Originally Posted by Crowquill
What are you talking about? Lets first get onto the subject of who were talking about, Nirvana. The bands who influence rock music could've done without, we have them to partly thank for all the Nickelbacks and post-grunge crap of the world. Nirvana weren't even the first grunge band, they weren't even the first to do it well. Their was nothing special about their sound. They were all average musicians and Kurt Cobain was not a good lyricist or singer. People can fool themselves into thinking he was some genius but he really wasn't. They can fool themselves into thinking Nevermind was the greatest album of the 90s but it wasn't. In the words of Wayne Coyne "If you think you're going to hear an utterly original, powerful and freaky record when you put on Nevermind, as a young kid might, Christ you're going to be disappointed. You're going to think, "Who is this band that sounds just like Nickelback? What are these drug addicts going on about?""
Saying its better than the Beach Boys? Who are widely considered one of the most influential pop bands ever? Who's influence stretches from Panda Bear to Kevin Barnes to Elliott Smith to Billy Corgan to Elton John? Pet Sounds influence alone makes it better than anything Nirvana released. They did pop better than Nirvana ever did, they did something timeless and have you looked at the musicians who hold it in such high esteem?
"His music (Brian Wilson's) definitely affected mine — the harmonies. Of course I never played in a band that could sing like that."
- Neil Young
"I've always been into harmonies, so I was inspired by that part of what they (the Beach Boys) were doing. It definetely influenced a generation of kids."
- Stevie Wonder
"I think I would put him up there with any composer — especially Pet Sounds. I don't think there is anything better that that, necessarily. I don't think you'd be out of line comparing him to Beethovan — to any composer. The word genius is used a lot with Brian. I don't know if he's a genius or not, but I know that music is probably as good as any music you can make."
- Tom Petty
"If there is one person that I have to select as a living genius of pop music, I would choose Brian Wilson. Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."
- George Martin
"It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. ... I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album ... I love the orchestra, the arrangements ... it may be going overboard to say it's the classic of the century ... but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways ... I've often played Pet Sounds and cried. ... "God Only Knows" is a big favorite of mine ... very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. On "You Still Believe In Me", I love that melody — that kills me ... that's my favorite, I think ... it's so beautiful right at the end ... comes surging back in these multi-colored harmonies ... sends shivers up my spine."
- Paul McCartney
"Pet Sounds is a landmark album. For me to say that I was enthralled would be an understatement. I had never heard such magical sounds, so amazingly recorded. It undoubtedly changed the way that I, and countless others, approached recording. It is a timeless and amazing recording of incredible genius and beauty."
- Elton John
"Pet Sounds became an instant classic when it first appeared. Listening to it today, it is, perhaps, easier to see why it was one of the defining moments of its time, along with the music of the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Greatful Dead ... its willingness to abandon formula in favor of structural innovation, the introduction of classical elements in the arrangements, production concepts in terms of overall 'sound' which were novel at the time, all these elements give Pet Sounds a freshness that, thirty years later, is immediately there for the listener."
- Phillip Glass
"The first time I heard Pet Sounds, I have to admit that I did a little bit of knee-jerk in the same way probably the record company and some other people did because it wasn't as accessible as Brian's songwriting approach had been up to that time. I'm not sure I fully appreciated that until years later, I started making records myself."
- Lindsey Buckingham
"Jesus, that ear. He should donate it to The Smithsonian."
- Bob Dylan (On Brian Wilson)
"He was the most highly regarded pop musician in America, hands down. Everybody by that time had figured out who was writing and arranging it all. "In My Room" was the defining point for me. When I heard it, I thought "I give up — I can't do that — I'll never be able to do that.""
- David Crosby
"Pet Sounds is an unbelievable record. It's like classical music. Wonderful compositions, beautiful singing. I think the compositions stand up to any kind of interpretation. I've heard "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" played on the cello and it sounds like a piece music that's been with us for hundreds and hundreds of years. It sounds like it's always been there. And I think maybe in a hundred years' time people will be playing their songs on the piano trying to work out where they came from."
- Elvis Costello
"I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everthing that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one. Brian Wilson is, without a doubt, a pop genius."
- Eric Clapton
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