With worldwide sales topping 100million, a place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and having an album as great as this under their belts it is safe to so that the Beach Boys are true musical legends.

And so begins the success story of The Beach Boys. Firstly they had a strong line-up. Carl Wilson took lead guitar, with brother Dennis on drums, oldest brother Brian Wilson played bass, added his backing vocals to tracks and after fighting with the record company finally got the control over production and the creative side of the Beach Boys. Their cousin Mike Love was on lead vocals and Al Jardine played rhythm guitar. Secondly, the group had an ability to write some fantastic and catchy songs. Tracks like "I Get Around", "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Surfer Girl" were always going to be sure fire hits.

Winter 1965 seen The Beatles unleash "Rubber Soul". "Rubber Soul" was fantastic album and it showed an album that was complete with no filler. It also displayed The Beatles at their finest with the Lennon and McCartney partnership working perfectly. Brian Wilson knew that it was time to get his plan to make "the greatest record ever" into motion. Not just to push The Beach Boys on creatively but also to try and better "Rubber Soul". It would take a masterpiece to beat that and it wasn't going to be easy. Brian was only 23 and he was attempting to produce a complex album by himself. He was on his own, after all Lennon had McCartney and McCartney had Lennon. Finally in 1966 he joined forces with advertising copywriter Tony Asher and together they penned the songs for the new album. The new album which would attempt to be better than Rubber Soul and be a work of art, perfect from start to finish. And so "Pet Sounds" was born......

The percussion driven "That's Not Me" is next. Mike takes the vocals and gives a great performance; his voice has a sense of youth to it and he delivers every line like it means so much to him. "That's Not Me" is a great song lyrically; independance and trying to gain it is the main focus. Chasing the dream, the big step of moving away from your family, friends and your love and then realising it's just not all it promised to be. So, it has a bit of a feel of disappointment but the over-riding emotion is one of honesty. Musically the song has intricate key changes and I love it's percussion; it's simple but the big beats add to the daunting reality of the lyrics. "I'm a little bit scared, Cause I haven't been home in a long time, You needed my love, And I know I left at the wrong time."

A huge powerful drum intro is followed by gentle horns and it immediately throws you into "I'm Waiting For The Day", probably my favourite song on the entire album. What I love about this song is the changes in tempo. The pace is slow and music delicate when Brian describes how he met a girl after she had her heartbroken by a guy but it appears she is not over him. He loves her, but she loves the ex, complicated I know. " I guess I'm saying your the only one, I'm waiting for the day when you can love me". The strings join in and suddenly the pace is slow, mellow and sad. At this point you think he has lost the girl. But suddenly out of the blue, the drums bounce back and the tempo increases and the vocals rouse together in a real statement of defiance. "You didn't, oh, think that I could sit around and let him take you." The escapist instrumental "Let's Go Away For a While" provides a little interlude. It's a big satisfying composition with big basses and percussion complimented by sweeping strings and powerful saxes and oboes.

Originally called "Hang On to Your Ego" but with some reworking of lyrics the title changed to "I Know There's An Answer". It's questioning, searching yet uplifting at the same time. It's a big tune with saxophones layered with huge, imposing drums and bells jingling throughout. "I know there's an answer, I know now but I have to find it by myself." "Here Today" shows the realisation that love is ever changing, there are some days when you love a person but the next there are arguements; it charts the ups and downs but throughout it all you still love that person. The vibe is at times spiralling inwards in self-pity "It makes your heart feel sad, it makes your days go wrong". But the song rouses up, changes in tempo and the drums pound on, to take lift the mood. "You've got to keep in mind love is here, and it's gone tomorrow, it's here and gone so fast." One thing it is really cool about this song is: if you listen very carefully at the bridge when there are no vocals you can hear the band having a conversation about cameras. A weird studio accident that I love and for me, adds a quirky edge to the recording.

Pictures of Pet Sounds - Beach Boys (The)

Beach Boys

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Well not quite, the version I have on CD repeats all the songs again but in stereo because they were digitally remastered. Originally Pet Sounds was recorded in mono and I think this is the best way to listen to the album as it has a really special magical quality to it. In the 1960s everyone recorded in mono, maybe not giving as good quality as stereo but in them days records were made to be heard on car radios and all car radios were mono. The cover for Pet Sounds is eye catching with a picture of the Beach Boys feeding goats and inside there are more cliched pictures of the band feeding and petting animals at a zoo. The colour scheme is simple just bold green and yellow.