SGT PEPPER - Great or Overrated?

[liberalpragmatist]

I love the Beatles and I think Sgt. Pepper's an excellent album, but I've always felt like it's somewhat overrated. Sure, the title track and its reprise are great, "L.S.D."'s great, and so are "With a Little Help From My Friends," and some others: "Getting Better," "Lovely Rita," "She's Leaving Home" and "Good Morning, Good Morning." And, of course, I don't think the Beatles ever made anything as striking and mind-blowing as "A Day in the Life."

But a number of the songs, incl. "Fixing a Hole" and some that I named above, aren't spectacular. They're decent, but they are relatively light, w/out great lyrics or themes. There are plenty of better Beatles songs. Then there are the novelty tunes like "When I'm 64" and "Mr. Kite." "64"'s really pretty horrible, IMO, and "Mr. Kite" has interesting elements, but is far from a great song.

It seems to me that the initial novelty of the album, it's orchestrations and heavy production, impressed people so much that some of it was TOO acclaimed. "Mr. Kite" for instance, can only be seen as great in the context of it's unique production; otherwise, it's a pretty ordinary song. The album's novelty obscured that in the '60s. In hindsight it's not so incredible.

My own take is the album is very good, with some really great songs, but not their best album overall. It really suffers from not having "Strawberry Fields" or "Penny Lane." And too bad they didn't include "I am the Walrus." I think that Revolver is better, and my favorite Beatles albums are Abbey Road and The White Album

So what is it? GREAT or OVERRATED?

[NightTrain]

1. Overrated.

But I should state that I generally have an aversion to '60s psychedelia. I tend to favor music that I can listen to and enjoy while *not* stoned out of my mind! ;)

As far as the Beatles go, I much prefer their pre-REVOLVER stuff to almost anything they did later on in their careers.

[koopie57]

2. wow how wierd is this

I had that Mr. Kite song in my head all day....I can't get it out!!!! I keep wondering who taught Henry the Horse to dance the waltz!

[BeatleBoot]

3. Great

Given the technology at that time (4 track) with overdubs...

I challenge anyone except George Martin to produce that using the same technology.

And given the time it was released...it blew people's minds...

Now, at today's standards, I can see where you are coming from.

I agree, I like Revolver alot more.

John's Epiphone Casino rocks!

[leftofthedial]

4. it's great

if anything, by today's (lack of) standards, it's underrated.

i don't think it's the greatest record of all time, as many do, but it is a wonderful record.

on edit: Revolver is also my favorite Beatles record.

I haven't heard much of anything to remotely compare to any of twenty or thirty records from that era ('66 - '74) in the last decade.

Today's production values are clearly more pristine. (They are also more sterile.) Better recording equipment than has ever existed before is readily available to almost anyone. Sad that these days no one seems to have much to say.

[stopbush]

14. Wow! You're right!

Sgt Peppers' IS underrated.

And I agree - Revolver is their best album. My fav.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

21. I agree.

Revolver is their greatest album. Very innovative (musically and technically), extremely creative. It charmed everyone and blew their minds at the same time.
Sgt. Peppers when compared to Revolver seems a bit more contrived. The only exception is "A Day in the Life". That track is pure genius.

[CanuckAmok]

5. "A Day in the Life" could carry the worst album ever.

Pepper is a phenomenal record. I think it's great AND overrated. How? Because it is a great album musically, lyrically (whit a couple of minor stumbles), and production-wise. However, it is overrated by those people who think it's the bets rock album ever. That honour, of course, goes to Trail of Dead's "Madonna" album.

[NightTrain]

6. Can somebody PLEASE explain to me...

...what the big deal is about "A Day in the Life?" I just don't get it. :shrug: :wtf:

[liberalpragmatist]

9. It's a personal thing, I guess

If you're not into it, that's cool, but to me and many others, it's just pretty mind-blowing. The understated, haunting bass lines and John's wispy, dreamlike lyrics - the opening two verses are so progressive and so perfect in pitch; in a way, the even foreshadow the best of alternative music. John's lyrics are pure poetry; disturbing and disarming. Though I may be the only one who thinks this, when I listened to the song after listening to the Red Hot Chili Pepper's BTW album, I felt like they could be singing "A Day in the Life."

But, of course, the song doesn't end with the first two verses. The apocolyptic crescendo that follows is jarring, in a way that I found impossible to like at first, but have, in time, grown to love. Then comes Paul's insert, lyrically so appropriate, with just the right beat and pitch, witch trails off in John's wail and, what I feel is the climax of the song, the soaring orchestration that accompanies it, before abruptly cutting back to John's third verse, done fast and upbeat, before ending in echo and another crescendo...

[DemBones DemBones]

18. Good description, very good in fact.

Pretty mundane lyrics that are a puzzle, like listening to Dylan. What do they mean? Do they mean anything?

After Donovan and "Mellow Yellow" ("Electrical banana will be the very next craze"), you had to ask. (I knew people who tried smoking dried banana skins!)


"I just had to look,
Having read the book."

