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Is 'Sgt. Pepper' overrated?

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Hercules View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hercules Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 13 2020 at 15:19
In historical terms, it's undeniably an extremely important album. Many people seem to like it a lot.
Personally, I didn't enjoy it at all at the time and the passage of time has done nothing to change that.
At the time, you were generally either a Beatles fan or a Stones fan. I never liked either.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 13 2020 at 15:49
Originally posted by Hercules Hercules wrote:

In historical terms, it's undeniably an extremely important album. Many people seem to like it a lot.
Personally, I didn't enjoy it at all at the time and the passage of time has done nothing to change that.
At the time, you were generally either a Beatles fan or a Stones fan. I never liked either.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blaqua Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 13 2020 at 15:58

In my opinion, it is a bit overrated, in that it ranks as the greatest album of all time; hence Beatles’ best release. I always preferred the very multifaceted and oddball White Album.    

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote judahbenkenobi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 00:21
Originally posted by A Crimson Mellotron A Crimson Mellotron wrote:

It's iconic but for a lot of people, including musicians (Steven Wilson, for example) the album is slightly overrated. What do you think?


Ironic Steven Wilson himself wrote these lyrics for the PT song "Time Flies":

"I was born in '67
The year of Sgt. Pepper
And Are You Experienced

Into a suburban heaven
Yeah it should've been forever
It all seems to make so much sense"

Is it just me, or is he recognizing here the huge influence Sgt Pepper and Are You Experienced had on his life? If he thinks Sgt Pepper is overrated, the blame is on him also.

Anyway, my answer to your question is NO. It is not overrated.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zeph Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 00:44
The problem with a question like this is that it doesn't differentiate between the music and the influence it had. Steven Wilson has been mentioned a few times and fwiw., he has said Sgt. Pepper is one of the most influential albums ever recorded, if not the top one. When he says he finds the album overrated, it's from a musical perspective, not the influence it had. He puts other albums by The Beatles ahead of Sgt. Pepper and would not put it anywhere near the top of his all-time favorites. He does not agree with all the lists that put the album as the greatest album of all time. Maybe on a list of most influential, but not the best. And why argue with that? It's musical taste you are arguing. I don't see how him mentioning the album multiple times in his music makes a difference. He is a musician and was born in the year one of the most influential albums ever were released. That doesn't mean he can't disagree with those who rank it as the best album of all time

I also find Sgt. Pepper overrated as a musical album, but I'm not a big fan of Beatles, so it can hardly be a surprise. As an influential album it's probably not overrated.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote I prophesy disaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 14:29
Originally posted by The Dark Elf The Dark Elf wrote:

“I was struck by the thunderbolt that was “Please Please Me.” I immediately bought a copy in a seaside shop. It triggered a tremendous personal awakening, a leap into a new realm. In no time I knew more than a hundred Beatles songs on piano.” – Peter Gabriel

“It was terrifying; I had no idea what it was…Then it kept going. Then, there was this enormous whine note of strings. Then there was this a colossal piano chord. I discovered later that I’d come in half-way through Sgt. Pepper’s… My life was never the same again.”  - Robert Fripp on hearing “A Day in the Life” on the radio for the first time

"If it weren't for the Beatles, there wouldn't be anyone like us around." - Jimmy Page

"I wish I'd been in the Beatles." - David Gilmour (who has played with Paul McCartney on a number of occasions) 

“I learned from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison that it was OK for us to write about our lives and express what we felt… More than any other record [Sgt. Pepper’s] gave me and my generation permission to branch out and do whatever we wanted.” – Roger Waters

 

If it weren't for the Beatles, I wouldn't be a musician." - Dave Grohl, Nirvana/Foo Fighters

"Everyone influenced someone. But everyone was influenced by the Beatles." - Alice Cooper

"Everyone thought the Beatles will just pass by. But to me, they had staying power." - Bob Dylan

 

"The Beatles are the reason I'm a musician." - Sting

 

"When the Beatles first played on the Ed Sullivan Show, they looked so cool. I knew something changed that night." - Joe Perry, Aerosmith

 

