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I’m on kind of a Beatles kick after seeing Love in Las Vegas, so I think I’ll plow through all the Beatles albums and post some thoughts. Since the songs are so familiar to me, I’ll rate each from one to five stars, and generate an amusing “Best Beatles Songs” list.

My ratings may seem a bit harsh - but they’re relative to other Beatles songs - two or three star ratings appear often because the four and five star songs are so incredible.

This album shows up on so many “best albums of all time” lists that it’s a cliche. I have to admit there’s a temptation to give these songs less credit just to seem contrary, but I can’t. These tunes are awesome, and I still listen to them occasionally. Several are pop music milestones. There are no two or one star songs this time out.

Today, it seems like a quaint idea that repeating a song twice and claiming a “theme” for an album was revolutionary. But it was, in the sense that for the first time the entire collection was meant to be taken in as a whole in one sitting, from start to finish, and “experienced” as a complete work of art: not just a collection of hit and miss singles.

This was also a climactic moment for the Beatles as a group. Through the preceding albums, they were honing their songwriting craft to the point where covers were no longer necessary. The songwriting styles of John, Paul, and George were diverging into identifiable individuals. And lastly, their mastery of the recording studio peaks and this album represents a group pushing the technology available to the limit. The diverging styles alone would have destroyed a lesser band, but the Beatles were somehow able to make it work (for a while).

Add to this potent mix the revolutionary feeling of the sixties, where the social structure was changing because of the Beatles’ generation, and you have a vibrant culmination of events that gives this album even more social importance that can’t be accurately measured by my measly 5 star system.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

= 5 stars

This song still holds up really well for me, as it advertises the fun and sonic wonder to come. From the grungy guitars to the ring-master ranting of Paul, this is musical history.

With A Little Help From My Friends

= 5 stars

At last Ringo gets to sing a song that isn’t a throwaway. Second to Yellow Submarine this paints him in a flattering light, where he fills the persona of “Billy Shears” from the album opener. I love the call and response from the background vocals.

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

= 5 stars

John sings about a picture his son Julian drew but there are enough drug-inspired references to fill a rowboat. John’s other-worldy imagery is awesome, and it’s imaginatively recorded to boot. The chorus and verse are almost two different songs, and the strange sped up and slowed down vocals compliment the out of body experience.

Getting Better

= 5 stars

I adore this song for a few reasons: it’s a true Paul and John duet, second, the lyrics had a strange, unsettling adultness about it. It alternates visions of cheer with tragedy, moving from childhood to adulthood and talking about wife-beating. And of course there’s John’s classic, cynical response to Paul’s “getting better all the time”: “Can’t get much worse…”.

Fixing A Hole

= 3 stars

The first bump on the album, this song drags when I listen to it now. It’s the average Paul noodling around that similarly plagues songs like Another Girl. Its saving graces are the harpsichord and some seesaw guitar acrobatics.

She’s Leaving Home

= 4 stars

Definitely not 5 stars, but a bit more than three. It’s a bit dull and boring, but tells a pleasant enough story with some amusing counter-balance from John’s part - he sounds like an old parent who stayed up too late waiting for his naughty daughter to come home.

Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite

= 5 stars

This is Beatles nirvana. The surreal Lennon imagery finds an appropriate outlet in the vision of a scary circus, where nothing is as it seems. The move to a waltz rhythm that John had been toying with comes to its fullest fruition. The crazy tape loops are more expertly used here than they were in Tomorrow Never Knows or would be in Revolution Number 9.

Within You Without You

= 3 stars

While I appreciate George’s full-on immersion in all things India to create this song, it’s rather dull.

When I’m Sixty Four

= 4 stars

Paul continues on his kick of trying to write the next big show tune. I like this song well enough, it’s cute, and its placement after the George Indian buffet is quite exquisite. I’m just not in love with it any more to give it 5 stars.

Lovely Rita

= 3 stars

Paul falters a bit with this basically great song, complete with a daffy comb solo by John, but what kills it for me is the meandering coda part, with grunts and groans drenched in reverb.

Good Morning Good Morning

= 5 stars

I always loved this tune, with John moaning about how sunny mornings can drive you nuts if you’re in a bad mood. It’s kind of like a snide response to Paul’s Good Day, Sunshine from Revolver. I like the snarly guitar that responds to John’s sarcastic “time for tea and Meet the Wife.” The controlled chaos ensues, leading us into the next song.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

= 5 stars

This an up-tempo repeat of the album opener. It has a bit more drive and force, and just when it might be getting old, cascades into the final song.

A Day In The Life

= 5 stars

If I had to name one perfect Beatles song that captures the whole of their legacy, this is it. It’s mostly a John song with a Paul middle. The two sections are separated by a stunning full orchestra pitch-rise and some Lennon wailing. The John section is personal, wistful, and has some beautiful melodies and stunning high notes. By contrast, the Paul section is a typically cornball vaudeville theme, but it’s kept relatively restrained and benefits immensely from what surrounds it, including some neat Ringo drums. This is perhaps the Beatles’ finest moment - one could almost say everything in their career builds up until this moment, and it’s all downhill following the crashing, iconic piano chord. I only ask one question: Where’s George?

Wikipedia: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

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