"Pet Sounds" is recognized as an ambitious and sophisticated work that advanced the field of music production in addition to setting a higher standard in music composition and numerous precedents in its recording. Philip Lambert, a professor of music at the Graduate Center in New York, wrote that the album was "an extraordinary achievement – for any musician, but especially for the 23-year-old Wilson". Singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb described it as "a musician's album", "an engineer's album", and "a songwriter's album". Paul McCartney declared that "no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album." To explain why the album "was one of the defining moments of its time", composer Philip Glass referred to "its willingness to abandon formula in favor of structural innovation, the introduction of classical elements in the arrangements, production concepts in terms of overall sound which were novel at the time". Edmonds believed that the album's "most impressive" feature was "the fully integrated use of orchestration, an area glossed over all too lightly in those days."