The genius of the Beatles in their "kiddy pop" years was that their songs were just so incredibly layered and beautifully crafted. The way they handled harmonies and melodies was just brilliant and in the 60's it was something else to have such complex and brilliantly composed and arranged songs. That is the reason their pop albums still stand strong among their later more progressive work.

As for Sgt. Pepper, I'm sorry but it is simply one of, if not the greatest album of all time(the only other album that'd come close is Abbey Road or Dark Side). It was brilliant in the 60's and it is brilliant now for the simple reason that it pushed the envelope. To me, Sgt. Pepper was the first great "Rock" album. The sheer genius of the songs and the juxtaposition between Lennon and McCartney's songwriting is another reason for its greatness in my opinion. Not only that, it contains probably the greatest song of all time, A Day In The Life. The album is such a great mix of psychadellia and rock, the likes of which had never been seen before. It ventured into a musical landscape which was unheard of at the time. The distorted guitars, the orchestral arrangements, the stereo imaging and Indian instruments are just some of the innovations on the album. If you're a guitar player and you've attemp to play the songs from this album or any of their work, you'll see a whole new layer to the music which makes you appreciate the work of the Beatles and this record even more. Which is one of the reasons this record is cited as an influence by so many countless musicians. Apart from that I'm pretty sure this one album has influenced more pop culture, music, fashion, etc. than all the Stones' work combined.

The thing with the Stones was that they never pushed the envelope. The Beatles were always innovating and trying out new things whereas I've not heard the Stones do anything like that. Now that isn't a slight on them but this innovation is what makes the Beatles a far superior band. They started off as a pop/rock n roll band and over the years evolved into the pioneers of rock. And the number of genres they've ventured into is quite astounding and in my opinion they've never experimented just for the sake of it, they've always nailed whatever genre they attempted and pioneered some of the genres on the way, be it pop, folk-rock, experimental music, rock or psychedelia. I find it ammusing that the Stones had the image of rebels whereas the Beatles were the so called good guys. Musically speaking it was quite the opposite, The Beatles were most definitely the rebels. So the Beatles did more for music in the 10 years they were together than the Rolling Stones have done for the 50+ years they've been together in my opinion.

I understand not everyone has to "get" the Beatles but dismissing them outright is just being daft.

Out of interest, how many people think Sgt Pepper is their best album?

With Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane on, it'd've been a shoo-in, but as is, nah, not for me. I'd rate Abbey Road, White Album and Revolver ahead of it. 

Out of interest, how many people think Sgt Pepper is their best album?