History Music / PetSounds

** "Sloop John B." is at times considered this, as it's a cover of an older folk song about a sloop and its drunken crew sinking into doom, and that doesn't really fit in with the theme of the trials of young love that every other non-instrumental has. But its often given a pass for being a pretty sweet melody... and it was the highest charting single from the album, so its kinda important.[[note]]It does serve a more fitting purpose upon further examination however. It ends the mostly happy-go-luckiness of the first side with a song about a shipwreck. The next side starts with a song about a poor soul finding life meaningless without his love, possibly almost to the point of suicide.[[/note]]

--> ''Break my heart''
--> ''I want to go and cry''
--> ''It's so sad to watch a sweet thing die''

--> ''Right now you think that she's perfection''
--> ''This time is really an exception''
--> ''Well you know I hate to be a downer''
--> ''But I'm the guy she left before you found her''

--> ''He hurt you then, but that's all gone''
--> ''I guess I'm saying you're the only one''
--> ''I'm waiting for the day when you can love again''

--> ''The happy times together we've been spending''
--> ''I wish that every kiss was never-ending''
--> ''Oh, wouldn't it be nice?''

--> ''Come close, close your eyes and be still''
--> ''Don't talk, take my hand and let me hear your heart beat''
--> ''Being here with you feels so right''
--> ''We could live forever tonight''
--> ''Let's not think about tomorrow''
--> ''And don't talk put your head on my shoulder''

* AlbumFiller: "Sloop John B." is at times considered this, as it's a cover of an older folk song about a sloop and its drunken crew sinking into doom, and that doesn't really fit in with the theme of the trials of young love that every other non-instrumental has. But its often given a pass for being a pretty sweet melody... and it was the highest charting single from the album, so its kinda important.
** It does serve a more fitting purpose upon further examination however. It ends the mostly happy-go-luckiness of the first side with a song about a shipwreck. The next side starts with a song about a poor soul finding life meaningless without his love, possibly almost to the point of suicide.

!! Trope Today:

* DownerEnding: The closing track of the album is "Caroline No", which is a somber breakup song where the narrator laments how much his former lover has changed.

* AgeProgressionSong: "Wouldn't It Be Nice?", where the protagonist wonders about the time in the future when he and his partner could live together, get married and be happy. In "Caroline, No" the protagonist wonders "where the girl he used to know" has gone, mentioning the fact her "long hair" has gone too.
* AlbumFiller: "Sloop John B." is at times considered this, as it's a cover of an older folk song about a sloop and its drunken crew sinking into doom, and that doesn't really fit in with the theme of the trials of young love that every other non-instrumental has. But it often given a pass for being a pretty sweet melody... and it was the highest charting single from the album, so its kinda important.

* BaroquePop: A {{Trope Maker|s}}, no one had made post-rock and roll pop sound quite like this. Many did afterwards. This is a good thing.

A documentary about the creative process behind the making of this album can be seen in the ''Series/ClassicAlbums'' TV documentary series. In 2004, ''Pet Sounds'' was included in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important". ''Magazine/{{Time|Magazine}}'' magazine also included it in [[TimeAllTime100Albums their 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums]] and it was listed at #2 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.]] Currently #1 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's compilation of critics' lists.

* IAmTheBand: The Beach Boys were pretty much Brian Wilson and an assortment of L.A. session musicians at this point.

* IAmTheBand: Despite being billed as a Beach Boys album, Brian Wilson is actually the one who was the most-involved in its creation. The other Boys were actually absent for most of the recording sessions, because they were busy touring in Japan. Aside from vocals, the few things they contributed to the album were the instrumentals for "That's Not Me", the inclusion of "Sloop John B." at Jardine's suggestion, and some co-writing credits from Mike Love on "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "I'm Waiting For The Day", and "I Know There's An Answer" (and his contributions of those songs were minimal at best, with Mike ad-libbing the lines "Good night, baby / Sleep tight, baby" at the coda of "Wouldn't It Be Nice", re-writing "I Know There's An Answer" from "Hang On to Your Ego", and making slight edits to "I'm Waiting for the Day").

* InNameOnly: Despite being billed as a Beach Boys album, Brian Wilson is actually the one who was the most-involved in its creation. The other Boys were actually absent for most of the recording sessions, because they were busy touring in Japan. Aside from vocals, the few things they contributed to the album were the instrumentals for "That's Not Me", the inclusion of "Sloop John B." at Jardine's suggestion, and some co-writing credits from Mike Love on "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "I'm Waiting For The Day", and "I Know There's An Answer" (and his contributions of those songs were minimal at best, with Mike ad-libbing the lines "Good night, baby / Sleep tight, baby" at the coda of "Wouldn't It Be Nice", re-writing "I Know There's An Answer" from "Hang On to Your Ego", and making slight edits to "I'm Waiting for the Day").

