Epic Gold Medal Battle of the 60's Classic Albums: Part I

Special Two Album Review!

Part 1: #24 The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Part 2: #25 The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

U.S.A! U.S.A!

Unless you've been living somewhere in the mountains of Bhutan training to be a caped crime fighter, you're probably aware that the Olympics are taking place in London. How exciting! The best athletes the world has to offer, all coming together to show us who is capable of winning a gold medal. This year's summer games have delivered some exciting moments. Phelps is winning gold medals again, a gymnast nicknamed 'the flying squirrel' dazzled the gym mats, dozens of sob stories that end in triumph have been chronicled.  Hell, we even had a badminton scandal! The bottom line of the Olympics, is competition. Phelps and Lochte, even though they both represent the U.S.A. and seem friendly on dry land are still very much rivals in the pool. Well how about music? In the mid 60's there was a similar rivalry in music that turned out some of the greatest albums ever recorded.

I don't own Union Jack, so this will have to do.

 Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney, who very much respected the others craft, would each try to outdo each other with songwriting, production technique, and overall concept through the course of several albums. In December 1965, The Beatles released "Rubber Soul," an album that would mark a radical change in the Beatles style. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys took notice of the album almost immediately. The production quality, the song writing, and the concept that kind of made the whole thing 'hang together,' sort of like a nice old rug. Am I wrong? Wilson took what he heard and decided to top it. After about 6-7 months of recording, the new Beach Boys album was complete. "Pet Sounds," would change popular music forever. It essentially resets the musical calender. BPS, APS...before and after Pet Sounds. While it didn't make a huge dent in the market when first released, musicians everywhere took note of what was happening. Suddenly the instruction manual for making a great pop record was horribly outdated and in need of a revision. Shortly after "Pet Sounds," The Beatles released "Revolver," another masterpiece that even outdid "Rubber Soul." For Paul McCartney, though, "Revolver" wasn't good enough. He had to top "Pet Sounds." This meant the arms race was truly on. A little over a year later, The Beatles would release "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band." The little musical one-ups-man-ship of the last 3 years was over. How over was the competition? Wilson, working on his response to "Revolver," had been working on his next masterpiece to be known as "SMiLE." After hearing Sgt. Peppers, he essentially had a nervous breakdown, scrapped the "SMiLE" project, and slowly started slipping away from reality and control of his beloved band. However, since everyone loves declaring a champion in honest competition, which album gets the gold medal? Only one way to find out. PLAY...


First, we'll look at "Pet Sounds." The album begins with "Wouldn't It Be Nice," a song that I'm guessing you may have heard a few times. It kicks off with an interesting instrumental sound. The only question is, what the hell is it? Theories vary, and it seems that no one except Brian Wilson seem to know what it is. Twelve string guitar? Electric Mandolin? Your guess is as good as mine, and honestly, who cares, the proof is in the pudding. Once the song kicks in, you get a little taste of what 'Pet Sounds' is all about. The wall of sound, which has been mentioned numerous times on this blog, is a production technique pioneered by Phil Spector and perfected by Brian Wilson. Apparently the wall of sound has a tendency to drive people insane, but anyway... The technique is basically accomplished by having multiple instruments playing the same part, lots of guitars, lots of horns, lots of reverb. It creates the signature pop sound that is still being used today. As the song moves on we get to the bridge, and wow, listen to that strong bass line. Its so well done, it perfectly paces around the vocals and gives the song a great pulse. One song down, and they're just getting warmed up. Next is "You Still Believe in Me," a song that uses another large compliment of instruments. Its mainly a harpsichord, timpani and yet another strong bass line. There's also a bike bell in there, one of the many little Easter eggs hidden in the wall of sound. The vocals are really the key to this track. Its all about harmony, and you'll hear somewhere between three and 10,000 vocal tracks on the song. I don't know the exact number, but we'll just say 'many.' The OOOs and AAAs of the vocals at one point begin to merge with an organ in the background. At first, it seems as if it is just another vocal track, but oh no, that's an organ under there. Its just yet another signature of the wall of sound, pay attention or you might miss something! "That's Not Me," begins with immediate vocals and the same organ sound heard on the last track. This time though, its joined by a tambourine. More instruments soon join in, twelve string guitar, wood blocks, standard electric guitar. Lyrically, the song is Wilson looking at his own life and possibly everything people are demanding of him. The ship had already started showing signs of leaks and Wilson's mental state had become quite fragile. With everyone telling him how to fix it and how he should act, this song seems to reply by simply saying 'that's not me.' The track is also a popular music oddity in that it doesn't seem to have a clear cut verse and chorus, it simply builds and builds, but never really reaches the release point. Serenity NOW! Next up is a very sad sounding track, "Don't Talk, Put Your Head on my Shoulder." Its a beautifully done song with organ, strings, very simple ride cymbal pulsing and...the bass. That's some amazing analog bass, its very deep and going through my 60 pound Cerwin Vegas, its currently shaking the walls of the house. An MP3 just won't cut it in replicating this sound. "I'm Waiting for the Day,"kicks off with drums, then brings in that organ again. This uses another interesting dynamic that has been seen many times in the 'Summer of Vinyl' blog. The Loud/Quiet/Loud feel of this song kind of makes me wonder, is this the birth of grunge? Well probably not, but it definitely has that characteristic. I'd try to list all the instruments in this song, but honestly, I don't have the time, or words to make a list that long. It reminds me of Jethro Tull a little...well...not really, it just has a flute, the similarities end there. That's like saying a Maserati and a Pinto are similar just because they're both cars. "Lets Go Away for a While," is the first instrumental track on the album. It mainly uses vibraphone, strings, and a horn section. You also get some great echoey sound effects that add to the somewhat spacey feel of the whole song. To a lesser producer, this would merely be a piece of soundtrack filler. To Brian Wilson, it becomes a musical masterpiece. The seventh and final song of side one is "Sloop John B," a traditional tune, arranged here by Wilson. Once again, the bass line grounds the song musically. The song should be noted because it includes a glockenspiel. That's not really anything of interest, but to be honest, name another time in my life when I'll be able to use the word glockenspiel in an capacity. Go ahead...just try. The song has endless vocal tracks and features both Wilson and Mike Love alternating on vocals for the verses. One thing of interest on this song is the rhythm. It changes a few times and goes between half time, double time and some interesting Caribbean like shuffles. Well, seven songs in under 20 minutes and its time to flip.

