How to respond nicely to someone who says Pet Sounds is the most over-rated album in the world?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Brian Lux, Nov 24, 2021.

  1. erocky

    erocky Senior Member

    I'm not a huge Beach Boys fan. Pet Sounds is a masterpiece. It is a 20th century milestone. It is nearly undisputed in its greatest.
     
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  2. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    I don’t offer recommendations, but if somebody asks me I’ll tell them what I like. If then their eyes glaze over or they tell me it’s not their thing, I withdraw my attention from them toward something more interesting.
     
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  3. The Dark Elf

    The Dark Elf Curmudgeonly Wordwraith

    Location:
    Michigan
    I don't much care for the Beach Boys; but objectively I can understand the album's importance. Just don't expect me to gush all over it.
     
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  4. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd Thread Starter

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Oh yeah, for sure, nor worries. I kind of feel responsible to reply to comments where I'm quoted. But I'm having a hard time keeping up. Yesterday's Moderna booster has whomped my ass a good one! :nyah:
     
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  5. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    If he is younger and actually serious about music, I would mention that once it was "rediscovered" in the late 90's, it has been held in high regard by younger generations of musicians (not just older critics and Forum members). I don't have the information in front of me, but I think that in Rolling Stone's original 2003 poll of 300+ critics, artists and producers, Pet Sounds #2 in the Greatest 500 Albums of All Time. Sgt. Pepper was #1. In 2020, they did the poll again, with a new generation of participants. What's Going On was #1, replacing Sgt. Pepper which had fallen all the way to #28 or so. But Pet Sounds was still at #2, which is amazing.

    Pitchfork, the alternative music website, published a wonderful tribute in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the album. Many of the comments are from younger artists, who attest to its influence and importance.

    The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds Celebrates its 50th Anniversary: Artists Pay Tribute to the Eternal Teenage Symphony

    Performers from across the musical spectrum—including members of Talking Heads, Yo La Tengo, Chairlift, and Deftones—look back on Brian Wilson's magnum opus.

    The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds Celebrates its 50th Anniversary: Artists Pay Tribute to the Eternal Teenage Symphony
     
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  6. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    In my case, some of my hesitation is also due to personal experience. In other words, whenever sites or streaming services say "If you love "X" then you may want to try "Y", I find that so many of them are not at all my cup of tea. At least not like the original artist I was listening to.

    Not that I don't appreciate the recommendations. Yet I often find that some artists that get routinely mentioned (The Who or Sabbath because I love Led Zeppelin) are almost an antithesis of why I love the original artist! :p

    In other words, they aren't at all similar or in the same vein. Unless using the most vague and broad common denominator.

    In the end, I've just learned that for myself (and, thus, likely others) it's often best to simply discover music by your own dabbling or exploration. Even if you and someone else end up sharing a love for the same artist, you both can sometimes wildly differ on what you enjoy most within the catalogue.

    Like you said though, if someone specifically asks, there is certainly nothing wrong in sharing what you love.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2021
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  7. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    : )
     
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  8. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Not always. Sometimes people say something is "overrated" with a clear implication that it is something that is actually not very good, but the mindless masses extol it because they are told to.
     
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  9. PopularChuck

    PopularChuck Senior Member

    Location:
    Bay Area
    By telling them, "No, Aja is the most overrated album in the world."
     
  10. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    I very seldom criticize someone for liking something I don't. "It's like a pissing in a violin."
     
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  11. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    It really all depends whether you hold the violin up or down, doesn't it?
     
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  12. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    I usually try to tell them how harmonically different and unique it is for pop music even though they might not like the album. So as far as that goes it is worth its high rating. However, if they are not familiar with that stuff, it won't matter. Usually they just don't care about that but at least it is worth a try and a valid point.
     
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  13. Isaac K.

    Isaac K. Forum Resident

    I own Pet Sounds but honestly it does very little for me. Every few years I’ll listen to it but it basically just turns into background music. Call me crazy but Jan and Dean makes better Beach Boys music than the Beach Boys.
     
  14. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    On twitter, a doors fan asked david crosby what he thought of the group. he criticized them, especially jim morrison. he did not change anyone's opinion, but he sure got stephen king mad.
     
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  15. Duophonic

    Duophonic Beatles

    Location:
    BEATLES LOVE SONGS
    I prefer the sessions more than the album itself. The album gives off a real dated vibe, but the sessions are timeless. I also think the album would’ve been better if Mike didn’t participate.
     
