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What are your favorite moments off of each of these albums?  Which album speaks to you guys the most?

Pet Sounds: The Quando sere/Aint found the right thing/People I know don't wanna be.... part is my favorite moment.

POB: Farewell My Friend. The whole song. It's difficult to write about the important things in life without being preachy or pretentious. Farewell My Friends is warm, thoughtful, and sentimental without being sappy.

Which one "speaks" to me the most depends upon my mood. Lately POB has been a go-to album for me.

Have to agree with Pixletwin on that it depends on the mood.

The thing is both albums are absolute masterpieces - in different ways. Pet Sounds is a more beautiful album, and is easily more complicated musically. But POB is stronger emotionally, it's more powerful, Dennis opening himself up.

To the question as to which album is better, I simply can't decide. And any other level-headed poster should agree.

As to my favourite songs off each album:

Pet Sounds: Don't Talk, God Only Knows, Caroline No
POB: River Song, Friday Night, Thoughts Of You

  POB was an album of choice for my girlfriend and me circa 1999- 2000 - a vinyl promo copy I bought used in 1985. After we parted ways in 2002 I had no way to play the record as I had no turntable. Maybe 2003 I managed to acquire an "unauthorized version" CD. This was a dark period for me. I'll never forget the cathartic tears that streamed down as the opening chords of "River Song" played. It hurt, but it was beautiful. RIP Dennis Wilson.

Favorite part of Pacific Ocean Blue: There are a few lines in "Time" where Dennis sings "I'm the kind of guy who loves to mess around, know a lot of women, but they don't fill my heart with love, completely free...oooh I love you, I really do..." It might be the most honest moment in any Dennis song, maybe any Beach Boys' song.

Favorite part of Pet Sounds: It might be the opening of "You Still Believe In Me" or maybe the entire song. When I first heard that song, it was one of those "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto" moments. It was the beginning of something very different but I didn't know what at the time. This was no ordinary (or older style) Beach Boys' album.

I'm not copping out on your question, but they each touch me in different ways. Pacific Ocean Blue is almost entirely about love, or the loss of it. It touches my heart like no other album. It is raw emotion.

Brian has said many times that Pet Sounds "has a lot of love in it" and it does, no doubt about it. But, to me, it is a more spiritual album. Yes, it touches my heart, but in a different way than Pacific Ocean Blue. Pet Sounds also reaches my mind and my emotions, in a more cerebral way, if that makes any sense. Pet Sounds is almost a religious experience!

+1.

Pet Sounds: the bridge of Here Today, the whole of That's Not Me and Caroline, No

POB: River Song and Thoughts of You

Pacific Ocean Blue is by far more powerful emotionally to me.

Ironic that the Beach Boys are considered such a "fun" and "sunny" band...and these two records have some of the most brutally and beautifully painful moments in recorded music history. To me Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) penetrates so deeply towards an initially hopeful, but ultimately hopeless place, where both the artist and listener know that any love this real, this deep, results in a raw and vulnerable reality that is bittersweet at best, and devastating at worst. I love it, it moves me, i know where Brian was when he created it...I've been there...I'm sure many of you have too. POB has that moment in Thoughts Of You...where... the sea air, is flowing through my room again, like the thoughts of you, fill my heart with joy again...I'm sorry...i miss you. ...The sweet, familiar sea air is fleeting, it comes and it goes, like the joyous moments of love, that fade, falter and turn to longing and regret...I'm sorry, i miss you, I f***ed up, It's damaged and gone. Brutal. Honest. Brilliant. We as fans are lucky the Wilsons are so tapped in to a spiritually honest realm. They are a pure conduit that gives us all a place to reflect, and to feel. Thanks Brian, Thanks Dennis.

Pet Sounds: The outro to GOK is so beautiful it sometimes hurts listening to it.

My favorite parts are that one, the bridge of Here Today, and the part of IJWMFTT between the first chorus and the second verse, with the woodblocks.

POB: I'd have to listen to it again first to see if I have a favorite moment there.

"I'm Waiting For The Day" on PS, particularly the sections with the descending bass line-----wonderfully joyous stuff.
And the closing section of "Time" on POB----in a field of one (like Dennis, I suppose)...  

Which of the two albums? Sorry, permanently out on that one...

You're all making me feel a need to sit and give POB a good, focused listen from start to finish. I've had it for years but admittedly have not sat down and given it my full attention, ever. I think I really need to do that.

