Strawberry Fields Forever

Stuffology is off to the circus as we bring the first side of Sgt Pepper to a close with Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite. Does the song provide a suitable conlusion to the first half of the album? What's Beowulf got to do with anything? And is the song appropriately evocative?   Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology Stuffology Bingo!: Bingo   Produced By: JG McQuarrie and without any patronising handholding from AI, thankyouverymuch

It's a reflective time on Stuffology (well, as reflective as we ever get at any rate) as it's time to deal with drama of She's Leaving Home. Is the song really a kitchen-sink drama? How does the change of producer affect things? And does the song manage to land its melancholy tone? Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology Stuffology Bingo!: Bingo   Produced By: JG McQuarrie, and not AI. Not once, not ever, as Dubstar once said.

Despite the announcement at the end of last episode (er, sorry about that - JG), it is, in fact, time for us to be Fixing a Hole. Was JG's missing of the track indicative of its overall quality? How does it thematically connect to the rest of the album? And is it really about drugs or just faffing about at home?   Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology Stuffology Bingo!: Bingo   Produced By: JG McQuarrie, a few random plugins and software, and absolutely not AI.  

As we would also hope for the podcast, things are, this week, Getting Better. Does the song manage to improve upon its predecessor? Is it just (just!) an album track? And how much of one episode can be spent on cover versions?   Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology Stuffology Bingo!: Bingo   Produced By: JG McQuarrie without the need of artificial intervention, thankyouverymuch

The podcast has survived the trials and tribulations of With a Little Help... so it's time to move on to some acid-imagery with Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (or is it just a child's painting that inspired it? Take a guess). Is the song really as significant as some will tell you? Does the lyric actually stand up to any kind of analysis? And is it an easy song to cover? Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology Stuffology Bingo!: Bingo   Produced By: JG McQuarrie, and AI can go fuck itself

Well, it's time for the episode that we have been trailing for literally years at this point - the potentially podcast-ending, friendship-ruining, reality-splitting With A Little Help From My Friends. Who really carries the best version of the song? Beyond "other people doing it", is there that much to analyse about the track itself? And how much of the actual song is the actual song anyway? Plus we dip into the postbag for some kind words and also.... drumroll please... Stuffology Bingo! Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology Stuffology Bingo!: Bingo   Produced By: arguing over a song on Sgt Pepper, and JG McQuarrie

While this podcast might feel that it's been running for considerably longer than twenty years, we can assure you it's been substantially less as we move on to a new album and song, both in the shape of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Does the song function as an effective prelude to the album? How many kids TV references can be shoehorned into one episode? And just how long can it take to get round to talking about the actual song? Plus we dip into the mailbag for a little bit of correspondence.   Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology   Produced By: JG McQuarrie with a broken arm, so I hope you're all grateful

As we flip the single from Strawberry Fields to Penny Lane, there is much to consider. Is this as good as, or potentially even better than, Strawberry Fields? Does it manage the same deftness? And is the video any good? Alternative Penny Lane video   Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology   Produced By: JG McQuarrie and not AI, in case there was any doubt

Songs don't come much bigger or more important than Strawberry Fields Forever so it's time to tackle one of the all-timers this episode. Does the song really deserve its reputation as a psychedelic classic for the ages? Do the lyrics manage to convey what Lennon's actually aiming for? And do the rest of the band's contributions help or hinder the song's reputation? And perhaps most importantly of all, can Andrew sketch JG over the course of this episode?    Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology   Produced By: JG McQuarrie

It's time to sum up another album and take a look at Revolver as whole, rather than a series of parts. Does the album deserve the oft-sited "best of all time" monicker? How does it compare to the likes of Pet Sounds? And is it even faintly representative of what was going on in the charts at the time? (Apologies for the quality of Andrew's audio - thanks to technical issues, he's a lot less clear than usual - JG) Rankings: Track-by-track Ranking eMail: [email protected] Instagram: beatlesstuffology JG's Blog: Judgementally Reviews… Andrew’s Blog: Stuffology   Produced By: JG McQuarrie and not AI. You can kind of tell.