Like many here, I am sure, The Beatles, and this album in particular, form a significant part of our musical education. We are intimately familiar with the content, the history and the legend and we are all, for our own very personal reasons, deeply protective of it. As a young boy in the early 1970s, all I listened to were Beatles albums and Beatles singles. I did this whilst reading through my mother's Beatles scrapbooks or her collection Beatles Monthly magazines. I literally ate, drank and slept The Beatles. And for a young lad, the depth, colour and range of content, both audio and visual, of Sgt. Pepper made it an instant favourite.
I don't honesty recall whether those first listens were of the mono or stereo version, but I do recall, like many of us did back then, that when we finally bought our own, inevitably stereo, copies, we were hugely disappointed by the awful stereo mix and the hard panning.
I'd always maintained that a 5.1 mix would be something to behold and might be the best album to showcase the format. All of those layers and parts, the detail and potential for movement. So, when this was announced, I, like most, was as giddy as a school girl!
What I've discovered in the intervening years is that the mono mix is indeed the de facto benchmark for this album. When I heard it again in recent years, I was blown away by it, such was my familiarity with the awful 2 channel version. I could not believe the fact that one channel sounded so much more detailed than two, that the separation of the elements was all being handled in a single channel. And I am sure that this has hung heavy in the mind of Giles & Sam as they assembled these new versions.
Put simply, both the new stereo and 5.1 mixes serve as expansions of the mono mix. Instead of reinterpreting the content completely, using the latest technology, they have basically stated, in their work if not directly in words, that Sgt. Pepper is a mono album. It was created to be a mono album and that is simply a matter of fact. To divert from that vision would be an insult to the work of John, Paul, George, Ringo, George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Richard Lush, et al. It is my opinion that Giles set out to create the stereo and 5.1 mixes that the band would've wanted had the formats existed in the way they do now back then. So there is no wild movement or daring placement of instruments. There is no attempt to re-envision what its creators had made originally. It is a highly respectful mix that more than anything else, uses the format to deliver the mono vision across 6 speakers.
The improved formats and techniques allow ALL of the detail to shine through and breathe without destroying the essence of everything that Pepper is.
The inclusion of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever is the cherry on top of the icing on this cake. The documentary is informative, if a little outdated. It would've been nice to have had a more modern take on the album, but I'll take what I can get. The promo films are neither here nor there if you already own the 1+ package.
As for the rest of the box content, I think it is very tastefully done. The book is superb, as is the faux album sleeve that houses all the discs. The ephemera is nice to have but will probably always remain at the bottom of the box. The box itself is a lovely thing and will sit nicely on my vinyl racks.
I know some are disappointed that greater risks weren't taken with the mix and that there is a certain lack of 'adventure', but I don't think that was the remit. They were never going to make EVERYONE happy. Just look at how polarising the Pet Sounds 5.1 mix is! But this, in my very humble opinion, was the best approach and it just gets better with each listen.
A solid 10 from me.
