SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

An album that changed the face of music forever

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been labelled as the greatest album of all time, certainly as far as The Beatles are concerned, it is perhaps the best they have produced, though I prefer The White Album. The album is groundbreaking in terms of the concept and the musical inventiveness on every track. Heck, even the album cover is brilliant and considered the best of all time.

It begins with the crowd sounds of a fake audience and a catchy riff 'it was 20 years ago today....' the track blends seamlessly into 'A Little Help from my Friends' with Ringo's low key vocals at his best. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds the LSD trip is another highlight with psychedelic lyrics and echoing spaced out Lennon picturing himself on a boat on a river with plasticine people, newspaper taxis, and the girl with kaleidoscope eyes. It is quite simply an incredible song.

The sound effects are prominent throughout the album in particular Good Morning Good Morning with the iconic horse galloping and country sounds. The time sig change is quirky in the verses and very progressive. The way that the band used the effects is as influential to prog as any other album you can name - just take For the Benefit of Mr Kite for example, amazing wall of sound throughout and those spaced out lyrics are a treasure. The Beatles owe a lot to Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' as has been well documented, but Sgt Pepper put it to better use, blending great rock with innovation and experimentation. This may well be the beginning of prog.

If you are still not convinced 'A Day in the Life' seals the deal. Lilting dreamy verses that build to 'I'd love to turn you on' that leads to the infamous orchestra slide ? eerie, chilling, disturbing and unforgettable. Then the keys stab as Paul begins the quaint bridge, the song has now completely changed, 'woke up, got out of bed, dragged a towel across my head...' it leads to the psych trip where 'somebody spoke and I went into a dream' ? the dream is the soundscape of a full orchestra and ambient vocals that echo to some faraway place. Then the song returns to the original tune. The ending is the orchestral crescendo that builds noisily until the final low piano chord. It continues and continues until it fades. Then we have a silence which is punctuated by a weird, off kilter loop that sounds like 'I wouldn't have it any other way' over and over. Originally this was the needle stuck in the groove of the vinyl alum but it works on CD as well.

And thus ends the most influential album in history. I think the album managed to capture everything that prog has become and it is an essential album for changing the way we listen to music and accept types of music. Dangerously experimental, ferociously original, it is beyond a masterpiece. 5 stars.

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