I'm glad to give five stars to an album the critics despise. (I also liked Self Portrait by Dylan, another critics' target.) Satanic Majesties (and a couple of singles of the period -- Jack Flash/Child of the Moon, We Love You/Dandelion) does a beautiful job of filtering psychedelia through the jaded tough-guy rhythm 'n' blues of the Stones. Conceptually, the whole album hangs together pretty well (distance, alienation, death, sleep, street life, etc., intruding into the flower power cocoon), and underneath are some great riffs from Keith (e.g., Citadel). The real point, however, is that here the Stones were willing to experiment, even if they were accused of being derivative or misguided. They experimented even more successfully the next time with Beggar's Banquet before the perfection of Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile gave them a successful formula (throw in a countryish tune, a blues/soul remake, etc.) that unfortunately dampened their willingness to take these kinds of risks again.

Although regarded by many as the Rolling Stones' psychedelic skeleton in the closet, "Their Satanic Majesties Request" is actually VERY different from the album it is ENDLESSLY and unfavorably compared to, the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." "Satanic Majesties" was NEVER meant to be anything other than a parody of the whole nonsense 60's message of drug-drenched peace, love, and harmony. Most revelatory on this unfairly criticized album is the work of Brian Jones.
Brian warned his bandmates that psychedelia and the whole psychedelic movement would be over soon and to spend any length of time on an album celebrating what amounted to nothing more than a misguided fad could be detrimental. Brian's sage warnings went unheeded. Brian played very little guitar on the album, apart from some excellent electric guitar flourishes on "2000 Man." Instead he played the Mellotron (a type of analogue synthesizer), an electronic instrument panel, harp, sitar, keyboards, woodwinds of all kinds, and just about anything else on the album that the listener picks up in the layers of sounds. Mick Jagger once said, "just about everything you hear on that album is Brian."
It took time for people to recognize that this was the Stones literally making fun of the whole psychedelic era. "2000 Man" is almost prophetic, with children of the year 2000 asking their baby boomer relatives these pointed lyrics from the song: "oh daddy is your brain still flashing, like it did when you were young? Or did you come down crashing, seeing all the things you done? Oh, it's a big put-on."
And for those of us that are the generation that came on the scene immediately AFTER the baby boomers (this writer was born in 1967), it is INDEED a big put on, and the Stones knew this in 1967.
This isn't "Sgt. Pepper." The Stones didn't care if "She's Leaving Home" or not. They were unlikely to attend a benefit for Mister Kite, and the heaviness of "Satanic Majesties" does make "When I'm 64" sound exactly like what John Lennon said it was, a nice little song "for the grannies to dig."
Love this album. Hate this album. But whatever you do, DON'T compare it to Sgt. Pepper. There were never two albums more different from each other. Pepper is brilliant, no doubt about it, but for my generation it is BEYOND over-rated. Feel what you want about "Their Satanic Majesties Request," but do NOT underestimate it.

This album is the dividing line for Stones fans, you either love it or hate it. First, let's put things in context: In 1966 the Beach Boys Pet Sounds was regarded as the first rock concept LP, and Paul McCartney freely admits it inspired him to come up with the idea for Sgt.Pepper,released in June 1967. After that, EVERYONES' next LP was a concept LP, it was a trend in music at the time that couldn't be denied.The next year saw The Who Sell Out and The Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow, and everyone else followed the 'trippy songs -running together-aimless jam-loosely based on a theme' bandwagon. 'Satanic Majesties' sounds like a musical continuation of Between the Buttons, with the kaleidoscope turned a notch or two through LSD, and the upheavals of Mick, Keith and Brians' drug busts.There are great songs,and not so great songs- pretty standard for any Stones LP.But overall it sounds scattered with pockets of brilliance. Yep, Sgt.Pepper outclassed this thing by miles; but by mid 1968 when realism had become the leading trend, for my money Beggars Banquet whups some serious ass on the White Album, the same sort of fragmented-out of their element-love or hate-dividing line album for Beatles fans.

The Stones arrived relatively late on the psychedelic scene and in 1967, by which time the Beatles set the standard with Sgt. Pepper and the Beach Boys offered their own sonic experiment Pet Sounds. Meanwhile Their Satanic Majesties Request may still be the most universally panned album by a band in its creative prime. In the mid 60's the Stones followed musical trends more than establishing them, only incorporating sitars and orchestral arrangements after the Beatles and Phil Specter had done it all better. Critics probably interpreted Satanic Majesties as a clumsy copycat effort, proving that Mick and Keith uncomfortably kept up with the trends rather than setting or adding to them.

In that sense, this album is a mess. After it, they followed with the outstanding Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers, leaving psychedelia behind and never looking back. But if you listen to Satanic Majesties alongside Magical Mystery Tour or even Sgt. Pepper, you find a devilishly amusing sendup of the genre. (Perhaps "Their Satanic Majesties'" request was to debunk the love affair with all the artistic indulgence.) She's A Rainbow sounds forgettably silly until you reach the bridge in what sounds like Brian Jones sawing a violin in half with the bow followed by ridiculous thumping percussions. Other songs, like 2000 Light Years from Home, with its futuristic keyboard collage, still stands up, even stripped of its context.

After a retreat with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Lennon and McCartney abruptly disowned psychedelia in favor of harder hitting and folksy tunes, as if they had been swindled. Satanic Majesties suggests the Stones already knew something.

The much maligned Their Satanic Majesties Request is The Rolling Stones obvious response to The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's album. The band dived headfirst into the psychedelic sounds of 1967's Summer of Love and the album sounds like no other in their catalog. Despite the criticism and attempt to keep pace with the Beatles (including the original 3-D cover), the album contains some excellent songs. The album opens up strong with the overture "Sing This All Together" with it's horns and sound effects and then slides right into the grinding guitar of "The Citadel". Bill Wyman's only lead vocal on a Stone's album is "In Another Land" and upon listening to it you can hear why it was his first and last. He has a tremendously thin voice and he makes Ringo Starr sound like Pavarotti. "2000 Man" is fast-paced and along with "2000 Light Years From Home" are the best songs on the album. The reprise of "Sing This All Together" is a major misstep and is a really bad song, but they pick up again with the flowery "She's A Rainbow". This album has taken an undue amount of heat, but as the years have passed, it should be looked at for what it is, a solid foray into the psychedelic arena by one of the best bands of all-time.