The Beatles

In 2003, Rolling Stones magazine conducted a survey to find out what were the 500 greatest albums of all time. When the results were finalised, sitting at number was none other than The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Quite an accolade for an album that has sold only 39 million copies, yet the album became more than just another LP, it became the defining album for the emerging psychedelic rock style; the sound track to the summer of love; and has been recognised by critics as one of the most influential albums of all time.

The conception of Sgt. Pepper's came about shortly after The Beatles quit touring, and decided to focus on recording new music in the now famous Abbey Road studio 2. With no more touring commitments, The Beatles were able to focus all their energy into the album. The name Sgt. Pepper's came about by change after Paul had misheard someone talking about salt and pepper. From this Paul had the idea that it would be interesting for the Beatles to pretend to be this Lonely Hearts Club Band and let this fictional band do the touring instead. Paul is quoted as saying that the album was to be a "tour for the mind". Everything on the album had to be new adopting these new personas would help give the band a new slant on their music.

Sgt. Pepper's was the bands 8th studio album in 4 years. Now to us this seems like they were churning out albums at lightning speed but as the 10 months between Revolver and Pepper's past, critics and fans were beginning to worry whether the band could top the success of Revolver. The recording of Sgt. Pepper's began in November 1966 and finally finished in April 1967. Recording sessions usually never started before 7:00p.m and usually didn't finish until 7:00a.m. In total about 130 days and 400 hours went to the recording of Sgt. Pepper's. On June 1 1967 Sgt. Pepper's was released and the music world has never been the same since. The album was a commercial success spending an initial run of 148 weeks in the charts with 27 weeks at number1 in the UK. In the US the album remained at number 1 for 15 of its initial 88 week run. At the 1968 Grammys, the album scooped four awards including the coveted Album of the Year. Strangely, the greatest album of all time didn't have a single number one on it. Penney Lane was supposed to have been released on the album but was released as a single in order to fill the 10 month gap between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's. Needless to say Penny Lane did in fact reach the number one spot.

Now the type and style of music on the album was varied to say the least. In recording the album the band began making use of orchestras, hired musicians and innovative production techniques. The album incorporates elements of genres such as music hall, jazz, rock and roll, western classical, and traditional Indian music; its lyrics deal particularly with themes of childhood and everyday life. One song in particular, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, was actually band from airplay on the BBC due to its apparent references to drug use. This claim was denied by Lennon who said that the song was in fact inspired by a picture drawn by his son Julian, yet in a recent interview McCartney gave the impression that it