[Today: Brian Wilson captures the heart of adolescence, and changes the way records are made...]
The teenage years are a brutal time, no matter who you are or what zip code you grow up in. The body changes in funny ways, and pimples become an ever present concern, but the toughest part by far is that you’re so close to being an adult, yet still a kid. You gain a whole raft of ideas about the world, but you still fall under another person’s dominion. Frustration is the daily fabric of teenage life.
Pet Sounds is the perfect expression of teenage angst. Album opener ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ captures the excitement and curiosity of young love (which, by the way, goes well beyond just sex). ‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’ is one of the most wonderfully melancholy songs ever written, and has inspired a legion of confessional singer/songwriters. ‘Sloop John B’ ‘Caroline No’ and ‘God Only Knows’ are certified classics as well, but this album adds up to much more than just a string of hit singles.
Brian Wilson had recently given up touring with the group so that he could stay in the studio – where he was infinitely more comfortable and happy – and he used this album as a platform to unload all the wild sounds and little instrumental bits that were floating around his head. To the group’s honey-coated harmonies, he added a widescreen selection of sounds and sources – banjos, trombones, dogs barking, and much more. His mastery of the studio is apparent in every detail, and while Wilson locked himself into a mental game of one-upsmanship with The Beatles that would eventually claim his sanity, Pet Sounds holds up every bit as well – if not better than – the Fab Four’s best work. Much of which, coincidentally, was inspired by this album.
Perhaps more influential now than it was in its own time, Pet Sounds will forever reward listeners with its warmth, heart, and brilliance – as well as a great bunch of songs. Musicians continue to look to it for inspiration and use it as a compass for artistically navigating the depths of the human soul.
Listen: Wouldn’t It Be Nice
Tags: Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds, teenage angst
22 December 2007 at 2:29 pm |
The Invisible Musicians Who Played on all the Sixties Hits
It’s one of the best kept secrets in the music business: in the sixties most Pop and Rock musicians didn’t play on their records. The Beach Boys, The Monkees, The Byrds (except for Roger McGuinn), The Turtles, The Mamas and the Papa…
20 May 2008 at 12:40 am |
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