Beach Boys Pet Sounds

By Bill Watt
     

Beach Boys Pet Sounds Back Cover

Beatles are the most successful band of all-time, don't get me wrong, but the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds inspired some of their best material. The first track is Wouldn't It Be Nice, which as a kid really got me into thinking romantically, imagining you and someone in a relationship where nothing else matters and time stands still. That's Not Me has a great Western-style to it which I think a lot of us envision living in the wild west. You can hear a bit of Oh! Susana in it. Let's Go Away for Awhile makes me feel like I'm living in the 60s in a beach town where times are simple and there is a lot of romanticism. Brian Wilson at one point said it was the finest piece of art he had made on that album. God Only Knows pretty much speaks for itself. I went to a Brian Wilson concert a few years ago and as psyched as the crowd was, as soon as he played that song, 100% of them were speechless, wide-eyed and so taken by the music. Here Today is a very cool song in my opinion. Mike Love often gets a bad rap, but he is Captain Cool on vocals here. I see why Brian chose him to sing lead on this. This song gives off a feeling of adventure and that there's a whole world out there to explore, maybe a new love. In all honesty, every single track on this album is amazing. These just happen to be my personal favorites. If you like original and deep music like Steven Wilson's, I have a feeling you're gonna like Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.