It's very much worth the listen. Also, if you haven't yet, watch The Real Beach Boy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClBfaGPD0mI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClBfaGPD0mI) (with bonus comment from rockno1fan promoting the defunct petition). Made me appreciate POB a bit more. Plus, it's the best Beach Boys related documentary out there.
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Favorite moments from POB:

The entirety of River Song, the entirety of Moonshine, Friday Night intro, Thoughts of You lyrics ("the sea air is flowing through my room again, like the thoughts of you, fill my heart with joy again"), the entirety of Farewell My Friend.

Favorite moments from Pet Sounds:

Harmonies in WIBN, I Know There's An Answer chorus, a cappella break in Sloop John B, the entirety of LGAFA, entirety of IJWMFTT. Ya know, the whole album is a favorite moment for me.

I love both, but Pet Sounds definitely speaks to me the most. However, I have a feeling that as I get older I'll relate to POB more and more.

So, uh, exactly why did you buy it ? Missing a coaster ?

So a near-mythical Beach Boys-related album is re-released after years languishing in obscurity, you go out and buy it, and then you don't really feel much of a desire to actually sit and listen to it...?

That's quite odd, isn't it?

Lot of personal responses so I'll go for it also:

Pet Sounds: favorite moments are too many to describe so I'll pick a few. The 1:21 mark of Lets Go Away For Awhile...that "cry" that occurs is just otherwordly. It literally takes me away: I just feel, hope and dream so many things with this song. I dream of peace, a perfect love and a Sunday afternoon drive with a girl who I'll probably never meet. The ending of Caroline No: the outro melody with the trains ending it all. Its my favorite song of all time but I hardly listen to it. From time to time I'll put it on. But its still my favorite piece of music because I'll never ever forget how I felt when I first heard it. Thanks Brian

POB: probably Thoughts Of You. As with Moon Dawg, I too shared this album with a girl I was involved with back circa 2002 and whom I loved. I'll never forget holding her in my arms as we listened to this masterpiece. I am glad I had that experience in life. I cannot even bear to think of it sometimes. Thanks Dennis

I didn't buy it. Received it as a gift, loaded it into iTunes, enjoyed the occasional track that's come up during iPod shuffling, but just never got around to playing it all the way through as an album.


I suppose it would be, yes.

I am in the same boat as vega-table man, never really got all the hoopla over POB. Love You is where it is at for me.

Hmmm how to word this.... I think Pet Sounds is the better album, but the music on Pacific Ocean Blue speaks to me more. I jive more with its style, I suppose.

I honestly think that neither is better than one another. At the end, it comes down to which album speaks to you more, which is the point of this thread.

I would never call POB bad, but it's not my style of music.

POB certainly isn't bad, but it is nowhere close to being the album that Pet Sounds is.
It just isn't.

The first run of songs of POB is devastating, but it loses steam towards the end.

Pet Sounds really moves me on an emotional level like no other piece of music.

I think it depends on taste too.  I listen to Pet Sounds when I want to hear beautiful music (favorites being GOK and Wouldn't it be Nice). POB is what I listen to when I want to be moved (and I love the fact that Denny picked sort of random people to play on it and it sounded so good)  and of course the pain in his voice is just... wow

for the people who can't decide between the two, I started the vote count over for you  :)

Agreed. As I've said, Pet Sounds is more beautiful and musically complex. But POB is far more emotional, powerful and sad.

Love both, can't live without either. And to Vega-Table Man and SMiLE Brian, give POB another chance!

I own POB because of the fabulous repackaging it was given a few years ago. I already had an online download of it and didn't listen to it much. I don't listen to the new one much, either. But I would never use it as a coaster. I probably should just re-sell it, after burning my own copy. And rarely listening to it, again. I have to really be in a mood to hear it. I like his songs that he did with the Beach Boys better. I'm not a fan of the big production of his solo stuff.

I have to be in a mood to hear "Pet Sounds," too. I listened to it too much when I first got into it. I also feel I relate to it less as I've gotten beyond the age group it's about.

Pet Sounds for me, though I do think Dennis' stuff was brilliant as well. For some reason I don't really like the idea of "solo albums" per se. I just know I'd revisit the POB material much more often if it was part of one or two actual group albums. That said, it's still great the way it is.

Same here, I listened to it far too much back when my cd collection was rather small. It may be my least played BB album these days. POB is still fresh for me.

I agree with you too I listen to his stuff he did with the BBs more so than his solo stuff.  for instance his songs on Sunflower I can listen to any time.

