Introduction
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a legendary album composed by the celebrated English rock crew The Beatles. Its perfection and appraisal by a large population compelled it to be premiered in two countries, the United Kingdom on 2nd June 1967 while in The United States of America on 26th May same year. The idea by Paul McCartney to compose melodies indulging an Edwardian military band that conclusively formulated its concept came as a result of retiring from touring in August 1966.
The Beatles’ band perceived that it was not vital to conduct live performances (Plagenhoef, 2009). Therefore, they opted to inhibit a composition and recording methodology that constituted an experimental perception of going to the studio, applying sound effects and other editing stunts to perfect a piece. The album integrates various stylistic inspirations that include the iconic cover that shows the band in their roles in Sgt. Pepper, posing in front of representations of personages and antique information. Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, prominent British pop artists, planned and structured the cover.
Review of the Album
The album was composed by professionals, and it brought good implications and vibes to the lives of the audience. It is relatable to the social norms and features by uplifting the audience and helping solve underlining factors that breed stressors in our day-to-day activities. The spectacular album consists of two subsections that accumulate thirteen songs. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the song that premiers and features twice as the opening and second to last track. In addition, it is perceived as the title track as the lyrical piece introduces the fictitious performer of the whole work. It displays professionalism since it creates an atmosphere conducive to listening to sweet songs. The audience’s applause brings in a smooth transition into the second song.
Other songs in the album include, with a bit of help from friends, getting better, fixing a hole, she’s leaving home, and many others. With A Little Help from My Friends lays its foundation on definitions of true love and friendship (Sandri, 2019). The song intends to breed loyalty from the target audience as Starr asks whether the listener would leave if he went off-key. It is somehow contradicting with the music, she’s leaving home as it depicts hate for loved ones that leads to departure. The two illustrate the actual life incidences that affect our households. The girl opts to leave home due to the ever-controlling parents, with who they very much had agreements with. It is very educative to society as parents are enlightened on the dangers of not giving their kids some freedom to make certain choices, including living in discomfort and anguish.
Moreover, it illustrates that the girl ran away for fun, making the composer dwell on the parents’ welfare after departure and not the child’s whereabouts. Getting better is an exquisite piece that criticizes the degrading of womanhood and encourages change for the violent partner. The song’s composer admits to being violent therefore inputting a sense of responsibility to the breadwinner. Lennon acknowledges that he used to be a violent partner as depicted in the lyrics and has opted to change and so should all the violent spouses in our global entity.
Most songs in the album depict feelings of love, such as Lovely Rita, where the composer falls in love with a traffic warden who issued him a parking ticket. Others include when I am 64, where inspiration comes from growing old in love as the composers views themselves in their grandfathers’ age. The melody is distinctive since it vouches for solid marriages and fewer divorces. Fixing a hole gives an atmosphere that breeds mental relaxation whereby the brain roams liberally, instilling high levels of creativity that help deal with life insecurities. Within you without you, install sensible ideologies that rebuke materialism as an ideology. The composers champion idealism as a factor that builds physical and financial growth. Although some songs have perceptions of drug use, like Lucy in the Sky with Diamond, the audience perceived the encouragement of LSD consumption which was not the case.
Almost to the end of the album is a reprise of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club thanks the audience and prepares them for the magnificent denouement A Day in The Life, the most valued track in the album. It is all-encompassing and breezy and creates an atmosphere of relaxation relating to our daily lives (Sandri, 2019). All songs except Within you without you and A day in life incorporate selected harmonies with sounds like ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ which are seen as the Beatles’ signature mark.
The main stronghold of the albums is its stylish and skillful production of the tunes and the experienced choices they make on harmonies and tone of the songs. The distinctive element of the album is the panning of drums and bass to the left and electric guitars and vocals to the left. Conclusively, the album takes twenty minutes and two seconds to fully play. It received global recognition and appraisal with 5.1 million reprints up to April 2019 in the United Kingdom and more than 32 million copies by 2011 worldwide. According to Corpsey (2019), the album is the third-best in the United Kingdom and the most successful in America. The Beatles depicted quality skills and professionalism blended with talent in composing the ever-recognized album.
References
Copsey, R. (2019, April 11). The best-selling albums of all time on the official UK chart. Official Charts – Home of the Official UK Top 40 Charts. https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-best-selling-albums-of-all-time-on-the-official-uk-chart__15551/
Plagenhoef, S. (2009, September 9). Sgt. Pepper’s lonely hearts club band. Pitchfork. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13435-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band/
Sandri, K. (2019). Scholarly Commons – University of the Pacific. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=backstage-pass
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