I used to think Sgt. Pepper was the hands-down winner, but the more I listen to it, the more I think Pet Sounds is a superior work.

...and yet I've always thought Pet Sounds was over-rated, so let the battle begin!

I think both are over-rated, but I still like Sgt. Pepper a lot better. The Beach Boys have never done it for me, with the exception of a handful of songs.

Now, if we want to compare Sgt. Pepper to Ogden's Nut Gone Flake or The Who Sell Out, then I'd have to think about it.

Pet Sounds for me, but I'd take Revolver over Pet Sounds (maybe).

No Odessey and Oracle? That would be my choice but I'll go with Pet Sounds.

Sgt. Pepper's is a slightly better album as a whole. Pet Sounds has three songs (Wiouldn't it be nice, God Only Knows, and Sloop John B) that destroy any song on Sgt. Pepper's.

Pet sounds is a good album but way too overrated IMO. I'm a huge Beatles fan and wouldn't pick Sgt. Peppers as thier best work. I would however pick Sgt. Peppers over Pet Sounds.

Is Pet Sounds that album where they have dogs barking Christmas carols? Thatis great!

I went with Sgt. Pepper. Both are awesome albums, but it came down to a battle of songs, and I picked "Day in the Life" over "God Only Knows"

Beatles are my favorite band of all time, but I'm more partial to the albums that came out just before Pepper. Easy choice for me and that's Pet Sounds.

As a kid = Sgt. Pepper
As an adult = Pet Sounds

Blender just a did a little feature on the 50 worst moments in music. Honestly, I was expecting to see Sgt. Pepper in their list and yep, it's #50. I do love the album, but it was also the start of some overindulgent crap by followers.

I think the 45 release of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" with "God Only Knows" as the b-side is the greatest 45 of all time.

Had Good Vibrations been included in Pet Sounds I think the results would look a wee bit different.

it's taken me years and repeated listens, but i now fully realize how amazing sgt. pepper is. pet sounds has never done it for me.

I can't even fathom that this is a real poll--SGT. PEPPER'S by a few country miles...

Pet Sounds

Of course my tastes are a little different I guess, because I would pick Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour over Sgt. Pepper, The White Album and even Revolver.

I'd pick probably five or six Beatles albums over Sgt. Pepper.

For emotional impact Pet Sounds wins easily. One of the few albums that I know have made people cry.

Also the fact the Pet Sounds was essentially one person's vision while Sgt. Pepper was more of a group effort gives it some extra points in my book.

I give "Pet Sounds" the slight edge, though none of the songs are quite the equal of "A Day in the Life".

Now if it were (the original) "Smile", "Sgt. Pepper" would stomp all over it.

It seems like a pretty legit question to me. I love both, but I'd have to go with Pet Sounds. But I'd still put London Calling and Achtung Baby over both personally.

For that very reason alone, I picked Sgt. Pepper's.

Beatles by several miles

BlueJayWay, actually Sgt. Peppers was basically a vision of Paul. The others were not really that into the whole Idea. I think they all wanted to try and do a complete studio only recording. (in the sense that the sounds were something not so easily duplicated for live playing) but as far as the dressing up and the idea, not so much.

Sgt Peppers is the better album, but Pet Sounds was the best by the Beach Boys. Its not a TOTAL blow out, but still, Sgt. Peppers total album beats Pet Sounds.
But Pet Sounds is really good.

Now if you said, Rubber Soul Vs. Pet Sounds, then its nowhere near close, not within a thousand miles, Rubber Soul wins. It was the inspiration for B.Wilson to even start recording Pet Sounds. I also would say that its the best Beatles album as well.

Its tough, because Pet Sounds was never finished...had Brian Wilson been able to finish the 2(?) songs that are now and forever instrumentals, who knows.

BUT, since Pet Sounds is availabe in 5.1, and the Beatles refuse to give us actual copies of thier ablums that take advantage of todays technology, Im not voting in the poll.

Pet Sounds for me.





Released in 1966 to tepid sales (and hence causing no small amount of grumbling among the notoriously fractious band members), Brian Wilson's Rubber Soul-inspired album of "spiritual love" eventually became one of pop music's most celebrated artistic accomplishments. Paul McCartney would later claim that Pet Sounds in turn inspired the Beatles' magnum opus, Sgt. Pepper. This four-disc box set offers an unprecedented deconstruction of Wilson's masterpiece, taking fans, armchair scholars, and musicians on a compelling creative journey. Leading off with what once was heresy--a complete true-stereo mix of the album cleverly conjured from the existing session tapes by engineer and project coproducer Mark Linett--the set proceeds through edited audio collages that document the evolution of each song's backing track. Along the way, listeners are treated to a playful, unreleased gem ("Trombone Dixie") and the very genesis of Wilson's other great period masterpiece, "Good Vibrations." Conversely, disc 2 presents all the songs' glorious harmonies, sans instrumental backing tracks, then 19 more tracks that highlight alternate working versions (including the original take on "I Know There's an Answer," the pointedly titled "Hang On to Your Ego"), session snippets, and radio promotional spots. Disc 3 contains a newly remastered version of the album's original mono mix. The album's two comprehensive booklets were written and edited by coproducer and veteran Beach Boy biographer David Leaf and include commentary by Wilson and quotes from McCartney and producer George Martin. The 126-page "Making of Pet Sounds" pieces together the recollections of the band, session men, and engineers behind the epochal album into a warm, human-scaled history. --Jerry McCulley