Rank 'Em: Beach Boys
by 
Repo 
- Chart updated: 10/23/2025 14:15
- (Created: 06/11/2025 21:01).
- Chart size: 23 albums.
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Brian’s Superpower (1966)
Come close, close your eyes and be still
Don't talk, take my hand and listen to my heart beat
Listen, listen, listen… Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
Listen. Really, really listen. Because... if you listen close enough, you can hear these songs breathe. There's a palpable breath and space to them.
Vulnerability was Brian’s superpower. Maybe not with his wife, but with us. Via his studio, via his songs, he was able to share his inner space. And Brian desperately wanted to share. Despite all the fancy ornamentation and meticulous arrangements, there’s nothing fake here. Nothing plastic. Everything here is one person trying with all his might to make a connection.
And, it's amazing that all these years later, these song still breathe. These songs still live. And so will Brian. You did it, Brian. You really and truly did it.
The Ranking: I love The Beatles. Worship them, really. BUT, With the Beatles their was a distance between the listener and the band. A palpable veneer that sepearated you from them. They were cooler than you. And they let you know it. Brian had no such arrogance. He just wanted to share. And besides the genius of the music, that is the magic of Pet Sounds. There was no such distance. Pet sounds was intimate. Tender. Real. Which makes it my #1 album of all of 1966. Suck it Revolver!
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 06/15/2025]
Come close, close your eyes and be still
Don't talk, take my hand and listen to my heart beat
Listen, listen, listen… Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
Listen. Really, really listen. Because... if you listen close enough, you can hear these songs breathe. There's a palpable breath and space to them.
Vulnerability was Brian’s superpower. Maybe not with his wife, but with us. Via his studio, via his songs, he was able to share his inner space. And Brian desperately wanted to share. Despite all the fancy ornamentation and meticulous arrangements, there’s nothing fake here. Nothing plastic. Everything here is one person trying with all his might to make a connection.
And, it's amazing that all these years later, these song still breathe. These songs still live. And so will Brian. You did it, Brian. You really and truly did it.
The Ranking: I love The Beatles. Worship them, really. BUT, With the Beatles their was a distance between the listener and the band. A palpable veneer that sepearated you from them. They were cooler than you. And they let you know it. Brian had no such arrogance. He just wanted to share. And besides the genius of the music, that is the magic of Pet Sounds. There was no such distance. Pet sounds was intimate. Tender. Real. Which makes it my #1 album of all of 1966. Suck it Revolver!
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 06/15/2025]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
39,672
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
360
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Hip to be Square (1967)
When everything got very much “hipper than thou,” people to a certain extent found The Beach Boys embarrassing. Because the Beach Boys definitely were not hip. … just view them as the disabled member of the family that you lock away in the attic and don’t tell people about. - Ben Edmonds, Rolling Stone scribe & Creem magazine editor
I just remember we wanted to be a band again. had wiped everyone out, and we just wanted to play together again. - Bruce Johnston on the Wild Honey sessions
Get a breath of that country air
Breathe beauty of it everywhere- "Country Air"
The Setting: The hippies did not care for the Beach Boys. Rolling Stone magazine, the hippies arbiter of cool & the fresh upstart rag of the music underground, literally wrote them off. As noted Beach Boys biographer David Leaf perfectly punned it in his great book God Only Knows, in 1967 the Beach Boys were ... "beached!"
So... if a ground-breaking album falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it still make a sound? Turns out the answer is a massive YES, but, in a trick of space & time, it just takes a few more decades for that sound to reach us. 54 years to be precise. Because, in 2021, that very same magazine placed Wild Honey at #410 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Better late late than never, I suppose. BUT, that time warp, cost our Beach Boys dearly. And Wild Honey sank to their lowest album sales yet.
Which brings up a great point. Music and especially music criticism is fashion. Just think of the evolution of Pitchfork over the years and what type/style of music they choose to highlight. And we are all guilty of it. Yes; even me. I loved Megadeth in the 80s, but totally bought into the bilk that they had lost their way post-Countdown For Extinction. I, and more importantly that critical consensus, couldn't have been more wrong as Youthanasia and Cryptic Warning are some of the finest slabs of Heavy Metal of the 90s. Megadeth is just no longer playing Thrash is all.
