It was forty years ago today that Sgt. Pepper struck up the band to play. That's right, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band came out this day in 1967 (at least in the UK it did).

The album is the most celebrated Beatles album, but it's not their best. Enlightened critics tend to prefer Revolver. I like Abbey Road. Both, I think, are superior to Sgt. Pepper's. But only in a musical sense.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was a pop-culture phenomenon. Boxer Sonny Liston, hall-of-fame druggie William Borroughs, and satanist Aleister Crowley are among the figures who grace its arresting jacket. The LP art probably makes it the greatest album cover in rock history, which, when relating this to the album's popularity, shows the value of marketing. The Rolling Stones, if you remember, released Their Satanic Majesty's Request later that year, the cover of which is a total rip-off of Sgt. Pepper's. Two days after Sgt. Pepper's hit stores, Jimi Hendrix covered the title track live. With its June 1 release, the album served as the soundtrack to the Summer of Love.

Even the trivia surrounding the album has taken on a life of its own. Did you see that Paul, who died and had been replaced by the replacement Paul, had his back turned in a picture? And what about George's thumb pointing toward's the lyric "five o'clock," the time of real Paul's death? Do you know that actor Leo Gorcey had to be removed from the cover because he demanded payment?

What's amazing about Beatle albums, which hits home especially on Sgt. Pepper's, is the exclusion of singles. Albums were albums, and singles weren't welcome. The Beatles viewed it as a ripoff to release albums with songs already available on 45s. So, the Beatle songs from '67 that are most famous--Strawberry Fields Forever and All You Need Is Love--aren't on Sgt. Pepper's, even though many casual fans mistakenly believe that they are. So what's on Sgt. Pepper's? Ringo shines on With a Little Help from My Friends. The deep cut She's Leaving Home is one of the most underrated Lennon-McCartney collaborations. A Day in the Life is regarded by many to be the greatest song ever recorded, right down to its stubborn last note. Paul envisioned the album as a concept album, but beyond a few cuts nothing holds together. Paul, apparently, was the only Beatle interested in pursuing this.

Another amazing thing about the album is the quality of production. The crisp, clear sounds hit the ear better than anything today. Ringo's drums sound like, gasp, drums rather than a drum machine. Listen to the effects on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" or the countdown on "A Day in the Life." It's awesome. So is the decision to delete the customary gaps between songs. Everything flows. George Martin rules.

Sgt. Pepper's is remembered so fondly because it marks the high-point of The Beatles. Though Lennon-McCartney continued to appear on the song credits, John and Paul rarely collaborated after Sgt. Pepper (and even A Day in the Life is just two songs strung together). John, though he contributed some great tracks to the white album, seems to lose interest in the Beatles thereafter. Paul tries for a repeat in Magical Mystery Tour, but it doesn't work so well, and its accompanying movie bombs--a new experience for the band with the golden touch. George grows, but his older Beatle brothers never really allow him a fair share of songs (so much so that he releases a triple album in 1970). The band continues to do great stuff, but the albums come yearly, and not every few months. The tours had stopped by '66. Songs, like "I Me Mine" and "You Never Give Me Your Money," come across as a soundtrack to a band breaking up. A few cuts on Let It Be sound like demos; several others on the white album would not have made the cut on earlier Beatles albums. But Sgt. Pepper's is The Beatles at the top of the world.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is its longevity. How many people in 1967 were still listening to music from 1927? Today, millions of people around the world will listen to an album older than me. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has staying power like its last song's final note.

I was 5 years old when the album came out.
I was already a huge beatles fan (I watched the cartoons) but I never heard the album until I was in my teens. For some reason my parents stopped
buying their records after "Rubber Soul". Maybe it was something to do with the way they looked or their politics- I don't know.
The songs on "Sgt. Pepper's" were not big radio
hits("A Day in the Life" was too long for the 3 minute song AM radio format)so unless you bought the album, you didn't hear the songs.
I was actually disappointed when I finally heard
it- I thought "Rubber Soul was much better.
Anyway, I do remember seeing the huge cardboard cut-out of the album cover in my local record store/head shop(right next to a huge psychedelic
Jimi Hendrix black light poster).
The movie "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" starring The Bee Gee's is probably the worst movie ever made. Worse than "Magical Mystery Tour"

I would agree that Abbey Road is at the top of the list. I'd say Rubber Soul is a close second and then Revolver. My kid was listening to Sgt. Pepper the other day and it seemed dated to me. The White Album is a mixed bag of crap. Mostly crap.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is an overrated album and not even ranking among their top 3, in my estimation. I think the album is celebrated more because of the self-celebratory narcissism of the '60's generation in that it meant something to some gucci-hippies so it has to mean something to everyone. Even as an attempt at a concept album and/or response to Brian Wilson it was admittedly a failed one as Paul has pointed out. True it is a celebrated pop-culture phenomenon, but I own the CD and I use it to as a coaster.

Many say, not just asdf, say that the white album is overated, many are wrong. Although a little all over the place, it is the Beatles best album. While my guitar gently weeps, Rocky raccoon, I'm so tired, dear prudence and happiness is a warm gun. Just to name a few. Rubber Soul good album, however Michelle and Drive my car suck a lot. Revolver good album as well but not as many good songs as the white album. Some confuse "Got to get you into my life" as a monkees song. Sgt. Pepper is a bit overrated, but any album with "A Day in the Life" (the Beatles greatest song)deserves a thumbs up.

well next year will be 30 yrs. since van halen 1. man that album still sends electrical shocks out of my speakers. beatles were alittle before my time.