10 Strange Music Albums By Mainstream Acts
7. Their Satanic Majesties Request - The Rolling Stones
Six months after The Beatles unveiled Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Rolling Stones released what remains the most divisive album in their discography. With 1967's Their Satanic Majesties Request, the group plunged headlong into psychedelic waters. Extensive use of sound affects, strings, mellotron and unusual rhythms peppered this fascinating, if flawed, set of songs, which map out territory the Stones' would never again revisit.
It's easy to see why this album was so harshly judged upon on its initial release. Unlike The Beatles, who had shown signs of their journey towards the outer reaches on their '66 album, Revolver, Satanic Majesties marked an abrupt and un-heralded change in direction for Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company. Accusations of bandwagon-jumping abounded. Worse, still, the Stones style and image just didn't seem to fit with the music.
The results are decidedly mixed. Opener, Sing This All Together, comes across as an almost cringe-inducing pastiche. The whimsical Gomper and On With The Show feel equally forced. In Another Land is almost embarrassing. There are some jewels though – 2000 Light Years From Home is genuinely exciting, ditto the muscular, swaggering Citadel.