The Listen: In a way, this backlash (and Brian's letting go of his monomaniacal levels of control) is exactly why Wild Honey is so great. The Boys circled the wagons and became a real band again. Desperation is the mother of inspiration, as it were. The Wild Honey sessions were that "breath of country air" they so desperately needed. It's the first time they sound like an actual full fledged band since Surfin' USA. Oftentimes, albums sound fresher and more organic when they’re just banged out and instead of labored over. That’s what makes Wild Honey so refreshing & breezy and one of my faves in their entire catalog.
As far as the listen goes, CA Dreamin totally nails it ...
CA Dreamin wrote:
I liked more than I expected. I wasn't sure where Brian and the Boys would go after scrapping Smile, and the half-hearted Smiley Smile . I figured they were not returning to anything ambitious like Pet Sounds or Smile. Wild Honey is simpler and back-to-the-basics, churning out 10 short, catchy songs. Not the old school surf rock, but with a piano-driven R&B approach. It sounds pleasant, charming, and fully-realized despite how fast the albums whizzes by. ... and compares to some of the better pre-Pet Sounds albums, albeit with a completely different sound and approach.
Brian & Carl bonding in 1967. THIS is what I'm talking about. Can't you just feel it. They got back to the basics, back to being a band and making music just for the fun of it. Just like how it all started out in that bedroom in Hawthorne, CA a long, long time ago.
The Ranking: Despite their declining popularity, the Beach Boys owned 1967. BOTH Smiley Smile and Wild Honey could easily make my top 50 of a very stacked year. The fact that Smiley Smile and Wild Honey are pretty much opposite poles of the pop-rock musical spectrum just underscores how underrated (even today!) the Beach Boys are. Many people use 1967 as the point that The Beatles eclipsed the Beach Boys. I would use 1967 as the prime example that the Beatles did NOT and never did!
Wild Honey may be just the album of theirs that I listen to the most. It never ceases to brighten my mood and day, especially in the car when I can sing-along. Just another classic, five star album. I like it’s style and sound even more than the Today! This Wild Honey is certified organic! 🤓
The Rating: 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 [First added to this chart: 06/12/2025]
When everything got very much “hipper than thou,” people to a certain extent found The Beach Boys embarrassing. Because the Beach Boys definitely were not hip. … just view them as the disabled member of the family that you lock away in the attic and don’t tell people about. - Ben Edmonds, Rolling Stone scribe & Creem magazine editor
I just remember we wanted to be a band again. had wiped everyone out, and we just wanted to play together again. - Bruce Johnston on the Wild Honey sessions
Get a breath of that country air
Breathe beauty of it everywhere- "Country Air"
The Setting: The hippies did not care for the Beach Boys. Rolling Stone magazine, the hippies arbiter of cool & the fresh upstart rag of the music underground, literally wrote them off. As noted Beach Boys biographer David Leaf perfectly punned it in his great book God Only Knows, in 1967 the Beach Boys were ... "beached!"
So... if a ground-breaking album falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it still make a sound? Turns out the answer is a massive YES, but, in a trick of space & time, it just takes a few more decades for that sound to reach us. 54 years to be precise. Because, in 2021, that very same magazine placed Wild Honey at #410 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Better late late than never, I suppose. BUT, that time warp, cost our Beach Boys dearly. And Wild Honey sank to their lowest album sales yet.
Which brings up a great point. Music and especially music criticism is fashion. Just think of the evolution of Pitchfork over the years and what type/style of music they choose to highlight. And we are all guilty of it. Yes; even me. I loved Megadeth in the 80s, but totally bought into the bilk that they had lost their way post-Countdown For Extinction. I, and more importantly that critical consensus, couldn't have been more wrong as Youthanasia and Cryptic Warning are some of the finest slabs of Heavy Metal of the 90s. Megadeth is just no longer playing Thrash is all.
