I think because of the massive amount of attention that is given to this album’s so called “historical significance” that sometimes not enough attention is given to the music itself. I hope to correct that imbalance with this review which focuses entirely on the album’s 13 tracks.

01. “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” – The album starts off with this brilliant Paul McCartney rocker (he wrote it, sang lead, and even played the lead guitar part) which really sets the mood (and the “concept”) for the entire album. I love how the song intersperses pretty heavy rock with the somewhat ridiculous horn sections. The imagination displayed in this music is really overwhelming. I can imagine people who have grown up listening to the drab obvious music of “rock bands” like Nickelback being very confused by what’s going on in this music as they’ve never really been introduced to imagination or creativity in music before. But if they can get over that initial confusion, I think they will begin to understand the possibilities of what music can be.

02. “With a Little Help from my Friends” – I much prefer this original Beatles version over the completely over the top Joe Cocker version that is probably more famous at this point (mostly because it was used as the theme song to the very popular Wonder Years TV show.) To me it’s the perfect song for Ringo to sing and of course John & Paul wrote it specifically for Ringo. It fits like a glove. What a brilliant song.

03. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” – Now that the original mono version is available easily (with the release of The Beatles in Mono Box Set) it’s great to be able to hear what this album sounds like in mono (how it was “meant to be heard” originally.) And the heavy vocal effects on this song is probably one of the more interesting things about the mono mixes for me.

04. “Getting Better” – This song so perfectly encapsulates the sound of this album and what it’s all about to me.

05. “Fixing a Hole” – Tracks 4 through 6 are a beautiful slice of McCartney magic and I think this is actually my favorite of that great trio of songs.

06. “She’s Leaving Home” – More great lyrics from Paul McCartney. What a gorgeous song too. Paul was definitely at the top of his game in 1967.

07. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” – What a deliciously weird song this is. It’s brilliant how “far out” this album takes you. It’s like a journey to different parts of the world (and certainly there is time traveling involved as well.)

08. “Within You Without You” – This is a song that gets a lot of hate by a lot of people and that makes me sad. It makes me feel like they don’t really “get it.” This song is an essential part of what makes this album so brilliant.

09. “When I’m 64″ – Check out this song sequencing. We went from a 1800s circus to India to do some meditating and now we’re enjoying ourselves this very tongue in cheek music hall number. So many differnet styles of music are explored on this album, and they are all done brilliantly.

11. “Lovely Rita” – I have to admit that tracks #10 and #11 are probably my least favorites on the album. But considering I quite like both of those tracks, that says a lot about how much I love this album.

11. “Good Morning Good Morning” – My least favorite song on the album. Yet I still think it’s pretty great at times and it has some very interesting elements. I think that says a lot about how much I love this album.

12. “Sgt. Pepper’s (Reprise)” – Rocks harder than the first version. I love how it ties the album together and it’s brilliant how this closing version is “looser” just like a band may be looser at the end of a real show. And that’s what the concept of this album was all about after all. The idea was that this album would “go on tour” rather than the band themselves.

13. “A Day in the Life” – In my opinion this is the best song ever written. An absolutely epic way to end the album.

The Beatles Mono Box Set includes the mono version of this amazing album. The Beatles Stereo Box Set includes every album The Beatles released in the UK in amazing remastered stereo.