A documentary about the creative process behind the making of this album can be seen in the ''Series/ClassicAlbums'' TV documentary series. In 2004 "Pet Sounds" was included in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important". ''Magazine/{{Time|Magazine}}'' magazine also included it in [[TimeAllTime100Albums their 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums]] and it was listed at #2 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.]] Currently #1 on [[Website/AcclaimedMusic Acclaimed Music]]'s compilation of critics' lists.

* AlbumFiller: "Sloop John B." is at times considered this, as it's a cover of an older folk song about a sloop and its drunken crew sinking into doom, and that doesn't really fit in with the theme of the trials of young love that every other non-instrumental has. But it often given a pass for being a pretty sweet melody... and it was the highest charting single from the album, kinda important.

** "God Only Knows" also deserves a mention, for the strangest line ever to open a truly beautiful romantic song. But it is immediately subverted afterwards:

* CoversAlwaysLie: A ground-breaking BaroquePop masterpiece has as its cover a photo of The Beach Boys feeding goats at the San Diego Zoo.

* GainaxEnding: "Caroline No" and by extension the album itself, ends with the sounds of a train and dogs barking.

* InNameOnly: Despite being billed as a Beach Boys album, Brian Wilson is actually the one who was the most-involved in its creation. The other Boys were actually absent for most of the recording sessions, because they were busy touring in Japan. Aside from vocals, the few things they contributed to the album were the instrumentals for "That's Not Me", the inclusion of "Sloop John B." at Jardine's suggestion, and some co-writing credits from Mike Love on "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "I'm Waiting For The Day", and "I Know There's An Answer" (and his contributions of those songs were minimal at best, with Mike ad-libbing the lines "Good night, baby / Sleep tight, baby" at the coda of "Wouldn't It Be Nice", re-writing "I Know There's An Answer" from "Hang On To Your Ego", and making slight edits to "I'm Waiting For The Day").

* DramaticTympani:
** Done in "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)"
** The intro to "I'm Waiting for The Day"

--> ''You never need to doubt it''

* BaroquePop: A TropeMaker, no one had made post-rock and roll pop sound quite like this. Many did afterwards. This is a good thing.

* BornInTheWrongCentury: "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"

''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by Music/TheBeachBoys, released in 1966. Most of it was recorded by Music/BrianWilson with the group of UsefulNotes/LosAngeles session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. Initially, the album had modest sales, but was an enormous critical success, scoring hits with classics such as "Wouldn't It Be Nice?", "Caroline, No", "Sloop John B." and "God Only Knows". It is widely seen as one of the best albums ever recorded. Music/PaulMcCartney calls ''Pet Sounds'' his favourite record of all time and one of the main inspirations for Music/TheBeatles ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' from 1967, along with Music/FrankZappa's ''Music/FreakOut'' from 1966. [=McCartney=] also considers "God Only Knows" "one of the most beautiful songs ever written."

* RefrainFromAssuming: The album doesn't actually have sounds of animals from a petting zoo on it. Interestingly enough, Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' from 1967, which was inspired by this album does, in the track "Good Morning Good Morning".

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: You better believe it. As TheOtherWiki elaborates:

--> ''God only knows what I'd be without you''

* GainaxEnding: The song "Caroline No" and by extension the album itself ends with the sounds of a train and dogs barking.

* GainaxEnding: The song "Caroline No" (and by extension the album itself), ends with the sound of a train and dogs barking.

* GainaxEnding: The song "Caroline No" (and by extension the album itself) ends with the sounds of trains and dogs barking.

-> ''It was ''Pet Sounds'' that blew me out of the water. (...) I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life--I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album. (...) I've often played ''Pet Sounds'' and cried. It's that kind of an album for me.''

''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by Music/TheBeachBoys, released in 1966. Most of it was recorded by Music/BrianWilson with the group of UsefulNotes/LosAngeles session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. Initially, the album had modest sales, but was an enormous critical success, scoring hits with classics such as "Wouldn't It Be Nice?", "Caroline, No", "Sloop John B." and "God Only Knows". It is widely seen as one of the best albums ever recorded. Music/PaulMcCartney calls "Pet Sounds" his favourite record of all time and one of the main inspirations for Music/TheBeatles ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' from 1967, along with Music/FrankZappa's ''Music/FreakOut'' from 1966. [=McCartney=] also considers "God Only Knows" "one of the most beautiful songs ever written."

** "God Only Knows" should also deserve a mention, for the strangest line ever to open a truly beautiful romantic song: "I may not always love you...". But it is immediately subverted afterwards:

** "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)"

* RefrainFromAssuming: The album doesn't actually have sounds of animals from a petting zoo on it. Interestingly enough, Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' from 1967, which was inspired by this album does, in the track "Good Morning, Good Morning".

A documentary about the creative process behind the making of this album can be seen in the ''Series/ClassicAlbums'' TV documentary series. In 2004 "Pet Sounds" was included in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important". Magazine/TimeMagazine also included it in [[TimeAllTime100Albums their 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums]] and it was listed at #2 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.]] Currently #1 on [[Website/AcclaimedMusic Acclaimed Music]]'s compilation of critics' lists.

[[caption-width-right:350:God only knows what I'd be without you.]]