PET SOUNDS

Prior to "Pet Sounds," The Beach Boys had a very different sound. The majority of their songs were simplistic tales of the day to day happenings of surfers and beach bums.  They gained a good amount of popularity among their peers in southern California in the early 1960's, eventually getting signed to Capitol Records.  As with all things, what is "in" will eventually change.  To be successful, one must be able to adapt to these changes and continue to be a driving force. Brian Wilson may or may not have understood this fact.  Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, Wilson was able to change the entire image of the Beach Boys and reaped the benefits because of that when the album "Pet Sounds" was released.

Brian Wilson, in my opinion, was the mastermind behind The Beach Boys. He seemed to have done most of the work when it came to the music, including but not limited to writing, arrangements, production, etc.  The amount of stress these tasks caused him seem to be linked to the "Pet Sounds" album. He took a hiatus from touring which turned out to be a catalyst for his creativity and innovations in writing the Pet Sounds album.  The Beatles' "Rubber Soul" had also just been released, which seemed to be another thing that pushed Wilson towards making Pet Sounds a great album. I say this because the Beach Boys moved away from their previous lyrical content (surfing and driving 409's) and moved towards more lovestruck themes. The Pet Sounds album was different from other popular recordings at the time. For example, the lyrical content was deeper and more complicated than many other recordings of the time.  Essentially the song meaning was not spoon-fed to the listener; it was left for them to figure out on their own.  Another deviation from the norm was the amount of harmonic content that Wilson included in his arrangements. The heavily layered vocal harmonies were unlike anything else at the time, which I believe is part of the draw to this album.

From a listener's point of view, I really don't get much from this album other than a few semi-catchy chord progressions.  I find it cheesy and uninteresting.  The album seems to drag on and on. Despite The Beach Boys being around first, I would much rather listen to The Beatles.  In my opinion, the Beatles did what Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys did- but much better.

Although my personal feelings about the album aren't very kind, as an industry professional I do recognize and appreciate some aspects of it. There is no doubt that it was a well thought out piece, that was very innovative for its time, so it does deserve some credit.