Their Satanic Majesties Request

Their Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth studio album by the Rolling Stones, released in December 1967 on Decca Records in the UK and London Records in the US. It was the first Stones album to have the same version issued in both countries. The title twists the phrase "Her Britannic Majesty requests and requires" found inside a British passport. The band explored a psychedelic sound here, using Mellotron, sound effects, string arrangements, and African rhythms. The lyrics feature dreamlike imagery and science-fiction themes, touching on lost identity in a futuristic world, space travel, distance, loneliness, and alienation.

The album was self-produced after manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham left. Recording dragged on, disrupted by drug use, court appearances, and jail terms for band members. The cover, by photographer Michael Cooper, originally used a lenticular three-dimensional image. After this album, the Stones dropped their psychedelic style and returned to a stripped-down blues-based sound.

Initial reviews were mixed, with critics calling it derivative of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, even noting similarities in the cover art. In later decades, the album has been viewed more favorably.

Recording started just after Between the Buttons came out on 20 January 1967. Because of court dates and jail time, the whole band rarely worked together in the studio, making the sessions long and disjointed. Band members often brought guests, further slowing things down. Bill Wyman, more level-headed and wary of psychedelic drugs, wrote "In Another Land" as a parody of the band's situation. In his 2002 book Rolling with the Stones, he describes the studio chaos.

The Stones tried new instruments and effects, including Mellotron, theremin, shortwave radio static, and string arrangements by John Paul Jones, later of Led Zeppelin. Oldham, frustrated by the band's lack of focus, pulled away after their drug bust and quit, leaving them without a producer. This became their first self-produced album. Mick Jagger later said that wasn't a good idea and expressed dislike for some tracks. Brian Jones, in another interview, noted that the band was trying to do something different from their usual sound.