"There's no way I'd be doing what I do now if it wasn't for the Beatles. I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show, and it blew me away how 4 guys from the middle of nowhere can make that kind of music." - Gene Simmons, KISS

 

"I fell in love with music through The Beatles. I still think there hasn't been a better band than them." -Adam Levine, Maroon 5

 

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is probably the best album I've ever heard." -Brian Wilson, Beach Boys

 

“The Beatles built our bible as far as musical composition, arrangement and production went. The White Album is a complete catalogue of how you should use a studio to build songs. ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun’ and ‘Dear Prudence’ are blinding examples of how music can be like painting a picture on a canvas.”" - Brian May, Queen

 

"I saw the Beatles. I was able to relate to them. I'm going to play in a rock band." - Tom Petty, Heartbreakers/Traveling Wilburys 

 

"I watched the Ed Sullivan Show and said F*ck School! This makes it! I went to see them at Shea Stadium and screamed with those chicks." - Joe Walsh, The Eagles

 

"The Beatles were the first to find that path between artistic and intellectual." - Keith Richards

 

“The single biggest moment that I can remember being galvanized into wanting to be a musician for life was seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.” - Billy Joel

 

"Without The Beatles I don’t think women would be taking their cardigans off in hallways. They were responsible for the birth of the sexual revolution for women.” - Lady Gaga

 

“The lightning bolt came out of the heavens and struck Ann and me the first time we saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. There’d been so much anticipation and hype about the Beatles that it was a huge event, like the lunar landing: that was the moment Ann and I heard the call to become rock musicians. I was seven or eight at the time." - Nancy Wilson, Heart

 

“It’s impossible for me to talk about popular music without mentioning probably my greatest mentor, John Lennon. I guess he defined for me, at any rate, how one could twist and turn the fabric of pop and imbue it with elements from other artforms, often producing something extremely beautiful, very powerful and imbued with strangeness.” – David Bowie

 

“If you hear something like "Man Behind The Curtain" or "Raining", you’ll see that it really is an attempt at combining the pop sensibilities of The Beatles and the Indian part of The Beatles—the George Harrison part. Speaking just about The Beatles in general though, they meant everything to me—I can’t overstate it because they changed my life.” – Adrian Belew 

 

“Sgt. Pepper’s was a great record. The Beatles are my favorites, you know. When I met Paul McCartney, it was the highlight of my life.” – Ozzy Osbourne

 

“Dear Beatles, it’s my earliest memory of music. I was three years old and in the back garden of 10 Cedarwood Road… I associate the song with the smell of freshly cut grass as I was lying on my back on the damp green patch after my Da had cut the lawn.” - Bono, writing a fan letter to the Beatles about the first time he heard “I Want to Hold Your Hand”


Jimi Hendrix, XTC, Electric Light Orchestra, Todd Rundgren and Utopia, The Squeeze, Crowded House, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Oasis, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Kate Bush, The Flaming Lips, Kurt Cobain (who wrote 'About a Girl' after listening to 'Meet the Beatles' for three straight hours),

 

Jeff Beck and Al Di Meola are just a few artists who directly acknowledge the Beatles influence.

 
And Peter Hammill:
 
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A Crimson Mellotron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 14:32
Originally posted by judahbenkenobi judahbenkenobi wrote:

Originally posted by A Crimson Mellotron A Crimson Mellotron wrote:

It's iconic but for a lot of people, including musicians (Steven Wilson, for example) the album is slightly overrated. What do you think?


Ironic Steven Wilson himself wrote these lyrics for the PT song "Time Flies":

"I was born in '67
The year of Sgt. Pepper
And Are You Experienced

Into a suburban heaven
Yeah it should've been forever
It all seems to make so much sense"

Is it just me, or is he recognizing here the huge influence Sgt Pepper and Are You Experienced had on his life? If he thinks Sgt Pepper is overrated, the blame is on him also.

Anyway, my answer to your question is NO. It is not overrated.



