I had no clue how good an album Pet Sounds was when I was a kid. It was way over my head... but when I listen to it now, it blows me away. BTW, most of the instruments were played by the studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. Great, great record.

Oh yes Doc. The Beach Boys were great, as were many others of that time, in fact, much better than what most young folks call music now. It has great music and is a great song, but for one, depicted the worst trip he'd ever been on. Reminds me of Jell0.

That is one of music's benchmarks! Paul McCartney cites this as his inspiration for Sgt. Pepper. Pet Sounds is often pointed to as the first "Concept" album, though none of the songs really feed into each other. The mere idea spawned Sgt. Pepper and MM Tour from the Beatles, Tommy from Pete Townsend (and much of Who's Next), the whole early catelog of YES, not to mention Dark Side of the Moond, Animals, Wish you Here and The Wall. That's but a small sample that were inspired by Pet Sounds and Concept Album idea.

Absolutely James. It clicked for me when I was a junior in college.