The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Album, Term Paper Example

Introduction

The legendary band called Beatles’ has several remarkable points of achievements during their career’s peak in the music industry. It could not be denied that somehow, this all-male band set a trend of excellence and highly profiting album releases that has long been considered as an institution in the worldwide music industry. One of the most celebrated albums released by the band was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Released in 1967, it remained for at least 27 straight weeks at the top of the UK album chart. Another remarkable achievement of this album included being at the top of the US billboard 200 for at least 15 weeks[1]. Remarked to be among the greatest albums of all time, this release from the Beatles proves to be a very remarkable success for the entire production. What made this album as successful as it has become? The presentation herein shall better discuss the different matters concerned in the success that was gained by this album and the efforts that the team of producers have imposed to make sure that this album makes the hit list.

About the Album

As mentioned earlier, the album has been published in June 1967. It was recorded between the period of December 1966 towards April 1967[2]. Produced by George Martin, it has been recorded at EMI and Regent Sound Studios in London. Recognized under the rock genre, it has been expected by the producer that this album would make a hit, but he never expected it would go as far as it did. The album included the songs Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds as well as the hit single A Day in the Life[3].

Winning four Grammy Awards, this commercial success in the music industry marked the history of development among those who wanted to push excellence and profitability as part of the industry’s reputation. This album has become a legacy of the music excellence and the trend of development that Beatles has set up during their time that lasts up to the current years of the surviving music industry.

A Brief Backgrounder

The development of this album has been given way at the onset of the end of the band’s world tour. With a two-month break from the tour, the band members got set in finding the different ways of responding to the need of using their time. They had placed their attention in several personal interests. In the process of finding their own ways, McCartney developed the idea for creating a specific album that would represent their members individually based on what they believe in and what they want to engage in. The Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album specifically introduces each of the band members in a more direct approach, separating their styles making their presentation to be more on the alternative side[4].

This is the reason why the first songs that were included in the album presented the different issues of childhood and the everyday life activities of each of the band members. These songs included Penney lane which described how the childhood of some of the band members were constantly realized through vivid memories. Several other singles that were included in the album were specifically made as part of the legacy of the band to the music industry. It could be noted though that some songs that were created for the album did not make the release.

This album, being considered as an exceptional piece of music-art from the Beatles, was expected to make a definite impact on how the people recognizes and remembers them as pillars of popular music production. To do this, the band utilized new modular effects that made the musical arrangement more definitive in the aim of responding to the taste of the audience they hope to affect. The idea behind the album was to create something that could continuously go on tour for them. It is because of this that they do not want to go within what was the regular form of musical arrangement that they were using. This is how the concept of approaching the matter in a new process of creating a new musical arrangement and fully experimenting with what they know of and what they still want to explore in their capabilities to produce good music came into a reality.

TO create a more believable pattern, it was McCartney’s idea to develop new characters that would represent them as musicians hence passing on their characteristic to each of the member. The members of the band in the album represented their alter ego hence giving them the freedom to tour further even when they have already found particular lifestyles they would like to settle with.  In some of the songs, they somehow represented their real individualities. Given that they create the lyrics of the songs, they let the audience see who they are behind the tours and behind the gleaming cameras that captured them at their best.

Overall Reaction

Being “stars” or “celebrities”, the Beatles were forced to wear a façade that their primary audiences would likely love to appreciate. However, beyond the glamour of being a star, each member of the group has his own dilemmas that were covered up by make ups and stage lightings. Releasing the album was like releasing themselves into the open. Using fictitious names for the band members, they showed to their audiences how they lived everyday life as providers of entertainment imposing how hard it was for them to show nothing was wrong when certain matters are already eating them up. Somehow, the sense of freedom the album provides the musicians with allows them to see things differently hence making a definite presentation of themselves to their market.

One remarkable element that made their album both a phenomena and a controversial piece is the fact that it tackles much about LSD (a kind of psychedelic drug) and how it particularly makes life’s challenges easier to bear. This was perhaps the reason why there were some music stations that banned particular songs from their album [but never the entirety of the selections in the released album].  It could be analyzed then that as the Beatles tried to create a new being as representations of themselves in the album, they still cannot deny that these individuals in the fictitious band showed the world who they really were, what they really want and what they really do. Somehow, going overboard of presenting themselves transparently made it hard for some of the people releasing and approving music singles for release to figure out how to release the singles they created that may or may not have double meanings that could disturb the listeners. Considerably, it should be realized that sometimes, even with the glamour and fortune that they have, artists like the Beatles’ remain grounded to the desire of being private and at this point, it was the overexposure that has placed the band members into depression which they may never present in person, but which they cannot deny in their songs.

References

Lewisohn, Mark (1996). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chancellor Press.

Hornsby, Jeremy (1994). All You Need Is Ears. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

“UK Albums Chart“. The Official Charts Company. October 8, 2011 ^ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles”. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.

[1]”UK Albums Chart”. The Official Charts Company. October 8, 2011 ^ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles”. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.

[2]Lewisohn, Mark (1996). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chancellor Press.

[3]Lewisohn, Mark (1996). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chancellor Press.

[4]Hornsby, Jeremy (1994). All You Need Is Ears. New York: St. Martin’s Press.