Pet Sounds vs Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Pet Sounds

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

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These albums were two of the most influential albums of not only the 1960's, but perhaps of all time. In one corner you had Brian Wilson, the man behind the Beach Boys, who remain the biggest selling U.S Band of all time.In the other you had the collective genius of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, members of a little band known as The Beatles. It is without a doubt that these two bands were the premiere pop acts of their time, and their albums, Sgt. Peppers and Pet Sounds are ranked #1 and #2 Albums of All Time repectively by Rolling Stone.

Brian Wilson has been quoted as saying that Rubber Soul, a previous Beatles album was the catalyst for the creation of Pet Sounds:

I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together. Rubber Soul was a collection of songs ... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, "That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album."

And through his work, Wilson crafted one of the finest albums ever recorded. The songs ebb and flow, with it impossible not to get caught in the music as you go from "Wouldn't It Be Bice" to "Sloop John B" to "God Only Knows". The Album has recieved critical acclaim from all fronts, perhaps most interestingly, Paul McCartney, who has listed Pet Sounds as his favourite album:

It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life ... I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album ... I love the orchestra, the arrangements ... it may be going overboard to say it's the classic of the century ... but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways ... I've often played Pet Sounds and cried. I played it to John [Lennon] so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence ... it was the record of the time. The thing that really made me sit up and take notice was the bass lines ... and also, putting melodies in the bass line. That I think was probably the big influence that set me thinking when we recorded Pepper, it set me off on a period I had then for a couple of years of nearly always writing quite melodic bass lines. "God Only Knows" is a big favourite of mine ... very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. On "You Still Believe in Me", I love that melody - that kills me ... that's my favourite, I think ... it's so beautiful right at the end ... comes surging back in these multi-coloured harmonies ... sends shivers up my spine.

So obviously, after hearing such a masterpiece, The Beatles were jolted into crafting an album to beat Pet Sounds, and came up with what is known as one of the greatest albums of all time. Must we go into it? The Album was met with critical acclaim and overarching commercial success which solidified it as a lasting fingerprint by The Beatles on popular music forever.

However, which album was better? Do you prefer Brian Wilson's Brain Child or McCartney and Lennon's lessons? Yeah I made that up just then, don't judge me, it's late. I always found that I liked The White Album better, but I cannot deny that Sgt. Peppers is absolutely brilliant. After discovering Pet sounds however, I'm seriously questioning which deserves top billing as the Album that defined 1966, the 1960's, the 20th Century or perhaps defines pop music in general.

I'll post songs from each album here, but I'd like to point out that if you havent heard one or both of the albums before, I would highly recommend you get your hands on a copy, as the songs were meant to be heard as a collective piece, not a pick and mix bag of singles.

Pet Sounds:

Spoiler

[youtube]L--cqAI3IUI[/youtube][youtube]BC_UILNwWrc[/youtube]

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:

Spoiler

[youtube]M7YlEywVWvM[/youtube]
[youtube]AiFYOn1AFms[/youtube]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it though.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Of the two I feel Pepper flows better and is the more of a "must listen". Pet Sounds has some beautiful music throughout although Sgt Pepper makes me feel more connected...

The best song on the 2 though is God Only Knows by a mile... in the top 10 of all time...

I do feel Pepper is a little too ubiquitous when compared to Abbey Road, which is a far superior album to either mentioned,when Paul used the influence of the 2 to create the best 16 minute medley of all time.

 

[Kingofthedeathmatch]

I just recently listened to Pet Sounds for the first time after Sgt Pepper has been my favorite album ever. I'd had seen so many people praising this album and after I found out it influenced the creation of Sgt Pepper I just had to listen to it. I went into listening to this expecting an album as good as or even better than Pepper but I can unbiasedly say that I was a bit disappointed. Pet Sounds is a great album but I don't think it's even close to being on par with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I get the feeling that Pet Sounds is a one track album in that there isn't a lot of diversity between the songs which is exactly the opposite of Pepper. Maybe a second listen will help me to better understand the praise that Pet Sounds gets but for some reason I just wasn't wowed the first time.

Sorry for the super bump.

 

[Cracka Jack]

I just recently listened to Pet Sounds for the first time after Sgt Pepper has been my favorite album ever. I'd had seen so many people praising this album and after I found out it influenced the creation of Sgt Pepper I just had to listen to it. I went into listening to this expecting an album as good as or even better than Pepper but I can unbiasedly say that I was a bit disappointed. Pet Sounds is a great album but I don't think it's even close to being on par with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I get the feeling that Pet Sounds is a one track album in that there isn't a lot of diversity between the songs which is exactly the opposite of Pepper. Maybe a second listen will help me to better understand the praise that Pet Sounds gets but for some reason I just wasn't wowed the first time.

I had the exact same experience. Sgt. Pepper's was the first Beatles album I had listened to, and impressed me immensely. Everything about it is great, and my appreciation of it seems to have grown over time. I kept hearing about how fantastic Pet Sounds is, so I gave it a listen. While it's very good, I didn't hear the all-time classic I was led to believe I would. I may need to try it out a few more times (it's still on my iPod), so maybe I just don't "get it" yet.