Hi friends, welcome to Peanut Gallery. Every Wednesday here at MusicOlogy, we'll be presenting two classic albums from the same iconic band or artist and asking you... the smart, savvy, blindingly attractive Ology readers... to debate amongst yourselves over which record reigns supreme. Individual songs, concepts, music videos, lyrics, album artwork—everything's on the table here, folks. Give us your best argument in the comments section below—we'll announce the winner at the beginning of next week's Peanut Gallery face-off.
Last Week's Winner:
In honor of the late Adam Yauch, we pitted two of the Beastie Boys' masterworks, Licensed To Ill and Paul's Boutique, up against each other in a battle to the... well, not death, but something definitely painful. With 3 of the 5 total votes (are we really that burned out on Beastie Boys already?), Paul's Boutique and its sampladelic collages narrowly beat out the group's party-hearty debut. Guessing the rest of you are all massive (and vehemently non-vocal) Ill Communication fans. Point taken.
This Week's Match-Up:
The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and The White Album (1968).
Generally considered the greatest rock album of all time, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been the benchmark for progressive, forward thinking popular music even since. Conceived by Paul McCartney as a thematic means of escaping the creative pressure of being The Beatles, the album is a still-mind-bending whirlwind of styles, moods and tones encompassing rock, vaudeville, chamber pop, psychedelia, classical music and seemingly everything else under the sun. Its fearless arrangements, revolutionary four-track recording techniques, and (most importantly) brilliant songs provide only part of the explanation why, after 45 years, Sgt. Pepper still captures the ears, hearts, minds and imaginations of music lovers everywhere.
Classic Songs: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"/"With A Little Help From My Friends," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite," "When I’m Sixty-Four" and "A Day In The Life."
Recorded at a tumultuous (to say the least) period in the band's career, 1968's The Beatles (better known to sentient organisms everywhere as The White Album) delved even further into experimentalism as John and Paul began to diverge even further as songwriters, collaborators and even friends. The double album is still a glorious mess, touching upon music hall, heavy metal, country/folk, Beach Boys parody and even musique concrète. What it lacks in stylistic coherence, the album more than makes up for in brilliant songwriting and sonic daring—The White Album's adventurous sprawl set the template for every double-album (classic or otherwise) recorded in its wake.
Classic Songs: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," "Blackbird," "Birthday" and "Helter Skelter."
Okay, ladies and gentlemen... it's in your hands now. Hit up the comments section below and let us know why Sgt. Pepper or The White Album should be definitively and unquestionably declared the greatest Beatles album of them all.
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David Graham:
I find that more and more I think of Pepper as A Day in the Life and a bunch of novelty songs. And production techniques - techniques that, while certainly innovative at the time, today sort of have the smell of parlor tricks. Much of it seems kind of enervated to me now.
The White Album often has the sound of a great band playing live in the studio. This is almost laughable because we know that these sessions were recorded in 3 separate studios. But, to me, the feel is there.
I don't get this feeling from Pepper. The whole thing sounds layered and assembled.
My vote might be different if, as was once planned, Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane had been included. To me, these are first-rate songs, something that, except for A Day in the Life, Pepper lacks.
So, even though it contains my all-time least favorite Beatles song (Don't Pass Me By), I vote White Album.
May 16, 2012
Evan McMurry:
There's no such thing as an underrated Beatles song. By sheer force of their excessive popularity, every Beatles song is overrated.
May 16, 2012
Emily Cheever:
The White Album! What is wrong with you people?! Bungalow bill? Happiness is a warm gun? HELTER SKELTER? Ugh. plus it's technically not called "the white album" it's just The Beatles. God I'm annoying.
Anthony Schneck:
The Sergeant, for sure. "She's Leaving Home" is WILDLY underrated.
May 16, 2012
Chelsea Davison:
I definitely vote for The White Album. It's just got such range and is a whole journey in and of itself. It rocks, it gets weird, it croons, it gets poppy, and even in places it gets very delicate. It's brilliant! Plus, "Rocky Raccoon" and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" are two of my all time favorite songs so I have to vote for it!
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