Their Satanic Majesties Request

Steve (April 5, 2009)

The argument is often made that the Stones were out of their element when it came to trying to make psychedelic music and that THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST was nothing more than a Beatles rip-off. I disagree. Other than the album artwork, which was extremely busy and coming in the wake of the Beatles very busy PEPPER, the Stones brand of psychedelic music sounded nothing like the Beatles brand. And not only that, the band were not strangers to making psychedelic music, having already had several tunes that are considered such: "Paint It,Black", "Have You Seen Your Mother,Baby...","19th Nervous Breakdown", "Mothers Little Helper" and "Dandelion" to name but a few.

Other than "Sing This All Together (see what happens)" which at almost eight minutes goes on a tad too long, the album is a very enjoyable listen in the Rolling Stones catalog, and a couple of songs aren't really psychedelic at all. "2000 Man" and "2000 Light Years From Home" are two of the strongest cuts on the album and "She's A Rainbow", which IS a psychedelic tune and one of the better ones from that era, is another standout.

It isn't so much a case of the Stones doing a spacey album, finding it isn't their bag and moving on, as much as the fact that such music was never a mainstay of most rock groups at that time. And, coming in early 1968, the main initial thrust of psychedelic music was past anyway. A very good recording from the Stones and not deserving of its weak reputation among some reviewers.

Phil Knipe (February 27, 2006)

Well fellas, I was there when this was released, and though it\'s hardly typical of the Stones, it\'s certainly typical of the heady, highly experimental music of the period. It sure made an impression on me and my young \'groover\' mates at the time! Although I would have to say it\'s not one of the Stones strongest efforts, overall it has a certain charm, and does feature a handful of fine numbers.
\'Citadel\' rocks pretty hard, \'2000 Light Years From Home\' has an effectively eery, spacey sound, and the single \'She\'s A Rainbow\' features a lovely melody and delightful piano (courtesy of Nicky Hopkins?)Personally, I don\'t think Sgt Pepper sounds all that great nowadays, even though I suppose I\'d have to grudgingly admit that it is a stronger effort than \'Majesties\'.

Kyle (January 2, 2006)

I own it, and there just trying to cash in on the \"psychadelic\" era. Its not them, they were not meant to play this music, they were meant to play to hard rock, so I guess complete copy off is a bad saying. But it sucks none the less.

daniel (May 7, 2005)

man i don't care what you say. this is a GOOD ALBUM. the only way it copies sgt. pepper, is in the trippy album cover. thats it. give it a listen and see for yourself.

kyle (May 1, 2005)

complete copy off of sgt.pepper