...or at least around this day....
For the record - this is not my Record of the Month.
Hell, it is not even my favourite Beatles album (Abbey Road, Revolver and Rubber Soul are still better in my opinion). For all the accolades that is poured upon it and 'best of' lists that it tops , I find Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to be marginal...at least in its material.There! I said it.
Don't get me wrong, there are some exceptional songs on the disk. Maybe half of the disk is great, but the other half.......well........it gets by with a little help. Trust me. There was a reason they only gave Ringo the lead on a song or two per disk. And personally, I find the title track to be almost insufferable.
That being said - I don't think the experimental Beatles get any better (does anyone take Magical Mystery Tour that seriously?).
Regardless of what Aimee Mann says, the one song that should never be skipped on this record is indeed "A Day in the Life". It is possibly John Lennon at his best. Maybe even the group. But a super-outstanding track does not make a super-outstanding album.
If one must skip tracks, you might want to pick up the needle on "When I'm Sixty-Four" (confection material better suited for Wings) or "With a Little Help From My Friends". McCartney has better songs on this disk than that - "Fixing a Hole" and "She's Leaving Home" are pretty fucking good songs.
I am not stupid enough not to know that this was a groundbreaking disk. It was - for both the Beatles and for rock music. George Martin's production is innovative and the instrumentation was unique for its time. I don't and can't begrudge that.
....but best disk of all time?
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