Best Ever Albums

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 20:26:26 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/25/2015 01:26

sp4cetiger wrote:

Blech, I missed this. Anyway, here's my list:

Oops! Me too... Not completely finished (just yet), but it's going to look a lot like...

1. Pet Sounds (duh)
2. Today

3. Sunflower
4. Friends (their most personal & relatable album for me)
5. Wild Honey

6. Smile Sessions (Love it in small doses, but just too hokey/kitchsy/novelty-like for frequent listens. I admire it more than love it. And I LOVE, all the albums above it.)

8. Surf's Up (little too inconsistent, but this could climb in the next week)
9. Smiley Smile (one of my favorite albums in high school on cassette)

10. Surfin' USA (I like the filler on this since it's mostly just surf instrumentals.)
And then, the rest are interchangeable to me (i.e. GREAT singles, 1 killer love-torn bedroom song, & then lots of songs that sound like knock-off of their better singles or abysmal covers.)

Have never listened to 20/20. Some day soon. 😁

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 19:19:31 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/25/2015 00:19

Blech, I missed this. Anyway, here's my list:

1. Pet Sounds

2. Today
3. Smile Sessions

4. Sunflower
5. Summer Days
6. Surfer Girl

7. Wild Honey
8. Surf's Up

9. 20/20
10. Surfin USA
11. Surfin Safari

12. Beach Boys Party

I'm a sucker for the wall of sound records.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 12:41:06 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/24/2015 17:41

CLOSED

I DID IT ON TIME PEOPLE

18: Beach Boys' Party! by The Beach Boys

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17:Shut Down, Volume 2 by The Beach Boys

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16: Little Deuce Coupe by The Beach Boys
(Tied with The Beach Boys' Christmas Album)

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16: The Beach Boys' Christmas Album by The Beach Boys
(Tied with Little Deuce Coupe)

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14: Surfer Girl by The Beach Boys

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13: Surfin' Safari by The Beach Boys

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12:Surfin' U.S.A. by The Beach Boys
(Tied with 20/20)

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12: 20/20 by The Beach Boys
(Tied with Surfin' USA)

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10: All Summer Long by The Beach Boys

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9:Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) by The Beach Boys

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8:Friends by The Beach Boys

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7: Wild Honey by The Beach Boys
(Tied with Sunflower)

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7: Sunflower by The Beach Boys
(Tied with Wild Honey)

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5: Surf's Up by The Beach Boys

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4: Smiley Smile by The Beach Boys

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3: Today! by The Beach Boys

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2: The Smile Sessions by The Beach Boys
First Place Votes: 1

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1: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
First Place Votes: 11

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BEA's TOP FIVE SONGS

5:
Link

4:
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3:
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2:
Link

1:
Link

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

WindowAbove — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 10:30:24 GMT

Author: WindowAbove

Posted: 01/24/2015 15:30

1. Pet Sounds
2. The Smile Sessions
3. Sunflower
4. Surf's Up
5. Today!
6. Friends
7. Wild Honey
8. Summer Days
9. Smiley Smile
10. 20/20
11. All Summer Long
I'm a little scared to listen to the surf albums

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 02:54:41 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/24/2015 07:54

12 hour refresh.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:21:50 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/23/2015 21:21

24 hours left to submit

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

dmercado — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 22:16:05 GMT

Author: dmercado

Posted: 01/20/2015 03:16

1. Pet Sounds

2. The Smile Sessions (I like the 60's production, but Brian Wilson's is the complete thing)

3. Today!
4. Surf's Up
5. Sunflower

6. Summer Days

7. All Summer Long
8. Wild Honey
9. Little Deuce Coupe
10. Smiley Smile (The pain of shelving Smile is too deep to allow me to enjoy this album)

Tying this into the conversation going on about consistency vs. high peaks/low throwaways, the Beach Boys' albums suffer from their lack of consistency. It is very frustrating, but the best thing to do is grab a strainer and take the good stuff with you. Pet Sounds is their only instance of consistency, and the result is my favorite album of all time. Oh the places they could have gone!

