What's the best track on "Pet Sounds"?

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Poll Results

OptionVotes
God Only Knows 39
Wouldn't It Be Nice 25
Caroline, No 8
Sloop John B 8
My name is Mike Love and I HATE "Pet Sounds"!!!!!6
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) 6
I Know There's An Answer 5
You Still Believe In Me 5
I Just Wasn't Make For These Times 4
I'm Waiting For The Day 3
Let's Go Away For Awhile 2
That's Not Me 2
Here Today 1
Pet Sounds 0


Geir Hongro, Sunday, 26 August 2007 01:19 (eighteen years ago)

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times and Caroline, No are tempting choices, but -- predictably, boringly -- I went with God Only Knows (if only for the way it was used in the Boogie Nights Soundtrack).

Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 26 August 2007 01:24 (eighteen years ago)

I'm Mike Love.

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Sunday, 26 August 2007 01:31 (eighteen years ago)

I was looking at the list and thinking this was tough, but yeah, "God Only Knows" makes it not so tough.

Tim Ellison, Sunday, 26 August 2007 02:18 (eighteen years ago)

God Only Knows, easy

wanko ergo sum, Sunday, 26 August 2007 02:28 (eighteen years ago)

God Only Knows surely is sentimental - I based my vote on what do I sing more when I listen and what sticks in my head more afterwards ... and that would be ... Sloop John B.

BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 26 August 2007 02:33 (eighteen years ago)

I'm Waiting for the Day

Gukbe, Sunday, 26 August 2007 03:59 (eighteen years ago)

"You Still Believe In Me" for the heart-breakingly perfect wordless vocal section. "I'm Waiting For The Day" for the blustering testosterone coda. "Sloop John B" for the part where everything but the voices drops out. "I Know There's An Answer" for "They isolate their heads and stay in their safety zones." And so on...

Doctor Casino, Sunday, 26 August 2007 06:26 (eighteen years ago)

Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) has always been my favourite. Also I really really like the instrumentals.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Sunday, 26 August 2007 08:04 (eighteen years ago)

God Only Knows surely is sentimental

yeah it kind of stands out from the album in that way...

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Sunday, 26 August 2007 08:44 (eighteen years ago)

As with lots of other people, there are lots of songs that I'm tempted to vote for, but "God Only Knows" is just too strong not to vote for.

Geir Hongro, Sunday, 26 August 2007 08:53 (eighteen years ago)

my first thought was 'god only knows,' but then i sang it to myself, then sang 'wouldn't it be nice' and i had to give it the nod. god only knows is masterful, but 'wouldn't it be nice' has that pop element that only brian wilson could pull off. and the sugary lyrics are just something you can't find anywhere else when done that well. it's as if wilson knew it was the pinnacle of the beach boys first phase, so he put it right there up front so he could then go on with the far more sophisticated sound on the rest of the album.

yussel, Sunday, 26 August 2007 09:18 (eighteen years ago)

I bought Pet Sounds for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and after a few years of listening, that's still my favorite. "God Only Knows" is a close contender whole different animal but just as perfect and it'll be interesting to see which one of these wins and by what margin.

My favorite overall moment on Pet Sounds - and probably the whole Beach Boys canon - is the a cappella breakdown in Sloop John B.

kingkongvsgodzilla, Sunday, 26 August 2007 16:02 (eighteen years ago)

Any other day I might have voted for "God Only Knows" but "Wouldn't It Be Nice" came up on shuffle earlier and I've been singing it all day since.

Roz, Sunday, 26 August 2007 16:25 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I think Wouldn't It Be Nice is still my favourite. I guess I hear it not just as an overture for the album, but as a two-and-half-minute summary of pop music itself.

I'm Waiting For The Day comes second. I love its peculiar dynamics, especially the way it picks up and gets all bolshy at the end.

Alba, Sunday, 26 August 2007 16:25 (eighteen years ago)

I love Wouldn't it Be Nice, God Only Knows, Don't Talk, and I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, but ultimately I've gotta go with You Still Believe in Me.

St3ve Go1db3rg, Sunday, 26 August 2007 18:28 (eighteen years ago)

It's a fucking awful walnut-varnish record.

The only interesting thing about it is that it breaks the as-then usual Beach Boys cover photo-literalism.

i.e. Beach Boys holding surfboards = songs about surfing
Beach Boys in cars = songs about cars

Why doesn't this record have songs called "Feeding Mammals USA", "Gnu City", "Zoo's Up" etc? It would be much better if it did.

PhilK, Sunday, 26 August 2007 19:35 (eighteen years ago)

What's the best track on this, that, nya nya nya who gives a fuck? Every poll thread needs that answer inside of it and I'm glad to provide it here.

blunt, Sunday, 26 August 2007 19:38 (eighteen years ago)

Knee jerk response - "I Wasn't Made For These Times"
Honestly though - "You Still Believe In Me"

earinfections, Monday, 27 August 2007 05:06 (eighteen years ago)

OMG MY MIND CANNOT HANDLE THE CONTRARIANY VIEWS

xposts

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 27 August 2007 10:19 (eighteen years ago)

wouldn't it be nice. lol @ the mike love option

am0n, Monday, 27 August 2007 11:59 (eighteen years ago)

hmm. i thought i was being more than a little iconoclastic with my heartfelt vote for "sloop john B". as is so often the case, someone summed the whole thing up brilliantly first:

My favorite overall moment on Pet Sounds - and probably the whole Beach Boys canon - is the a cappella breakdown in Sloop John B

seconded.

grimly fiendish, Monday, 27 August 2007 12:24 (eighteen years ago)

"That's Not Me"

he misses his pet, for god's sake!

henry s, Monday, 27 August 2007 13:48 (eighteen years ago)

i hear it as "pad"... or are you being funny?

the next grozart, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:18 (eighteen years ago)

"Pet Sounds" --- total Jack Nietchze(sp?)-ish psychedelic space surf jam.

