There's a single word that defines the album Pet Sounds for me, and that word is soul. I'm not even going to get into the tired "which is better, Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper...?" controversy because one would have to be a blithering idiot to conclude the flawed Sgt. Pepper is even remotely comparable to the masterpiece that Pet Sounds is. Once again, I'm not keeping my cards close enough to my vest, but I'm also not an idiot. Back to the post...
Twenty-one tracks in 24-bit digital audio with a cappella, instrumentals and studio outakes that allows the listener to crawl into the psychelic-soaked brain of Brian Wilson and study the progression of quite possibly the most important Rock 'n' Roll album in the history of...uhhhhhh...well...Rock 'n' Roll. Have at it.
From Brian Wilson:
In December of 1965, 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 called in a collaborator named Tony Asher and we spent two months working on and off together. He proved to have the lyrical ability to work with me. In January, I started making the instrumental tracks for the album. I made each track a sound experience of its own. I was obsessed with explaining, musically, how I felt inside. This, I thought, could be the beginning of a new type of sophisticated-feeling music. I definitely felt the need to compete with The Beatles. After doing twelve tracks and totally exhausting some of my musical creativity, I proceeded to play the tracks to the boys, who had just gotten home from the road. They all flipped for the tracks and the songs. I did most of the singing on Pet Sounds because I needed to directly express my feelings to people. It was a special project because the music world had heard from me through The Beach Boys, but I needed to get this one album out to my fans and the public from my heart and soul. I was in a loving mood for a few months and it found its way to recorded tape. My voice turned up sweet this time. Caroline, No was my favorite on this album. The boys filled out the album with me and we had a classic on our hands. I experiemented with sounds that would make the listener feel loved. The album was artistically set out in front of other albums and was, in truth, at that time, my biggest and best production. It was the first time I used more traditional and inspired lyrics which emitted feelings from my soul and not the usual "Beach Boys" kind of an approach. Pet Sounds was an album alone. I think Don't Talk was good for me to make, giving me peace of mind and spiritual satisfaction, knowing that many people would feel like I did. That's Not Me was so great that I couldn't get enough listens.
A voice or a song can be so comforting to someone who really needs it. I have always had an ear out for good voices. When you make a great album, it is good for your confidence and it tells you that you can continue to record in that same spirit. I really fulfilled a dream with this album. Just before we did God Only Knows, Carl and I had prayer sessions asking the Lord for guidance and maximum love vibes for this crucial single. It was the first time that anyone ever used the word "God" in a commercial song...at least this is what we were told. During the production of Pet Sounds, I dreamt I had a halo over my head. This might have meant that the angels were watching over Pet Sounds.
From David Leaf:
For Pet Sounds, Brian finally wrote and recorded an entire album the way he always had felt music...in the manner of an impressionistic painter, creating sounds to express specific emotions.
Clearly, "feeling" was paramount. Brian once explained his approach to songwriting: "This art form...can draw out so much emotion and channel it into notes of music in cadence. Good emotional music is never embarassing...the stimulation I get from molding it is like nothing else on earth. I approach my music-making as something pure from the spirit to which I can add dynamics and marketable reality...I find it possible to spill beautiful melodies in moments of great despair...a lot of the songs are the result of emotional experiences, sadness and pain...or joy, exultation in nature and sunshine.
"I go to the piano and play "feels." "Feels" are specific rhythm patterns, fragments or ideas. Once they're out of my head and into the open air, I can see them and touch them firmly. Then the song starts to blossom and become a real thing."
To Tony Asher, the co-writer of eight of the songs on Pet Sounds, those feels were what fueled their songwriting sessions. Brian would play some pattern or lick that they would develop into a song and by the end of the day, they would have, as Asher recalled,"a pretty complete melody, partial lyrics and a kind of bridge and some other stuff. I'd go home at night and work on the lyrics a little bit and bring them back the next day." As Asher explains, Brian would then do "a lot of editing on them. The general tenor of the lyrics was always his...I was really just his interpreter."
Fans of the record have long yearned for Pet Sounds to have been an autobiography...the story of Brian's search for love and acceptance. The album seems to be a journey: it begins with hope and love (Wouldn't It Be Nice), recognizes that earthbound love is imperfect (I'm Waiting For The Day), acknowledges the divine spirit (God Only Knows), searches for a solution (I Know There's An Answer), bemoans the tenuous nature of love (Here Today), accepts that's he's a human anomaly (I Just Wasn't Made For These Times) and ends with the expression of lost innocence of Caroline, No. Along the way, there are romantic moments (Don't Talk...), never-before-dreamed-of possibilities (You Still Believe In Me) and fantasy escapes (Let's Go Away For A While).
While Asher insists that from his point of view there wasn't a pre-meditated concept to the lyrics, the final result was a body of songs that reflected both their concerns as young adults.
Brian's preferred recording method was that once a particular song was finished, or even when the lyric wasn't completed, he couldn't wait to get into the studio and record the backing track. So, often going into the studio with just a chord pattern and a melody line, Brian and the musicians would build their selections from scratch. In what was a painstaking process, Brian would work with each player to come up with individual sounds. With occasional hands-on guidance from Brian (who understands the sound of virtually every instrument), the arrangement ultimately made its way from Brian's head into the band's.Then, once everybody knew their part, recording would start. Typically, one song would be recorded at each session, with the studio band playing, under Brian's direction, until they had recorded a completed take that satisfied him. Over and over, the band played the song from start to finish: and while he did inserts, pick-ups and overdubs (usually at the same session), there were only a few instances of piecing a track together. Brian, in 1966, was at the absolute peak of his talent, playing the studio as the ultimate instrument, directing the mixing during each take, searching for the right balance.
As each take was performed, Brian would listen intently, frequently interrupting to correct tempo, point out a missed entrance or change a specific part when he realized that what he had come up with at first wasn't working to his satisfaction. There was give and take, with the musicians offering ideas, and Brian was always open and would really jump on a new sound. Sometimes their musical suggestions were taken by Brian and integrated into his vision.
When The Beach Boys returned from the road, they would come into the studio and Brian would teach them their parts. It was when the vocals were added that the wizardry became completely apparent, because it was clear that Brian had already "heard" what they would be singing. Up until the time when the voices were added, certain elements of the backing tracks, in the words of the musicians, might not have made sense. But when you heard the vocals mixed with the tracks, it all fell into place perfectly.
Technical Information:
Artist: The Beach Boys
Album: Pet Sounds
Year: 1966
Audio Codec(s): MLP
Encoding: Lossless
Rip: 24/96 MLP 5.1 split tracks
Bitrate: 13824 kb/s
Sample rate: 96000 Hz
Bits per sample: 24
Channels: 6 + 2 Channel Stereo Downsample
File size: 3.59 GB
Length: 0:58:15
Tracklisting:
01. Wouldn't It Be Nice (2:33)
02. You Still Believe In Me (2:40)
03. That's Not Me (2:30)
04. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (2:58)
05. I'm Waiting For The Day (3:06)
06. Let's Go Away For A While (2:25)
07. Sloop John B. (3:04)
08. God Only Knows (2:54)
09. I Know There's An Answer (3:19)
10. Here Today (3:09)
11. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (3:18)
12. Pet Sounds (2:40)
13. Caroline, No
14. Unreleased Background (Unused Intro for Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)) (0:55)
15. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Session Highlights) (3:45)
16. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Alternative Mix Without Lead Vocal) (2:37)
17. God Only Knows (Session Highlights) (3:36)
18. God Only Knows (Master Track Mix With A Cappella Tag) (2:57)
19. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (A Cappella Mix) (3:18)
20. Summer Means New Love (3:35)
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