Just listening to ...

[uwe]

... the new Sgt. Pepper stereo remix by George Martin's son Giles. If you have in the past been torn between the original mono mixes for their organic force and the "novelty"-stereo mix with its (perhaps for your ears all too)

p                  a                 n                 o                 r                 a                  m                 i                    c

effect, you'll now have the best of both worlds. All of the sudden, the Beatles sound like a hard rock band in places, not like intricate studio ornamentors. And yeah, Macca's Ric (and Ringo's assorted Ludwig percussion) is now "in the middle" of the sound and all the more forceful and grooving for it, but keyboard and guitar(s) separation keeps everything uncluttered and from becoming too dense. In a way, it's a bit like George, John, Paul & Ringo performing Sgt. Pepper live for you in a studio. Organic panorama, yeah!

Hardly an original choice, I know, but everytime I listen to it, I still think it is the best pop/rock album in the world ever. Yes, even before Deep Purple's Machine Head and Burn, Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny and Point of Entry, Status Quo's Quo and On the Level or Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits. (Did I just hear catcalls from the cheap seats of "Yeah, that is some real competition you got there, Uwe!"  )

[Pilgrim]

I remember reading an interview with Paul Revere, whose Raiders had a really good thing going in the mid-60's.

In the interview, he said "Then the Beatles brought out Sergeant Pepper's, and the rest of looked at each other and asked....'what the hell do we do now?' "

That album changed rock music.

[westen44]

That's great that they put forth the effort to come out with that.  The Sgt. Pepper album was what caused me to want to learn bass.  However, as an album overall, I have always preferred Revolver.  It is the better album, IMO.  Stereo Williams explains why in this article in which he describes how the Beatles reached a "creative zenith" with Revolver. 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/05/the-beatles-revolver-turns-50-a-psychedelic-masterpiece-that-rewrote-the-rules-of-rock

[uwe]

Ah, a Beatles afficionado then, they always dig Revolver above Sgt. Pepper!  It's like people who claim that Led Zep III is their favorite Zep and Exile on Main Street their favorite Stones album.  (Mine are Physical Graffiti and Sticky Fingers, respectively.)

Me as a casual Beatles listener, I stick with the era-defining overall package and concept of Sgt. Pepper. Even as a child, I thought there was something magical, fantastical, mind-opening and pleasantly druggy (in an Alice in Wonderland vein) about it. The colorfulness of the music matched the colorfulness of the sleeve ...

But I'm the first to admit that I'm hardly a Beatles expert. And Revolver is a mighty fine album too.

[westen44]

Nothing like this has happened before with any other albums, but I can remember feeling a little confused from time to time, especially when I was a teenager.  I'd have to remind myself of the chronological order of the albums.  It just made no sense to me that Revolver was better but came before Sgt. Pepper.  Of course I liked Sgt Pepper a lot, too, especially "A Day in the Life" (that evil song banned by the BBC for a while.)

[FrankieTbird]

Ah, a Beatles afficionado then, they always dig Revolver above Sgt. Pepper!  It's like people who claim that Led Zep III is their favorite Zep and Exile on Main Street their favorite Stones album.  (Mine are Physical Graffiti and Sticky Fingers, respectively.)

I don't know a whole lot of the Beatles, but I'm a huge Stones & Zep fan, and Exile IS most definitely my favorite Stones record.  My favorite Zeppelin record is Presence.

[Pilgrim]

I never got over Led Zep II.  Heartbreaker and The Lemon Song were too cool...and fantastic bass parts!!

[westen44]

I think it's interesting when people talk about their favorite albums, which albums by a band are the best, etc.  Also, it's possible to be a Beatles fan and Stones fan at the same time.  My favorite guitarist, though, is Hendrix and he is probably my favorite artist, period.  What I've found, though, is getting into discussions with other Hendrix fans about which songs and albums are the best is often not a good idea.  Why people take something like this personally, I don't know.  But it's something I'd rather avoid. It isn't worth it.  I don't know why, but for some reason Beatles fans don't seem to get into debates too much over which Beatles albums they like best.  But they may get into debates about other things. 