I know, right. Oddly enough, he has said it in an interview for some magazine.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 15:13
I was expecting Sgt. Pepper to be the Beatles' highest rated album on PA, but actually it is only in third place. Revolver (2) and Abbey Road (1) are ahead of it. Third place is about right in my view. I'd rank Revolver first and Rubber Soul second, so the overrated one as far as I'm concerned is Abbey Road.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote POTA Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 16:06
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

I was expecting Sgt. Pepper to be the Beatles' highest rated album on PA, but actually it is only in third place. Revolver (2) and Abbey Road (1) are ahead of it. Third place is about right in my view. I'd rank Revolver first and Rubber Soul second, so the overrated one as far as I'm concerned is Abbey Road.



How in the hell is Abbey Road ranked so high? It has some great moments, but it’s gotta be one their least inspired albums, with some brutal filler.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MortSahlFan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 16:56
I think so... If you take out "A Day in the Life", it's one of their poorest albums.

My favorites are White Album, and Revolver. but I think it's probably their worst album from 65-70.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Catcher10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 17:07
It's the only studio Beatles album I own.....but if you give me $0.25 I'll agree with you.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boboulo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 18:09
Originally posted by POTA POTA wrote:

Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

I was expecting Sgt. Pepper to be the Beatles' highest rated album on PA, but actually it is only in third place. Revolver (2) and Abbey Road (1) are ahead of it. Third place is about right in my view. I'd rank Revolver first and Rubber Soul second, so the overrated one as far as I'm concerned is Abbey Road.



How in the hell is Abbey Road ranked so high? It has some great moments, but it’s gotta be one their least inspired albums, with some brutal filler.
Yeah, I agree. In my humble opinion, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" / "Magical Mistery Tour" is The Beatles' most creative phase.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote jamesbaldwin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 19:26
In my opinion, 

Historically Sgt. Pepper's it was very important but more for the formal inventions than for the content: the background noises, the initial song resumed at the end (it was the first time in history), the idea of ​​being another band playing (vanished later the second song), the concept of musical entertainment, the final song that mixes pop and John Cage, and which remains the best of the Beatles. It's a fake concept album. 

In content, the second side is weak, and many of the songs on the disc are similar to those of Revolver or Rubber Soul only that they are arranged in a more baroque fashion, and generally have taken the variety of musical genres already present on Revolver to exasperation, arriving at a certain point to make rock music appear as a minority, present in a few songs. 

McCartney now only writes vaudeville or swing or symphonic songs, in short, all retro songs. 

Sgt Pepper's is therefore a masterpiece of light music, popular music, but not of rock. For rock it's not a cutting-edge album at all. Personally I love it a lot but I see all these flaws. The White Album seems to me to contain songs that are more in step with the times, and Abbey Road (and Let It Be) brought the Beatles back to playing rock music, in their own way, comparing themselves with contemporary groups, and remains their best work, more complete and mature, less varied, perhaps, but certainly with more mature and committed songs.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Yallghurt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2020 at 19:59
I wouldn't say overrated, because it is actually a great album (most Beatles albums are), but I tend to agree with other people that Revolver and White Album are much more elaborate. Eleanor Rigby surprised me so much when I first listened to it that I still remember where I was and what I was doing.


Edited by Yallghurt - September 14 2020 at 19:59
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zeph Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2020 at 02:27
Originally posted by A Crimson Mellotron A Crimson Mellotron wrote:

Originally posted by judahbenkenobi judahbenkenobi wrote:

Originally posted by A Crimson Mellotron A Crimson Mellotron wrote:

It's iconic but for a lot of people, including musicians (Steven Wilson, for example) the album is slightly overrated. What do you think?


Ironic Steven Wilson himself wrote these lyrics for the PT song "Time Flies":

"I was born in '67
The year of Sgt. Pepper
And Are You Experienced

Into a suburban heaven
Yeah it should've been forever
It all seems to make so much sense"

Is it just me, or is he recognizing here the huge influence Sgt Pepper and Are You Experienced had on his life? If he thinks Sgt Pepper is overrated, the blame is on him also.

Anyway, my answer to your question is NO. It is not overrated.



I know, right. Oddly enough, he has said it in an interview for some magazine.
When he says "overrated", it's based on "Best of all time" lists, where Sgt. Pepper frequently appears. Here's a direct quote from an interview:

Quote The record I can't understand why everybody loves is…

"Nearly everything that ends up near the top of all time best album lists, especially 'Sgt. Pepper', 'Blonde on Blonde', 'Stone Roses', and 'Nevermind'. Not saying they aren't very good records mind!"

