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

Normal and expected human politeness?

 

Aja is fantastic

 

This sums up pretty much how I feel about it. There are some tracks on Pet Sounds that I absolutely love, and a couple I don't enjoy, but the rest of it is merely 'very good'.
Do I consider Pet Sounds overrated?, perhaps a little bit but I can understand it's historical significance and accept that many people enjoy this album far more than I do. I certainly don't consider this to be anywhere near the most overrated album of all time (for the record, my pick would be Oasis's Definitely Maybe).

 

You’re entitled to your opinion, which I respect.

 

Agree.

 

Maybe so, but for newer generations the sound is firmly stuck in that era. I might be wrong. Doesn't strike me as an album that could be enjoyed by younger generations.

 

I was born in the early 80´s and i consider pet sounds as one of the greatest music album ever - but it really takes time to get into it and appreciate its beauty and magnificience - to answear the question i would say « try again, one day you ll thank me! »

 

Really? You've never heard that before? I've heard it a lot. In fact, I encounter it more than I encounter people who love Pet Sounds. There are lots of rock fans for whom Pet Sounds doesn't scratch any of their itches. In my experience, it's a common perception among many rock fans that the album is an overrated critical darling and also that the Beach Boys music is mostly dated childish kids stuff and overrated but a little circle of doughy, old white people. I know more people who hold that opinion than who are fans of the Beach Boys or Pet Sounds.

That's not necessarily an opinion I hold, but it's certainly one I've heard a lot. I'm surprised you just heard it for the first time now, decades after most people have stopped paying any attention to the Beach Boys at all. Like, outside of this forum, I don't ever encounter anyone talking about the Beach Boys at all.

Personally, how would I respond? "Well, there's no accounting for taste. The world if full of music for everyone. And rating albums, or any art, is a foolish endeavor that just keeps people from being able to encounter art on its own terms. Maybe someday you'll find your way into the album, maybe not."

 

Agree 100%.

 

Yes. If you were to pick a Top 10 of albums that routinely get called overrated, "Pet Sounds" would not only be there but it'd be pretty damned near the top!

 

The other one that frequently gets tagged as overrated is Astral Weeks. Devoted fans adore it, but others just shrug their shoulders. On paper, it seems like the kind of thing that I would normally get into, but somehow it has failed to connect for me over the years. I might also point to something like Forever Changes, an album that I genuinely enjoy, though not as much as some of its more ardent admirers. Maybe the fact that it was rather overlooked in its time causes some fans to overcompensate, the ultimate cult classic.

 

Yes, Astral Weeks would be in there for sure.

 

I have Pet Sounds, it's ok but I'm in the it's a little over rated camp.

 

give them a high five

 

I'd say that I don't like it but it is a very accomplished vocal pop album with brilliant songwriting and is justifiably highly rated.

 

I'm a slight dissenter on Pet Sounds myself. I tend to subscribe to the view that it has three brilliant songs-Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows, and Caroline, No-and the rest is very pleasant but not exceptional. But some people really respond to the sort of innocent spirit of Brian Wilson that the album captures, and I certainly get that.

 

Now, them’s fightin’ words!

 

The arrogance of it, to criticise Van the Man!

 

I know it’s considered a great groundbreaking album and I understand that but even though it has some terrific songs, it’s not a favorite of mine.

One more thought. For those who love the album — and this could apply to any album — who cares what others think. If you love it, that’s all that matters.

 

I'm another who would tell them that I agree.
It's amusing that one person's opinion on music could cause so many people to throw tantrums.

 

Time has the effect of removing the cultural importance/innovation and leaves young people judging these 50 year old albums just by the songs. In that context I would say anyone who thinks it is over-rated has a valid argument as I agree to an extent with your assessment. There are other albums from the period that have 12 or 14 killer songs which may not have been so different at the time but now sound better. Good examples being Odyssey and Oracle and The Village Green Preservation Society which are only now getting the credit they deserve. Pet Sounds, and to an extent Sgt Pepper, can't compare imo as they lack the material.

 

Some people know how to express contrary opinions in a friendly way. Others, not so much.

 

Exactly. If you enjoy something, that's what matters. If you need the approval of others to really enjoy it, maybe you don't really like it that much.

 

Not to be contentious, just my opinion, no offense meant etc., but I would take the exact opposite view. That people who jump and shout at the pre-Pet Sounds Surfer Tunes and radio hits of the above-mentioned groups (they're called Sunshine Pop? I didn't know that) are those left cold by the the growth of any musician or group that moves beyond it's high charting music.

Every concert accompanying a newly released album I've attended of any musician was always punctuated by calls from the audience of this former radio hit or that.

 

Ignore it and change the topic.