One of America’s greatest musicians is Brian Wilson. His
work with the Beach Boys and numerous other artists pushed the boundaries of
music, both in production and in writing. In the mid sixties, Brian Wilson
stopped touring with the Beach Boys to concentrate on writing and made one of
the greatest records of all time, Pet
Sounds. His use of multi-tracking allowed for him to group layers of vocals
on top of layers of vocals with a process that was inspired by his mentor, Phil
Spector. The result was spectacular.
Brian Wilson was pushed to create such a great record by his
rivals, the Beatles, who released Rubber
Soul in 1965. They were rivals and friends, yet they were trying to create
a record better than the one before. Pet
Sounds has an amazing sound to it, something that has not been equaled
since. The songs “Wouldn’t it be nice”, “God Only Knows” and “Sloop John B”, in
particular, are three of my all time favorite songs. One interesting thing
about this album is that it was so good that the Beatles were pushed even
harder and their response to it was Sgt
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, which has been listed as the greatest
album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. It was contributing factor for
Brian Wilson’s nervous breakdown. His response to Sgt Peppers was going to be Smile,
which he started in 1966 but it took him until 2004 to finish. Pet
Sounds is listed as the second best album of all time on that same list.
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