Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, 1966
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Pet Sounds is listed by Rolling Stone as the 2nd greatest album of all-time, and I must say, I think I agree with them.
The album is objectively amazing to listen to, but its cultural impact and influence are so far-reaching that I would be remiss not to mention it here. Instruments were featured here that had never been on pop/rock songs before, like my personal favorite: theremin on I Just Wasn't Made for These Times.
Overall, this is my favorite album of all-time.
My top 3 songs:
1. God Only Knows
God Only Knows features fascinating and relatively unorthodox instrumentation and overall rhythm (particularly the strings' counterpoint), and it's just awesome. The song feels so natural and yet SO very complicated at the same time; its chord structure, specifically, is simple-sounding but baroque and intricate, and I love it.
2. Sloop John B
Sloop John B is a fun, upbeat track that is actually a traditional Caribbean folk song, a fact that I discovered upon googling!
The driving rhythm section plays underneath many layers of complex instrumentation, including perhaps my favorite part: the stacked vocal harmonies in the background. This song is also fun because many critics say it seems out of place on Pet Sounds; I don't know that I agree 100%, but I do understand where they're coming from.
3. That's Not Me
That's Not Me is yet another beautifully complex song that has those signature Beach Boys "ahh" harmonies in the background, and it works perfectly. Just as in the other tracks on this album, That's Not Me sounds deceptively simple or easy, but features multiple key modulations and shifts in overall feel/tone that make you feel like you're listening to three or four songs all at once - and that's impressive.
