10 Perfect Beatles Songs With No Flaws
2. A Day in the Life - Sgt. Peppers
As soon as the Beatles quit the touring life, they had started to make the studio their unofficial playground. Being inspired by much more than your traditional rock and roll, Sgt. Peppers was the launching pad into psychedelic rock, as the band tried out different recording techniques and genres altogether, from George Harrison's investment in Eastern musical textures to Paul McCartney's old time music like When I'm 64. The Beatles were still a unit, and the Lennon/McCartney team made something unparalleled with A Day in the Life.
Framing the whole song as a typical day for your average citizen, Lennon and McCartney's take on this character is like night and day. Originally intended as a John song describing the weariness of modern life, the entire track cuts out in the middle to give way to Paul's section, where he has a pep in his step and talks about finding his way downtown and having a smoke up on the roof.
The writing itself was one piece of the puzzle, but the real game changer was the new approach to recording, bringing in different orchestral instruments to create an insane crescendo in the middle of the song, making you feel like you're on the verge of madness in the headphones. By the time that they hit the final piano chord, the entire landscape of rock and roll had started to change. We lived in a different musical world after this, and it was up to the rest of the music industry to follow in their lead.