Pet Sounds: Most Overrated Album of All Time?

to call pet sound's compositions 'mediocre' even after decades, is pretty bizarre. the beach boys started reaching for more with the anthem 'california girls'.as far as that album called 'smile'by brian, the original and re-worked tracks(most of which are scattered across a half dozen beach boy records)are still the way to go. the new record by brian was fun for 'one' listen for me. the modern day equivalent of a 'whiskey bottle' recording(where a vulture record company lures an artist back to re-record legendary songs, with the promise of new money, and perhaps a record of new material).it's a bit classier than that, but not much...the tunes are heavenly, but it just doesn't have that 'magic'.

Some nice melodies and harmonies with some of the most insipid lyrics of the 1960's. In fact everything the Beach Boys did was lyrically ridiculous. Little miss cheerleader on the beach? Give me a break.

Jaybo: Sergeant Pepper sold big. Pet Sounds did not. Explanation?

(Hint: The correct answer is NOT that the Beatles were more popular than the Beach Boys.)

Jim:

To the question that you posed to Jaybo ... how does record sales correlate to the quality and/or influence of the music? Look at the answer that I posted fifth from the top as to what sold big in 1966. It is interesting to note that the Dr. Zhivago and Sound of Music soundtracks were #'s 1&2 in 1967.

I have tons of great albums that didn't sell well, the pubic didn't get, etc. Look at 1975 (year of release), Olivia Newton John's "Have You Ever Been Mellow" (#3) outsold Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" (#14), Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" (#29), and Springsteen's "Born to Run" (#31). Do you think the "Velvet Undergound & Nico" or "Loaded" ever charted?

It still gets down to your personal preference. Back then, I preferred "Pet Sounds" to "Sgt. Pepper" ... still do. It doesn't detract from either work's quality.

Regards,

Rich

Jim , I have been reading your posts and I don't get your opinions on almost anything. Firstly, It's the album most affected by Brian's maturation not his illness. He was expressing his deepest feelings of love and life from the heart and mind of a 23 year old man. There made be a few sad or bittersweet songs, but depressing it is not. The songs are a far cry from being mediocre, if anything they may be innocent, and that is only from todays perspective, 40 years ago they were poignant. Lastly, The Beatles were a worldwide phenomenon, far more popular than anyone on the planet with far more influence than any other musical band at that time. In my opinion, Sgt Peppers was a step ahead of Pet Sounds, however, because of their popularity, the Beatles probably could have put out another album similar to Rubber Soul and still outsold the Beach Boys, such was their worldwide appeal!