Soundtrack
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
[Polydor]
Rating: 2.2
At one time or another in our lives, we've all witnessed a band doing a really
bad cover of a song we love. It's a terrible thing, isn't it? Especially
when it's done by a band you like. Well, the soundtrack to the 1978 non-classic
film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (starring Peter
Frampton and the Bee Gees in lieu of the much more talented Beatles) is 80
straight minutes of that, except you probably don't even like the people
covering the songs. "Oh, come on," you might say. "What's wrong with the
Bee Gees doing verbatim versions of Beatles songs?" And you might not.
At the very least, the album's got a few interesting moments (which isn't
to say they're enjoyable ones). Earth, Wind and Fire funk up "Got To Get
You Into My Life;" George Burns (yes, the dead guy), who was cast in the
film as "Mr. Kite," comes to life on "Fixing A Hole;" Steve "The Jerk"
Martin goes way overboard with enthusiasm on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer;"
Aerosmith do their thing to "Come Together," and the vocoder-driven "She's
Leaving Home" is just completely insane. But the album's weirdest moment by
far comes with "Believe," which pairs Alice Cooper with the Bee Gees in
a moment of total weirdness.
For those of you out to collect the weirdest music you can find (yeah, you
guys that own albums of choirs from schools for "special children" and William
Shatner records), this would make a kooky addition. For those of you looking
for artistic integrity and quality, you'll probably want to look elsewhere.
-Ryan Schreiber