The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966) With Bonus Tracks

ARTIST`````The Beach Boys
ALBUM`````Pet Sounds / With Bonus Tracks

GENRE`````Pop-rock, Sunshine, Psych Pop

YEAR````````1966

Ooh this feels good:

These last few weeks I've been really stuck in some ridiculous, experimental, obscure sub-genres melting my brain with really shitty japanese noises and early fartcy European synth blah blah experiments... This warm album was really a much needed breathe of fresh air. In short: Considered by some to be the greatest album of all time, by many the best album of the 60's and by all - the best Beach boys album. Believe me, stop digging through terabytes of unknown, unreleased, rare music for an hour or two and enjoy this record brimming with love.

Review by Richie Unterberger:

The best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more. It wouldn't have been a classic without great songs, and this has some of the group's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes which evoke both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well). The spiritual quality of the material is enhanced by some of the most gorgeous upper-register male vocals (especially by Brian and Carl Wilson) ever heard on a rock record. "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," "Caroline No," and "Sloop John B" (the last of which wasn't originally intended to go on the album) are the well-known hits, but equally worthy are such cuts as "You Still Believe in Me," "Don't Talk," "I Know There's an Answer," and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." It's often said that this is more of a Brian Wilson album than a Beach Boys recording (session musicians played most of the parts), but it should be noted that the harmonies are pure Beach Boys (and some of their best). Massively influential upon its release (although it was a relatively low seller compared to their previous LPs), it immediately vaunted the band into the top level of rock innovators among the intelligentsia, especially in Britain, where it was a much bigger hit.

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And remember to keep reminding people that this album exists. Just keep pasting it into their USB's, iPhones and players while they're not watching.