Listening to this album again in it's entirety, 55 years after it's release, is, I think, the closest I'll get to opening a time capsule.
I imagine the items in my time capsule would be some things familiar, some things I perhaps didn't understand at the time and other things that were cutting edge. That's what 'Pet Sounds' is - all those things on a flat, round piece of vinyl.
Everybody knows a Beach Boys song. There's no escape, young or old their music is everywhere. If it's not on your favourite radio station playlist then it's in the supermarket or elevator. At the very least it's seasonal and appears when the sun gets warm and the beaches open. It's music that can evoke memories.
'Wouldn't It Be Nice', the opening track, is the familiar thing in my time capsule. Heavier in parts and stronger in total it still carries a bit of earlier surfing sounds to it - a gutsier 'California Girls' perhaps. Like the later track 'Sloop John B' it's newly different, but comfortable.
In between those songs we get a mix. Here are maybe some of the difficult to understand things in my time capsule. There's 'You Still Believe In Me' which can be slightly unsettling on new ears. Beautiful harmonies as expected but some chord and tempo changes that aren't. There's also the introduction of 'sound effects'. More on that later.
'Let's Go Away For A While' seems at first listen to be a waste. Where are those beautiful harmonies, those angelic and soaring vocals. This is an instrumental track. Where are The Beach Boys. But of course, this whole album is mainly Brian Wilson and so this is the Brian Wilson you get - and after the initial surprise, it's a magical instrumental.
In a controversial move Brian conceded to changes in his song 'I Know There's An Answer'. He'd written it as a more 'druggy' song which didn't sit well with other members of the group and so lines were altered and the original title 'Hang On To Your Ego' was scrapped. Musically it's a hodge-podge of sounds, but strangely attractive.
Then there is the cutting-edge corner of my time capsule. The title track 'Pet Sounds' is another instrumental and the album is rounded off with tracks using basslines, harpsicords and an electro-theremin !!
'Caroline, No' was a title by Tony Asher that was meant to be "Carol, I Know' but Brian Wilson heard it as 'Caroline, No' and so that's what it became.
Once again, there are 'sound effects' on this track.
I haven't yet mentioned the first track on side two. Sometimes called one of the greatest songs ever written, one of the few to ever mention God in it's title and lyrics and one that took the album to a whole new level, it was of course 'God Only Knows'. It gets no description from me, it just has to be heard.
I mentioned sound effects on some tracks. Bicycle bell and horns at the end of 'You Still Believe in Me' - trains and dogs barking at the fade out of 'Caroline, No' are very reminiscent of things from The Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper', but of course, this album came first. There's also the thread of slight psychedelia running through the whole record and after listening to all tracks you just KNOW that around the corner, coming very soon, is the classic 'Good Vibrations'. It didn't make it onto the album, it was too involved, too long in production and Brian chose to include the title track 'Pet Sounds' instead. Thankfully it was released later and found it's own place in music history.
'Pet Sounds' is one of those iconic albums that is always touted as being one of 'the most influential'. That accolade of course is subjective, but in this case I think I have to agree. The internal politics of the band, the almost maniacal control of Brian Wilson and the uncertaintly of classifying this as a Beach Boys or a Brian Wilson solo album takes nothing away from the end result. An album bridging the gap from one genre to another that contains all the elements of my imaginary time capsule.
God Only Knows
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