Pet Sounds

Plastic Passion! Up with pea pods! Albums are homes, built from the need to carve out order, and make a place where meaning can manifest from nothingness — and hang out longer than three and a half minutes. A well-crafted album is a sign from the artist to herself that she deserves a home in this world, and a gift to the listener that says: You do, too. As a concept album about a concept album, PetraHadenSings:TheWhoSellOutis a flamboyant celebration of this most unique and (supposedly) endangered art form. (Though I personally doubt that downloading will ever kill full-length recordings. Truly, the only ’pods we need are pea pods, and space love pods of the future.) By the way, Haden’s version of “Our Love Was” is a killer. Between Townshend’s superromantic composition and Haden’s rather matter-of-fact reading, the song rubs a terribly tender spot on the old ticker. It seems as if everything around me stops when I hear it, because nothing in the world matters more than the expression of love. I can’t even say which version of the song is more devastating, because “Our Love Was” now exists for me as a sort of holy trinity: Haden’s version, the Who’s, and then the thing itself. The real song. You know. The spirit of the song that dwells in both. But the album-tribute album is nearly a baby-fad. MTV2 has a show called AlbumCovers,where (among others) Dashboard Confessional covers R.E.M.’s AutomaticforthePeople.If stoned enough, one could also, possibly, argue that Brian Wilson’s Smileis a tribute album to a dream record. And let’s not forget those string-quartet tributes to Nevermind,PetSounds,et al. (on Vitamin Records), which are shockingly enjoyable. Other nutters who’ve taken a vinyl fetish to its ultimate conclusion: George Benson, The Other Side of Abbey Road(1969) The Bee Gees et al., Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band(1978 movie) Pussy Galore, Exile on Main Street(1986) Philip Glass, Low Symphony(1993), HeroesSymphony(1997) (covering Bowie) Various Artists, Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours(1998) Nels Cline, Interstellar Space Revisited: The Music of John Coltrane(1999) Ann Dyer, Revolver: A New Spin(2000) Mary Lee’s Corvette, Blood on the Tracks(2002) Carla Bozulich, Red Headed Stranger(2003) Branford Marsalis Quartet, A Love Supreme Live in Amsterdam(2004) ScreechingWeasels,TheBeatIsontheBrat,(1998)(covering “Ramones”) -Kate Sullivan