MiG SHORTS: Is Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band a 'concept album'?

Have you ever debated whether The Beatles' legendary album 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' could be considered a 'concept album'? The McCartney In Goal team debate this often asked question. Plus, Brett shares a fascinating familial connection to a World War II veteran that may well have inspired the album's title (spoiler alert: it didn't). 

Even if 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' does not strictly adhere to the definition of a concept album, its thematic coherence and psychedelic atmosphere is undeniable. Enjoy!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, let's do round one.
That makes sense.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Round one Round one of the qualifiers.
He's Sergeant Pepper's LonelyHearts Club Band.
Yes, the main one versusSergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band.
The reprise slash reprise,depending on how you feel about
saying it.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Brett, oh wow, I mean , obviously you've got both
Sergeant Pepper's there.
I just want to say from apersonal point of view, I'm
holding up my I don't know ifyou can see that, unfortunately.
Can you see that that's mygranddad's release book from the
Second World War and he was.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm listening to this on my phone.
No, you can't, and obviously no, I'm not actually listening to
it, but imagine in your ears iscoming in a soldier's release
book from 1946, second World War.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
He fought for six years in the Second World War
and he was called Dennis Pepperand he was a Lieutenant Sergeant
, so he was the originalSergeant Pepper.
So this is yeah, granddadPepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
, as it's known in my family.
And these so it's a verybeautiful kind of pointing title
for albums.
Both of these songs are aboutlaunching to this album.

(01:01):
Yeah it's about my granddad.
It's fantastic.
But this is a launch off pointinto this album which is, as
we've discussed earlier, aniconic 60s moment.
This is one of the QuinterCentral 60s albums, is it not?

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, yeah, should we talk themes, since we're doing
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely HeartsClub Band.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Why not?
Let's do it?
Yes, let's theme it up.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Is it a?

Speaker 3 (01:26):
concept album.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
No, no, I mean I'll well, I'm going to say yes, oh
good, I'm going to say yes, butsome debates but the concept is
not about all about SergeantPepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
, but the concept is probablylike an eccentric musical
Britishness that they kind ofpull together which draws on

(01:48):
multi strands of culture,british culture and society.
There isn't a common storythread that makes it a concept
album but they bring togetherall of these British cultural
and musical influences.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, I mean I'm being churlish when I say no,
because I don't think anything.
Thinks a concept album.
What is a concept albumactually?
Can you name me a concept albumthat?
Doesn't come out when youreally interrogate it, it's not
by Prog Rock Band.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, what I was about to say.
Yes, in Prog Rock there areplenty of them.
I mean, you know it's like this.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
I mean I mean no one listens to Prog Rock.
No one listens to it anymore.
The 70s are gone.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
But I mean I mean all right to be clear.
I listened to some Rush stuffthe other day where there's a
song called the Trees on a Rushalbum and then two albums later,
there's a follow up song aboutwhat happened to the Trees
because people wanted to followup on the stories.
You know, I mean, it's likethis, you know this, this, this,
lots of in Prog you will findconcept albums that are tight.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, with sequels, it seems With sequels.
Yeah, yeah, so so projects thatthen mention the sequel or
something you know crosspollinate.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
But you can give Sergeant Pepper a pass because
it was the first time anyone wasdoing something like that.
But I think in terms of what'scome afterwards in concept album
, it is very, very loose yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Yeah so no, in the sense of, like when the Prog
Rock bands were took it to theXenith of, and these ultimate
degrees of making it super.
Concept T, as they're havingsequels three albums later.
I think it's.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
I think it's theme, thematically and and vibe wise
it's nicely linked, in the sameway that lots of albums are just
collections of songs andnothing else.
Sergeant Pepper has a niceunifying vibe and sort of old
psychedelic sort of atmosphereto it, which is lovely, but it's
what I would call a conceptalbum.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
No, not particularly, but I said good, so it sounds
like we've all agreed it's aconcept album.
Then that's what I'm hearing.
We'll let you have it.
We'll let you have it.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to change my vote
to yes, it is a concept album.
Can we now continue with thepodcast?
I'm thanking that.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Fantastic Two to one.
It goes through the next roundof is it or?
Is it not a concept album?