25 Albums I Can't Live Without: #20

The Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

This might be the most controversial choice on my entire list. After all, “Sgt. Pepper’s” constantly makes lists of the best albums in rock history — often topping such lists.

It’s not that I don’t like “Sgt. Pepper’s.” I love it, but I like other Beatles records better. Besides, this is a list of albums by their significance to me, and ranking them that way doesn’t diminish the impact or artistry of this album.

And it’s definitely art. The concept, which doesn’t exactly carry through in the songs, and the packaging intend to suggest an Edwardian-era music-hall band, which we meet in the title track:

The only songs on the album that suggest that era are the twisted circus call of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and the love song “When I’m Sixty-four”:

Even though Paul McCartney was the creative force behind the album, which contrasts with the reputation that John Lennon was the most creative Beatle, all four of them get their chance to shine.

Ringo Starr portrays the lead singer of the Lonely Hearts Club Band:

George Harrison gets to go mystical and Indian:

Lennon sings a song based on a cereal commercial:

And McCartney breaks hearts with a gorgeous, poignant story song that captured the restlessness of certain portions of the Boomer generation:

It all culminates in the epic closing track, “A Day in the Life,” which is a sublime work of art as both a rock song and a classical piece.

That’s “Sgt. Pepper’s” in a nutshell. It’s challenging and creative, and it’s quintessentially Beatles. It’s a snapshot of its times, yet it’s timeless.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and you’ll discover the two Beatles albums that mean even more to me that “Sgt. Pepper’s.”

Photo credit: Kreepin Deth, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons