It was 44 years ago that...


Parlaphone released the Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.
What other albums can be considered having as much impact, actually altering the direction of a music genre?
montejay
It's Lola's 41st birthday, and the entire "...versus Powerman and the Moneygoround" lp still stands up very well for its era and all time as a rock album.
Miles Davis did it twice with "Kind of Blue" introducing modal jazz, then "In a silent Way" introducing electric Jazz.

Miles basically invented jazz fusion, which open the door for all those groups that came after like Johnny Mac, Mahavishu, Return to Forever, Weather Report, Brand X... JLP.

So Miles really heavily influenced Rock and Jazz.. from Hendrix to Maynard F.
The Doors(st)album has influenced alternative music from the late 70's thru the 80's. It even influenced grunge 20+ years after it's release.
Since someone eventually got around to Pet Sounds, I'll add a single (rather than an LP):

Chuck Berry's 1955 release, "Maybellene", at which time - it could be argued - Rock n Roll is born.

Marty
One could also argue that Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" released in 1955 impacted rock and roll much more.

Little Richard began recording in 1951, 4 years earlier than Berry.

He is widely recognized as the performer who transitioned rhythm and blues to rock and roll.
Well if you wanna play that game,Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets started the RocknRoll revues that started carrying the sound through out the USA. RocknRoll in the south started breaking down racial barriers in the south.
But to get back to the original posters question
Srgt. Pepper was using new ways to record @ the time,heavily influenced by drug use which was taking off in the summer of love.
Bitches Brew fused Jazz and electric instruments in a raw nervy way making most jazz musicians sit up and take notice.
Jimi Hendrix "Are you Experienced

I remember buying it the first week it was out. Used it to terrorize my parents along with The Velvet Underground.
-Hendrix Are You Experienced = Global change in electric guitar playing, (not just in rock).
-1st Velvet Underground laid down a foundation that hundreds built on, (Bowie, Roxy Music, Sonic Youth...).
-1st Black Sabbath, grudgingly must admit had a big hand in establishing metal.
-1st Van Halen, busted open another smaller door.
-Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica, helped shape a wide range of punkers, outside rockers and jazzers who were looking to push the edge.
-Sex Pistols Nevermind the Bollocks, 1st Cars and Nirvana Nevermind showed that there was still some flavor left in what appeared to be stale chewing gum.
"Parlaphone released the Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'"

A day that shall live in Infamy!
How about In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by the Iron Butterfly?
With the long 17 + Min jam. Sorta changed the 2-3 minute standard at at he time.
"How about In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by the Iron Butterfly"

Yeah, I was a fan at the time, what was I thinking, I wasn't, it was that plodding, pulsating beat. Listening now the 17 minute repetiveness is a simple reminder of how often mediocrity rises above true creativity. Wonder what some of the pre-eminent drummers of that era thought about the long version? Catchy but hardly altering or influential except to the teen boys that bought it at the time, I have since changed my mind?:)
Ozzy--My memory is fading, but I think the record that started the longer versions of songs was probably Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". When it first was played on AM radio they only would play the first two verses (fitting barely into the usual 3 minute maximum), even though the single went for the full four verses/6 minutes. I remember one Saturday afternoon listening to Dan Ingram on WABC in NY (who was also an FM jock, with a jazz show), and in the last hour he was on he played the entire record. Shortly after that I started to hear the whole record played, though I think it may have been because about then I started listening to FM.

There were other long songs around that era--Cream's "Toad", the Doors' "Light My Fire" (FM version), "The End", "Soft Parade", etc., Serpent Power's "Endless Tunnel" (any of you actually remember that one?), and a lot more--as well as Iron Butterfly, so I guess I don't really think of them as starting the genre.
Sorry Ozzy, I originally missed your real point. I responded because quite recently, actually the first time in years, maybe 30 or more, I heard this piece, owned the album at one time, long since gone and forgotten.

As far as long play it seems to me the Doors 6 minute version of "Light My Fire", the FM version that you mention Rcprince, is the earliest tune beyond the 2-3 minute standard of the era that was actually mixed in with the standard version on AM. Most of the others you mention were limited to WMMR, Philadelphia, the FM rock station at that time.
I agree that there were many other artist that released long versions of there hit songs.
I guess I used the Iron Butterfly tune because it took up one entire side of the LP. And that drum solo played with headphones on along with some extra smokin spirts made that song one that was quite unique.
It also seemed that after that record, alot of the bands were adding drum solos to there live concerts.
Oh, to be young again.
For me, Beatles music has no meaning other than to sing along in the car because the radio played them so often. Though I always thought their covers were interesting. I guess it was in 1968? or 1969? that the story that Paul was dead circulated and we combed the covers for hints about his death. The radio played alot of Beatles, but for the Battle of the Bands or the Friday or the Saturday night dances at the local fire halls or high schools, it was garage band fever. Louie,Louie, Gloria, I Can Give You Everything, Just Like Me, Satisfaction, Evil hearted You, I'm a Man, House of the Rising Sun. Lead singer had a tambourine, every band virtually had a Hammond B3 or Conn organ. And somebody played a mean harmonica on I'm a Man. Danced and partied all night long. The only time we heard Beatles music was usually a slow number for the girls. Of course we did not mind that much, we got to grope a little and get a little giggle out of the girls. ( Or if someone got a little too frisky a slap in the face. Are you reading this Charlie? You got us kicked out of sooooo many dances!!)

So what does this mean? The Great Divide. Music as Art or Music as Self-Identification. If I wanted Music as Self-Identification I always came down on the side of the Rolling Stones. Let's party all day and all night. If I wanted Music as Art I always sided with my Dad's music of Coltrane and Davis. But later I found the passion of Schubert as my artistic muse. So the Beatles where on neither side of the Divide. Not as self identification and not nearly as a fulfilling aesthetic experience as Music as Art than even a minor composer like Spohr.

I still collect 45s from the 60s of obscure garage bands with fervor and listen to Schubert when I want music as art as an aesthetic experience.
Jeremy72,
Nirvana was influential when regarding the media(radio-tv-press). Musicians were much less influenced by Nirvana. More talented bandes like Pearl Jam-Soundgarden-The Pixies-Mudhoney-COC and Alice in Chains were much more influential with nu-metal and mainstream rock from the late 90's to even current bands. Kurt Cobain's death made it convenient for the media to make Nirvana larger then life!
Nevermind had pop hooks and a unique intoxicating quality that had a powerful effect on a lot of listeners. The record didn't have a huge budget and got big based mostly on consumer demand. Nirvana was larger than life before Cobain's death. Musical "talent" isn't some easily quantifiable attribute that's accurately measured w/ one yardstick or one persons opinion. Attempting to rank the best moments of of the Pixies, The Melvins, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Nirvana and Alice in Chains is pretty much a clueless turd in the punchbowl exercise.