The best
Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group reached a whole new level here 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, though, and this has some of the group's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes that 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 been 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 vaulted the band into the top level of rock innovators among the intelligentsia, especially in Britain, where it was a much bigger hit.
[The 50th Anniversary edition of
Pet Sounds is essentially a remastered and reconfigured version of 1997's
The Pet Sounds Sessions, a four-CD box filled with backing tracks, a cappella mixes, demos and other studio ephemera. The 50th Anniversary Edition is sequenced in a more appealing fashion than its predecessor, delivering the mono and stereo mixes of the album on its first disc before proceeding into a series of backing tracks, overdubs and other working tapes on the second and third discs; finished alternate versions round out the third disc. The fourth contains the "stack-o-vocals" versions of the album -- no instruments at all, just the band's harmonies -- and then the only brand-new material here outside of the 5.1 mixes on the BluRay: live tracks from
Pet Sounds material, all recorded between 1966 and 1993. These live tracks can deliver some nice surprises -- the three 1966 tracks from Michigan State University are kinetic, as are the 1967 cuts from D.C.; the 1982 version of "God Only Knows" is sweet underneath its precision -- but they're marginal, because the real wonder of
Pet Sounds lies in the studio. This 50th Anniversary edition provides lots of detail of how
the Beach Boys assembled their masterpiece, all without removing the sense of wonder of the album itself.] ~ Richie Unterberger
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