Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ok, before i start and people get the wrong idea about what im saying, i am not talking about the album as an influence nor am i criticising the studio techniques created in the making of this album. nor am i criticising lennon/mccartney as writers, they have no peers in that sense.

i am simply saying that to me the 'sgt.peppers' album sounds dated and stuck in 1967 when i listen to it, am i the only one who thinks this way about it?, 'let it be' album is also stagnant, stale and flat when i listen to that also.
there is no spark or life in either of these albums, as albums.
'let it be' was recorded prior to 'abbey road', yet released after it. do you think the beatles themselves felt it wasnt up to their standard and recorded 'abbey road'?

'sgt.peppers' and 'let it be' are the only 2 beatles albums i cannot sit through in their entirity.

i dont listen to the 'white album' all at once because its too long, but i do listen to each disc all the way through

[gryphon]

My take on what you have said

I find this a strange one to answer because there are tautologous statements in the things that you say,

I guess I have the advantage of having lived through the Beatles period and although not that old at the time, I know quite a bit about what was going on at the time and have researched the period extensively.

I can't say that I'' change your opinions but I might be able to put them in context.

Lets start at Sgt Pepper,

The important point here is to look at 1966 and what was then the current state of Popular music,

The 50's started the Western attempts to take Rock and Roll and make it suitable for a Western audience.................Elvis , took the main stream black music , dressed it up in a whiteman's way and sold the naked idea of sex and music.................................Johnny Cash and others took pure gospal, country and some ideas of folk music and made his mark.
Buddy Holly and others showed that a simple guy with a guitar could write his own songs and make then popular.

However, society was frightened : Luckly for them Elvis was restrained in the Army , Buddy died, Johhny was invoved in his life struggles and as we all know

The Day the Music Died....................................................

Bob Dylan did continue on ..................

The Beatles came into this situation and tried to mold themselves into the nice simple way that music worked but they were not that kind.

They did command huge audiences and started the ides of large rock concerts and up to a point they created a new way of going on.

There main change was as trail blazers or innovators and as you acknowledge , there were very influential in the studio.

Sgt was never meant to be anything more than a 12 inch piece of plastic with a set of songs and and a fancy cover.........................

THe fact was that in 1967 the world was looking for a sign...................and the youth of he world was ready to accept it from these four boys and that is what they did....................

However, it WAS of 1967 .....................It encapsulates 1967 and was never going to extend any further

So that's all to look for...........................

An examination of the history of that time will put it into context..................

The fact that we are on a forum in 2010 talking about it says something ................but it will not change what it is .

Abbey Road and Let it Be

Let it Be was recorded just after The White Album and represents a half hearted project that never came to fruition................If you look at the books about the Beatles you can see it is atime of great disharmony within the band and the film and album reflect that.

Tee Event here of significance is the attempt of The Beatles to play together gain live without studio help.

Abbey Road :The last album by the Beatles and their attempt to leave something better to be remembered by rather than " A Sad and Tatty Cardboard Tombstone" that was the disharmony of Abbey Road.................

A bit of research into the time and a insight into the time will put them into context but I guess it is always personal taste that is the deciding factor.:biggrin:

[Music Head]

excellent posts guys.
thanks

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i understand what youre saying gryphon, i really do.

i wasnt there in the sixties, well i was born in 1967, maybe its the same as the 1976/77 uk punk scene, i was there and understand the whole concept of 'punk', people who werent there dont/cant understand it fully.
however, that said, i do realise the beatles were in dissaray, probably even as early as 1966. touring stopped for various reasons, the death of epstien, the whole indian religious thing. the beatles were searching for reason and purpose then as a group and as individuals. i think 'rubber soul' 'revolver' were the last true inified beatle albums.

i was merely stating that the 'sgt.peppers' album inparticular, and 'let it be' sound dated, they havent aged well, unlike the other beatle material.

thanks for your opinion gryphon,appreciate it

[CRAZY-HORSE]

as you said, were still talking about 'sg.peppers' 43yrs later, and the beatles as a group and as solo artists, a true testiment to their longevity and influence 1962-1970

[Tiggi]

My thoughts FWIW:

Sgt Pepper, when viewed in context is a brilliantly innovative piece of work. However, in my view some of the songs are wonderful (With a Little Help From my Friends, Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds, She's Leaving Home, & A Day in The Life), with much of the rest of the album not really cutting it.

I don't think it's anywhere near their best, and certainly doesn't warrant its' reputation.

Many of its' peers - Pink Floyd's Piper at The Gates of Dawn, The Pretty Things' SF Sorrow, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, & The Zombies' Odessey & Oracle - are better albums in my humble opinion, and all of them sound pretty much of their time.

Having said all that, all of them are entirely worthy late '60s milestones.

[goth metal raver]

I don't agree at all. Sgt Pepper is and has always been my favourite Beatles album. Perhaps it's because I grew up on it (Rubber Soul and Sgt Pepper were the two Beatles albums in my parent's record collection) but mostly it's because I love weird trippy music and studio trickery.

To me Revolver (who many people prefer) is an unconnected group of songs, many of them very good indeed - but Sgt Pepper seems to all fit together as a whole, there being a similar style throughout. I like that feeling of completeness.

I don't find it dated at all, well no more so than any of the Beatles work. It is sixties of course, no one could think it was any other era - but that's true of all the Beatles albums. But it certainly still sounds good today - I love it.

As for being able to listen to all of the White Album. I can't believe that opinion at all. There is some awful, awful stuff on that album. A lot of good stuff too but the self-indulgent twaddle on the White Album makes me think it should probably have been a single album.

To me, the idea of Sixties Rock heaven is to listen to Sgt Pepper, Are you Experienced? and Saucerful of Secrets. But maybe that's just me.