The title is a play on the "Her Britannic Majesty requests and requires" text that appeared inside a British passport.

The prolonged recording process was marked by drug use, court appearances, and jail terms by members of the band.

Following the release, the Rolling Stones abandoned their psychedelic style for a stripped-down return to their roots in blues music.

Because of court appearances[6] and jail terms, the entire band was seldom present in the studio at one time, making recording of the album lengthy and disjointed.

One of the more level-headed members of the band during this time, Bill Wyman, wary of psychedelic drugs, wrote the song "In Another Land" to parody the Stones' current goings-on.

[10]The Stones experimented with many new instruments and sound effects during the sessions, including Mellotron, theremin, short wave radio static, and string arrangements by then-future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.

These working titles include: "Acid in the Grass" ("In Another Land"), "I Want People to Know" ("2000 Man"), "Flowers in Your Bonnet" ("She's a Rainbow"), "Fly My Kite" ("The Lantern"), "Toffee Apple" ("2000 Light Years from Home"), and "Surprise Me" ("On with the Show").

[5] In 1998, a bootleg box set of eight CDs with outtakes from the Satanic sessions was released, and it shows the band developing the songs over multiple takes as well as the experimentation that went into the recording of the album.

When viewed in a certain way, the lenticular image shows the band members' faces turning towards each other, with the exception of Jagger, whose hands appear crossed in front of him.

It was the first of four Stones albums to feature a novelty cover; the others were the zipper on Sticky Fingers (1971), the cut-out faces on Some Girls (1978), and the stickers on Undercover (1983).

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (released in May 1967), often explained by drug trials and excesses in contemporary musical fashion, although John Lennon and Paul McCartney did provide backing vocals (uncredited) on "We Love You" (recorded during the Satanic Majesties Request sessions, but released as a single a few months before the album).

[22] The production, in particular, came in for harsh criticism from Jon Landau in the fifth issue of Rolling Stone,[23] and Jimmy Miller (recommended by the album's engineer, Glyn Johns) was asked to produce the Stones' subsequent albums, on which they would return to the hard-driving blues that earned them fame early in their career.

In an April 1968 album review, Richard Corliss of the New York Times was also critical of the production value stating "... their imagination seems to have dried up when it comes to some of the arrangements.

In a retrospective 1977 review, Robert Christgau of the Village Voice stated that the album "no doubt contains several great songs" despite negative reception from some.

Pepper posturing; others confess, if only in private, to a fascination with the album's inventive arrangements, which incorporated some African rhythms, Mellotrons, and full orchestration.

[26]In August 2002, Their Satanic Majesties Request was reissued in a new remastered CD, LP and DSD by ABKCO Records.

The release contained the 2017 remastered stereo version of the album pressed on transparent coloured vinyl (180g) and also featured the 3D-style sleeve.