  16. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    we don't like to admit it, but we can all get a little thin skinned when someone criticize something we like. I do it sometimes. In a 11/21/12 issue of the chicago tribune, christopher borrelli writes about some of the crazy 1 star review on amazon.com. however, he admits that one review got under his skin."as a huge springsteen fan , I may scoff at the 1 star review of born to run that refers to its meat loaf-esque bombast, "over produced mini-operas tied together by a piano", but why can't I forget it."
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2021
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  17. Penny24

    Penny24 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, Ca
    blasphemy!
     
  18. Penny24

    Penny24 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, Ca
    didn't jerry garcia do the same?
     
  19. Library Eye

    Library Eye Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I'd tell them there's no way to really gauge what's most overrated, agree that it is overrated, as a lot of great things are, and that it is fantastic. I'd nod along and concur it's pretty obvious to me why anyone might think Beach Boys is awful children's music, 'cause so much about a significant portion of Beach Boys work is insufferable, and then I'd ask they take a few minutes to remember when they themselves were an awful child and to close their minds I mean their eyes and listen to A Day in the Life of a Tree in the way only an awful child could. Then I would abruptly tell them to leave, wherever we were, and of course they couldn't go by bus because that would be ungodly by Beach Boys standards. They gotta drive away in a car, probably with someone they've known since high school or earlier - maybe even a dreadful cousin or something, so that the ride is horrible and goes on forever. Then when they were finally gone and I no longer had to pay mind to their notions, I would listen to the home demo of Still I Dream of It.

    That's just me
     
  20. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Just say "I think you have a point".
     
  21. DrZhivago

    DrZhivago Hedonist

    Location:
    Brisbane Australia
    Just last night, I listened to both mono and stereo mix on Spotify. I don't have PS in my record collection. Not sure about overrated, but its a fine album to me. It's the zeitgeist of an era.
     
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  22. juss100

    juss100 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I think in that sentence the respondent could use the word think or not, and it would be the same "meh, overrated, I don't like it..." etc. What I was trying to highlight is that the person who was asked what they think of Pet Sounds, was asked a question in the first place, so it's not necessarily arrogance to offer one's opinion on the matter, positive or negative.

    However. Big however. Having had many of these sorts of conversations myself ... these responses often are dismissive and arrogant. Arrogant in the sense that someone comes down quite hard on something when knowing zero about it. But even then, the opinion was invited in this scenario, so I'd say it's up to the first person to use that response as a springboard to elucidate why they like Pet Sounds. But why expect the other to agree? In my experience it takes multiple listens before someone acclimates to a new record. I gave my Dad a copy of Folklore to listen to a short while ago, thinking it something different he could potentially enjoy ... I think he listened to a few songs before calling it boring and never trying again. That's what people do ... I suppose it's a sortof arrogance, but it's more an expression of "I have my music taste worked out thank you very much". People do like to think they know best about music (me included), including the person who insists an album is "great" and they know and have discovered this and seem gobsmacked that anyone should disagree.
     
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  23. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    As I said earlier in the thread, it's ignorance rather than arrogance that tends to irritate me more, although one can often follow from the other.

    I've been trying to work out why someone saying something I like is overrated doesn't bother me anything like as much as other people here and I think it's because I don't have any interest in 'rating' music - stuff like 'best album of all time', 'most influential artist of the 20th century' etc etc. It's like when people say, "It'll still be listened to in 100 years time", my reaction is usually, "So? What do you want me to do? Set up a shrine?"
     
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  24. juss100

    juss100 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I think it doesn't bother me, either, because it's just a phrase that's part of the discourse around music discussion that's grown up over the years. Like, those top 100 lists of greatest albums of all time used to bother me because my favourite albums were never at the top and The Beatles always were and I took it personally, so I'd frequently call Revolver or Sgt.Pepper overrated .... but now? huh, I realise it's just part of the cultural discourse and how people begin music discussions and how they understand music in the culture that they were raised in (as restricted as I find that worldview, personally). "That album's overrated ... I like this one" I don't mind ignorance either, but ignorance coupled with "and my opinion is better than yours" can be irritating. I think I find "how dare you not agree with my statement that this is a self-evidently great album!" just as frustrating, if not moreso, as someone not agreeing, and that's why I chimed back into this discussion. However, someone explaining why either Pet Sounds means something to them on a personal level, or that Pet Sounds is an interestingly produced record ... I do like that. Anything that actually involves talking about the music as opposed to regurgitating critical truths I quite enjoy, even if Pet Sounds is not personally a record that massively floats my boat on a gut level.
     
  25. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Blissful ignorance is fine but ignorance which turns up in the course of a discussion and is paraded as fact - as you say, it's often regurgitated truisms - like, I don't know, "Punk rock was all about hating Prog Rock", is irritating.
     
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