<P> In February 1967, after recording the title track "Sgt . Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", McCartney suggested that the Beatles should release an entire album representing a performance by the fictional Sgt . Pepper band . This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment musically . During the recording sessions, the band furthered the technological progression they had made with their 1966 album Revolver . Knowing they would not have to perform the tracks live, they adopted an experimental approach to composition and recording on songs such as "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life". Producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick helped realise the group's ideas by approaching the studio as an instrument, applying orchestral overdubs, sound effects and other methods of tape manipulation . Recording was completed on 21 April 1967 . The cover, depicting the Beatles posing in front of a tableau of celebrities and historical figures, was designed by the British pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth . </P> <P> Sgt . Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the use of extended form in popular music while continuing the artistic maturation seen on the Beatles' preceding releases . It is described as one of the first art rock LPs, aiding the development of progressive rock, and is credited with marking the beginning of the album era . An important work of British psychedelia, the album incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant - garde, and Western and Indian classical music . In 2003, the Library of Congress placed Sgt . Pepper in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". That year, Rolling Stone ranked it number one in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". As of 2011, it has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best - selling albums . Professor Kevin J. Dettmar, writing in the Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, described it as "the most important and influential rock and roll album ever recorded". </P> <P>--Paul McCartney </P> <P> By 1966, the Beatles had grown weary of live performance . In John Lennon's opinion, they could "send out four waxworks...and that would satisfy the crowds . Beatles concerts are nothing to do with music anymore . They're just bloody tribal rites ." In June that year, two days after finishing the album Revolver, the group set off for a tour that started in Germany . While in Hamburg they received an anonymous telegram stating: "Do not go to Tokyo . Your life is in danger". The threat was taken seriously in light of the controversy surrounding the tour among Japan's religious and conservative groups, with particular opposition to the Beatles' planned performances at the sacred Nippon Budokan arena . As an added precaution, 35,000 police were mobilised and tasked with protecting the group, who were transported from hotels to concert venues in armoured vehicles . The polite and restrained Japanese audiences shocked the band, because the absence of screaming fans allowed them to hear how poor their live performances had become . By the time that they arrived in the Philippines, where they were threatened and manhandled by its citizens for not visiting the First Lady Imelda Marcos, the group had grown unhappy with their manager, Brian Epstein, for insisting on what they regarded as an exhausting and demoralising itinerary . </P>

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