[DavidMahler]

Which album do you prefer: Pet Sounds or Sgt Pepper.

 

[the_thatguy]

My wote goes to Pet Sounds.

 

[DLeeWebb]

My vote goes to "Sgt. Pepper." Obviously my problem, but I never grew to appreciate "Pet Sounds."

 

[Uncle Erik]

Love them both, but Sgt. Pepper's was constantly spun during my formative years. I listen to Pet Sounds more often these days, but Sgt. Pepper's had the bigger impact.

 

[Metaphysical]

Sgt. Peppers fo sho. Could never get into Pet Sounds

 

[yashicaman]

Sgt. Pepper's for me (but Pet Sounds is fantastic too). Perhaps we could have another survey sometime: California Girls vs. Back in the USSR.

 

[roebeet]

Maybe "Pet Sounds" sounds too dated to me? I don't know, but I just never clicked. And I have listened to it a few times, over the years.

I actually don't think Sgt. Peppers is all that great, either - I prefer Revolver or Abbey Road.

 

[scytheavatar]

The correct answer is Abbey Road, but between those 2 I prefer Sgt Peppers. The production values of Pet Sounds is rather rough and as many have noted it hasn't aged that well. However, it's still a great album.

 

[chadbang]

Sgt. Peppers. LSD is worth the price of admission alone. Top that off with A Day in the Life. I love God Only Knows on Pet sounds, but the album doesn't "excite" me in any way. The funniest description on Amazon was a British review who said its like 40 minutes of an adolescent whining about love and keeps dragging along like its never going to end. I hate to say it, but feel like that about Pet Sounds sometimes.

 

[DrBenway]

Sgt. Pepper

I never understood the supposed competition between the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys made some classic records, no doubt, including Pet Sounds, but in later years they devolved into one of the most insipid oldies acts on the face of the planet.

I agree with the previous posters who prefer Abbey Road, which is easily my favorite Beatles album. I always thought it was sad that they released Let It Be after Abbey Road, because it obscures the fact that they got their stuff together after the debacle of the Let It Be sessions. They went back into the studio and proved that they had one more classic left in the tank.

I would have preferred to see Let It Be released post-breakup, after a respectful interval (five years, at least). Not that Let It Be is a bad album; it would probably be considered the best album by many other bands. But it doesn't stand up to the dizzyingly high standards of the Beatles's best work.

 

[scytheavatar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with the previous posters who prefer Abbey Road, which is easily my favorite Beatles album. I always thought it was sad that they released Let It Be after Abbey Road, because it obscures the fact that they got their stuff together after the debacle of the Let It Be sessions. They went back into the studio and proved that they had one more classic left in the tank. I would have preferred to see Let It Be released post-breakup, after a respectful interval (five years, at least). Not that Let It Be is a bad album; it would probably be considered the best album by many other bands. But it doesn't stand up to the dizzyingly high standards of the Beatles's best work.

Yeah, I felt the same way about Queen too. They could have gone out with a bang that is Innuendo, but instead they choose to milk Freddie's legacy with Made in Heaven.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I felt the same way about Queen too. They could have gone out with a bang that is Innuendo, but instead they choose to milk Freddie's legacy with Made in Heaven.

The struggle between art and commerce is rarely, if ever, a fair fight. I guess the silver lining is that when art does win out, it seems all the more miraculous.

 

[VicAjax]

I have both on my shelf right now, and I voted for Pet Sounds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sgt. Pepper I never understood the supposed competition between the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys made some classic records, no doubt, including Pet Sounds, but in later years they devolved into one of the most insipid oldies acts on the face of the planet.

you fall into the lazy trap of judging the band and not the album, and believing that because The Beach Boys' early pop hits are now saccharine standards, they could never actually create a masterpiece.

but this isn't about the bands, it's about the albums. sure, as a whole, The Beatles were more interesting and innovative. but Brian Wilson, at the peak of his genius, outshone John and Paul (and George Martin for the arrangements, let's not forget) working together... even if only for a very brief moment. (I include SMiLE in that moment, as well). I mean, it took three or four people on The Beatles' side to come close to what a 23-year-old Wilson achieved essentially by himself on Pet Sounds.

the lush orchestration, arrangement and production on Pet Sounds was groundbreaking and brilliant, and without it, Sgt. Pepper most likely wouldn't have happened... or at least wouldn't have been as dynamic. the recording techniques, the arrangements, the composition... the more you listen to it, the more you'll hear what a masterpiece it really is.

and if you listen to the Vigotone bootleg of SMiLE, you'll see where Wilson's genius was taking the Beach Boys, before the label and the rest of the group mutinied and dragged themselves back into mediocrity.

after production on SMiLE shut down, Brian Wilson essentially stopped writing and producing for the band and had a nervous breakdown, and ultimately Mike Love kicked him out and turned the group into an oldies act. but that has nothing to do with this (these) masterpieces.

as for the comparison, if you listen to Sgt. Pepper, you'll hear that it's littered with some rather conventional pop-candy ditties (Little Help from My Friends, When I'm 64, Getting Better) that aren't particularly unified with the supposed "concept," and frankly are weaker than any tune on its predecessor Revolver (which still came out after Pet Sounds) or its follow-up, Magical Mystery Tour.

Pet Sounds, on the other hand, is a thematically unified whole without a weak track on it. it may be an innocent, adolescent vision, but of course it would be... it was written, composed and arranged in a very sophisticated manner by a 23-year-old struggling to find his lost childhood.

 

[JayW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would have preferred to see Let It Be released post-breakup, after a respectful interval (five years, at least).

You should do yourself a favor and go pick up a copy of "Let it be..Naked". It's "Let it Be" mixed without Spector's "Wall of Sound" and without all the choirs and orchestration. It's not a replacement for the original Let it Be but its a great accompaniment. It gives a much different perspective on the results of the "Get Back" sessions.

As for the thread.. I don't find much of "Pet Sounds" that interesting, really. No more so than any of the other Beach Boys albums. I'm not saying they are bad, they are excellent, but I don't get why "Pet Sounds" gets any particular attention over any of the others.

 

[emurray]

Ok, I'm around here, so I guess I can go against the grain.

PET SOUNDS wins, hands down. I mean, Paul McCartney even said it's his favorite album of all time, and Sgt. Peppers was written in response to it.

If you aren't a rabbid Beach Boys fan, it's important to know that most of us fanatics have a habit of segregating Brian Wilson from the rest of the Beach Boys. The true genius lies in Wilson (okay, SOME credit goes to his long-time writing partner, Van Dyke Parks), and most of the insipid stuff that came later had absolutely nothing to do with Brian Wilson. Not that that vindicates the band's latter day sins... just know that most "Beach Boys" fans you meet are actually "Brian Wilson" fans.