Pet Sounds and High Llamas

THERE CAN'T BE MANY classic rock albums that rock less than the Beach Boys' 1966 opus Pet Sounds. The fruity orchestral arrangements are about as unhip as you can get, dangerously close to Mantovani. Yet the album itself rises far above the level of elevator music, and it has remained one of the influential rock texts of its era. Countless performers in the last 30 years have genuflected before the exhilarating melodies and instrumental details Brian Wilson brought to Pet Sounds, adopting the Wilsonian approach in their own music.