I wonder if Mike somehow killed JFK too!!!!

He probably killed him so he could co-write The Warmth of the Sun.

wat

Welcome!

It's been said already, but this is really a loaded question.  There are no weak songs on Pet Sounds.

I don't think even it's possible for me to select the "weakest" songs on these two albums.  But just for fun I'll say I Know There's An Answer (since I prefer the alternate Hang On To Your Ego) and He Gives Speeches because it doesn't fit.  The albums as released though are as close to perfect as one can get.

Yeah, I deserve the eyebrow raise.     I had all of Celine's albums before I realized what great singing/songwriting was.  I should also mention that I am just a couple albums short of the whole studio output of Bruce Springsteen, Queen, and Billy Joel.

Thanks for the props for ABBA.  Most people just think of them as a 'disco' band, but in the words of U2's, The Edge, "ABBA have written the best pop music of all time''.

Yeah, I'll be honest.  I am approaching the post-Pet Sounds albums with trepidation.  I mean, I am sure there are some great songs in there, but I had to turn off the Amazon music sampler (30 seconds from each song) for Smiley Smile after hearing how Vegetables, Wind Chimes, and Wonderful turned out.  I realize I have the benefit of hindsight to hear what those songs would have been like on SMiLE, but I just wasn't ready to hear those versions.   

Man, there are some music aficionados posting on here.  I have a short list of artists for whom I own their entire studio album catalog:

ABBA
Tori Amos (except for the very limited Y Kant Tori Read)
Boston
Celine Dion (shhh)
Agnetha Faltskog
Enya

[It’s a love song, but not a love song to a person.]

7.   God Only Knows
This song was written really quickly... probably in less than an hour. It’s an honour to have written this one. It was also a pretty controversial record in that, as far as I know, it was the first rock song to have “God” in the title. It’s a love song, but not a love song to a person.


Huh? What does Brian mean by that? Was it about a car, his house? It surely isn't about God if "God Only Knows what I'd be without you". "You" denotes a person, to me.

I suspect he meant a specific person.

The speed at which some of these shows have sold out makes me nervous as hell...I'm gonna be refreshing the page like crazy to be one of the first "in line" to buy some tickets.

Same here.  Tickets for Red Rocks go on sale Saturday, and I really would like to go.

Me too!  Any idea what time they go on sale?  Ticketmaster has been really useless with this date.   Good luck to you.....

The Red Rocks show ticket sale date went from 2/25 to TBD this morning.  I suspect there is still some wrangling with Red Rocks on the event details, but no one else is booked for that day.  I'm sure we'll hear more in the next couple weeks or so.  Nevertheless, I wish they'd hurry up. 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.  I am looking forward to exploring the catalog, but I definitely plan on taking my time.

Welcome! And happy shopping!

Thanks!

I'm way too new myself to be able to welcome you without sounding like I'm putting on airs (one week seniority!), but can I just say how jealous I am that you get to see them at Red Rocks?  I flew out there for a Stevie Nicks show last August and was completely blown away by that venue.  If I lived in Denver, I'd see a lot more shows!

Thanks for the welcome.  We are really spoiled in Denver having Red Rocks.  The only drawback is that it can't hold more people - ~9450 tops.  That makes it hard for big draws who only play a single show.  It's worth the heartburn trying to get tickets just to go there though.  I can't wait.

Nice.  I have all of them in my Amazon shopping cart, but I am going slow so I can appreciate each album fully.

The speed at which some of these shows have sold out makes me nervous as hell...I'm gonna be refreshing the page like crazy to be one of the first "in line" to buy some tickets.

Same here.  Tickets for Red Rocks go on sale Saturday, and I really would like to go.

Hi everyone.  I have been a Beach Boys fan for a long time.  My favorite song when I was a high school freshman in 1988 was Don't Worry Baby.  I was a pretty casual fan then, having only the Made in the U.S.A. compilation (on cassette)   until picking up the CD version in the early 90s.  Anyway, even as a casual fan, I knew there was so much more to the group than 'beach music', and I would usually skip right past 409, Surfin' Safari, etc.  However, I also recall that I didn't "get" Heroes and Villains or Caroline, No either, and I'd skip those as well.   About 8 years ago I picked up a copy of Pet Sounds when I was in Hawaii on vacation and needed some CDs for when we were in the car.  I picked Pet Sounds because I remember hearing that it was well regarded.  I knew I liked God Only Knows and Wouldn't It Be Nice, but at the time I just didn't get the rest of the album - yeah.  I even saw Brian Wilson in concert (opening for Paul Simon) a few years ago, but didn't appreciate how good his music was.  The Beach Boys' Christmas Album was always one of my favorite Christmas albums.

Anyway, within the last year, I put in Pet Sounds again and started to realize just how brilliant it was.  I would just listen to it over and over.  I started poking around on Wikipedia reading about how the album came to be and discovered that Good Vibrations's Genesis was during the Pet Sounds sessions and intended for the next album.  After finding a great alternate mix of Good Vibrations on youtube, I learned about SMiLE, and was intrigued.  I bought the GV 40th Anniversary EP CD, and I found some bootlegs mixes of SMiLE online, settling on Purple Chick's excellent compilation/mix.  About that time, news of The SMiLE Sessions release broke, and I was anxious for its release.  I ordered the 5-CD set and the DVD and CD of BWPS.  Needless to say, I was hooked.  I picked up Today/Summer Days and was blown away by the "side two" of both albums.  I've been adding to my collection ever since - one album at a time - so I now have Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, The Beach Boys Today!/Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Pet Sounds, The SMiLE Sessions, GH1, GH2, and Made in the U.S.A, along with BWPS, Imagination, and Live at the Roxy from Brian's solo catalog.  It's exciting because I am still in the mode where I can "discover" some really great songs from a classic band.  (I went through similar phases with Boston, Tori Amos, Bruce Springsteen, and ABBA, all of whom are among my favorite musicians.)

Anyway, I am excited to find a board that seems to be pretty drama free and like to discuss some great music.  I've lurked here since I got my SMiLE Sessions set and finally got around to registering/posting.  I am hoping to be able to see the Red Rocks concert here in Denver in July!  Anyway, I look forward to posting here.