Pet Sounds: Most Overrated Album of All Time?

"Lots of mediocre or worse songs, too much sitar (ANY sitar is too much for me)"


It would seem as if Sgt Pepper is obviously not for you then.

Neither it appears are songs such as

Norwegian Wood
Paint it Black
Love You To
Tomorrow Never Knows
Green TambourineHurdy Gurdy Man
Games People Play etc


1967 seems to me to be a year of numerous classic albums and SPLHCB stands as one of the very best.

I see it more as a novel exploration of transcendental states than pretentious psychedelic bullshit.

Perhaps it’s all down to the interpretation, isn’t it?

Dylan of course went from one extreme to the other with Highway 61 Revisited/ Blonde on Blonde all the way to The Basement Tapes / John Wesley Harding.

In any case shouldn’t we try to judge any work of art within its own frame of reference?

If so, then Pet Sounds, in the summer of 1966 must have been mind-blowing in the world of popular music.

I do not like the word "overrated". The media might have pushed "Pet Sounds" due to the popularity of the British pop invasion? I was only 2 years old so I’m speaking from a historical(research)l viewpoint. Yes, Pet Sounds is clearly the Beach Boys best album up until then if lyrical content is regarded. When considering 1967 album releases in context... The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and even Surrealistic Pillow(not as timeless?) IMO crush "Pet Sounds"

Fun thread! Makes me want to drink beers with you all, put some tunes on the 'table and diss the heck out of each other's tastes. I admit to liking Pet Sounds a heck of a lot. Pretty tunes; beautiful voices; beautifully recorded. I even enjoy the LP's liberal use of the now frowned-upon practice of overdubbing. My older sister and even-older cousin were buying 45 rpm singles at the time, and I grabbed most of them when they wanted to throw them away. I have some of my parents' 1940's pop singles, as well. A high school buddy had a sitar and took lessons from Ravi Shankar when Ravi was living in L.A. Another buddy played the tabla and took a lesson or two from Alla Rakha. Somebody PLEASE take my laptop before I embarrass myself still more...

@edcyn: Do you like the scent of patchouli oil too? ;-) Far out, man. Gawd did I despise the hippie era, both musically and culturally. And too many guys with "attempted" mustaches (thank you Loudon Wainwright !!! ;-) . Now, young girls wearing thin tank tops with no bra, that was a different story. 

Charles Manson didn't like it either