Side two begins much like one, with a song that just about everyone in the English speaking world has heard many times. "God Only Knows," is just about the perfect pop song. It uses an accordian intro, which has to be a first of some kind for this style.  The great lyrics along with the great vocal delivery equals one very satisfying song. Again, it uses a somewhat strange song structure, it does have a chorus, but there isn't much variation in musical theme to really notify the listener, 'oh by the way, here's the chorus.' That's right Brian, make them think when they listen to your music. "I Know There's an Answer," seems to tag along with the lyrics of "That's Not Me." Wilson is once again responding to those around him who are telling him what's up. Again, Wilson doesn't want to hear it. He seems to think everyone should take a long hard look at themselves before they decide to judge others. Truer words were never spoken, however, based on Wilson's mental state, they may have been on to something. Musically, you know what its got, another classic "Pet Sounds" arrangement. "Here Today," is a lyrically cynical song about how love is always so close to being gone. Instead of enjoying a good thing, it takes the pessimistic route of 'it could all end tomorrow.' Well, thanks, that's uplifting. The song uses another strong bass line anchoring the harpsichord, organ, and other instruments. The one piece of the song that I think stands out is the saxophone, lingering in the background. There are two baritone saxophones on this track and they create an interesting boom which isn't the typical low end sound you get in most songs. Next up is "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times," another song that has that alienation feel to it. Its not that subtle on this song, just read that title...yup, someone doesn't feel at home. The instruments are fairly standard, until you get to the interesting Electro Theremin solo. I guess you can call it a solo, whatever it is, its pretty boss. Of course the theremin's most popular use was in the song "Good Vibrations," but here it has the slight variation of being controlled by an accompanied keyboard. That helps makes the randomness of the theremin a little more tamed and controllable. The next track is the other instrumental on the album and the title track. "Pet Sounds" is a psychedelic and spacey sounding tune that this time uses a highly effected electric guitar and coke bottle percussion. Yes, coke bottles. The guitar seems to have a vibro-chorusy sound to it. Its almost a liquid kind of sound, like bubbles rising through water. I think if I wanted to create the sound now, I'd put my Boss Phaser's rate knob all the way up and maybe add some echo. Perhaps I'll test this theory later and see if it works. The final track on the album "Caroline No," uses some interesting sounds. Utilizing random echoey drums and a harpsichord, the song is a satisfying conclusion to the album. Quiet and reserved, it never reaches the wall of sound used on the rest of the album. Then you really get to the randomness at the end. Dogs bark, a train flies by and you're left wondering...what was that all about?

Well...there it is. "Pet Sounds:" the first entry in our Gold Medal contest. Its clearly a great album, but its up against Sgt. Peppers...can it really take down the mighty Beatles? I'd have to say at this point "Pet Sounds" is the #2 seed, but everyone loves an underdog. You'll just have to wait to find out the epic conclusion of the match of the century.  Its the U.S.A  VS. Great Britian...Cliffhanger!

Strongest Song: God Only Knows
Weakest Song: Maybe the instrumentals, but even they're interesting in some way.
Song You Know: Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows
Why You Might Hate It: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I don't know what that means in this case, but there's a point there, I'm sure.
Buy It? If anything else, its nice to know the template of how to record pop music. On vinyl the bass lines sound a lot deeper and really shake the walls.