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1[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/satanic_majesties_7851.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:320: ''"Why don't we sing this song all together? / Open our heads, let the pictures come / And if we close all our eyes together / Then we will see where we all come from."'']]
3
4''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' is the sixth studio album (eighth American album) by Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, released in 1967. The album cover is well-known for being one of the very first 3D album covers. ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' remains contested, as it's the Stones at their most [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]]. It was recorded during a tumultuous time in the band's history, when Music/MickJagger, Music/BrianJones and Music/KeithRichards were under threat of prison charges for drug possession. Bill Wyman even got one of his songs ("In Another Land") on the album, and it's the only Stones song with Wyman on lead vocals.
5
6Another reason the album got mixed reviews at the time was because it followed in the wake of Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' earlier that year and many saw it as a blatant rip-off, both in music as well as design. Music/JohnLennon expressed this opinion too in a 1971 interview, also saying that "She's a Rainbow" was an imitation of "All You Need Is Love" from ''Music/MagicalMysteryTour''. Both Lennon and Music/PaulMcCartney provided uncredited backing vocals on some of the songs from this album. Also, the Stones themselves saluted ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' on the album cover and graphic artist Michael Cooper designed the covers of both albums, thus unfavourable comparisons would be unavoidable.
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8While its generally not remembered for being among the Stones finest albums - several of the songs have become highly popular, including Mick Jagger's own favourites - "She's a Rainbow" and "2000 Light Years from Home", while "Citadel", "In Another Land" and "2000 Man" are also well regarded today.
9
10----
11!! Tracklist:
12
13[[AC: Side One]]
14
15# "Sing This All Together" (3:46)
16# "Citadel" (2:50)
17# "In Another Land" (3:15)
18# "2000 Man" (3:07)
19# "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)" (8:33)
20
21[[AC: Side Two]]
22
23# "She's a Rainbow" (4:35)
24# "The Lantern" (4:24)
25# "Gomper" (5:08)
26# "2000 Light Years from Home" (4:45)
27# "On with the Show" (3:40)
28
29----
30!!Principal Members:
31
32* Music/MickJagger - lead vocals, percussion, maracas
33* Music/BrianJones - guitar, mellotron, keyboard, flute, brass, saxophone, dulcimer, recorder, percussion, organ
34* Music/KeithRichards - guitar, vocals
35* Charlie Watts - drums, percussion, tabla
36* Bill Wyman - bass, backing and lead vocals, piano, percussion
37
38----
39!! Satanic Tropes:
40* AlbumFiller: Music/KeithRichards described the album as "a lot of crap", while Jagger had the opinion:
41--> ''There's a lot of rubbish on "Satanic Majesties". Just too much time on our hands, too many drugs, no producer to tell us, "Enough already, thank you very much, now can we just get on with this song?" Anyone let loose in the studio will produce stuff like that. There was simply too much hanging around. It's like believing everything you do is great and not having any editing''.
42* AvantGardeMusic: This is the most psychedelic and experimental album the normally not so avant-garde band ever recorded. As a result the general audience don't like it that much, but fans of experimentation like it a lot more.
43* {{Bowdlerize}}: The album was released in UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica and the Philippines as ''The Stones Are Rolling'', because of the word "Satanic" in the title.
44* ConceptAlbum: Like many PsychedelicRock albums of the time.
45* CradleOfLoneliness: "2000 Light Years from Home"
46--> ''It's so very lonely, you're six hundred light years from home''
47* CrowdSong: "Sing This All Together", the opening track, is sang with a crowd of people.
48* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover by Michael Cooper, who also designed ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''. The collage inside the sleeve features photos cut from Renaissance and baroque paintings, as well as Arabic and Hindu art.
49* DreamWithinADream: "In Another Land", according to Bill Wyman:
50--> ''The idea for the song is about this guy who wakes up from a dream and finds himself in another dream''
51* EpicRocking: The 8:33 "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)".
52* FaceOnTheCover: The band, seated in costumes.
53* ForDoomTheBellTolls: "The Lantern" opens with church bells resounding.
54* GratuitousFrench: "On with the Show"
55--> ''We'll bid you all a fine adieu''
56* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: The inclusion of the word "Satanic" caused some controversy.
57* InTheStyleOf: "On with the Show" is done in the style of an old-fashioned English music hall, with sound effects of an attending crowd.
58* LastNoteNightmare: "She's a Rainbow" has a good driving beat, Mick sings the praises of a girl who dresses up in colours, underlined with a cheerfully inane 'la la la' chorus, he alternates verses with a sprightly Baroque piano playing the tune...then it ends with strings in a shrill chittering discord with a low-end chord of doom under it bursting through everything else!
59* LeaveTheCameraRunning: "In Another Land" ends with the sound of Bill Wyman snoring, which was stuck onto the track by Mick and Keith as a joke.
60* NewSoundAlbum: Though ''Music/BetweenTheButtons'' and ''Music/AftermathAlbum'' were psychedelic as well, it wasn't nearly as full-blown as it was here.
61* OneWomanSong: "She's a Rainbow".
62* OneWordTitle: "Citadel" and "Gomper".
63* PsychedelicRock: One of the most famous examples of it and, together with ''Music/BetweenTheButtons'' the only album the Stones recorded in this style.
64* RainbowMotif: "She's a Rainbow"
65--> ''She's like a rainbow''
66--> ''Coming, colours in the air''
67--> ''Oh, everywhere she comes in colours''
68--> ''She comes in colours everywhere''
69* StockSoundEffects: Church bells resound at the start of "The Lantern".
70* ShoutOut:
71** On the album cover the message ''Welcome Music/TheBeatles'' can be read. This is a reference to the doll with the text ''Welcome The Rolling Stones'' on The Beatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''. The faces of each of the Fab Four are also hidden in the cover art.
72** Among the paintings depicted on the collage inside the cover, art fans can recognize images from paintings by Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, Nicolas Poussin and Jean-Dominique Ingres.
73** "On with the Show"
74---> ''We'll start with "Old Man River", then maybe "Stormy Weather" too.''
75** The American neo-psychedelic band The Brian Jonestown Massacre (yes, they are indeed partially named after Music/BrianJones) called their fourth album ''Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request'' from 1996.
76* SpecialGuest:
77** Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney sing backing vocals and play percussion on "Sing This All Together".
78** [[Music/TheSmallFaces Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane]] sing backing vocals on "In Another Land", with the latter also playing guitar on that song.
79** [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]] arranged the strings on "She's a Rainbow".
80* SpokenWordInMusic:
81** "She's a Rainbow" opens with a brief snippet of a carnival barker's patter.
82** "On with the Show" has a man welcoming people to "come visit the show".
83* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Bill Wyman sings lead on "In Another Land" which was written by him. It is the only Stones song with lead vocals by Wyman.
84* TextlessAlbumCover: Just a picture.
85* ThreeDimensionalEpisode: The cover of this album originally featured a lenticular [=3D=] image of the band. The image was meant to take up the whole of the LP sleeve, but was shrunken down to cut costs. The effect is replicated on most recent LP reissues on the album, as well as a [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] SHM-CD reissue.
86* TwelveBarBlues: "2000 Light Years from Home" is a particularly trippy take on the progression.
87* WordSaladLyrics: "2000 Light Years from Home".

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