BEATS OF LOVE
153. Do You Like Worms? (Roll Plymouth Rock) by The Beach Boys
BRIAN WILSON was another saviour. I practically owe Pet Sounds my life as very little else reflected at me from my intense feelings of introspective alienation in the late 80s.
Retiring from the stage in 1964, the experimentation evidenced on Pet Sounds; wild harmonic melodies, richer orchestration, and soul searching emotive lyrics, still had buckets of commercial appeal but culminated in a proper work of art. Complexity made to sound simple is never easy and takes true genius. Exchanging 4 boxes of records in the mid-nineties for my CD box set was an easy decision.
In the fallout of his aborted masterpiece, bandmates, accustomed to success, played the retro circuit to packed stadiums. His touches of genius on Wild Honey, Holland and Surf's Up whilst mainly laying on his bed full of barbiturate and fast-food are still brilliantly creative. With the conservative brand established, Brian played the part of the led astray leper for years.
That it took until 2011 to let the faithful hear the Smile sessions in all their studio glory tell you how conservative the brand was. More tragedy surrounded his life than his death. In death, those that know understand deeply just how important it was that the competition for pop musical supremacy took place. That Wilson felt tortured into surpassing the studio achievement of the Beatles means we've all benefited.
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