatles had been experimenting with different sounds for years, and would continue to do so until they disbanded, this was an one-off for the Stones. And it does sound a lot like it was the album they had to do, because it was fashionable to be experimental. I much prefer the Rolling Stones, well, being the Rolling Stones.
- Some songs, which are more classic Stones, like "Citadel", or "2000 man" are actually pretty good. The latter starts off a bit weak, but then it picks up. I actually still prefer the version Kiss did in Dynasty.
- The low point, I think, is "Sing this all Together (see what happens)". What happens is a mess of African rhythms, random sounds, howls, more random sounds, and after some 7 minutes of that, a bit of singing to one of the lamest melodies the Stones ever managed to produce. Oh, there's a "hidden track" after it, which is more random sounds.
- By far, my favourite song here is "She's like a Rainbow". It does have its good deal of experimentation, childlike "lalala" singing by them, some out of tune instruments, etc. But it does work, and while it seems a bit too much of a "nice" song for them, it's a real great song.
- Another great moment here is "2000 Light Years from Home". Again, it is not without experimentation, and the mid section sounds like something that could have been borrowed from Pink Floyd, but it still has a lot of pure rock to it.
Obligatory Bonus Track
- If, by some chance, you never heard Joe Cocker doing "With a Little Help from my Friends", do yourselves a favour and listen to it. I am not a huge fan of covers. But sometimes, the cover version seems to actually "uncover" the song that the original artists couldn't find. This is one of the finest examples of that.
Random thoughts
- There are lots of versions of the Joe Cocker cover. I chose this one for nostalgia (and because it's a great version too). I used to have a Joe Cocker album named Retrato de Joe Cocker. "Retrato" is "portrait" in Spanish, but this wasn't the Portrait of Joe Cocker compilation, but a (probably) Argentinean one. This version was here and it was quite a good album.
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