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. _________________ "The Beatles, the greatest band known to mankind." - Bismah Mughal
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! _________________
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
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.)
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meccalecca
Mother Nature's Son
rayword45
dmercado
WindowAbove
