Pet Sounds: Most Overrated Album of All Time?

Others here have touched on the idea that you have to put it in context as to what came before Pet Sounds, and what followed it to "get" the genius of the work, as is true with any great work of art.

The lack of technology and yet to have such excellent results from both the Beach Boys and the Beatles is what is so astounding. I don't believe the Moog was even invented at this point. Today, computer technology exists to reproduce the sounds that artists hear in their minds. I remember hearing the Beach Boys play good vibrations at a concert and using that weird vibraphone or vibraboard to make that eerie sound that was so much a part of the song. It's amazing how technologically advanced everyone thought that was way back then! The Beatles would probably have been able to make Sgt Peppers in a few weeks now, back than it took about 6 months, which was unheard of at the time. You have to view these great albums in their respective time periods to understand. The Beatles were also influenced later, by the Band. A lot of it is based on the time period it was made and the music that was being produced during that time. For example, I have been around to hear all of that music and still listen to rock and question some of the recent album rankings. One example is I think that Nirvana was an excellent band but I would never rate "Nevermind" as the second greatest album or whatever it was ranked, but that's my opinion, which is what all of this really is anyway.

>>that weird vibraphone or vibraboard to make that eerie sound<<

It's called a theremin.

Just because the techniques were pioneering does not make the album "great."

The songs are mostly mediocre pop songs, pumped up by arrangements and a format that were new to pop music. The songs themselves do not compare to other Beach Boys records.

This makes Pet Sounds "influential," and reaffirms the greatness of Brian Wilson in the R&R world, but the album itself is not great. Others took the new style and made much better records.

You can't erase the fact that your listening today has matured and benifitted by forty some odd years of musical evolution (whether you were here and listening all that time or not) since these record had their inception.

The hard part of understanding these landmark albums can be enhanced if one did not experience them during their time of introduction, in context to what music was currently in rotation, going back and listening to the billboard hits of that era and realizing the music and social conscience of that moment. You may well be surprised just how revolutionary the concepts and how dwarfing the musicianship and production skills in juxtaposition. But sitting here in 2009 saying "I don't get it" may just be not understanding the context.

With the benifit of Pet Sounds and SPLHCB in retrospect, why does it still seem to be so illusive, creating such a work out of thin air?

Happy Listening!