Listen to a ‘Star Wars’ Parody Set to the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ LP
Just in time for this year's Star Wars Day, the self-proclaimed "geek parody" act Palette-Swap Ninja has unveiled an album of songs that retells the story of the first film in the saga while paying expert homage to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Titled Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans and available now for free download, the album represents the culmination of five years' worth of work by Palette-Swap Ninja members Dan Amrich and Jude Kelley. "It’s the entire Beatles album as accurately as we could record it, only now it tells the story of Star Wars: A New Hope — in order," explains the duo's website. "We sweat the details on both sides in an effort to do both cultural milestones justice."
As Beatles and/or Star Wars fans are aware, this year marks an important milestone for both of the project's inspirations. The first Star Wars movie marks its 40th anniversary on May 25, while Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band celebrates its 50th just a few days later, on June 1. Unsurprisingly, the members of Palette-Swap Ninja grew up loving both. "We both grew up obsessed with Star Wars and surrounded by Beatles music," explains Kelley. "This whole project comes from a place of deep love and respect."
As you can hear in the above video playlist (which includes lyrics as well as impressively assembled videos from artist Katrin Auch), that deep love and respect has paid off with a surprisingly deep listening experience that should delight the Star Wars faithful and earn respect from Beatles fans who've never felt the urge to visit a galaxy far, far away. If you like what you hear, you can download the album (and leave a tip) at Palette-Swap Ninja's website.
"We think we’ve created something worthy of the source material that fans will really enjoy," adds Kelley. "We like to think that the Force was with us."
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