I suppose this goes along with my last post a bit. The following is an excerpt from the liner notes to a 1990 re-issue of the Beach Boys' seminal album Pet Sounds, considered by many to be their best work.
Brian Wilson:
"In December of 1966, I heard the album Rubber Soul by the Beatles. It was definitely a challenge for me. I saw that every cut was very artistically interesting and stimulating. I immediately went to work on the songs for Pet Sounds."
I like that when he listens to a really good album, all he hears is "Bring your A-game, Wilson. Yeah, this record is talking to you."
I hope he felt some vindication when Paul McCartney would later cite Pet Sounds as a major influence on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the one album that beat it on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time." But then, what the hell is that list worth? They think the top ten albums ever made were all released within about seven years (1979's London Calling excepted).
1 comment:
God Only Knows has to be one of the best songs I've ever heard.
I actually read an article explaining exactly why Pet Sounds is such a great album, and part of it was that Wilson, although he was deaf in one ear, could imagine 5 or 6 different melodies in his head at once. God Only Knows, for instance, has at one point 4 simultaneous melodies that I can count.
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