Listening to Pepper today & realizing how memorable & exciting these songs are makes me look at bands today with dissapoinment. if you take bands like Block Party, coldplay, or artic monkeys, i'm not sure if there songs will be highly praised in 40 years time. and this is coming from a guy who wasen't even born when Pepper came out! I'll never foget when i discovered the fabs for the first time with Sgt Pepper!
HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO THE WHITE ALBUM! you say its your birthday!
It's mind blowing that there is no remixed/remastered reissue of the album to mark the occasion. I guess that's par for the course for EMI.
I have a question though...many people go on about how much better the mono version of Pepper is, including this writer: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/31/music.beatles.reut/index.html ...could someone explain to me why the mono version would be better than the stereo version? Are these people just nutty purists or do they have a point?
I have never heard the mono version...I doubt re-encoding my stereo tracks in mono would be the same thing, or would it? I want to understand this
Ive been playing Sgt Pepper on and off since i got it in the early 70's ,and with all this 40th anniversary talk i popped it on today and played it for the first time in about 18 month or so and it still sounds great . It's not my favourite Beatles album ,The White Album is the one i play the most. Sgt Pepper ,like Ziggy Stardust is a landmark album , i played both these albums to death during the 70's and 80's . But as time as moved on less so .I now see them in the context as part of a great body of work, most artists struggle to come up with one decent album , The Beatles did it at least half a dozen times now thats worth celebrating . And in a way this anniversary talk is a load of rubbish as Sgt. Pepper does'nt know it's 40 anymore than a tree know's it's 400 year old ,it's a people thing celebrating anniversaries we just feel the need to do this sort of thing which is great, but next month Pepper will still be brilliant and like any great work of art from great artists it's timeless. All i know is it will out live me and in 400 years time some kid on a spaceship will hear it for the first time and will say " WOW " and it will mean just as much to them as it does to me or you. Thats real genius
While I do like Pepper (and Michelle, you're very right about A Day In The Life - that's one of my favourite songs, ever), I actually will argue that it wasn't ground-breaking. I wrote this letter to NEMS in response to a questionnare about the popularity of the album that explains my feelings a bit better.
Quoted Text
While a good album, it is my opinion that there is a lot of undeserved hype about Sgt. Pepper brought on, I think, by the definite change in the band's image. The four went from neatly-presented, suit-wearing moptops to mustachioed, fluorescent 'soldiers' who were already beginning to visually identify themselves in slightly different ways. This, of course, was a precursor to the post-Pepper years, where the bandmembers could hardly be linked by phyiscal looks alone
Chronologically, this album probably marked the middle of major turning point in their sound, but I wouldn't call it the event itself - the first real changes in their music definitely began with Rubber Soul, whereas Sgt. Pepper was just further experimentation. Thus, the recognition of Sgt. Pepper as very definitive, very unique album seems misplaced: at the time, Sgt. Pepper was a new phenomenon, but in the broader scope of Beatles music, the award could easily go to albums like Magical Mystery Tour, which has perhaps the most unique sound out of all their albums, The White Album, as one of the most topically- and lyrically-diverse, or even earlier albums that contain the Beatles sound the world fell in love with in A Hard Day's Night or Help!
As a (very!) dedicated Beatles fan, I can confidentally state that Sgt. Pepper's biggest affect on me was 'A Day In The Life' and that the album, while still enjoyable, is not my favourite. While this is a matter of opinion, it seems to me that Sgt. Pepper is still not the most deserving album to be so talked about - just because the 'twenty years ago today' bit makes a quotable current event for the anniversary doesn't make it a fantastic album.
Michelle Revolution, thanks so much for the link to the naughty mono version! I am listening to it now, and delighting in Pepper all over again. I thank you, and the Beatles thank you. Being downloaded over the Internet is one of their favorite things! Cheers.
All you've got to do is choose love. That's how I live it now. I learned a long time ago, I can feed the birds in my garden. I can't feed them all. -- Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone magazine, May 2007
For all I know, Ringo might be a yogi disguised as a drummer! - George Harrison
Those Sgt. Pepper celebration pics are so weird. I don't know if I like them or not. Paul looks so gorgeous but John looks so demented. What a weird time it must have been. I cannot believe that was 40 years ago. How is that fair??? I wish I had a time machine.
