Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

1966

Capitol Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Wouldn't It Be Nice  2. You Still Believe in Me  3. That's Not Me  4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)  5. I'm Waiting for the Day  6. Let's Go Away for Awhile  7. Sloop John B  8. God Only Knows  9. I Know There's an Answer  10. Here Today  11. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times  12. Pet Sounds  13. Caroline, No

This is going to be a hard one to talk about...This record is very special to me...But that in itself is not special...This record is special to everyone that's ever taken the proper time to experience it...That's the record's power...But I'm not going to be the person that writes the one millionth essay about how "Pet Sounds" changed his/her life...I'm just not willing to put you through that...So instead I'm keeping it simple...

My List of 10 Random Things I Love About Pet Sounds:

1. Milk
2. Bread
3. Cheap Beer
4. Corn Flakes
5. Family-Sized tube of Preparation H
6.Trash  Bags
7. Duct Tape
8. Knife
9. Ramen
10. More Ramen

Oops..Sorry...That was my list of 10 Random Things I Have to Pick up at the Grocery Store...

Here's my actual list of 10  Random Things I Love About Pet Sounds:

1. I love the cover...Not so much the Petting Zoo pics but that Gold font against that Forest Green background...For some reason it always kind of reminds me of...

(I couldn't find anything with the old Spartan Stores "Warrior" logo...I used to love that logo...)

2. I love that part at the very end of the record when the train goes by and a dog barks, because it always startles my cat Yoda when I play it...

(awww...She's so cute!)

3. The ending of "That's Not Me,"  when it fades out like it's going to end, but then that beautiful choir of voices comes back in even more glorious and resplendent than when they left...Now that's how you do harmonies!

4. The sudden and shocking improvement in quality from their previous album. I think it's kind of impossible to do this anymore...Where a formerly  cutesy boy band suddenly pulls a mind-blowing album like "Pet Sounds" or "Rubber Soul" from out of nowhere...Imagine Justin Timberlake or Justin Beiber coming out with something like this...Totally impossible...I don't know how or why.... Well, I guess the obvious answer would be that the Beach Boys started out with more raw talent than either of those two clowns...Besides, even the most talented musician/songwriter around today seems to be  trying their hardest just  to make an album that sounds  like a 10th generation copy of "Pet Sounds."  Let alone make one that's as startlingly original...

5. "Sloop John B" is the greatest cover song ever! I've been racking my already racked brain trying to think of a better one and I can't...I'll let you know later if I come up with one...(I'm aware that "Sloop John B" is a traditional song so it might not technically count as a cover, or count int he same sense that Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love"  might be a cover...but the Beach Boys version is based on the Kingston Trio's arrangement...Plus I think "Sloop John B" is better than "Whole Lotta Love" anyway so...nyahhh!)  I  especially love it when all the instruments drop out and they sing  the "Home, Let me go home..." part acapella...It's one of those songs that you hear a hundred times but you still literally get goose pimples every time you hear it...


6. I like the "Capitol Records" sticker on the reissued vinyl...I'm not normally someone who keeps their records in the vinyl wrapper, but I made an exception for this cos I liked the sticker so much...It's so big and golden...and it has that cool building on it...

7. Of course...The theremin on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." It reminds me of  a heartbroken ghost and more than anything  it cemented my love of the theremin...Possibly the greatest regret in my life so far, was the time I went to the Music shop when I was totally broke and there was someone selling a functional theremin there for $50.00. Oh why oh why did not I not rob a liquor store?!?!

8.  Carl Wilson's hushed soul vocals on "God Only Knows," this was a serious contender for our wedding song but some of the lyrics seem a little mean-spirited, but honestly that only adds to the song's appeal...This song also has that jerky break that seems like it should kill the song's momentum, but instead gives it new life...This really showed for the first time how awesome Carl actually was, and he would go on to show us again and again...

9. The fact that when you first hear it the album seems like a big long continuous suite of mellow, sound-a-like soft rock...but then one day you find yourself in a large lush palace and each song opens a doorway to a new, exciting and distinctly different world of its own...It's an audio illusion...

10. It taught me to appreciate instrumentals! I used to be the kind of guy that would automatically skip over an instrumental track on a record...If it didn't have vocals, I just wasn't interested...but after listening to "Pet Sounds" so many times I found myself looking forward to the title track and "Let's Go Away for Awhile," despite the fact they didn't have words...Now I can play Krautrock records with no vocals whatsoever and it doesn't bother me one bit...Nosireee...

There that was fun! We learned nothing but at least we got a chance to talk about "Pet Sounds," Which is an album that's inspired music fans to endlessly debate it's merits and continues to inspire musicians to aim higher and higher...

Let's check out " I Know There's an Answer" by the Beach Boys...