– Best Ever Albums score: 52,855
– Rank all-time: #12
– Rank in release year (1966): #2
In December 1964 on a flight to Houston for the start of a tour, cofounder Brian Wilson experienced a panic attack that left him prone and sobbing on the cabin floor. Realizing he could not mentally or emotionally handle the stress of a full-blown tour, he opted to return to California, reasoning that the band should go on without him, but that he would use the time to write them a trove of great songs for a new record—which is exactly what he did.
While the rest of The Beach Boys flitted around the country in 1965, Wilson hunkered down and produced much of the orchestration on “Pet Sounds” himself, with the help of a series of studio musicians. Later, Wilson’s perfectionist nature would influence the album’s famous hit, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” when he demanded such perfection that it took over a week to record the vocals.