The Listen: In a way, this backlash (and Brian's letting go of his monomaniacal levels of control) is exactly why Wild Honey is so great. The Boys circled the wagons and became a real band again. Desperation is the mother of inspiration, as it were. The Wild Honey sessions were that "breath of country air" they so desperately needed. It's the first time they sound like an actual full fledged band since Surfin' USA. Oftentimes, albums sound fresher and more organic when they’re just banged out and instead of labored over. That’s what makes Wild Honey so refreshing & breezy and one of my faves in their entire catalog.
As far as the listen goes, CA Dreamin totally nails it ...
CA Dreamin wrote:
I liked more than I expected. I wasn't sure where Brian and the Boys would go after scrapping Smile, and the half-hearted Smiley Smile . I figured they were not returning to anything ambitious like Pet Sounds or Smile. Wild Honey is simpler and back-to-the-basics, churning out 10 short, catchy songs. Not the old school surf rock, but with a piano-driven R&B approach. It sounds pleasant, charming, and fully-realized despite how fast the albums whizzes by. ... and compares to some of the better pre-Pet Sounds albums, albeit with a completely different sound and approach.
Brian & Carl bonding in 1967. THIS is what I'm talking about. Can't you just feel it. They got back to the basics, back to being a band and making music just for the fun of it. Just like how it all started out in that bedroom in Hawthorne, CA a long, long time ago.
The Ranking: Despite their declining popularity, the Beach Boys owned 1967. BOTH Smiley Smile and Wild Honey could easily make my top 50 of a very stacked year. The fact that Smiley Smile and Wild Honey are pretty much opposite poles of the pop-rock musical spectrum just underscores how underrated (even today!) the Beach Boys are. Many people use 1967 as the point that The Beatles eclipsed the Beach Boys. I would use 1967 as the prime example that the Beatles did NOT and never did!
Wild Honey may be just the album of theirs that I listen to the most. It never ceases to brighten my mood and day, especially in the car when I can sing-along. Just another classic, five star album. I like it’s style and sound even more than the Today! This Wild Honey is certified organic! 🤓
The Rating: 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 [First added to this chart: 06/12/2025]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
683
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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P>O>P for AFTER The Drive-In (1965)
Please don't let me argue anymore
I won't make you worry like before
Can't remember what we fought about
Late, late last night we said it was over
But I remember when we thought it out
We both had a broken heart – "Kiss Me, Baby"
What happens AFTER the rush of that first kiss has faded? What happens AFTER the drive-in? Sure, making out & necking is fun and all, but eventually… things get… complicated. Messy, even. You see, since we’ve last met, our hero Brian has fallen in love. And, as love often does, it’s messing with our dear boy’s head. Nine out of the eleven songs on Today! deal with relationship issues. (That’s right. I am completely ignoring the last track ("Bull Session...") even though it does remind me just a smidge of The Descendents “Weinerschnitzel.”) Jealousy and insecurity were driving him to the brink of a nervous breakdown. Luckily, Brian came up with a surefire solution to his conundrum– marriage! Problem solved! Right, gang? Anxious
The Ranking: A proto-Baroque Pop masterpiece (& a clear influence on The Zombies). Easily one of the best albums of 1965, and right up there with whatever The Beatles, Dylan and The Byrds were doing. Written and recorded in the months just prior to Brian’s marriage to Marilynn Rovell in December 1964, when Brian was riddled by jealousy and anxiety; Today! sincerely and earnestly reflects on young love AFTER the initial glow of those first kisses and first dates has worn off and how absolutely confusing, frustrating, terrifying AND addicting it can all be. [First added to this chart: 09/17/2025]
Please don't let me argue anymore
I won't make you worry like before
Can't remember what we fought about
Late, late last night we said it was over
But I remember when we thought it out
We both had a broken heart – "Kiss Me, Baby"
What happens AFTER the rush of that first kiss has faded? What happens AFTER the drive-in? Sure, making out & necking is fun and all, but eventually… things get… complicated. Messy, even. You see, since we’ve last met, our hero Brian has fallen in love. And, as love often does, it’s messing with our dear boy’s head. Nine out of the eleven songs on Today! deal with relationship issues. (That’s right. I am completely ignoring the last track ("Bull Session...") even though it does remind me just a smidge of The Descendents “Weinerschnitzel.”) Jealousy and insecurity were driving him to the brink of a nervous breakdown. Luckily, Brian came up with a surefire solution to his conundrum– marriage! Problem solved! Right, gang? Anxious
