Sgt Pepper Skewered (The book sounds good too - I must try and track it down)
Although I've never thought Sgt Pepper's to be all that great, this review was breathtakingly stupid on so many levels. I mean, it is first year literature student 101 that the voice of a narrator in any work doesn't represent the voice of the artist, and you can't equate the two. Also, this reviewer seems not to understand the concept of irony. The music-hall theme, such as it is, of Sgt Pepper's is heavily ironic. How can anyone not see that? Also, the mention of Pet Sounds is irrelevant, since Zappa also created an earlier multitrack concept album, Freak Out, which IIRC was earlier than Pet Sounds. <br> <br> The fab four came up with some good tunes, but to try to spin them as establishment and backward-looking is plainly asinine. This reviewer is just trying to slag off the Beatles in a hip revisionist way, if you ask me, but they sucketh.
Chy
if you read the frank zappa autobiography, he says that they just went into the studio and started recording songs until someone told them to stop. hardly a "concept" album. Whatever that means. Zappa did think it was the first rock double album. Anyway, who the hell takes Zappas music seriously?
john Weeks
Well, lots of people take Zappa's music very seriously indeed - though probably not Freak Out. He wrote some clever, hard stuff as well.<br> <br> I hate Pet Sounds - a terrible record.<br> <br> Sgt Pepper is hard to think about - I got all the hype so am indoctrinated in some way. However, I don;t actually like most of the songs on it at all and it certainly isn't a psychedelic classic (though I don't think anyone ever claimed it was). The Beatles' later work is vastly over-rated : Revolver is their best album by far.
Lindsay
Agreed on Revolver.
Chy