1967 STEREO Orig THE BEACH BOYS PET SOUNDS psych Beatles BRIAN WILSON

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STILL IN ORIGINAL FACTORY SHRINK WRAP = HARD TO FIND MINT COVER!!! (see details below)

Collectible ORIGINAL 1967 first pressing -- hard to find 42 years old classic ...

Pet Sounds is a slice of pure pop perfection.

To call this album classic doesn't do it justice. A rival with only two or three albums as the greatest album of all time. It is this good.

The Beach Boys are one of the greatest bands to have ever come out of the 60s. Their vocal harmonies are second to none, and Brian Wilson's compositions and arrangements are nothing short of masterful. Need proof? Listen to Pet Sounds. This is pop rock at it's best. "Wouldn't it Be Nice" remains one of my favourite songs, even after having known it for the vast majority of my lifetime. "Good Vibrations" would have been right at home here (and perhaps should have been), but even without it this album shines.

Besides the extremely well-known songs (Sloop John B, Caroline No, God Only Knows), the tracks which were not released as singles still have extreme merit. "You Still Believe in Me", "Here Today", and the even the (unfairly) oft-dismissed title track "Pet Sounds" are all stellar recordings in their own right. Pet Sounds was not supposed to be a final destination. Pet Sounds was to have been a stop on the journey of Brian Wilson’s continually evolving musical vision. Next up was to have been an album titled Smile, and who knows what was to follow.

Brian Wilson’s fertile mind would create the magnificent single “Good Vibrations” shortly after the Pet Sounds sessions, but he would then be hampered by illness for years. Smile would not be released for decades, so we are left with the brilliant Pet Sounds and the sadness of roads not traveled.

The technical merits of Pet Sounds are apparent even 42 years later. Brian Wilson built his skills in the studio for years prior to the album release, which brought them to full flower. Pet Sounds was an album recorded like a single. Brain Wilson intended for the album as a whole to have been a hit, rather than just a song or two. It was the whole rather than the individual songs that was important.

Part of Brian Wilson’s brilliance was the ability to take simple lyrics that spoke of basic human feelings and create an emotional impact through his music and harmonies. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a song about simple desire, a journey we have all taken. The song's simple lyrics are bathed in gorgeous harmonies with arrangements and subtle percussion molded into the mix.

“Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” is a quiet testament to love. The song just slips by with an understated vocal and then harmonies. “I’m Waiting For The Day” is a requiem to longing and waiting for the day you can love again. Unanswered is the question: Will this really happen?

“God Only Knows,” besides being one of the most beautiful ballads ever recorded, may have been the most sophisticated song on the album and was possibly pointing toward the future. Carl Wilson’s voice floats above a symphony of instrumental sounds. The layering of such instruments as French horns, strings, harpsichord, flutes, and a staccato percussion all provide a subtle background for this ethereal ballad.

Pet Sounds continues to satisfy. Paul McCartney once said, “No one is educated musically until they’ve heard Pet Sounds." In line with this quote I remember reading somewhere that the more you live, the better it gets. Pet Sounds’ legacy is that it changed the way albums were recorded and created.

Pet Sounds concludes with another beautiful ballad, this time of loss. The final sounds of “Caroline No" would echo Brian Wilson's most creative musical period. A train is coming down the track while a dog barks. The train passes and is quickly gone. Then silence.

An absolute must for any collection. The Beatles didn't change the face of music alone, you know.

Side one
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" (Wilson, Asher, Love) – 2:22
Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals.
"You Still Believe in Me" – 2:30
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals; originally titled "In My Childhood".
"That's Not Me" – 2:27
Features Mike Love [w/Brian Wilson] on lead vocals.
"Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" – 2:51
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals.
"I'm Waiting for the Day" (Wilson, Love) – 3:03
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals.
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" (Wilson) – 2:18
Instrumental, Originally titled "The Old Man and the Baby".
"Sloop John B" (Trad. arr. Wilson) – 2:56
Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals.

Side two

"God Only Knows" – 2:49
Features Carl Wilson on lead vocals: Brian Wilson & Bruce Johnston on the tag.
"I Know There's an Answer" (Wilson, Love) – 3:08
Features Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Brian Wilson on lead vocals; Originally titled "Hang On to Your Ego".
"Here Today" – 2:52
Features Mike Love on lead vocals.
"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" – 3:11
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals.
"Pet Sounds" (Wilson) – 2:20
Instrumental; originally titled "Run James Run".
"Caroline, No" – 2:52
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals; the sounds of an oncoming train and barking of his dogs Banana and Louie close the song.

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