For a bit of fun and to practice my writing, I have done a bit of a review of a classic:
Straight away the first track of The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers reminds me of a classic 90's sitcom intro titles, the attention grabbing guitar sounds and lyrics that recap the previous episode and introduce the cast alongside the staple, canned laughter, applause and comedic trumpets. It is followed by With A Little Help From My Friends which is like hearing an old friend, familiar sounds and lyrics that everybody seems to know.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is one of the album's best tracks in my personal opinion and very popular with many of the fans. It is famously a drug referencing song but that seems trivial when it has so much more to offer. Managing to have a lot of references to being high without sounding dirty or sordid, sounding almost like a babies nursery rhyme (I would definitely prefer this to Humpty Dumpty) Getting Better brings a motivational message that may have got lost on me during the previous song, improving my spirit, and regenerating the whole album. She's Leaving Home starts with a beautifully plucked harp that gives me a romantic warm feeling reminiscent of watching a classic French black and white movie. By the end of the song I realise that the lyrics may not be as sweet as I would have hoped and more downbeat and sad.
Indian instruments really surprised me when I heard them pop up on Within You Without You, I suspect that George Harrison picked up his influences for this song whilst on his travels. I can imagine how radical this would have sounded in the summer of 1967, any other album that was released around this time by a British band would have stood out like a sore thumb, but with the Beatles magic, they seem to pull it off in their stride.
When I'm 64 brings is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Classically English lyrics about odd jobs and leisure activities remind me what I have to look forward to in the future. Despite the inclusion of technology, I think The Beatles may have got the future predicted quite right for the majority of the British public.
Lovely Rita hits me like a retro Oasis track. It is clear where the brothers got some (or a lot) of their influences from. Big catchy sounds and easy to sing along with, it is a crowd pleaser for sure.
After a whirlwind of tracks of all different styles and sounds, the final A Day In The Life is a bit of an epic Beatles ballad. With a track length of over five and a half minutes, it is easily over double the length of the majority of the other tracks and boy does it pack a punch. The song seems to be split into sections; it starts off mellow with Bowie-esque vocals, it almost has the right ingredients to be one of the classic Bond themes; then the speed picks up and it's like listening to a totally different song with the single familiar sound being the calming trumpet swirling in the background.
Overall, this album is considered The Beatles best album by a lot of people and I think it is clear to see why. If you haven't heard it already you are only 48 years behind.
