eMusic Review 0
Even weighted with the expectations that surround it, fore (when Brian Wilson set out to create what might be regarded as his first solo album), to aft, when its sense of masterpiece has long been acknowledged as a crucial part of rock's (and I use the term advisedly) growth to artistic awareness, Pet Sounds wears its classicism well. Built piecemeal over a landmark year straddling 1965 — when it was begun with a reconfiguration of the folk chestnut "Sloop John B" — and 1966, when it was released to critical and cult success, if perhaps sailing over the heads of many Beach Boy fans who had come to expect yet another variation on the group's formula (not to mention the Beach Boys themselves, especially the practical-minded Mike Love), it is a pilgrim-agical journey that takes our narrator — lyricized by Tony Asher — from the found innocence of childhood ("Don't Talk – Put Your Head On My Shoulder") to the lost innocence of maturity ("I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"), ultimately giving oneself over to an acceptance of a universal creator ("God Only Knows") that bears some resemblance to a madcap producer in a recording studio crafting an oratorio… read more »
