One of the most famous albums in the world and definitely the most famous album sleeve, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' ushered in the psychedelic era and the 'Summer of Love' and remains the pinnacle of British psychedelia. From the whimsy of 'When I'm 64' to the stunning orchestration of 'A Day In The Life', the melancholia of 'She's Leaving Home' to Ringo's solo spot 'With A Little Help From My Friends' the album is a true pop masterpiece.

Aug 2006

The most famous album of the flower power era and the LP where The Beatles threw off the shackles of endless touring to become a studio band. Taking music to new sonic places back in '67, Sgt. Pepper was nominally a concept album and one of the first of that much-derided genre. In fact only the first two tracks segue in each other leaving the rest of the album as stand alone tracks with only the surprising production to link them together and a reprise of the first tune to tie it all up at the end.

The band were free of the lovable mop tops tag by this time so they were free to soak all their songs with trippy effects, drug references and nostalgic surrealism. Songs like "Day in a Life" showed new scope for the pop number, with distinct movements aping classical music and the druggy rush towards the endless chord at the finish. Quaint music hall stylings are also on display in "When I'm 64", showing that McCartney's talents for musical pastiche were very much in evidence while Lennon's "For the Benefit Of Mr Kite" with it's experimental use of cut up tape loops gives a hint of the avant-garde places his music would sometimes visit later. This is a great album, undimmed by age or over familiarity and should sit on any collector's shelf.

Sam Jones, HMV Newport

• NME (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #33 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
  Q (6/00, p.80) - Ranked #13 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...It deserves playing, and playing again....[including] one of the Top Five finest vocal performances in all rock: Ringo's 'With A Little Help From My Friends'....do yourself a favor."
  Classic Rock (04/06, p.60) - "...a record that defined the 60s..."

Includes a 28-page booklet with rare photos, notes on the recording sessions and lyrics.
The Beatles: George Harrison (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, sitar, tamboura, harmonica, tambourine, comb & paper); John Lennon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, Hammond organ, maracas, comb & paper); Paul McCartney (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, harpsichord, Hammond organ, bass, comb & paper); Ringo Starr (vocals, harmonica, piano, drums, bongos).
Additional personnel includes: Neil Aspinall (tamboura, harmonica); Mal
Evans (harmonica, alarm clock); George Martin (piano, harmonium,
Wurlitzer organ, organ); Sounds Incorporated (saxophone, French
horn, trombone).
Engineers include: Geoff Emerick, Malcolm Addey, Ken Townsend.
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Regent Sound Studio, London, England between December 6, 1966 and April 21, 1967.
Includes liner notes by George Martin, Mark Lewisohn and Peter Blake.
One of the most famous and influential albums ever recorded, SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND had a huge impact on the music world, signaling the beginning of a new era of sophistication and maturity in rock. The musical experimentation was dynamic and fresh, several tracks were edited to create seamless transitions, and even the visual design was more elaborate than anything previously attempted.
Producer George Martin and The Beatles searched for new sounds and studio effects. They added crowd sounds and animal cries from sound-effects recordings, sped up Paul McCartney's vocals in "When I'm Sixty-Four" (to make him sound younger), and sustained a single piano chord for 40 seconds to end "A Day In The Life." The orchestrations, scored by Martin, were hailed by critics as bridging the gap between pop and classical music, and many people who had never bought a rock record bought SGT. PEPPER'S.

No other band has had quite the same impact as the four lads from Liverpool. Over the course of eight years and more than a dozen albums, the Beatles changed popular music and culture forever, spearheading the 1960s British Invasion and shaping rock & roll along the way. Along with their amazing musical output and unprecedented world-wide celebrity, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were responsible for many pop music revolutions, major and minor--writing their own material, pushing the limits of the studio, making films of their music, printing song lyrics on albums--that today are taken for granted. Although the Beatles disbanded in 1970, their artistic legacy is permanently ingrained in the entire world's musical vocabulary.