Writing in the 2004 edition of "The Rolling Stone Album Guide", Rob Sheffield described "Sgt. Pepper" as "a revelation of how far artists could go in a recording studio with only four tracks, plenty of imagination, and a drug or two", but also "a masterwork of sonics, not songwriting". In his review for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham said that, while the album's detractors typically bemoan McCartney's dominant role, the reliance on studio innovation, and the unconvincing concept, "as long as there are pairs of ears willing to disappear under headphones for forty minutes ... "Sgt. Pepper" will continue to cast its considerable spell." Among reviews of the 2009 remastered album, Neil McCormick of "The Daily Telegraph" wrote: "It is impossible to overstate its impact: from a contemporary Sixties perspective it was utterly mind-blowing and original. Looking back from a point when its sonic innovations have been integrated into the mainstream, it remains a wonky, colourful and wildly improbable pop classic, although a little slighter and less cohesive than it may have seemed at the time." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic considers the album to be a refinement of "Revolver"s "previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless experimentation" and a work that combines a wide range of musical styles yet "Not once does the diversity seem forced". He concludes: "After "Sgt. Pepper", there were no rules to follow – rock and pop bands could try anything, for better or worse." With certified sales of 5.1 million copies in the UK, as of April 2019, "Sgt. Pepper" is the third-best-selling album in UK chart history and the best-selling studio album there. It is one of the most commercially successful albums in the US, where the RIAA certified sales of 11 million copies in 1997. By 2000, "Sgt. Pepper" was among the top 20 best-selling albums of all time worldwide. As of 2011, it had sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest-selling albums of all time.