Pet Sounds... I like the Beach Boys, don't get me wrong, but Pet Sounds really isn't that great of an album. The "experimental" stuff is lame, the arrangements aren't anything special, but it does have a few good songs. Why do so many people agree that it should be in the top 10? Is it because it was a benchmark? Is it because the Beach Boys were a great American band so people feel that at least one of their albums should be up there? It's historical value shouldn't say that it is the best album- it should make it somewhere on a list because it is a decent album- but top ten?
The arrangements are pretty damn amazing, certainly better than anything else at the time.
The songs themselves are very good: God Only Knows has got to be one of the greatest songs ever written.
The fact the Beach Boys are collectively, some of the greatest pop/rock singers ever helps.
If so many people have it so high on their list, there's probably a reason. I understand why you wouldn't find it to your taste, but it's kind of weird to ask people to "justify" why they like it as if their combined opinions mattered less than that of a random person ๐
I personally consider Pet Sounds to be the greatest album of all time, and I've listened to pretty much all the "classics" you could think of. Of course my reasons are completely subjective and have to do with a certain sensitivity.
- I find it to be an incredibly moving piece of music. It conveys a bittersweet feeling of "sunny melancholia", somewhere in between sadness and hope, better than any album I've heard.
- Like classical music, it has a pure, timeless quality to it. It seems to exist in its own world. It almost serves as a summary of the whole human experience. It's the kind of album you would want to listen to on your dying bed as you reflect on your life and what's truly important.
- It's an "accomplished" album. It's short and precise, every note is here for a reason.
- It's not afraid of being beautiful yet somehow manages to never be bland. It has a unique identity and purpose.
- It has sublime harmonies and haunting arrangements.
- The vocals are heavenly, but with exquisite moments of human fragility.
- "I would dreeeeaaaaaaaaaam"
- God Only Knows
- The bass in "Here Today"
etc. etc.
Maybe a bit... I always found it great but a bit "samey", ie with a lot of it sounding quite similar (eg Caroline No as the last track sounds a lot like what came before)
But I actually listened to songs off it a lot lately and I have gained some more appreciation for the album. One of the things I like a lot is that even though it's a pop album, the lyrics aren't that simplistic (as in, for example, A Hard Days Night by The Beatles, another great "pop" album, but with a lot simpler lyrics and (edit) simpler arrangements as well, of course).
I think that's evident in That's Not Me and I Just Wasn't Made for These Times the most
To me, music is good if you enjoy listening to it. That's all it is.
Pet Sounds (and Kid A) are the two albums that I can go back to, regardless of my mood, and enjoy immensely every time.
As far as justifying it goes, I just think that the actual arrangement of the melodies, rhythms, and harmonies are so intelligently crafted that they inspire powerful feelings in me. That's what music is supposed to do.
I do not believe Pet Sounds is a masterpiece or the the greatest album ever made, but its is very good album and hovers around the top 100 for me. My criticisms below are probably nitpicking, and probably apply to albums I love as well as pet sounds but I enjoy doing this so what the hell
Why pet sounds is very good but not a masterpiece:
Lyrically its hit and miss, some bits are fantastic, I love the juxtaposition of sad lyrics and upbeat melodies, but others sound rather naive and juvenile (if not outright cheesy)
fantastic orchestral arrangements, the songwriting is more sophisticated than most pop music....however how relevent are those things? I don't know, but I wonder if in the 60's, when we have movements like free jazz, classical music starting I believe to experiment with electronics, the minimalist movement looking towards repetition as a form of complexity as opposed to harmonic complexity, what makes a set of orchestrated pop tunes that are more nostalgic than innovative (at least in comparison) important, if relevant to music at all???
I don't know, but I think it something to think about.
the vocal harmonies are super, no complaints there
Some of the album seems very much of its time, in other words aged badly, do not true masterpieces appear timeless??? -Someone else not me probably thinks it does sound timeless though....
But are all the songs really fantastic? They do seem to repeat themselves (particularly in terms of arrangement) after a while and can get rather monotonous by the albums end...
Pets Sounds is a whole, complete album. The compositions are lush and none of the instruments are competing with one another. It isn't self indulgent in that it doesn't have solos that stand out, out of place. It's a collection of pop songs that accomplishes exactly what it intended to, and if you consider that a masterpiece, it most certainly is.
I definitely think it's overrated. For me it's just very aged, so I don't really enjoy listening to it. Maybe if I was older and listened to it back when it came out or shortly after I'd feel different...but yes I personally think it's very overrated.
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