I should admit right now that I never cared much for the Beach Boys. The majority of there stuff has always sounded like thinly-veiled, rip-offs of Chuck Berry to me. The band has also pumped out a lot of generic, half-baked pop that’s bland and tasteless.
However, the Beach Boys came out with an amazing album in Pet Sounds, and I’d even call it one of the greatest rock n’ roll albums of all time. Sadly, Brian Wilson went completely insane after this one, and never came out with anything that rivals it (well, there was the ’’Good Vibrations’’ single, but that was just one song).
The deal with Pet Sounds is that it is more of a Brian Wilson album than an actual Beach Boys album. Wilson recorded the majority of the tracks when the rest of the Beach Boys were on tour (with Glen Campbell filling in for an absent Wilson during the ’’live’’ shows). The rest of the band members, for the most part, contributed vocals to the tracks before the songs were finished.
What sets this apart from other Beach Boys albums -- and, indeed, from most other albums -- is the amazingly-layered instruments. Sure, you’ve got plenty of guitars, drums and keyboards here, but you’ve also got orchestration out the ears and other ’’bells’’ and ’’whistles’’ that grab the listener. The thing kicks off with ’’Wouldn’t it Be Nice, ’’ and that really sets the tone for the album -- the opening piano riff was played with someone ’’plucking’’ the piano strings as the keys were struck. Such experimentation dominates this disc, and the effect is amazing -- most of the songs are rather calm in nature, and tracks like ’’Sloop John B’’ has a shambling charm that’s hard to resist.
Speaking of ’’Sloop John B, ’’ that one really shows off the ability of the Beach Boys to harmonize well. The tight, soulful harmonies on that one are incredible, and stands as evidence that the band could pull off some great music that was also popular. That’s a rare combination.
And, the harmonies on the rest of the disc are also something to behold, as well. So, great harmonies, plenty of experimenting (particularly on the album’s title track -- you’ve got Wilson beating on Coca-Cola cans and everything else there) and all of the rest of it adds up to some soothing, inspired music that shouldn’t be missed.
Oh, yeah. Go out and buy a copy of this.