We recently posted a year-by-year breakdown of the parallels and friendly competition within The Beatles and The Beach Boys‘ careers. Both bands were racing to release the ultimate pop album, and it peaked with the releases of ‘Pet Sounds’ and ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ and the abandonment of ‘Smile.’ Here’s our segment on that crucial moment in pop history:

1966 – Pet Sounds, Revolver, “Good Vibrations,” and the Arrival of Psychedelic Pop

The Beatles were listening closely to The Beach Boys when they wrote Rubber Soul, and Brian Wilson was listening right back. “Rubber Soul is probably the greatest record ever,” Brian wrote in his memoir I Am Brian Wilson. “[It] came out in December of 1965 and sent me right to the piano bench,” he said. “It wasn’t just the lyrics and the melodies but the production and their harmonies… [it was] almost art music.” The song that came out when Brian went to his piano and tried to top Rubber Soul? “God Only Knows,” which Paul McCartney later called his favorite song of all time.

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Source: ‘Pet Sounds’ vs ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ vs ‘Smile’ – who had the ultimate psychedelic pop album?