ChiO wrote:Out of morbid curiosity: How does Sgt Pepper's.... hold up for folks, especially for those of you who bought it in 1967?
Ten years later for my discovery of the album, but I think
Pepper is probably the most dated of The Beatles' albums, with the exception of
Please Please Me (or, in the U.S.
The Early Beatles). But
Pepper is still the landmark album, and whenever a band makes a change in their "sound" on a particular album, it's frequently referred to as their
Pepper. (The Stones, obviously, was
Their Satanic Majesties Request; Dylan's, arguably, is
The Basement Tapes ; Elvis'
Imperial Bedroom; R.E.M.
Automatic For the People, etc.)
The album still works for me as a whole, but it is very much '67. I would include
Magical Mystery Tour in the "dated '67-ish sound, too. But I'll humbly disagree with our esteemed Dewey, for I think many tracks from
Pepper, when heard out of the context of the album, hold up very well and feel less dated than the album does as a whole. I completely agree about
Getting Better, it's opening chords work great when producing mix-tapes (or spinning tunes for the college radio station), but
Fixing a Hole also works,
She's Leaving Home (schmaltzy as the arrangement is),
Rita and
Sixty-Four, too. To me, it's Lennon's tunes that are the most dated. They are the most psychedelic in production, which firmly sets their time.
I Am the Walrus and to a lesser extent
Strawberry Fields do, also. (I find it fascinating that, as a writer, Lennon went from the introspection of
I'm a Looser, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, In My Life, etc., to then write the more lyrically and musically, let's say,
ambitious, tunes like
Walrus and
Lucy in the Sky, to then returning to the personal,
I'm So Tired; Everybody's Got Something to Hideā¦; Don't Let Me Down; Ballad of John and Yoko, etc., not to mention his solo works.--BTW--I love Lennon's psychedelic songs, many of them being all-time favs. Co Co Ca Choo!)
While I love
Forever Changes, it really feels '67 to me, too. Other '67 albums that feel dated to me include: The Moody Blues--
Days of Futures Passed; The Airplanes'
Surrealistic Pillow (what a great album); Van Morrisons'
Blowin' Your Mind; Buffalo Springfields' debut. But Dylan, for me, from
Bringing It All Home on, is timeless. The first four "folk" albums, including one of his best,
Freewheelin', date quite a bit to me, however. (Although it's interesting how many of the songs seem to be about current events.
Of the Capital albums,
Beatles VI is one of my favorites (
Bad Boy--the U.S. gets a Beatle song that isn't released in Great Britain until '66!/
I Don't Want To Spoil the Party/Dizzy Miss Lizzie and the wonderful 3-point harmony in the solemn
Yes It Is are among my favorite earlier tunes). I also really love
Yesterday and Today (The U.S. gets an early peek at three
Revolver tracks, plus great "leftover" tracks from
Rubber Soul and
Help!)