[BlackVelvetElvis]

22. The song is a surreal work of art

Technically, it's incredible. George Martin (the producer) was given instructions for the crescendo by Paul (I think, or maybe John), that they wanted an orchestra to "freak out" during that section. George Martin took those vague instructions and created something that maybe only a avant garde classical composer would have thought of. Did you know the ending is inaudible by humans? They added a sound only heard by dogs.
That's the genius of George Martin, the Fifth Beatle.
Lyrically, it's a fusion of John and Paul at their polar opposites. A Day In the Life is just snips of songs stitched together. Their different approaches to the craft of songwriting is what makes it a surreal work of art.
Take that song in the context of the the mid sixties. What other pop/rock group would have the balls to come up with what they did and be successful (or not)?

[On the Road]

12. How My Mother Responded to "A Day in the Life"

When I was 14, we were at her twin sister's home in Germany. I had Sgt. Pepper on the turntable and was listening to "A Day in the Life." My mother, never having heard the record, walked in just as the crescendo was beginning. She had no idea what to make of it, became increasingly alarmed, and finally ran over to the record shouting "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

I guess she thought something had gone horribly wrong and the record player was about to explode.

My favorite family anecdote.

[madrchsod]

7. ok hows this-

brian wilson was inspired by "rubber soul" to compose "pet sounds" which in turn led the beatles to release "sgt. pepper...

[NightTrain]

8. I'll say this much for SGT. PEPPER:

It inspired Otis Redding to create what is generally considered his greatest recording, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay."

Who knows what kinds of awesome music Otis might've gone on to record had he not died so goddamned young? Picture a Memphis version of WHAT'S GOING ON! :bounce:

[madrchsod]

11. yes that song was otis`s turning point

in his life. a friend of mine had every album, i asked him years later-"oh, i threw those old albums out...."

[absyntheNsugar]

10. Good Beatles Album, but not their best

Abbey Road has that place. Sgt Pepper may have been great when it first came out, but the Beatles pretty much topped themselves with every album after that.

[On the Road]

13. To Evaluate Any Piece of Music or Art

you need to understand the context in which it was created. Otherwise, most classical music would be judged trite and unoriginal.

Sgt. Pepper was a quantum leap. Partly in the arrangement and orchestration, partly in the cohesion of the songs, partly in the vision of English society, partly in the packaging and presentation. It was a wonder, like nothing that had come before.

So although there are plenty of worthy albums that get slighted, no, I don't think it's overrated at all.

[NightTrain]

15. But I couldn't care less about context.

My sole criteria for judging a piece of music is this: Do I like how it sounds? If not, then the context matters not a damn to me. If I don't like how the record sounds, then I'm not going to like anything about it.

Right or wrong, that's how I judge all music. Consequently, quite a few albums (and singles) that are generally considered classics really don't appeal to me.

[DemBones DemBones]

16. Great, breakthrough album, and because of that,

it's often over-rated. And under-rated by those who don't like the hype.

Yes, it was psychedelic -- God, everything was psychedelic from 1966 on! As a new bride, I cherished my paisley towels (and "Cherish"ed my new husband, and now I'll have to look up who did "Cherish"!) The first refrigerator
we bought was "harvest gold." Art Nouveau and psychedelic art was everywhere. The times definitely were a-changin'.

But , to answer Night Train, you didn't have to be stoned to like "Sgt. Pepper" because we weren't. Robin Williams' famous line 'If you remember the sixties, you weren't there,' is simply not true. Some of us held out for Apollonian ideals in a crazy Dionysian world, out of a strong sense of self-preservation.

Was "Sgt. Pepper" better than "Revolver" ? No, just newer and different. Very different. Strange to listen to the first time, like the first time listening to early Dylan. And then it was like, 'Damn! This is great and new!'

[Whitacre D_WI]

17. Worst Beatles album ever.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. How do you feel about their other

work? Pre-Pepper or post-Pepper, do you like either or both?

[Whitacre D_WI]

23. I love the Beatles.

Per-Pepper and post-Pepper.

"Rubber Soul" is my favorite.

"Revolver" and "Abbey Road" come next for me.

I think the so-called "white album" could have been their best if they'd cut out some of the crap and made a great SINGLE album.

But deary me, I really loathe "Sgt. Pepper." Except for "A Day in the Life," which is one hell of a song.

[OneBlueSky]

20. great album, no doubt . . . some people find it overrated, others . . .

find it underrated . . . but there's no denying that it was a huge breakthrough in popular music at the time, and it holds up well even today (as does all Beatles music) . . . I actually think Abbey Road is their finest work, but Sgt. Pepper will forever rank among the very best albums of all time . . .

[NashVegas]

24. Over-Rated

Sgt. Peppers always comes out at the top of the 'greatest' list, but when you ask music fans & collectors what their personal favorite Beatles albums are, Revolver & Rubber Soul are the ones that get the most thumbs up.

Plenty of proof of that right in this very thread.

[Bertha Venation]

25. Great. eom

[FDRrocks]

26. It pales in comparison

To the first half of the White Album. I know thats not exactly related :). Consider it edge-wise.