The Ranking: A proto-Baroque Pop masterpiece (& a clear influence on The Zombies). Easily one of the best albums of 1965, and right up there with whatever The Beatles, Dylan and The Byrds were doing. Written and recorded in the months just prior to Brian’s marriage to Marilynn Rovell in December 1964, when Brian was riddled by jealousy and anxiety; Today! sincerely and earnestly reflects on young love AFTER the initial glow of those first kisses and first dates has worn off and how absolutely confusing, frustrating, terrifying AND addicting it can all be. [First added to this chart: 09/17/2025]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,085
Rank in 1965:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Gone Native (1967)
I didn’t like Smiley Smile at first. Or even at second, third or fourth. Like CA Dreamin, I thought it was a self-indulgent mess. Or worse – a musical. I HATE musicals. BUT, I started coming around on the fifth or sixth listen and now, with a good twenty listens under my belt, I think Brian has once again created a singular triumph. Something only he could ever do. All these years later, and with pretty much an entire record label - Elephant Six - not to mention a particular Panda Bear and an entire Animal Collective aping the sounds of Smiley Smile, no one ever quite captured this particular strand of acid-fried, manic madness. And that might be a good thing. Outsider art is never very easy on the outsider. Just ask Daniel Johnston or Roky Erickson, or Syd Barrett. Smiley Smile is ground zero for so much of Indie Rock's love affair with the Beach Boys sound that I consumed as a reverent Indie Rock kid in the '90s & '00s.
So, I'm glad I kept at it. As slowly, ALL of these tracks ate their way into my brain. Even though I sorta knew going in that this was NOT going to be the sequel to Pet Sounds ( Just as Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) was not the meant to be the sequel to Today!), I still wasn't prepared for the full on Heart-of-Darkness descent into madness that Smiley Smile is. Like CA Dreamin just said, I too initially thought it a "half-assed experiment gone wrong". BUT, maybe it's just my brain that's gone wrong. Maybe I've become Mr. Kurtz, and I've finally "gone native." But I got to tell ya. It's good to be this free.
The Ranking: Yup. Brian did it again. I understand he wanted to create a "teenage symphony to God" Well, if that teenager was manic, traumatized, acid-fried AND art-damaged, then sure. This is it. BUT, what I'm pretty damn sure is that this is a monumental tapestry of sound and yet ANOTHER rousing, world-building triumph by our poor boy & outsider-in-his-own-band, Brian. That Smiley Smile sounded like nothing that ANYONE, including himself, had ever done previously. For me, it rivals anything by our usual musical suspects of Outsider Art such as Syd Barrett or The Red Krayola. And definitely should be remembered as an ESSENTIAL part of 1967's psychedelic experience. It might not be as good as Sgt. Pepper’s, but it's closer than I thought. AND It’s FAR more magical AND mysterious than The Magical Mystery Tour. You can bet on that! Is it going to work for everyone? Hell no! Remember, It took me SIX or SEVEN listens just to BEGIN to like it. Am I going to reach for it as much as Pet Sounds or Today! Not even close! Those two albums pair with practically anything. But when the circumstances & drugs align. When I feel like the musical equivalent of Harold & Kumar go to White Castle, where ANYTHING seems possible yet nothing feels quite right at the same time? This is what I'll reach for. Some untouchable, COSMIC pop!!
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil 1/2 [First added to this chart: 10/23/2025]
I didn’t like Smiley Smile at first. Or even at second, third or fourth. Like CA Dreamin, I thought it was a self-indulgent mess. Or worse – a musical. I HATE musicals. BUT, I started coming around on the fifth or sixth listen and now, with a good twenty listens under my belt, I think Brian has once again created a singular triumph. Something only he could ever do. All these years later, and with pretty much an entire record label - Elephant Six - not to mention a particular Panda Bear and an entire Animal Collective aping the sounds of Smiley Smile, no one ever quite captured this particular strand of acid-fried, manic madness. And that might be a good thing. Outsider art is never very easy on the outsider. Just ask Daniel Johnston or Roky Erickson, or Syd Barrett. Smiley Smile is ground zero for so much of Indie Rock's love affair with the Beach Boys sound that I consumed as a reverent Indie Rock kid in the '90s & '00s.
