Heavy Petting

I recently heard a radio station play all of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.  I hadn't heard it in years, so it was fun to listen to something that sounded familiar yet new.  The album is considered a landmark, regularly appearing near or at the top of all-time lists.  But it's really not that good.

It came out in 1966, when rock bands were spurring each other on to do more amazing things.  The Beatles would put out Rubber Soul and Brian Wilson would be inspired and make Pet Sounds and the Beatles would respond with Revolver and so on.  Paul McCartney couldn't say enough about Pet Sounds (though I'd like to know what John Lennon thought).

It does have an amazing sound.  Brian Wilson always used the Beach Boys' voices beautifully, but on Pet Sounds he adds all sorts of lush yet odd orchestration to achieve something new.  The trouble is that sound, while sometimes verging on jazz, is closer to Muzak.



I'm not saying the album stinks.  There are some nice songs, even a great one.  It's just missing the energy and vitality of earlier Beach Boys music.  And Brian was capable of introspection without going off the deep end in pre-Pet Sounds singles. "In My Room," "Don't Worry Baby," "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)," "The Warmth Of The Sun," "Please Let Me Wander," "Help Me, Rhonda" and others show there's more going on than hot rods and surfing (not that there's anything wrong with hot rods and surfing).

Pet Sounds only went to #10 in America.  Hardly a flop, but weaker than previous Beach Boys albums.  Brian was also cracking up around this time, and couldn't quite complete his next project, Smile.  What eventually came out was Smiley Smile, and though it included production masterpieces like the singles "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes And Villains" there's not much else there.

The band continued to put out new albums for several more years, including a pretty pleasant one--Friends--and some decent singles ("Darlin'," "Do It Again," "I Can Hear Music"), but was never again as popular.  By the mid-70s they were a spent force artistically, mostly known as a nostalgia act.  I suppose they couldn't stay "boys" forever, but I don't think they suspected Pet Sounds was more a last hurrah than a new direction.

And what's the "great" song on Pet Sounds?  The first one.  As good as anything they did.