[uwe]

There is no such thing as a bad Beatles album with maybe the exception of Let it Be - and even that has its moments. Exile on Main Street is too jammy and bluesy for me, I prefer it when Jagger & Co. stretch themselves a little. I think all three Hendrix studio albums released while he was still alive are equally good for their respective place in time. And I prefer later Zep to earlier Zep.

[westen44]

Some people may also question the "Yellow Submarine" album.  But the "Yellow Submarine Soundtrack" album which is a soundtrack/compilation album which came out with the re-release of the movie in 1999 is very good.

Track listing[edit]
All songs written by Lennon-McCartney, except tracks 4, 7, 11 and 15 written by George Harrison.

No.   Title   Lead vocals   Length
1.   "Yellow Submarine"   Ringo Starr   2:38
2.   "Hey Bulldog"   John Lennon (with Paul McCartney)   3:14
3.   "Eleanor Rigby"   Paul McCartney   2:06
4.   "Love You To"   George Harrison   3:01
5.   "All Together Now"   Paul McCartney (with John Lennon)   2:10
6.   "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"   John Lennon   3:28
7.   "Think for Yourself"   George Harrison   2:18
8.   "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"   Paul McCartney (with John Lennon and George Harrison)   2:02
9.   "With a Little Help from My Friends"   Ringo Starr   2:44
10.   "Baby, You're a Rich Man"   John Lennon   3:03
11.   "Only a Northern Song"   George Harrison   3:27
12.   "All You Need Is Love"   John Lennon   3:57
13.   "When I'm Sixty-Four"   Paul McCartney   2:37
14.   "Nowhere Man"   John Lennon (with Paul McCartney and George Harrison)   2:44
15.   "It's All Too Much"   George Harrison   6:28

[Grog]

I never got over Led Zep II.  Heartbreaker and The Lemon Song were too cool...and fantastic bass parts!!

+1. I've heard several people (Radio Personnel) refer to this album as the greatest rock album of all time. I still like Sticky Fingers for my favorite Stones album.

[Hörnisse]

I thought that I was alone in my love for Point Of Entry. 

Growing up with 4 older sisters in the 1960's I was lucky enough to listen to many classic records.  Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour were my favorites.  My favorite Stones record was 12 x 5.

[uwe]

I thought about Yellow Submarine before posting my message, but in truth I can't fault it. It's a soundtrack to a cartoon for Chrisssakes and the visuals and the music gel perfectly, mission accomplished! And there was always a childlike innocence to Paul's "fun songs", whether it was Yellow Submarine, Obladi Oblada or Maxwell's Silver Hammer - they resonated with me a s a kid and hearing them still puts me in an immediate good mood.

[westen44]

I thought about Yellow Submarine before posting my message, but in truth I can't fault it. It's a soundtrack to a cartoon for Chrisssakes and the visuals and the music gel perfectly, mission accomplished! And there was always a childlike innocence to Paul's "fun songs", whether it was Yellow Submarine, Obladi Oblada or Maxwell's Silver Hammer - they resonated with me a s a kid and hearing them still puts me in an immediate good mood.

It's my understanding that the Yellow Submarine song was intentionally written to sound that way.  But others like Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and Maxwell's Silver Hammer were especially disliked by John Lennon and others.  John called music like that Paul's granny music.  The one that I personally dislike is All Together Now on the Yellow Submarine album.  But that album was only done to fulfill a contractual obligation and was never meant to be a serious album.  It still has really good songs like Hey Bulldog.  When you look at the context of all this, I don't see anything really out of place.  I've probably seen the most complaints about Maxwell's Silver Hammer by people who think it didn't fit Abbey Road.  Ringo and John (who I've already mentioned) especially hated it.  John didn't even participate on the song.  Ringo called it their worst session ever and said the recording went on for f---ing weeks. 

[westen44]

An article about "A Day in the Life" I just now ran across.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-day-in-the-life/