So, I'm glad I kept at it. As slowly, ALL of these tracks ate their way into my brain. Even though I sorta knew going in that this was NOT going to be the sequel to Pet Sounds ( Just as Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) was not the meant to be the sequel to Today!), I still wasn't prepared for the full on Heart-of-Darkness descent into madness that Smiley Smile is. Like CA Dreamin just said, I too initially thought it a "half-assed experiment gone wrong". BUT, maybe it's just my brain that's gone wrong. Maybe I've become Mr. Kurtz, and I've finally "gone native." But I got to tell ya. It's good to be this free.
The Ranking: Yup. Brian did it again. I understand he wanted to create a "teenage symphony to God" Well, if that teenager was manic, traumatized, acid-fried AND art-damaged, then sure. This is it. BUT, what I'm pretty damn sure is that this is a monumental tapestry of sound and yet ANOTHER rousing, world-building triumph by our poor boy & outsider-in-his-own-band, Brian. That Smiley Smile sounded like nothing that ANYONE, including himself, had ever done previously. For me, it rivals anything by our usual musical suspects of Outsider Art such as Syd Barrett or The Red Krayola. And definitely should be remembered as an ESSENTIAL part of 1967's psychedelic experience. It might not be as good as Sgt. Pepper’s, but it's closer than I thought. AND It’s FAR more magical AND mysterious than The Magical Mystery Tour. You can bet on that! Is it going to work for everyone? Hell no! Remember, It took me SIX or SEVEN listens just to BEGIN to like it. Am I going to reach for it as much as Pet Sounds or Today! Not even close! Those two albums pair with practically anything. But when the circumstances & drugs align. When I feel like the musical equivalent of Harold & Kumar go to White Castle, where ANYTHING seems possible yet nothing feels quite right at the same time? This is what I'll reach for. Some untouchable, COSMIC pop!!
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil 1/2 [First added to this chart: 10/23/2025]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,313
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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The Lost Beach Boy (1963)
I was maybe nine or 10 and I saw ’ Stratocaster and something clicked inside my soul. Anyway Johnny, he taught me some stuff, and I transferred it over to Carl . Carl and I both got guitars around the same time. I was 10. He was about 12. And so every day after school we’d practice at my house listening to records, learning Chuck Berry, all these guitar riffs mainly and all the surf genre stuff. John was actually connected with Ritchie Valens. He was a pallbearer for Ritchie’s funeral, God bless him, and he was giving us the stuff that he was learning from Ritchie Valens which was at that time, when you’re a nine or ten-year-old, was like the king of rock and roll to me. That guitar sound just never left me. – David Marks aka The Lost Beach Boy
WTF! I cannot believe how ignorant I was about how great The Beach Boys were right from the start. I like this one EVEN MORE than Surfin’ Safari, which is no mean feat. In the early to mid-nineties, influenced by Pulp Fiction's soundtrack I think, I bought a few “surf” albums by bands like The Ventures, and the surf guitar interplay between The Beach Boys' David Marks and Carl Wilson is right up there with the best of them. David & Carl have GREAT guitar tones and a real feel for these songs. You can tell tell that they had been jamming together for a while and their chemistry is simply sublime. It’s too bad that this interplay between David & Carl in the early days and its HUGE contribution to the Beach Boys sound does not get more attention.
Not to say that Brian Wilson doesn't deserve all the credit he does get either though ! He does! His production takes a step up on Surfin' USA and it's the first album that Brian himself would later call “a Brian Wilson production.” The sound on "Finders Keepers" in particular showcases his jump in studio prowess. Despite its cheesy lyrics, to me, it’s one of the hidden the gems on this album, and the song that most shows the future direction Brian would take in the studio.
