That one album,,,,

[TheSound]

For me, 'that one album' is Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. If you are a fan of this album you may want to stop reading, I will understand if you find this a bit painful to read. I would find the same if someone did this to one of my favourites.

The great and good of the music world have continually praised this album (including people like Roger Waters and Eric Clapton), and it's very often at the top of lists of Rock's greatest ever albums. I was impressed by this praise for the album and listened to the album. I tried to like it, but I was really underwhelmed. I tried again, but found it no better second time around. I was confused - why was this genius record not even succeeding in holding my attention?

The harmonies really are the only thing I can see as being truly great in this album - I can see why people praise it for being the forebear of the concept album, but it is just a collection of love songs (a very common theme), and with the exception of Caroline No, a lot of the songs just seem twee and child-like to my ears - for me an album cannot be genius if you have to suspend your usual expectations of the standard of the lyrics. The music doesn't really grab me either, although as someone who's primarily a rock (rather than pop) fan this doesn't bother me quite as much as I can rationalise this.

I accept that some will be horrified by this comparison, but if I stack Pet Sounds up against Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, one album gives me a number of variations on the same song, the other gives me a great variety of tracks from rockers to stripped back piano ballads. One album gives me teenager in love platitudes, the other gives me lyrics which describe a real adult relationship falling apart. I could go on.

The irony is that I don't think most people would say this album is more challenging than Pink Floyd, yet I struggle with Pet Sounds while enjoying The Dark Side Of The Moon or The Wall.

Part of the problem is that Pet Sounds is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums in rock history. Even though I don't get it, I wouldn't disagree with anyone who considered it to be one of the greatest albums in pop history, but this doesn't even count as soft rock - I consider Sloop John B to be as pop as anything else on here. I have no problem with the fact that so many other people love this record, my main issue is with its position at the top of 'Greatest Ever Rock Album' lists.

Hi JCL, I have to say I always enjoy reading your interesting and often quite detailed posts, frankly they sometimes make me want to go and pull the album off the shelf, and give it a listen to appreciate some of the points you raise, which is surely at least partly the point of a forum like this, to widen our knowledge.

I have to say I love Pet Sounds, and always have, but I will now at least go and put it on again later, and see if I can hear exactly what troubles you about it!

So, cheers, and keep on rockin!

 

[Jonny Come Lately]

I'm glad to hear that, it's good that my posts have stimulated interest in the albums and/or songs that I've written about, including those which I have criticised rather than praised. Maybe I'm simply not hearing something that's apparent to other listeners?

I do wonder if one day I will wake up and will hear the greatness in Pet Sounds so many others hear. The weird thing is there are Beach Boys songs I enjoy, including two or three which are on Pet Sounds, it's not as though I loathe the band or their output (I have no time for Mike Love, but that's another matter).

 

[Lynch]

For me, 'that one album' is Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. If you are a fan of this album you may want to stop reading, I will understand if you find this a bit painful to read. I would find the same if someone did this to one of my favourites.

I almost mentioned this album, but decided to stop after my first two rants. For me, Pet Sounds is insanely overrated. I often wonder if fans herald it as being so great because it simply has some (perhaps undeserved) reputation as being so "incredible", thus fans and bandwagoners alike just sign their names on the dotted line as "yeah, it's one of the greatest".

Personally, I don't find the mixing, the engineering or any other part of that album (songwriting/performance) to be any better or worse than any of their other 9 or 10 albums that came before it or the slew of albums that came after it. In face, there is only ONE song on that album that I would play on for the purpose of listening pleasure, and that is Wouldn't It Be Nice. The rest of the album, I've forced myself to listen to various times over the years just to see if I can find some new found appreciation for it's "greatness" and it continues to elude me. Nice album, but seriously they had better albums with much more and better songs on it IMHO.

 

[Sick Boy]

I listened to So twice and I just couldn't seem to get into it. After reading lots of great things about it I had pretty high expectations.

 

[Jet]

Me Neither XD


I can't, I still haven't gotten the full 50 cents out of it yet. Maybe tomorrow I will try to last a full 30 seconds of the album

What you are saying then, is that somebody paid you 50 cents to take it?

 

[The Wanderer]

^^
Paid a full dollar for it to me it is worth 50 cents exactly. XD

 

[Jet]

^^
Paid a full dollar for it to me it is worth 50 cents exactly. XD

Ebay?

 

[Musikwala]

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass. I have tried a handful of times to listen through from start to finish. It bores me.

 

[rocknrollpestcontroll]

Rush -Presto- iam a huge rush fan but this album made me stop collecting their albums past Roll The Bones, their 90s stuff IMO really isn't that great atall even Roll The Bones has some good tunes but this album, not a song on it that really interests me
(the album cover is very cool but the contents aren't)

 

[oscar gamble]

Dark Side of the Moon, perhaps as recognized by the masses as any album and saying that I can't stand it is an understatement. Overproduced and dreadfully dull, it's exactly the opposite of what rock and roll ought to be. I don't know whether punk rock had to happen but it sure as hell needed to, after this.