Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

A record so perfect, it inspired The Beatles to make Sergeant Pepper. Mixing the melodramatic Wall of Sound washes of Phil Spector and the inventiveness of baroque instruments, Brian Wilson created a symphonic version of pop music that still stands up as one of the finest bodies of work ever recorded.

Expansive, bold, yet still containing hits - 'God Only Knows', 'Sloop John B', and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice?' - no record collection is really complete without this nestled in the racks. If 'Caroline No' doesn't utterly destroy you emotionally, then honestly, you might not deserve your ears.

Sublime. Majestic. Essential.