I know what you mean. I feel the same way, not just with The Beach Boys but with other groups as well. But, there is something different about Pacific Ocean Blue and a lot of Dennis' music actually. Maybe it's because of his style, or the personal (autobiographical?) nature, or just the emotional quality, but Dennis' music transcends the "solo" label/feeling/idea.

Nothing I can say that hasn't really been said already in this thread. But I'll add my two cents. I love both albums. Both albums have different moods. Both moods speak to me greatly. Favorite moments on Pet Sounds include IJWMFTT (favorite song on the LP, musically it just blows my mind), Caroline No (2nd favorite, beautiful vocals and music), the two instrumentals (incredible stuff), the middle break on Here Today...the entire LP is incredible with no weak moments. Favorite moments on POB include River Song (damn that song just grabs me by the balls...it kicks my ass with each listen), Friday Night (again, just kicks my ass), You And I (I love the gentle sound of it), the title track (groovy) and Farewell My Friend (very moving). Two great albums. Love 'em!!

No way to avoid being subjective but here is my take.

The reason I pick PS for this is that it conveys many of the emotions felt by a young adult such as love, optimism for the future, having the feeling that the person you are with now is the one you should marry, longing, jealousy, rejection of singificant other after they hurt you. It's a youths symphony of what it's like to grow up and the wonder of what tomorrow will bring, because one is still at a crossroads in life.

Pacific Ocean Blue is a very strong album musically but not thematically. It is a portrayal of Dennis after his crossroads, he is an adult and his ability to convey his message with a song are not as developed as Brian, not is he in the same point Brian was when he conceived PS. It becomes an altogether different experience, but I feel Dennis puts so much emotion in it that it becomes rather narrow, despite most of the songs being very good. Lyrics are a times a little tedious and sappy. PS lyrics suffer as well at points, but I cannot point out specifics.

Totally agree with this. POB captures something no other BB solo record does, something I've never been able to put my finger on...

I think it's the fact that Dennis takes it to another level. POB is a statement of independence. He seems to not be competing with his Beach Boys self at all. There is no sense of Dennis being confined to a Beach Boys off-shoot, it has it's own unique vibe, it's own personality and it's own place in the world.

Yeah. With POB it's Dennis the artist, not Dennis the Beach Boy. That is definitely part of it.

Definitely what Jon said. I think another part is that it was recorded in a time when analog was still the only way to record. When they didn't use MIDI harpsichords or overuse the synthesizers. You couldn't easily snip out parts, or digitally enhance the vocals. On POB you can hear the "hiss" of a mic, or the buzz of an amp....these things give the recordings atmosphere - something I find lacking in every Beach Boys solo release (besides POB).

I recently heard the Kiss song "Beth" and realized how similar Dennis's balladry is. Overt sentimentality and vocals that are rough around the edges. Hard rock balladry. I think people are sold on Dennis's music more for his voice and performance style than his actual craftsmanship. There are some interesting moments on the record, though, like the tag of Time, but the actual song portion isn't that hot.

Compare Beth to a song like Thoughts of You... the similarities are striking

Yea, cry me a river....


song.

pob all the way.

I especially love the way he delivers his songs not just the instrumentation but his voice alone.  in the past I've preferred his clear voice to the rough one but his rough vocals are starting to grow on me. 

also every time I hear Caroline No I like it more and more.  Brian's falsetto was awesome

Not that odd. When I found a 2nd hand vinyl copy in 1991 (I would accidentally find the CD a couple of years later), it was at a moment I just got to learn about the group's lesser known 70ies output and their solo work. I had recently bought C&tP/So Tough - purely because I had to hear the 2 hitsingles (well, they were overhere) from that album. And - apart from Marcella - I really had to get used to that album. I guess I was still too much used to the 60ies sound that made them famous. When hearing POB for the first time, I didn't "get it" at all. And it wasn't until years later that gave it a second listen, when my knowledge of the groups work had improved considerably and my interest in and fondness of their output had already shifted to the late 60ies and 70ies. And then I did "get it".

Pet Sounds is the sound of a deeply unhappy and insecure man trying to make himself feel better by writing achingly beautiful yet ultimately sad music. Pacific Ocean Blue is the sound of a deeply confused yet passionate man bleeding onto the tape. Musically, the former knocks tartan striped spots off the latter. In terms of raw emotion, the latter may well be unsurpassed in the rock world.

Only surpassed by Neil Young's Tonight The Night in that regard for me.

Nicely put.