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

rayword45 — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 20:43:09 GMT

Author: rayword45

Posted: 01/20/2015 01:43

Yeah, in that context, there's no objectiveness to music whatsoever. 😶

I'd argue that the high songs of Pet Sounds is far more objective than "Surf's Up reminds me of my dead aunt"

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Mother Nature's Son — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 20:22:28 GMT

Author: Mother Nature's Son

Posted: 01/20/2015 01:22

Thanks for the answer, Norman. I'm totally following you and the other guys here. Trying to figure out what it is logically that makes us love certain stuff more than other stuff can fry one's brain totally. What made me curious in the first place is the fact that I believed that there was some consensus that Sunflower was the better album compared to Surf's Up, not much better, but yeah, a little. Until today, I found out, no, there is no such consensus (analogous to this would be if people suddenly preferred that Nascar album to Pet Sounds, though a much more extreme example of course). So all I wanted to know was why all of sudden people preferred Surf's Up to Sunflower, as in I was curious, not as in I don't respect others' opinions (nor do I think the two albums are miles apart in terms of quality/consistency/whatever myself)? I just wanted to be enlightened, but yes, I'm blowing this up totally, I know!

A thing I've thought of bringing up (in a less heated discussion) was something like this (and I'm sorry for taking this out on you again, rayword, it's nothing personal, really):

rayword45 wrote:

And regarding Pet Sounds, don't get me wrong the first half is fantastic, but the second side has Caroline No, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Here Today, and God Only Fucking Knows. It also doesn't have Sloop John B.

And I know it's not how it's supposed to be understood (always), but comments like these for some reason scream to me "It is obvious that you also think "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" is one of the best songs on the album and "Sloop John B" the worst. Essentially, a comment like that is of no value to me if I don't agree completely and music discussions, here and elsewhere, ending up with mainly comments like these become void and fruitless, if you ask me. Essentially, I'm being a jerk.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

meccalecca — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:04:17 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 01/20/2015 00:04

satiemaniac wrote:

I take your objective criticism, submit evidence for your point, and withdraw my contention.

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Yeah, it's a phenomenal album. better than Pet Sounds. what's your point?

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:45:38 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/19/2015 23:45

meccalecca wrote:

c'mon dude. everyone knows Mike Love is the genius that held the Beach Boys together and made those records special.

I take your objective criticism, submit evidence for your point, and withdraw my contention.

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Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

meccalecca — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:44:31 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 01/19/2015 23:44

satiemaniac wrote:

And Brian Wilson is the only Beach Boy that mattered

c'mon dude. everyone knows Mike Love is the genius that held the Beach Boys together and made those records special.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:40:26 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/19/2015 23:40

Mother Nature's Son wrote:

Surf's Up reminds me of my grandmother because she always listened to the title-track, Surf's Up sounds like that guy on a horse being stung on a cold winter night or whatever whereas Sunflower sounds like nothing in particular...

how in the fuck is any of this objective? you've crafted a parody of what you're trying to get across. here, let me take a shot at some subjective - ER OBJECTIVE - ranting and raving and see how much we match up, since you know, objectivity is universal and all.

The Beach Boys remind me of my grandmother too, but because "Fun, Fun, Fun" was written about her. What, it wasn't? Well, I'm saying it was and I have dawned my objective airs so amend the record! Sunflower sounds like cowboys dancing on flowers and... white and some colors and some brown? Yeah I'm synesthetic and so was Brian Wilson and it's actually an objective experience too cause you know senses, everyone has 'em, so he could actually make an album that perfectly conjured the album cover in front of the listener for the entire running time. And Brian Wilson is the only Beach Boy that mattered and if he and Van Dyke Parks had just been a creative duo without having a falling out they might have eclipsed Lennon-McCartney.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Skinny — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:26:14 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 01/19/2015 22:26

Why can't people break down their emotional reactions into logical, objective compartments?!? This is absurd and wrong and you simply can't tell me that you can't just turn off your own soul for a minute and agree with what I'm saying, goddamit!

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

rayword45 — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:21:56 GMT

Author: rayword45

Posted: 01/19/2015 22:21

Mother Nature's Son wrote:

Well, you pretty much did the opposite of what I was hoping for. 😕 Instead of these subjective notions (Pet Sounds is very backloaded! What? Today has a completely discardable first half? What about the very last track instead?), I was hoping to see a more logical explanation of what makes one prefer one album over the other, such as Surf's Up is darker and more melancholic than Sunflower (and I generally dig melancholic more than happy music), Surf's Up reminds me of my grandmother because she always listened to the title-track, Surf's Up sounds like that guy on a horse being stung on a cold winter night or whatever whereas Sunflower sounds like nothing in particular...