Quote So when I grew up in the 80s, I didn't find anything of interest. So I went back to the 70s and I went back to 60s. And I found this wonderfully rich period of ten years. I call it „the golden age for albums“, which is really from „Sgt. Pepper“ through to Punk Rock. There's virtually not a single record from that period that I don't like. I just love the sound of the records. I love the look of the records. I love the ambition in the records.

He thinks it's a good album, and one of the most influential albums ever released. He just doesn't agree that it is listed as high as it frequently is on those "Best of" lists. If it hadn't appeared on those lists, he probably wouldn't have called it overrated. A list of "Best albums of all time" has every record ever produced to choose from, and how many would put Sgt. Pepper in their top 10 of that? If the list was "Most influential albums of all time" I can see the clear case of picking Sgt. Pepper. Some authors of the lists may of course consider both the musicality and the influence when they say "best", but that may not be communicated very well. Or how you weigh such a list between musicality and influence. 50/50, 30/70?

Don't forget that "overrated" means you state an opinion about someone else's opinion. It's not about the album or how you like it. You say that you disagree with how high others rate the album. It does not influence what you think of it or how you rate it. People seem to mistake this with someone (SW in this example) not liking an album or finding it important, which is incorrect.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2020 at 02:35
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by A Crimson Mellotron A Crimson Mellotron wrote:

It's iconic but for a lot of people, including musicians (Steven Wilson, for example) the album is slightly overrated. What do you think?

what makes you say it's overrated?


I can see where Crim is comming from....

I mean Pepper is not even the Fab Four's best album (Road is)


I have a certain fondness for Pepper, because when arriving in Canada's english-speaking side, our english teacher made us learn the language by using Pepper and reading the lyrics.
Great & fun way to learn a barbarian tongue. TongueLOL


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote friso Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2020 at 03:29
I'd rather say its underrated. Its a truly progressive album that's really fun to listen to as well. Even in groups. Its like a Christmas dinner when you're young. Progressive rock could have learned a lot more from its enjoyable, festive vibes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dellinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2020 at 13:27
I actually don't really like it that much. That doesn't mean it's overrated.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Droxford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2020 at 14:01
To be honest , I don't know. 
I own several Beatles albums including 'Pepper' . I totally understand that 

The fact that we are having this discussion 53 years later says a great deal. 
That each track on the album is quite individual and stands out well. 
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention parodying the original cover for their album 'We are only in it for the Money' is still quite a tribute to  the importance of 'Pepper'. 
'A Day in the Life' is astonishing , Two songs rammed together , an orchestra playing in a discordant fashion thrown in, is an absolute classic. I played it to a friend who doesn't get The Beatles, and they had to agree that the track is an achievement. 

But I am an getting on in years. I just do not know, as we stumble further  into the 21st Century if 'Pepper' is that important. But a fascinating thread nevertheless. 




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FatherChristmas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2020 at 15:22
Originally posted by Droxford Droxford wrote:

To be honest , I don't know. 
I own several Beatles albums including 'Pepper' . I totally understand that 

The fact that we are having this discussion 53 years later says a great deal. 
That each track on the album is quite individual and stands out well. 
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention parodying the original cover for their album 'We are only in it for the Money' is still quite a tribute to  the importance of 'Pepper'. 
'A Day in the Life' is astonishing , Two songs rammed together , an orchestra playing in a discordant fashion thrown in, is an absolute classic. I played it to a friend who doesn't get The Beatles, and they had to agree that the track is an achievement. 

But I am an getting on in years. I just do not know, as we stumble further  into the 21st Century if 'Pepper' is that important. But a fascinating thread nevertheless. 





Yes, we are discussing it 53 years later, that means a great deal. It is of huge historical importance. But remember Beatlemania! That exagerrated, emphasised and overated everything they band did. What effect did that have one our opinion?
It all comes down to what you call overated. I do not think it is underated. In fact, I think it's just where it should be, overated or not. If it is overated, perhaps it deserves to be so. Certainly an interesting thread.
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