Today we have The Rolling Stones' eighth studio album Their Satanic Majesties Request. Released in late 1967, the album shows a heavy influence from the psychedelic music of the year, particularly influenced by the Beatles's magnum opus Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Because of this obvious influence from the music to the cover, the album received mixed to negative reviews upon release. In retrospective reviews, the album has fared better, although it is generally considered a step down from their best material and the members of the Stones generally denounce it. While Brian Jones would appear on nearly every track of their next album, Beggars Banquet, due to his worsening drug addiction, it would be the last album with significant creative input from him.
While often well-written and occasionally Richards has some worthwhile guitar moments, each song also has some avante-garde instrumentation, an unnecessary exotic instrument, or irksome vocal effects that make it impossible to enjoy completely from start to finish, with the exception of "She's a Rainbow." "In Another Land" has ruinous vocal distortion, "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)" is only admirable from a distance, and "2000 Man" was ineptly mixed. At best, this is a nice, final showcase of Brian Jones's multi-instrumental talent and his contributions to the band. C+
