Pete Townshend of The Who Said 1 Beatles Album and 1 Beach Boys Album “Redefined Music”
TL;DR:
- Pete Townshend of The Who praised a Beatles album and a Beach Boys album.
- He liked listening to the albums while high.
- He felt that none of the albums contained political messages, but they were important nonetheless.
Pete Townshend of The Who said one of the Beatles’ albums paved the way for the future. In addition, he garnered similar praise for a Beach Boys album. Remarkably, one of the albums became far more successful than the other.
Pete Townshend of The Who compared listening to one of the Beatles’ albums and one of the Beach Boys’ albums to using drugs
In his 2012 book Who I am: A memoryTownshend said The Who listened to The Beatles Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band during a tour. “The shock wave it caused challenged all comers; nobody thought the Beatles would ever top it or even try,” he recalled.
compared to Townshend Sergeant Pepper to the Beach Boys pet sounds. “To me, Sergeant Pepper and the Beach Boys pet sounds redefined music in the 20th century: atmosphere, essence, shadow and romance were combined in a way that could be rediscovered again and again,” he wrote. “None of the albums made any deep political or social commentary, but ideas weren’t what mattered. Listening to music had itself become a drug.”
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The Who’s Pete Townshend wished he could hear ‘something important’ in the albums
Elsewhere in the book, Townshend discussed what he liked to do while listening Sergeant Pepper and pet sounds. “I loved smoking some weed and listening to my two favorite albums, sergeant pepper and domestic animal Soundsand every time I listened I heard something new, but I wish I could say I heard something important,” he recalled.
The singer felt the albums would be influential. “These two great albums hinted at the future but didn’t pass on any tools, code or obvious process that would lead to a door,” Townshend recalled. “I longed for more than just a signpost pointing the way to the future, and that’s what these albums were for me.”
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Like the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’ both charted in the US
Sergeant Pepper became a smash hit in the United States. The album topped the Billboard 200 for 15 weeks and stayed on the charts for a total of 233 weeks. Apart from abbey roadnone of the Fab Four’s studio albums did better on the charts.
On the other hand, pet sounds was a more modest hit. The album peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 47 weeks. While pet sounds is one of the most celebrated Beach Boys albums, it was never one of their most successful.
Sergeant Pepper and pet sounds are widely considered classic albums – and Townshend was a fan.
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https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-whos-pete-townshend-said-1-beatles-album-1-beach-boys-album-redefined-music.html/ Pete Townshend of The Who Said 1 Beatles Album and 1 Beach Boys Album “Redefined Music”
