Alllllrighty then, here we go. Before I start may I mention that I’m sorry if I offend anyone with any reviews, because as you know, these are purely my opinions and should be taken with a grain of salt. Hopefully you can enjoy my ramblings nonetheless.
And this is for Slappy.
Artist: The Beach Boys
Album: Pet Sounds
Year: 1966
- Track Listing
1. Wouldn’t it be Nice (2:22)
2. You Still Believe in Me (2:30)
3. That’s Not Me (2:27)
4. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) (2:51)
5. I’m Waiting for the Day (3:03)
6. Let’s Go Away for Awhile (2:18)
7. Sloop John B (2:56)
8. God Only Knows (2:49)
9. I Know There’s an Answer (3:08)
10. Here Today (2:52)
11. I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times (3:11)
12. Pet Sounds (2:20)
13. Caroline, No (2:52)
Let me begin by saying that my opinion on any music produced before the late nineties is generally tarnished by the production quality of the record, so unless I find the music to be absolutely top notch, I probably won’t like it.
This is a seminal release. Everyone knows this. It’s very hard to take a step back from the fact that all those same people I know of who think that Bob Dylan and The Beatles are the two greatest artists to walk the planet consider this album to be amazing. I really just don’t. I don’t like pop songs, generally, unless there’s something orgasmically tacky about them. Yes, Pet Sounds is full of tack, but it’s not scorned for it. It’s not considered ironic at all. But I’m being tangential. Let’s look at the album.
Wouldn’t it Be Nice is a very popular track, probably because it’s about love. Love songs tend to be popular. And it begins with an annoyingly short instrumental passage, a theme repeated across most of this album. I cannot tell you exactly why this irks me, but I think it may be a mixture of the fact that they use some nice and varied instruments in a very limited fashion, and generally cut too much of the treble out of the mix, leaving a galumphingly horrible sound, like a silent pelican is open-mouthedly kissing your ear. Another section of the song’s make-up that holds true throughout the rest of the album is the voices. They are shrill, frustrating, and trafficking the most annoying American accents I’ve ever heard. Biasedly, this tune was used for a Cadbury ad. here in Oz, and I can’t stand Cadbury chocolate. QED.
Another of those frustrating intros leads into You Still Believe in Me. It’s a love song. With inaccurate vocal harmonies. Few things are more irksome on a studio record. Live, understandably, one can’t expect a group to produce pitch-perfect harmonies 24/7, but if you’re setting out to create a non-tongue-in-cheek album with a huge focus on vocal harmonies, and your slidy co-singers find it difficult to hit a note, rather than sort of amble up to it at a medium pace, I probably won’t like it. Just a thought.
I’m going to have to skip ahead because I really have those exact same things I’ve already said to say about every other track on this album. I’ll pause a couple times, though, because track six is an instrumental. I wouldn’t actually call it an instrumental, if I were to call it anything other than shite, since it’s completely lacking in anything other than backing music. It’s like they composed a song and couldn’t be bothered writing any more ball-squeezing vocals, left it as was, and cashed in. Boring boring boring.
Now, God Only Knows is the saving grace of this album, since it’s the only track I’d ever actually choose to listen to. Except I’d probably choose to listen to a cover of it, since it’s bound to have a better instrumentation and a real climax. I have the same feelings for most Genesis songs, in that I love covers of them, but can’t stand the originals. So props to the boys for writing a song I can bear to hear, but only half-props, ’cause I’d rather listen to someone else play it.
Oh, the other thing that just makes this album unbearable is the ridiculous amount of reverb on everything. Yes, it’d sound great if the theme was churches, but the theme is clearly love, and love and religion don’t go together in my mind at all. So there are another few boring tracks, just like the first side, and another boring instrumental. The best part of the album is probably the ending of Caroline, No, where there are train sounds, and Brian Wilson’s dogs barking at the train. I can see where Godspeed You! Black Emperor got their starting point from. It’s an interesting foray into the world of ambience. Bravo.
1.4/10
“[...]like a silent pelican is open-mouthedly kissing your ear.”
I love Pet Sounds but I’ve also called it “the greatest muzak album ever made.” It’s mellow and sometimes over-the-top in its sentimentality.
At the same time, it is incredibly layered. The attention to musical detail paid by Brian is stunning. Musically, it’s the work of a brilliant mind.
Lyrically is where it gets quite sentimental, maybe too much so for me. Still, “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” is very strong. It gives voice to the misunderstood, those who want to stretch the boundaries but are incapable of sharing their visions with others. That’s a great song about alienation and sadness and lacks any sappiness, I think.
I understand why some folks hate Pet Sounds and others think it’s one of the best albums ever made. I just happen to lean more toward the latter.
Thanks for the serious comments, man. Nice to see that you don’t feel aggressive towards my opinion. :)
I am extremely pleased that you reviewed this album, Alex Kucharski.
I’m sitting on a hill somewhere, where on the left side of the hill, there’s my brain telling me that this is annoying muzak, and on the right side, my heart is screaming, “BRIAN WILSON WENT CRAZY FOR YOU!!!”. In my mind, you are beneath the hill, plotting revenge.