Wow.

Just released today to coincide with the (gulp) 50th year anniversary release of what is likely the most famous of The Beatles’ albums (though, as I mentioned previously, many feel it isn’t necessarily their best album), you can now pick up various editions of the new, 2017 remix of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

There are inevitably going to be those who wonder if its worth buying this edition of the album.  If you’re like me, you’ve picked up many different editions of the album and, going in, wonder if this one will be all that much different.

It is.

Oh man, is it.

But don’t take my word for it.  Over on rollingstone.com, Mikal Gilmour offers a review of the album.  You can check the review out here:

Review: The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Anniversary Edition Reveal Wonders

One of the more fascinating things Mr. Gilmour points out is the following, found in the liner notes of this new edition of the album:

Giles Martin (son of the famous George Martin, the original producer of these albums who passed away in 2016 and the man who did the remix for this new 2017 version of Sgt. Pepper’s) observes in his liner notes: “The original Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was primarily mixed as a mono album. All care and attention were applied to the mono LP, with the Beatles present for all the mixes. … Almost as an afterthought, the stereo album was mixed very quickly without the Beatles at the sessions. Yet it is the stereo album that most people listen to today.” In other words, popular music’s most elaborate and intricate creation – and one that helped end the mono era – wasn’t made to be heard in stereo. 

Though they didn’t know it at the time, mono was on its way out and would be replaced by stereo music shortly after the release of this album.  But because of the time it was created, all the care was made toward the mono mix of this album and the stereo mix, the mix most of us have heard/listened to all this time, was a version The Beatles didn’t really bother with.  The mono version was what The Beatles intended us to hear yet what we heard was… something else.

The 2017 remix of this album intends to correct this error and, trust me, they’ve done it.

Listening to the 2017 remix of Sgt. Pepper’s is -and I know this is going to sound like a cliched bit of selling- nothing short of a revelation.  The music feels far more lush than it ever did before.  There is a multi-level to it that makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of the band as they present their songs.

One of the biggest surprises, at least to me, turned out to be the song Good Morning, Good Morning.  Here’s a demo version of it…

I must admit, I never thought all that much of the song.  Of all John Lennon’s works, I always felt this one was slight, perhaps no better than “ok”.

But in this 2017 version?

…Oh… my.

The song engulfs you with a frantic, crazed energy.  The almost circus like music swirls and surrounds you, hitting your ears as if taking several gunshot blasts.

And that’s just one song!

If you’re a fan of The Beatles and/or Sgt. Pepper’s, do yourself a favor: Toss all the other copies of the album you have and get yourself the 2017 version, then give it a listen and see if I’m wrong.

I don’t think I am and, yes, this new mix of the album is that good.

Highly recommended.

While there are those who would argue which of The Beatles’ albums was their very best (I’ve heard more than a few state it was Revolver), I suspect few will argue Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is their most famous/well known album.

Personally, I love almost everything about the album, though there are a few songs on it that… well, they may not be quite as good as some of the others.

This year, Sgt. Pepper’s reaches a milestone, having been released an incredible 50 years ago.  To celebrate the occasion, new releases of the album are being unveiled, many offering a very intimate look at the creative process by giving us early “takes” of the many songs.  These collections, it should be noted, will be going for some mighty big bucks, should you want them.

As I was perusing the internet, I stumbled upon this fascinating article by Annie Zaleski for Salon.com which posits the following question:

Sgt. Pepper’s at 50: Was It A Concept Album Or An Identity Crisis?

Many view Sgt. Pepper’s as a concept album -one of the first ever made- but the reality is that apart from the opening chorus, the follow up song A Little Help From My Friends, and the closing chorus, there is little that makes this a concept album, at least when compared to works such as Pink Floyds’ The Wall or The Who’s Tommy or David Bowie’s 1. Outside, each of which tell a story through their songs.

The author of the article points out that John Lennon noted as much, stating his contributions/songs on the album could have easily been in any of the other Beatles albums.

And yet…

Far be it for me to argue with one of the people/musical geniuses behind the album, but I feel Sgt. Pepper’s is a concept album.

A very loose one, I grant you, but a concept album nonetheless.

It starts as a concert, then we have each of the fictional members of the band give us their song, culminating in the concluding Sgt. Pepper’s reprise and, because we’re getting a concert, of course it’s followed by an encore (A Day In The Life).

Unlike other concept albums, there is no “big” overarching story here, except for the ones within each of the individual songs themselves, yet to me Sgt. Pepper’s is ultimately a role-playing concert performed by The Beatles, who by that point could no longer tour.  They couldn’t do so because audiences simply drowned out their music/singing and things were too dangerous.

So with Sgt. Pepper’s, The Beatles offer a simple, elegant concept, that of them doing a concert and giving fans their latest songs.

A simple idea, but a concept nonetheless.

The album, in my opinion, deserves very much being considered one of The Beatles’ greatest albums, even if one may like Revolver a little bit more… 😉