10 Strange Music Albums By Mainstream Acts

A contentious choice, here, but in context Sgt. Pepper's easily qualifies for this list. With Revolver, The Beatles' had shown signs of their ambition and direction. The sweeping strings and unconventional subject matter of Eleanor Rigby, the off-kilter harmonies of I Want To Tell You and the decidedly experimental, Tomorrow Never Knows pointed the way to what was to come.

Still, however, that album also included the relatively straightforward sweet pop ballads and swinging rockers which had made the band famous. Sgt. Pepper's marked a huge step forward in every way. The group let loose with a wild melange of druggy, quirky pop, tape-manipulations, Eastern sounds and unrestrained imagination, clustered around the high (pun intended) point of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

The extended LSD trip which The Beatles had started with Revolver found its pinnacle with Sgt. Pepper's. It may be difficult to appreciate now, but not all listeners were willing to join the Fab Four on their cosmic journey. From this moment on, the band would never be regarded in quite the same light. Sgt. Pepper's may be an artistic success, but it arguably also set the timer running on the group's life-span.