Post a controversial music opinion

is Shakey gone forever because people accused him of abusing a subway sandwich or a trucker hat? I can never keep track of ancient ILX beefs

There's no critical approach anyone can take to Pet Sounds that someone else isn't going to find hackneyed or outrageous or both.

man I love pet sounds. I listened to smile again recently and it really is a damn masterpiece. I didn’t think I even knew it really well but I knew the whole thing by heart! So many amazing melodies and imagery-inducing arrangements

I have never listened to Pet Sounds all the way through - or any BBs album - because all I need is "Don't Worry Baby" and "Good Vibrations." And I only need to hear either of those two songs about once a decade each.

everybody needs “til I die”

xposts Shakey posted this very ill-advised thread: True or False: Every sexual assault accusation must be believed

He got shit for it, which I can't blame anybody for.

milo calling him "rapey mo" and posting a 10+ year old crepey post he made under his old dn seems to be what made him leave outright though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5-jp6nbsM

Smile is great. had the Brian Wilson 2004 version but getting the Beach Boys official release of it a decade ago was a treat and obviously superior.

some people prefer the weirder version of "Vegetables" on Smiley Smile.

If the entirety of Pet Sounds were like 'Good Vibrations', which is what I was led to believe in the first place, I'd be on board with its deification.

You don't even like "Wouldn't It Be Nice", pom?

There's no critical approach anyone can take to Pet Sounds that someone else isn't going to find hackneyed or outrageous or both.

― Halfway there but for you, Monday, February 1, 2021 5:24 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Fixed this for you.

'Pet Sounds' still feels overrated to me, even though I think it's 3/4th a great album. Yet also I'm perfectly happy to never have to hear it again.

TS: 'Pet Sounds is overrated' vs 'Pet Sounds is underrated'

Xp ha none of it is really like "Good Vibrations " (which is awesome).

https://www.discogs.com/Lambchop-Pet-Sounds-Sucks/release/2430649

I fucking hate the shit out of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'. Aside from 'God Only Knows', 'Sloop John B.' is the only other song I find palatable, maybe because it's an adaptation.

If Pussy Galore had covered Pet Sounds instead of Exile On Main St., that would have put all this bullshit to bed nice 'n' early.

yes Exile's rep never recovered from that

I think Pet Sounds is fine, but the quality of Brian Wilson's work scales exponentially. "Surf's Up" is God-like, "God Only Knows" is spectacular, "Good Vibrations" is fine, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "You Still Believe In Me" are all right, and I wouldn't miss much of anything else. "Vegetables" walked the plank many years ago and was eaten by some very healthy sharks

Wild Honey has three songs which are better than anything on Pet Sounds

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" has the prettiest bridge in pop history, i will not back down from this!

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how there will never be a greater disconnect between Pet Sounds's deathless critical reputation and the honest-to-God nausea I experience whenever I hear it, barring a song or two.

― pomenitul, Monday, February 1, 2021 11:00 AM (thirty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I like Pet Sounds, but I wouldn't begrudge anyone for hating it. Substitute Unknown Pleasures for Pet Sounds here, and you've got me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Last year we spent some time in the Music Theory thread unpacking the weirdness of those modulations on that song, very crafty!

I think what interests me about Pet Sounds also is just what a step up it is from Today! and all their previous work, but w/e. Pom you're not alone I know at least three other people who are allergic to pets

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" has the prettiest bridge in pop history, i will not back down from this!

'Oh, we could be married (oh, we could be married) / And then we'd be happy (and then we'd be happy)' is the 10th circle of Hell.

Tbf I actually like the dorky af album cover.

just think of it as a song about pretending to be married as an excuse for fuckin'

Weird to me that anyone would outright "hate" this album (yet still like the Beach Boys in general), but I guess I understand. Its corniness definitely undercuts some of its creativity. At the same time, it's just barely over 30 minutes long, so I can take it. As far as mannered orchestral pop goes, I have more trouble with Burt Bacharach, who I assume Wilson was very into.

Dunno, it still sounds like postwar white middle-class American incel dude music to me.

xp

I linke to think of it as "mentally 12-year-old man tries to imagine what adult relationships are" but guess that's sort of the same thing

mentally 12-year-old man tries to imagine what adult relationships are

Sums it up, really. Not only do I not get the appeal at all but I fail to see how the Greatest Album of All Time™ could possibly revolve around this theme.

just think of it as a song about pretending to be married as an excuse for fuckin'

This has been my interpretation as well. It's about teenagers who want to be older so they can have sex whenever they want.

I think Brian Wilson was pretty explicit about trying to present a teen POV in these songs

I thought "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was meant to be ironic-utopian, and also the author was what, 23? 24?

I guess the whole thing sounds like a pocket symphonic YA novel.

Sorry, I can't refrain from writing this...I shouldn't. But in french (at least Canadian french) "pet" is a fart. So it took me few seconds to realize I was reading in english (I know "sounds" is an english word...but my brain works like that). I read "fart sounds"...sorry..

— Hugues Tremblay (@Hugues_Tremblay) January 30, 2021

He seriously doesn't know it means the same thing in standard French? Christ, that's embarrassing.

Otherwise, otm.

The record also chronicles an emotional change. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to "Caroline, No" is an emotional shift to disillusionment, if not necessarily maturity.

idk why anyone would listen to the beach boys for the lyrics, but "caroline, no" and "i just wasn't made for these times" has some genuinely moving moments that are enhanced by the harmonic trickery and group vocals.

Yeah, I like that it ends on a bit of a downbeat, but it takes way too long to get there. I know that some people are unable to listen to it very often because it's too 'depressing', which is o_O as far as I'm concerned.

Did you have a take on "Surf's Up" (the song)?

"Wouldn't it Be Nice" is apparently getting some new attention from woke youth (e.g., my 13yo daughter and her online circle) who see it as a stand-in for queer relationships: if you read "we could be married, and then we'd be happy" from the perspective of LGBTQ+ folx, it takes on a different cast

I have no strong opinion but am noting that it this view is out there

Not sure that I've even heard 'Surf's Up'. Will listen and report.

I remember when Olivia Tremor Control and all the E6 stuff was really hot, Pet Sounds used to get mentioned all the time...and I always felt a little obnoxious saying that I thought Olivia Tremor Control were much better than Pet Sounds.

jesus, let the hate flow

'Surf's Up' is more self-consciously 'psychedelic', which is to my liking, and it's got more twists and turns than the average PS track, which is also to my liking, but the stench of tweeness remains overwhelming. Maybe part of the problem is that I hated kiddie music even when I was a kid and much of Wilson's shtick consists of trying to reactivate those supposedly nostalgic neural pathways?

thanks pomenitul for giving me cause to listen to Pet Sounds this afternoon. It has been a pleasure.

Any time.

I'm putting on She's Going Bald on repeat

Tbh I revived this quarantine thread in part because I swore I wouldn't shit up the 77 rollouts this year, as it's gotten stale, and I figured an anachronistic outlet couldn't hurt.

Man I love "Surf's Up" so much, I rate Bacharach much higher than Wilson overall but it's the best song either ever wrote, it's as good as the best Gershwin, the best Schubert imho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu7C60NNJTQ

agreed. masterpiece.