Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band CD (album) cover

SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

The Beatles

 

Proto-Prog

4.36 | 1218 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Rune2000
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars The changes that the band achieved with Revolver just could not be undone and so the Beatles pushed forward in their search for new directions to explore.

Created partially as a concept album about a live performance of a fictitious band, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band proved to be an even bigger hit with both the critics and the general audience. Even if the conceptual part of the album functions mostly as an arc there is also a secondary concept describing the subject of everyday events and life in general. The album is as close to a band effort as the Beatles would be able to achieve later on in their career. The record also marks the moment where the individual songs stopped being the center of attention and the complete album experience took over its rightful place.

I honestly can't see any of these tracks played out of context since, to me, it's this preexisting song pattern that truly makes this album a worth a while experience. Well familiar pieces like With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and A Day In The Life can sometimes be considered the bulk of this album but the same could just as easily be argued for Getting Better, Fixing A Hole and When I'm Sixty Four!

There is really no denying that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a great album, but I can't really call it a personal favorite of mine even though I sometimes do enjoy this trip through the memory lane. It lacks a feeling of closure that makes the whole journey incomplete, even if some might argue that A Day In The Life does a wonderful job at achieving just that. In the end, it's still an excellent Proto-Prog album that I highly recommend experiencing, although chances are that you already have.

***** star songs: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (2:02) With A Little Help From My Friends (2:44) When I'm Sixty Four (2:37) A Day In The Life (5:33)

**** star songs: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (3:28) Getting Better (2:47) Fixing A Hole (2:36) She's Leaving Home (3:35) Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite (2:37) Within You Without You (5:05) Lovely Rita (2:42) Good Morning Good Morning (2:41) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (1:18)

Rune2000 | 4/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this THE BEATLES review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.