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Some albums are more important than the music on them, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of them. Ambitious, unified, as engaging as it is challenging, Sgt. Pepper defined our expectations of what a great album should be. In that regard, it is more significant than ever now that, sadly, the era of the album may be coming to a close. There are Beatles albums I prefer, and albums by other artists that I regard as greater artistic achievements. But without the frame that Sgt. Pepper provides, none of those albums would be as meaningful to me. And then there are my transporting memories of how it felt to hear it playing everywhere, always, during the Summer of Love. That's why whenever I'm asked to rank albums, I rank Sgt. Pepper number one. I have to be loyal to those feelings. And, less personally, the very question about albums would be meaningless without that one.

Allan Kozinn, classical music critic, New York Times

A lot of people prefer "Revolver" and "Abbey Road" to "Sgt. Pepper," and they may have a point: the electronic experimentation that animates "Pepper" really began with "Revolver," and although "Pepper" is often described as a "concept album" side two of "Abbey Road" is more musically cohesive. But if I had to pick a Beatles album as a favorite, "Pepper" would be it. For one thing, it includes some brilliant music - "A Day in the Life," for starters, as well as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," McCartney's "Fixing a Hole" and "Getting Better" (just listen to those bass lines) and although it took a while to warm to it, Harrison's "Within You Without You." Beyond that, McCartney's idea of making the album as if it was a show by another band was perfect for a group that had just abandoned the stage and was trying to shed its image as a teen heart-throb band. And has any album, pop or classical, been released in a more vivid, endlessly fascinating jacket?

Tim Page, chief classical music critic, Washington Post

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is one of those pieces of art that comes with a legend attached, like "Ulysses" or "Guernica," and to suggest that none of them reflect their creators at their very best is akin to heresy. Still, I much prefer "Help!" or "Revolver" to "Sgt. Pepper" for listening pleasure -- the rock is harder, the tunes are punchier, and there is a exuberant freshness in these albums that makes much of the Beatles' later work seem over-marinated. Moreover, "She's Leaving Home" and "When I'm Sixty-Four," while charming songs in and of themselves, now come across as direct precursors to "Honey Pie," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "Silly Love Songs," "Listen to What The Man Said" and other addlepated horrors that Paul McCartney would inflict upon us in years to come.