I have a hard time explaining what exactly I'm getting at here, but all that talk about consistency, highs/lows, greatness/badness of songs/albums is just very useless to me, especially because I often disagree strongly (like when I hear about Pet Sounds being very backloaded, does it mean the opposite of what I think it means? The first 4 tracks and that gorgeous instrumental? and even if I got it wrong, I still disagree much)... rambe, ramble. Sorry if I'm being rude here!

Well, for the most objective approach possible, yes, Surfs Up has a darker atmosphere, which many people prefer. And I know you said you're not looking for this kind of answer but seriously, Surfs Up has superior highs.

As for the Today comment, the last track is discardable as well. Sorry but I think of the first half as throwaway pop like much of the early Beach Boys.

And regarding Pet Sounds, don't get me wrong the first half is fantastic, but the second side has Caroline No, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Here Today, and God Only Fucking Knows. It also doesn't have Sloop John B.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:17:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/19/2015 22:17

Surfs Up does have something to it which I didn't hear in the rest.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Norman Bates — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:12:46 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 01/19/2015 22:12

Don't know about the others, but what makes me prefer Surf's Up over Sunflower is simply recent repeated relistens of Surf's Up, an LP that I now feel I had completely underrated (10 years ago I'd probably have put it much lower) and more or less hadn't listened in years. It's now on my go-to shelf and barely a month is spent without me going for it. It's actually the Beach Boys album I play the most these days - over TSS and PS (which I still think are the two best things almost anybody ever did in pop music).

Why? I'm sure I don't really know, even if the sheer brilliance of the title track, or, say, "Don't Go Near the Water" or "'Til I Die" could be enough - but the same could be said of tracks on Sunflower (which I don't own on physical format - that's probably part of the problem). All I know is I've been needing S'sU a lot lately, and this consistant craving means it's a much more important LP to me than Sunflower.

Makes no sense I know. Why do we love the things we love? Man, that's precisely what I've been trying to understand for the last 30 years.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:10:44 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 01/19/2015 22:10

Mother Nature's Son wrote:

Instead of these subjective notions, I was hoping to see a more logical explanation of what makes one prefer one album over the other,

The holy grail of music appreciation. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find the carpenter's cup here, only the fake shiny ones.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

Mother Nature's Son — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:02:24 GMT

Author: Mother Nature's Son

Posted: 01/19/2015 22:02

rayword45 wrote:

I don't think The Beach Boys have ever been a band about consistency. I'd argue that Pet Sounds, their most cohesive album, is very backloaded and Sloop John B is just out of place. Then we have things like SMiLE which is 65 percent fragments and (borderline) instrumentals, and the first Beach Boys classic, Today, has a completely discardable first half.

For me and I assume others, the Beach Boys are a band about the highs. If you go looking for consistency, you'll shoot yourself out of frustration. That's why I think Surfs Up is the best of the 1968 beyond albums. Sure Friends and Sunflower may be more consistent (actually scratch that, a LOT more consistent) but they don't have the highs of Feel Flows, Disney Girls, Til I Die, and the legendary Surfs Up.

Another argument I've heard is that the flaws of Surfs Up make it even more emotionally painful, as the last BB gasp, but I see that as a crappy excuse for the musical atrocities of Mike Love.

Re: CLOSED Let's Rank 23: The Beach Boys 62-71 + Smile Sessions

rayword45 — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 16:16:04 GMT

Author: rayword45

Posted: 01/19/2015 21:16

Mother Nature's Son wrote:

Surprised to see this many ranking Surf's Up higher than Sunflower. Does somebody care to explain why? Not that there's anything invalid with that opinion, I'm just curious to know why. Generally, I thought Sunflower was more popular among both critics and fans and personally, I think it's more cohesive, fresh and sprawling with ideas and subtle details that make every relisten worth it, plus it's void of any songs that feel completely out of place ("Student Demonstration Time", anybody?). If that somebody could explain with something a little beyond "this and that song is great", "this and that song isn't", "album X is not as consistently good as album Y", etc., I'd be very happy!