The Beatles: John Lennon: Guitar/Vocals
Paul McCartney: Bass/Vocals
George Harrison: Lead Guitar
Ringo Starr: Drums
#1 On Rolling Stones List of Top 500 Cds
The Beatles are one of the biggest bands ever. Recorded in 1967 this album was one of the first concept albums, I think (correct me if I'm wrong). The standout tracks being about every song on the cd. This is an amazing cd. I don't really know much about the impact it had on music but I understand it was quite a lot, and I imagine that it still has a great deal of influence, today.
On this cd there was less for George to do because the guitar kind of took a backseat to the bass and psychadelic sounding keyboards. But there are still some nice guitar parts that mesh well with the psychadelic keyboards, like on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. The bass isn't anything crazy but Paul does a great job keeping the bass and making the bass a bit more interesting than a lot of bassists. The drums are also very simple but creative at times. Ringo doesn't get enough credit for his drumming, in my opinion. Also the way that John and Paul sang really was excellent. Their voices blended well especially when the background vocals would come in. They were amazing vocalists with very good harmonies. The most interesting thing on this album is the sitare. The sitare is a very cool instrument and is used very unexpectantly on the track Within you With out You.
The first track, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is a real good song to start off the cd. It's one of the real great
rock songs on this cd. The chord progression immediatly sounded familiar to me when I first heard it. Paul does wonderful vocals on this track. He kind hollers, only like melodiously, and it really makes the verses. John does really great vocals throughout this track afte the chorus and into the bridge.
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds is the first song I heard by
The Beatles. John's vocals on the verses are very dreamy and psychadelic. The lyrics are complete nonsense (well maybe not but they sure sound like it). The chorus can sometimes bring this song down a bit though. I'm not a big fan of the the singing, I find the transformation from such a weird psychadelic beat right to a nice poppy chorus wasn't too good.
She's Leaving Home is a great example of the diverse instruments used on the album. It uses a bunch of very beautiful instruments that I don't know the name of. The harmonies in the chorus are amazing, and mournful. It's definitly one of the greatest choruses ever. The lyrics are, too, a big part of this song. Very sad and mournful talking about a girl that, well, left home. It talks about the sadness the parents ( I think) feel because their baby's gone. It's very beautiful.
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite is another psychadelic song about a kite who will do some tricks and stuff. The vocals are very cool, and the way they're sung is just awesome. There's a very cool keyboard solo after John says: and of course Mr. Horse dances the waltz. A nice waltz like trip The bass is very nice blending well with the acidy feel of the song. The keyboards are terrific on this track adding a cool pyschadelic feel to the song.
Within You Without You is, in a way, the worst song and one of the best song on this cd. It'sone of the worst because I find I get bored because the sitar is one of the only instruments playing throughout, and usualy if a song has boring instrumentals the vocals usualy help but not here. And it's one of the best because it's so experimental and even though it can be boring there's always some surprises, which is always great.
Good Mornign is also another not too great track. I don't reall like the beat to it, for me it's way to happy-go-lucky. Don't get me wrong it's still a great song, it's just after Lovely Rita and When I'm sixty four, which are both very upbeat songs, I would like to have a not so up beat song. There is a really great distortioned solo though and some real good guitar fills. They make the song a bit more bearable. The lyrics are a bit too cheesy and the trumpets add to the cheesiness.
When I'm Sixty Four was a great surprise. I love this song and I probably will for a real long time. It's pretty different from the rest of the cd. It's very much like a song for little kids, but it shows this maturity, I guess, that makes it appeal to an older audience. That, or it's just a fun cartoony song that's just plain great. There's a cool little instrument that plays though most of the song that really adds it's cartonnishness but I'm not too sure what's it's called.
Overall
This is a great cd. A classic if I ever did see one. The vocals are very well put together. With harmonies sounding perfect and coming in at the perfect times. The keyboards add the psychadelic feel to this cd that is real awesome. The little piano solo on Lovely Rita is also very nice. The bass is really good on here and I've heard it influenced a lot of people. The drums aren't anything special but Ringo does a really good job of keeping the beat and not just doing the same beat for every song. The guitar (though not present in as much tracks as normal) is really great when it comes in.
Reccomended Tracks
Sgt. Pepper's
With a Little Help From My Friends
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
Fixing a Hole
She's Leaving Home
Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
She's Leaving Home
Individual Ratings:
1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:5
2. With a Little Help from My Friends:5
3. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds:5
4. Getting Better:5
5. Fixing a Hole:5
6. She's Leaving Home:5
7. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!:5
8. Within You Without You:4
9. When I'm Sixty-Four:5
10. Lovely Rita:4.5
11. Good Morning Good Morning:4
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise):5
13. A Day in the Life:5