It seems very strange to me that some people on a Beatle forum would question the validity of celebrating one of The Beatles' greatest achievements. If you think this landmark album isn't deserving of the media coverage here's a link just for you: http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=nw&id=11
Really? I think it's healthy to ask questions. I don't think labelling Pepper as the most culturally significant album ever (from my post) is questioning the validity of it's celebration or denegrating its importance. No one doubts that Pepper holds a unique place in our collective hearts and minds. Yet even a good percentage of Beatle fans agree it's not their finest moment musicaly, so the debate was more about why. And surely that's fun to talk about.
Really? I think it's healthy to ask questions. I don't think labelling Pepper as the most culturally significant album ever (from my post) is questioning the validity of it's celebration or denegrating its importance. No one doubts that Pepper holds a unique place in our collective hearts and minds. Yet even a good percentage of Beatle fans agree it's not their finest moment musicaly, so the debate was more about why. And surely that's fun to talk about.
It's funny that at some point over the last 20 years or so Revolver became their 'best' album, in the minds of maybe 50-60% of Beatles fans, and yet Pepper is still the one that everybody celebrates. Mind you, Apple seem to be treating the whole thing with contempt.
I just want you to reassure him - talk to him, make him see the error of his ways. Then I'll hit him.
It's funny that at some point over the last 20 years or so Revolver became their 'best' album, in the minds of maybe 50-60% of Beatles fans, and yet Pepper is still the one that everybody celebrates. Mind you, Apple seem to be treating the whole thing with contempt.
I think the favouring of Beatle albums sometimes reflect the state of the times (being the pompous a** that I am). For most of the 70's big concept albums were the rage, so Pepper was held in hihgh regard. But come the 80's and it was back to 3 minute pop, Pepper became a bit of a dirty word for all that was bad in rock (if you were a new wave/punk type) and Revolver became much more fashionable. And Pepper has never really recovered. I now rank Rubber Soul as the best. I used to enjoy the eclecticness (sp) of Revolver, now it seems to lack a bit of continuity. But RS is just an excellent band playing excellent unadorned music, and there's a feel of fun and excitement and daring to the whole thing.
I do think though that Pepper is so lauded partly because it was the first album to signpost a movement. There's no comparison in the rock and roll years because albums didn;t matter then. A Hard Days Night (the album) brillianty catches the worlds mood at that time, but again albums just weren't regarded as significant. She Loves You probably fulfills that role as a single. But Pepper was the first album that really meant something to a lot of people and caught the worlds attention and so will always be regarded as extra special. Maybe only The Beatles, with the fame achieved from Beatlemania, had the power to do that.
It's funny that at some point over the last 20 years or so Revolver became their 'best' album, in the minds of maybe 50-60% of Beatles fans, and yet Pepper is still the one that everybody celebrates. Mind you, Apple seem to be treating the whole thing with contempt.
i'll celebrate magical mystery tour in november... i always liked this album more... maybe it should've had a better cover.......
george george whoops george whoops george george george
i'll celebrate magical mystery tour in november... i always liked this album more... maybe it should've had a better cover.......
But it's a US compilation album. Not fair to rank an album made up mostly of already released hit singles, the compilation of which the band had nothing to do with. It's no more a Beatle album than Hey Jude (which ironicaly, has a great cover) It's a bit like saying the Red Album is better than Rubber Soul. But yeah, it's a great listen.
It dosen't matter what beatles album is the best, its the one you personally love that counts. Sgt Pepper is my personal fav because its the album i discovered them by, & it has remained my fav alvum ever. Someone told me that the blue album was their fav beatles album & another one said The Best of the Beatles??? it was so annoying to tell them that the blue album is not an actual album & the best of the beatles dosen't exist.
HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO THE WHITE ALBUM! you say its your birthday!
Some people USalley forget that this album was (their first one) not played on stage by them (they stopped touring) and that the so-called Summer Of Love and the All You Need Is Love broadcasting surely helped a lot to the album to be remembered as something bigger than it might be on its own ... except Paul, the others didn't like this album so much ... a-part from this, what else? (By the way, questions are always needed!)
Some people USalley forget that this album was (their first one) not played on stage by them (they stopped touring) and that the so-called Summer Of Love and the All You Need Is Love broadcasting surely helped a lot to the album to be remembered as something bigger than it might be on its own ... except Paul, the others didn't like this album so much ... a-part from this, what else? (By the way, questions are always needed!)
Revolver was never played on stage and as you know, was released before Sgt Pepper.
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if you take bands like Block Party, coldplay, 
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