The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)

Note: the CD I listened to was the original 1990 CD reissue.

I wasn't even thinking about posting today (somebody's got a case of the Mondays), but then I saw this and my morning schedule quickly changed:

Today Pet Sounds was released 50 years ago. I just can't believe it. I recorded it to bring love to the world. pic.twitter.com/zap6gJzS4k

— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) May 16, 2016

This was a game changer to be sure. Wilson played the entire recording studio like an instrument unto itself.  Simply gorgeous.  But I'll let this 10 year old press release do all the heavy lifting for this beauty:

Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys’ 12th studio album is universally hailed as one of the most important recordings of all time. Since its original May 16, 1966 release, the studio masterpiece has reigned at the top of countless critic and fan polls, and four decades later, the visionary album maintains its timeless rank as one of popular music’s most-cited influences. More than 100 domestic and international publications and journalists have lauded Pet Sounds as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. In 1995, Pet Sounds topped MOJO magazine’s special issue “The Greatest Albums of All Time” at #1...

In 2020; Rolling Stone magazine listed Pet Sounds at #2 out of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and in 2017, it was ranked at #2 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

Or how about this blurb from the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die:

"...transcends the genre of pop." I'll second that.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #10 (later charted again with various re-releases, including #162 in 1990 upon this release on CD)

Tracks:  For me, there's God Only Knows and then everything else, but why skip any tracks? As with albums of this quality, even the filler is pretty darn good.  Even the instrumentals are good.  My only complaint is tacking on three meaningless bonus tracks on to the end when Caroline No is the perfect album closer.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox,
go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: God Only Knows isn't just my favorite Beach Boys song, but one of my all-time favorite songs of any genre.  However, I wasn't introduced to this album as a whole until the CD was released in 1990.  Side note: Wilson claims to have written God Only Knows in just 45 minutes.  Simply amazing. And yes, I've listened to it at least 10 times already this morning.

Previously revisited for the blog:
That's Why God Made The Radio (2012)
20 Good Vibrations: The Greatest Hits (1995)