What bonuses on the reissue?
Reissued today in vinyl format (double LP, original mono and stereo) and in a 4 CD box set (90 tracks, including 25 unreleased takes), this eleventh album by the Beach Boys remains an extraordinary garden. A vision validated by promotional photos taken at the San Diego Zoo. “In the studio, the technicians talked about animal sounds (Pet sounds) that Brian had integrated into the mix,” recalls Mike Love, 85, singer of the group and cousin of the Wilson brothers. “We decided to call the record like that and we went to the zoo to find cover ideas.”
The Beatles can say thank you
In 1966, the Beach Boys were at the height of their popularity among American teenagers. Brian Wilson, for his part, gave up touring with the group, preferring to experiment in the studio. Leaving behind the beach, surfing, convertibles, and refrains about teenage romances, he dreams of the ultimate pop work combining Phil Spector’s famous “wall of sound” technique – the superimposition of several sound takes of the same instrument – and the pop refinement of “Rubber Soul,” the Beatles’s sixth album released at the end of 1995.
Reviled and then admired
Admiration or jealousy? It doesn’t matter. This rivalry with Spector and McCartney stimulates him to the point of breaking all production codes in force. Behind the sound effects, the richness of vocal harmonies, and the technical innovations, “Pet Sounds” is also based on great songs: Would’ It Be Nice, Sloop John B, God Only Knows… The sun is no longer the one that tans bodies on Californian beaches. It’s the one that fades at dusk in solitude, melancholy, and sorrow. Upon its release, the record will be misunderstood, and the Beatles will respond with the masterful “Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Enough to push Brian Wilson even further into the depths of depression.
The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds Sessions (CD, 2 LP, Box 4CD). Capitol/Universal.
