The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds: Rated

THE BEACH BOYS - PET SOUNDS (1966) : 8.6/10

Meh! 

I think this album gets a lot of credit for being a masterpiece of sorts, ranking at number 2 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 500 greatest albums of all time, but if I’m 100% honest, it didn’t impress me quite that much! 

Maybe it’s because I’m listening to this with my 21st century ears (damned be time for not letting us go back). I can understand how, from a music production point of view, this is drastically revolutionary to the possibilities of music at the time: how everything was analog back then and had to be done organically and on physical tape. That is quite incredible and I give The Beach Boys the credit they’re due for it. But there’s something baked in the middle of it which I don't quite like. 

It’s extremely juvenile in sound: I'm sure maybe that’s someone’s niche, but to me this is two steps up in music production from Baby Shark. This may have been the creative direction with it: I don’t know. I preferably would have liked a more realistic and grown version. 

There's nothing wrong with a Christmassy sounding track: I had absolutely no issue listening to Heart’s Christmas album in June, but You Still Believe In Me just sounds like a caricature to carols. 

I liked most of it though! Especially by the end: things got really good with Caroline, No and the self titled track. Had the start taken a similar artistic approach, I would have seen this in the top 3, but I can't get over how childish this sounds. It’s like shoving a handful of Tangfastics in your mouth. 

Overall, I didn't adore it, but I wouldn't get up to turn it off if it played at a party.