Jim Miller’s Scathing Rolling Stone Review of ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’

In late 1967, Rolling Stone’s Jim Miller published a review of Their Satanic Majesties Request that basically called it a misguided, derivative mess. Miller claimed the album was the Stones trying to copy Sgt. Pepper’s psychedelic flourishes without the Beatles’ craft or sincerity, writing that the record “sounds like the work of a group that has nothing to say.” He singled out the trippy production and lack of strong songs, famously dismissing the whole thing as “a waste of vinyl.”

The review sparked immediate debate because it landed at a pivotal moment. The Stones were transitioning from their blues-rock peak into experimental territory, and fans were split. Defenders argued the album was being judged unfairly against Sgt. Pepper — that it had its own strange, druggy charm and wasn’t trying to be a direct copy. Critics and later historians would revisit that review endlessly, with some calling it too harsh and others insisting it nailed the album’s identity crisis. Even Mick Jagger later admitted the record was “rubbish” in places, but the review remains a lightning rod for conversations about critical bias and the pressure on bands to out-Beatle the Beatles.