In his feature article on '' Sgt. Pepper '' s 40th anniversary , for '' Mojo '' , John Harris said that , such was its " seismic and universal " impact and subsequent identification with 1967 , a " fashion for trashing " the album had become commonplace . He attributed this to iconoclasm , as successive generations identified the album with baby boomers ' retreat into " nostalgia-tinged smugness " during the 1970s , combined with a general distaste for McCartney following Lennon 's murder in 1980 . Citing its absence from the '' NME '' s best-albums list in 1985 after it had topped the magazine 's previous poll , in 1974 , Harris said that its lack of critical favour in the UK was such that it had become " the most '' underrated '' album of all time " , adding : Though by no means universally degraded ... '' Sgt. Pepper '' had taken a protracted beating from which it has perhaps yet to fully recover . Regularly challenged and overtaken in the Best Beatle Album stakes by '' Revolver '' , the White Album , even '' Rubber Soul '' , it suffered more than any Beatles record from the long fall-out after punk , and even the band 's Britpop-era revival mysteriously failed to improve its standing . Writing in the 2004 edition of '' The Rolling Stone Album Guide '' , Rob Sheffield described '' Sgt. Pepper '' as " a revelation of how far artists could go in a recording studio with only four tracks , plenty of imagination , and a drug or two " , but also " a masterwork of sonics , not songwriting " . In his review for Rough Guides , Chris Ingham said that , while the album 's detractors typically bemoan McCartney 's dominant role , the reliance on studio innovation , and the unconvincing concept , " as long as there are pairs of ears willing to disappear under headphones for forty minutes ... '' Sgt. Pepper '' will continue to cast its considerable spell . " Among reviews of the 2009 remastered album , Neil McCormick of '' The Daily Telegraph '' wrote : " It is impossible to overstate its impact : from a contemporary Sixties perspective it was utterly mind-blowing and original . Looking back from a point when its sonic innovations have been integrated into the mainstream , it remains a wonky , colourful and wildly improbable pop classic , although a little slighter and less cohesive than it may have seemed at the time . " Mark Kemp , writing for '' Paste '' , said the album was a " blast of avant-rock genius " but also " one of rock 's most overrated albums "
Lennon 's murder
Murder of John Lennon
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band