Sgt. Pepper’s some of The Beatles‘ simplest material. Considering they were writing songs like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I Am the Walrus” around this time, this album seems far below what they’re capable of. There are a couple of brilliant songs on here, like “With a Little Help From My Friends.”

“A Day in the Life” is also quite good and garners much acclaim, but I’m sad to say I’m not as impressed by it. The Lennon/McCartney pieces do not fit together well at all, and the fact they’re segued by the piano crash instead of more subtly flowing into each other makes the line between them that much more obvious. Even curiouser, people call Sgt. Pepper’s a masterpiece of psychedelia. Maybe they’re getting this confused with Revolver.