I listened to Pet Sounds a few months after it was released. It took that long for my older sister's best friend to lend it to us. (Lending records - a quaint 1960s gesture of sociability) "God Only Knows" put me to sleep. The layers of vocalization and musical tracks refined the song into a cross between a Broadway musical and church choral. I mean, MY MOTHER like "Sloop John B", a catchy little seafarin'-sounding song, for God's sake. "Wouldn't it be Nice" was a good song. The rest were forgettable.

As far as Sgt Pepper goes, I agree with another poster about "She's Leaving Home." A very emotional song about parents who don't get it. And another one of those songs Paul McCartney wrote with an inexplicable ability to describe and empathize with lonely women. "Eleanor Rigby" and "It's Just Another Day" are two songs where McCartney nails the emptiness that can envelope females who could not break out of the constricting social norms expected of pre-"liberated" women.

I thought both "Sgt Pepper" and "Pet Sounds" (and "Tommy") were overproduced (though "Tommy" didn't come close to "Quadrophenia" in terms of overwrought production). John Lennon became annoyed at George Martin's studio wizardry and wanted to return to the good old days of rock and roll, but it was too late. He'd absorbed too much from Martin.

I thought "Tomorrow Never Knows" from "Revolver" was far superior to "Within You and Without You" from Sgt Pepper.

As far as the Rolling Stones are concerned, they spent a good many years pushing themselves as the antithesis of the Beatles. They waited for the Beatles to compose and record, then they went into the studio and recorded a bad boys response to the Beatles. It was only after the Beatles disbanded that the Stones became original again.

"It (Sgt Pepper) was the first "theme-album" (the Beach Boys later stated that Sgt. Pepper influenced Pet Sounds)".

This is not so. Though Sgt Pepper may technically be the first actual "theme album," Rubber Soul is considered the Beatles first "concept album." It was Rubber Soul which blew Brian Wilson out of the water. He has always said that Rubber Soul was the impetus for Pet Sounds. McCartney has admitted that Pet Sounds was the inspiration for Sgt Pepper (though McCartney was still working on Revolver at the time he heard Pet Sounds and says he went home and wrote "Here, There and Everywhere" immediately after hearing Wilson's new album.)

Rocklore has it that after being inspired by "Rubber Soul" to write "Pet Sounds," the unfortunate Brian Wilson went mad trying to equal Sgt Pepper. But it is more likely that Brian's schizophrenia was surfacing at the time and his thought processes were falling apart solely due to his mental illness. (Many people do not fully succumb to schizophrenia until they are in their 20s)

Both were groundbreaking. Both inspired myriad imitators. Today's movie audiences totally wouldn't get Psycho because everything about it - from the plot to the "shocking twist" to the arty screen shots - has been done scores of times by other directors since 1961.

Of course they are dated. So is "Battleship Potemkin" and "Mack the Knife." But they deserve our respect because they were the inspiration for contemporary artists.

and I've loved the Beatles ever since I was seven. And many of my childhood friends and college friends did, too. Perhaps some listeners of post-60s generations don't get Sgt. Pepper or the Beatles in general, but plenty of others do. That would seem to argue that the Beatles have indeed withstood the test of time...

I also don't understand this "Sgt. Pepper isn't an emotional album" garbage. Just because it's well produced and intellectual doesn't mean there's no emotion there. And "not political"? Maybe the politics that the Beatles were talking about weren't as big and flashy as the war and all that, but "Getting Better" has a line thrown in about a man who beats up his girlfriend, "She's Leaving Home" (as another writer points out) is all about a young woman gaining her independence from a restrictive family, and "Good Morning Good Morning" and "Lovely Rita" are about the working class. So I don't see how Gina Baby and the other guy can turn up their noses and say Sgt. Pepper isn't "political"--unless they consider domestic violence and working class issues beneath their consideration.

Plus, "Lovely Rita" just makes me happy with that initial uplifting swoop of its opening lines. And when last I checked, happiness is still an emotion.

Shame on the editors, assuming there still are editors which I'm becoming increasing convinced there are not, for permitting this amateurish, high school paper level drivel to appear as professional critique. Even the most marginally mature arts writer knows when writing about a historical work to take the work both in context as well as an independent piece. The most minimal research would have clarified for them why the album was groundbreaking and why it has become viewed at representational.

That both writers mistakenly believed that sitting down and listening to an album and then saying whether they liked it or didn't like it represents actual analytical criticism is both sad and representative of the shallow, childish, self-absorbed pieces passing for criticism and journalism today. On the same day Salon published another puerile, poorly researched piece on the convention for fans of the J.K. Rowling's books. I am rapidly losing my respect for Salon and must confess that if you ever lose the K Chronicles I'll have no difficulty in canceling my premium service. If I am paying for a professional publication, I expect professional writing.

How about requiring either your editors maintain some editorial control or your writers to do some homework.

I was born in 1969 and so I was not alive when this album was released. I’m not old enough to remember hearing it on anything but classic rock radio. However, I love Sgt. Pepper's. It’s an outstanding album. It’s 10 times better than anything the Ramones did, 20 times better than anything released in the last 5 years, and 100 times better than any “Daily Download.”

Sgt. Pepper’s is probably considered to be the album of that generation because it was. It was groundbreaking for its time. The songs on it were written with the intention of not being played live. The Beatles refused to release singles of its tracks. Its drug references and long tracks kept many of the songs off AM radio, which ushered in the era of FM radio and album rock. Its psychedelic elements were a complete reflection of the times and a departure from the Beatles early blues-influenced albums. The album blew everyone away. No one in recent history has released an album that’s had as much influence on society and pop culture since. Numerous rock and roll icons, including Jerry Garcia and David Crosby, have cited this album as a major and immediate influence. If you don’t understand why this album is important, you haven’t done your rock and roll homework.

Did you really say that the only group today that is influenced by the Beatles is the Polyphonic Spree? Do you really think that it matters whether or not you can hear the Beatles in Nirvana?

You are both ridiculous idiots. Salon.com can do better.