My thoughts on why 'Revolver' has eclipsed 'Pepper' as the Beatles' masterpiece

Revolver is certainly more musical than Sgt Pepper... focused more on the songs and less on twisting knobs in the studio.

 

I find Lucy to be extremely average, decent verses but a horrible clod hopping chorus.

 

Just remember this old post of mine.

Once, a friend asked me why Sgt Pepper is the considered the best album ever made. Because it took us Yanks (well, those of us who didn't look in the import bins) 21 years to hear Revolver as the Fab Four and George Martin intended...and then we got the stereo mix.

 

I go back and forth between the two records. Just when I think I've got it figured out, I take another listen and, well...

 

Sgt Pepper songs have a extraordinary level, songwriting-wise.
It's an objective fact

 

Well, like it or not. It works better later in the album, where you can build up the the expectations. It should match the build up in the orchestra section in the last song. slowly building up to the big psychedelia experience then the come down of "She's leaving Home"

 

Many Beatle enthusiasts may think Revolver is better but - recent marketers must think the opposite.

Why was there no 50th anniversary set/remix/etc... for Revolver, if it is currently “approved” as the better album now? (it appears White Album will get a 50th) If it is not seen as “dated” for the more recent generations – then one would think that there would have been an anniversary set for Revolver – as it may have sold well, following that logic.

It seems to me that the younger generation (my kids included – between ages 21-24) are mostly only interested in White, Abbey Road, and Let It Be albums.

 

I hadn't considered that!

 

Revolver by a mile for me, and I like SP. But Abbey Road, White Album, and the U.S. Second Album are my favorites.

 

That wasn't really my intention with this thread. It was more of an observation of how the perception of art can change with the passage of time.

 

Not that I think they are the best, but probably Hard Day's Night and Help

Tim

 

Pepper, while not a true concept album in the classical sense, is a unique departure for the Beatles. They did something on it they hadn't done before;
they tried to make an album not as the Beatles, but as different people .. as Billy Shears and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band .. a brilliant approach because they actually strove to do something that did not sound like the Beatles, at which they half-succeeded in that respect. I remember hearing it the first time on the week it was released and remember thinking that it sounded only vaguely like the band that made Hard Days Night in parts and nothing like the same band at other parts. They allowed the psychedelic experience to transmogrify their invention so thoroughly that they succeeded in impacting the pop landscape in a profound way.

In spite of this recognition, and to the point of the OP, I too find that Revolver
has managed to age a bit better. Perhaps they just made better songs when they were focused on being the Beatles and not something else again. Or perhaps it just comes down to the times we're in now versus how we viewed it from a bygone and radically different paradigm.

 

I'm definitely a John guy on this forum. There is a better balance of John and Paul songs on Revolver than Sgt. Peppers but I still think Sgt. Peppers is the better album. It has such a brilliant album continuity. Maybe the best album continuity that I have ever heard. I absolutely love John's contributions to Paul's songs on Sgt. Peppers.

 

And then there’s most of side two of ‘Help!’

 

Oh I get that, you were more observing on why, and that is fine. In fact there is nothing wrong with ranking etc, it is when people are incapable of seeing the difference between opinion and fact that things can sometimes get heated.

It is interesting how peoples' tastes change over time.

 

Pepper plays better now than it did in the late 80s.....as "the greatest album ever".

I'd never heard the Yesterday and Today album as a kid in the 80s. I bought the US Revolver on vinyl in 1986 (and ignored the two John cuts as noise).

I still remember seeing the Cd in 87 with two tracks I'd never heard of "Doctor Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" (i knew "I'm Only Sleeping" from Rarities). I was completely blown away by "And Your Bird Can Sing"......I couldn't believe how good it was.......and also how great those two other John songs were that I had previously ignored a few years prior.......It just sounded so contemporary in 1987/88 (even a little ahead of its time).

 

True...but it works.

 

In what way? What has changed?

 

That's certainly not the case with my daughter. She's "gucci" with pretty much all eras of The Beatles.

That said, up through Rubber Soul you basically have oldies Beatles. Stuff that was AM pop. Revolver through MMT was psychedelic Beatles. The last three albums are FM rock Beatles. Songs that fit classic rock playlists better and sound less anachronistic when programmed side by side with Bob Seger or Rush.

 

Love You To - love me while you can before I'm a dead old man
Here There...-true love never dies
Yellow Sub - In the town where I was born lived a man....lived, not lives, he's DEAD LOL
And Your Bird....-when your bird is broken....the bird is DEAD

 

The interesting thing is that if Revolver has somehow surpassed Pepper, the sales themselves at large have not reflected that. At least not continuously.

I remember as recent as the 2009 remasters that (almost) every week, the three top sellers were typically Abbey Road, The Beatles and Sgt Pepper's. Often the latter two would take turns at #2. The only reason I remember this is I had a subscription to Billboard Magazine at that time and I would always glance at the Billboard 200 weekly chart. Virtually all of the individual 2009 albums charted every week for a good half year.

Certainly it could be argued that some of the sales were a result of newcomers or casual fans and they were just buying the few most iconic Beatles albums they knew of. Yet whether true or not, the bottom line is that at least a majority of the time, Pepper was being "consumed" more than Revolver (even recently).

Even at this very moment, I see that Amazon's sales of the 2009 remaster for Pepper and the 2017 2 disc deluxe is still surprisingly high in sales! Around #300-450, respectively, in all of "Music". That's of course just Amazon. And just a physical sample.

Online or streaming data may indeed reflect currently higher preference or sales for Revolver. I have not checked.

And I don't even have a bet in this race! As stated, I think both are significant. I do feel Pepper and The White Album are the two highest peaks of the band, thus the reason I often discuss and lavish more praise/counter-arguments on Pepper's behalf. But both albums have continuously risen for me.

I just thought it was key to remember that our own perceptions, observations, or personal feelings about an album's stature or popularity are just that. It isn't always reflective of what people are literally consuming or appreciating at large.

 

Maybe me......I always felt a bit let down by side 2 (until A Day in the Life).....I appreciate it more now.....melody.......and as an overall achievement......it's aged well actually, imo.

 

I consider it one of Lennon's and The Beatles greatest songs. The imagery and dreamlike quality of the verses combined with the power of the chorus are just perfect. I think the opening four songs of Pepper are the best they ever released. It is the middle that drags for me.

 

Can't compare one is The Beatles, the other's Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts's club band.

 

Maybe it's just because I'm such a fan of McCartney or of melody (note both start with M) , but I'm also one of a few (I sometimes feel) that thinks the album really gets going with the trio of Getting Better, Fixing A Hole, and She's Leaving Home (Mono).

I know that the first trio of songs get the most acclaim. And rightfully so, since they lay the framework of "the show", but I always felt that to turn this album off after Lucy is to miss some of the finest and most critical tracks on the whole album.