Steve Shasta, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

The only interesting thing about it is that it breaks the as-then usual Beach Boys cover photo-literalism.

Wouldn't It Be Mice
Gnu Still Believe In Me
Bats Not Me

...I give up.

Finefinemusic, Monday, 27 August 2007 20:06 (eighteen years ago)

sidebar: is the remaster of this signif better than the old cd?

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 27 August 2007 20:08 (eighteen years ago)

OMG, you're right, it is "pad"...I always thought it was "pet"...(I wish it were "pet", though...damn, now I don't like it as much)...

henry s, Monday, 27 August 2007 20:14 (eighteen years ago)

"That's Not Me" is worth a vote anyway!

2for25, Monday, 27 August 2007 21:04 (eighteen years ago)

Wouldn't It Be Nice

kornrulez6969, Monday, 27 August 2007 21:57 (eighteen years ago)

i'm going to vote for 'let's go away for awhile' because i would have to vote for 'god only knows' if i were honest, but that's going to win anyway and LGAFA is my other favorite.

strgn, Monday, 27 August 2007 22:04 (eighteen years ago)

I'm Waiting For The Day has one of my favorite hooks of all time. The part where the volume drops and the lyrics are "I know you cried, and you felt blue..." is just drop-dead gorgeous.

Bill in Chicago, Monday, 27 August 2007 23:47 (eighteen years ago)

the last bit in let's go away for awhile does the same thing for me.. the strummed acoustic into pizzicato break like all the bubbles in the world popping and then the strings come in crying and the timpani thud and it's like i'm seeing heaven. absolutely breathtaking.

strgn, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 00:06 (eighteen years ago)

"Pet Sounds" --- total Jack Nietchze(sp?)-ish psychedelic space surf jam.

-- Steve Shasta, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:47 (Yesterday) Link

I just finished watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest for the first time and thought "hey, that sounds like Pet Sounds". Uncanny. "Pet Sounds" was originally going to be called "Run James, Run" I think.

the next grozart, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

Sloop John B

Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 00:44 (eighteen years ago)

ah, whatever. I voted for "Caroline, No," because that seems the most delicate, plus it's actually always been my favorite. "Sloop John B." is just as geniused as the rest of the genius stuff on this famed record, though.

whisperineddhurt, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 01:19 (eighteen years ago)

I love "God Only Knows". I'm a sap :)

Trayce, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 01:31 (eighteen years ago)

You Still Believe In Me

gman, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 03:58 (eighteen years ago)

I'll give "I Know there's an Answer" the much needed love it deserves.

Z S, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 04:37 (eighteen years ago)

Sloop John B is tempting but gotta go with Caroline, No, no? Yes.

that's not my post, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 05:31 (eighteen years ago)

I'm Mike Love.

-- If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Sunday, August 26, 2007

WHO?!?!

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 05:36 (eighteen years ago)

Since everyone is gonna vote for God Only Knows anyway, I'm gonna go for Let's Go Away. Yeah, I know. Leave me alone.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

Wouldn't it be Nice?

Trip Maker, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 15:43 (eighteen years ago)

wouldn't it be nice mildly amusing if everyone didn't vote for God Only Knows, on account of everyone else voting for it, and something else won. I voted for Don't Talk.., I'm not quite sure why. It's great, but I think I actually prefer Let's Go Away. Poll has made me try and sing the record in my head all day, and I'll listen to it when I get home, so that's all good.

Bocken Social Scene, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 16:05 (eighteen years ago)

Pleased to see people voting for Sloop John B, as I always thought it was hated on ILX. I like it just fine, especially the "Yeah, yeah" bits.

the next grozart, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 16:10 (eighteen years ago)

faves are GOK, Wouldn't it be Nice, Don't Talk, Sloop John B, Caroline No. Voted for GOK -- but in actuality, Pet Sounds is kind of my own personal Sgt Pepper, in that it was never my fave BBs album, and tho it's easy to see why it's such a hallowed record (and I do like it), I really don't listen to it that much these days.

and I guess that just makes Sgt Pepper my own personal 5th or 6th best Beatles record

Dominique, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 16:19 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, it's generally agreed to be their best, but not everyone's favourite. I think I've played it too much to give it a fresh context in my mind and besides I really like Smiley Smile cos it's all autumnal and weird.

the next grozart, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

yep, Smiley Smile/Wild Honey split is my fave BBs, followed by Friends/20/20

Dominique, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 16:29 (eighteen years ago)

caroline no, but it wasnt easy to choose

Filey Camp, Tuesday, 28 August 2007 17:22 (eighteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ILX System, Friday, 31 August 2007 23:01 (eighteen years ago)

The best part is the instrumental bit in Don't Talk with the bass drums and the strings.

St3ve Go1db3rg, Saturday, 1 September 2007 04:45 (eighteen years ago)

Caroline

Davey D, Saturday, 1 September 2007 08:57 (eighteen years ago)

Sloop John B

deusner, Saturday, 1 September 2007 20:46 (eighteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX System, Saturday, 1 September 2007 23:01 (eighteen years ago)

Of course everyone voting for something else didn't make an ounce of difference.

Masonic Boom, Monday, 3 September 2007 20:10 (eighteen years ago)

I'm sad about Here Today only getting one vote, but I guess that is all my faultings.

the next grozart, Monday, 3 September 2007 22:21 (eighteen years ago)


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