Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First of all, I would like to preface that I am a big fan of this record, and to this day am absolutely blown away by Brian Wilson's innovative production and profound songwriting. The music is wonderful, no band ever did harmonies better than the Beach Boys. The gulf between their early "fun in the sun" recordings and this masterpiece is a wide, deep chasm. I will not dwell on the technical merits of this album, although there are many, and will only pinpoint a few songs. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a powerful, instantly addictive album opener, "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" is a dreamy piece with exceptionally moving and beautiful lyrics. And "God Only Knows" is, well...enough said - the subtle instrumental layers behind the chorus tantalize the listener until the harmonies kick in at the end in a marvelous climax. What is disturbing to me is this strange glorification of "Pet Sounds" as the BEST album of all time. It all apparently stems from this major competition between the Beatles and the Beach Boys in the mid-60s. Still, I find it absurd and close to infuriating when the Amazon reviewer dares to characterize "Sgt. Pepper" as "missing the mark." Since when do bands make records to please music pundits' dogmatic characterizations? Should we judge every album based on how close it comes to the "perfection" of "Pet Sounds"? Of course not. The main reason why I think "Pet Sounds" can never be the greatest album of all time is that both Brian Wilson and the staunch defenders of the album continue to reference the Beatles. Always, even six or seven times in the liner notes, it's all about how they are better than or inspired by the Beatles, even a lengthy quote by Paul McCartney extolling the virtues of "Pet Sounds." The reason is simply a deep insecurity about the title of "greatest album of all time." Greatest albums stand on their own, and do not justify their greatness by constantly comparing it to albums of a rival band. It is strange and a bit silly. And since I know I will get many votes by offended Beach Boys fans and reactionary anti-Beatles, might I take this chance to offer my choice for the best album of all time, the one that escaped the loop of competition between Wilson and McCartney. The story goes like this: "Rubber Soul" inspires Wilson to do "Pet Sounds," which in turn inspires McCartney to suggest "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." In the meantime, outside of all this madness, the Beatles made THE recording of history, "Revolver," which in terms of musicianship, variety, experimentation, lyrics, and especially production beats any album from any generation and any popular music style. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I love "Pet Sounds," but I simply find the intense determination by its loyal devotees to have it crowned a subjective and irrelevant title to be slightly paranoid and certainly very much overdone.