Pet Sounds - classic or dud

someone mentioned odessey and oracle upthread.... I think that record has the same consistent feel. I have never really compared that record with Pet Sounds though. I have no idea which is better

second thought - "god only knows" probably gives this album an edge over other contenders in this category. it's just perfect

it is somewhat overrated, but its a great pop album and god only knows is perfect

"Odessey & Oracle" is another album that I consider better than anything by The Beatles.

Their only other album, "Begin Here" is considerably weaker though.

wait are we talking about the zombies?

it's always a good time to talk about the zombies IMO

I think one of the reasons Pet Sounds' reputation is so huge as opposed to similar LPs is because it supposedly influenced The Beatles, I mean McCartney has raved about it and many other pop stars. Radiohead have talked about it and referenced it as well

It is absolutely glorious and fantastic througout. Beautiful melodies, beautiful vocal harmonies.

I don't loooooooooooove the Beach Boys from their heyday period like many others here do. But I agree with Geir about this album.

all this hate seems so reactionary

Weird album in that I both love it and think it's overrated.

it's sort of "overrated", sure, but against what?

it's not as good as pet sounds

not asking to be a dick, but I think it's curious ... what are those rock albs that are so clearly superior to this second-tier 'Pet Sounds' ?

http://img.maniadb.com/images/album/119/119099_cda_f.jpg

'Revolver', sure I could get that

actually I think the essence of 'Pet Sounds' diminishness lies in something like "Highway 61 Revisited"

because "Highway 61 Revisited" is clearly better than 'Pet Sounds'

:) but this obviously comes down to preconceptions about what "rock music" should "do"

i personally think it should "do" what Dylan did on 61, but I love and live 'Pet Sounds' until my dying day.....

god, somehow that post got all f'd up

oh well

every album in this thread rocks ... not sure about Ian's last gap BB rec though!!

er, iatee, i mean

"Odessey & Oracle" I like FAR better than Pet Sounds. Same with "Piper at the Gates of Dawn". Same with "Revolver" and "White Album". I need to hear Pet Sounds in stereo though, I have only ever heard it in mono. Also it's been a long time.

I remember the first time I heard it, it was so hyped up for me that it couldn't possibly live up to it. I still really loved it but in particular the instrumental tracks seemed like 101 Strings BS. Later when I heard them they were some of the trippiest and most fun parts of the record!

Never cared much for "O Caroline". Never got the huge love for that track. It's kind of boring and sappy.

I like Brian Wilson's "Smile" better than "Pet Sounds" come to think of it.

Neither.

I love "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times." it's so plaintive in a really personal way. it's like a musical self-portrait of Brian

A lot of overrated albums are still classic. But this one is not even overrated.

Except for Sloop John B, which gets a pass because of an injoke with my cousin involving hoisting my, erm, rather large grandmother's underwear in the air on laundry day and running around screaming "Hoist up the john b sails!" over and over. So, yeah. Anyhow.

― Ally, Wednesday, May 2, 2001 8:00 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark

Figured this for an lj post.

TWO instrumentals? This album did not need two instrumentals.

i love the beach boys. i don't really have anything else to add. sorry

― gareth

^^^^this

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" came on oldies station today and I just imagined being in the room they recorded it and tried to picture all these people playing multiple pianos and jingle bells and tympanist and vibraphones and etc etc. Was it recorded live? Wow what an amazing sound Brian got!

I've been listening to it on repeat for the last few days and one thing that's struck me is that 'I'm Waiting For The Day' is the album's unheralded masterpiece. Does anyone else agree?

― Alba (Alba), Friday, July 8, 2005 11:46 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark

Yes

If it had some ripping frazzled psyche guitar solos, it'd be a much better album.

Certainly worked for the Zombies.

i pulled this thread up cuz i'm spending tonight in self loathing mode and listening t oPet Sounds and Smiley Smile era Beach Boys (just saw Mike Love and the band he calls the Beach Boys live a few weeks ago and they were pretty awesome)....

and this thread is clearly the biggest challopser I've ever read. Pet Sounds might be 'overrated' to some degree but there's little doubt in my mind that it's filled with fantastic songs. Hell, the first four tracks are pretty much flawless!

basically old-ILM was just a bunch of trolls who hated to get trolled and eventually got older, fatter, grayer in their safe haven corner of the blogosphere.

so presumably there's a thread from 2003 proclaiming Coda to be Led Zeppelin's best album.....

hmm when did Lord Soto Challops show up on ILM?

We're not as intent on fighting the Heartbreak of Rockism as we once were. I never gave a fuck about rockism, or popism, or Geirism, or whatever. I just liked what I liked, including Pet Sounds.

Kind of a dud, for me, to be honest. http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/the-beach-boys-–-pet-sounds-–-round-14-–-nick’s-selection/

So while I find the rollicking drums of I’m Waiting For The Day exciting and pleasurable, I find Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) and You Still Believe In Me to be just a little… dull.

Aww really? I think 'You Still Believe In Me' is incredibly beautiful, the bit at the end (from 'I wanna cry' echoing the intro melody, before it dies down and builds up into those harmonies) is incredible.

"Pet Sounds" is a classic for me, but on a personal level I get the most enjoyment from "Sunflower" of all the Beach Boys albums.

Someone in my neighborhood is jamming this pretty loud for 11:30pm on a Monday night.

"I'm Waiting For The Day" at the moment.

your neighbours OTM

Just got the Pet Sounds Sessions box in the mail and I skipped straight ahead to the a capella version of the album at the start of disc three. Boy, what a revelation. I mean, it's obviously their thing to do those gorgeous perfect harmonies, but to hear them isolated like that just brings out something so pure in it. Really hypnotizing and wonderful. I don't know why I waited so long to get the box.

Thanks to a Rick Astley-related link, just learned that this is currently #26 on the British album charts.

The sessions box is wonderful. Night and day between this and the Beatles anthologies !

WANT.
i love this album so so much.

listening to the instrumental tracks and you can sort of see why mike love was freaked out. otherworldly chord changes.

This is like a master class in pop. Anyone who wants to make songs should listen to this box !

BBC Classic Albums show tomorrow night on bbc 4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ljcxf

Did anyone happen to catch this? And how was it? Should I try to watch it somehow from across the pond? Does David Fricke show up intermittently to tell me why Pet Sounds is so good?

TWO instrumentals? This album did not need two instrumentals.

― Mr. Snrub, Sunday, October 25, 2009 3:49 PM (6 years ago)

it totally did btw, the instrumentals on this album are both wonderful

Yup. And as I mentioned previously, listening to the instrumentals of the other songs is a trip.

At least for me, it really brought out the "strangeness" and "complexity" of the chord changes and stuff.

Does David Fricke show up intermittently to tell me why Pet Sounds is so good?

Same question