The Ranking: To me, this sounds very different from Surfin' Safari. Surfin' Safari has more of a proto-punk, '60s girls group feel whereas Surfin' USA is more of a true Surf Rock album. Both are GREAT in those sub-genres and certainly some of the best albums of early '60s rock! [First added to this chart: 06/25/2025]
I was maybe nine or 10 and I saw ’ Stratocaster and something clicked inside my soul. Anyway Johnny, he taught me some stuff, and I transferred it over to Carl . Carl and I both got guitars around the same time. I was 10. He was about 12. And so every day after school we’d practice at my house listening to records, learning Chuck Berry, all these guitar riffs mainly and all the surf genre stuff. John was actually connected with Ritchie Valens. He was a pallbearer for Ritchie’s funeral, God bless him, and he was giving us the stuff that he was learning from Ritchie Valens which was at that time, when you’re a nine or ten-year-old, was like the king of rock and roll to me. That guitar sound just never left me. – David Marks aka The Lost Beach Boy
WTF! I cannot believe how ignorant I was about how great The Beach Boys were right from the start. I like this one EVEN MORE than Surfin’ Safari, which is no mean feat. In the early to mid-nineties, influenced by Pulp Fiction's soundtrack I think, I bought a few “surf” albums by bands like The Ventures, and the surf guitar interplay between The Beach Boys' David Marks and Carl Wilson is right up there with the best of them. David & Carl have GREAT guitar tones and a real feel for these songs. You can tell tell that they had been jamming together for a while and their chemistry is simply sublime. It’s too bad that this interplay between David & Carl in the early days and its HUGE contribution to the Beach Boys sound does not get more attention.
Not to say that Brian Wilson doesn't deserve all the credit he does get either though ! He does! His production takes a step up on Surfin' USA and it's the first album that Brian himself would later call “a Brian Wilson production.” The sound on "Finders Keepers" in particular showcases his jump in studio prowess. Despite its cheesy lyrics, to me, it’s one of the hidden the gems on this album, and the song that most shows the future direction Brian would take in the studio.
The Ranking: To me, this sounds very different from Surfin' Safari. Surfin' Safari has more of a proto-punk, '60s girls group feel whereas Surfin' USA is more of a true Surf Rock album. Both are GREAT in those sub-genres and certainly some of the best albums of early '60s rock! [First added to this chart: 06/25/2025]
Year of Release:
1963
Appears in:
Rank Score:
315
Rank in 1963:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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The Song Remains The Same (1962)
Totally far, far better than I expected! The common complaint that I had heard with this debut was that all the songs sound pretty much the same and that there's a lot of filler. BUT, I didn't find that to be the case at all. I easily and quickly found myself singin'-a-long to ALL the songs on this album with just a few spins. AND, I know exactly what lyrics to sing for each & every song. So clearly each song sounds different. At least, no more or no less than those of some my favorite punk rock records. In particular, and this should be no surprise, The Ramones, who were heavily influenced by The Beach Boys early albums.
Anyways, every song here is a gem. The only song that's skippable to me is "The Shift." Otherwise, every other track is a wonderful time warp to a day in the life of being a teenage boy in 1962 filled with carnivals, root beer floats, and of course, girls.
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
The Ranking: Um. Yeah. There’s only one so far so…
1962. Surf Rock.
Great!
Sing-a-long
great harmonies
diverse
time travel
I really like old time rock-n'roll [First added to this chart: 06/12/2025]
Totally far, far better than I expected! The common complaint that I had heard with this debut was that all the songs sound pretty much the same and that there's a lot of filler. BUT, I didn't find that to be the case at all. I easily and quickly found myself singin'-a-long to ALL the songs on this album with just a few spins. AND, I know exactly what lyrics to sing for each & every song. So clearly each song sounds different. At least, no more or no less than those of some my favorite punk rock records. In particular, and this should be no surprise, The Ramones, who were heavily influenced by The Beach Boys early albums.
Anyways, every song here is a gem. The only song that's skippable to me is "The Shift." Otherwise, every other track is a wonderful time warp to a day in the life of being a teenage boy in 1962 filled with carnivals, root beer floats, and of course, girls.
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
The Ranking: Um. Yeah. There’s only one so far so…
1962. Surf Rock.
Great!
Sing-a-long
great harmonies
diverse
time travel
I really like old time rock-n'roll [First added to this chart: 06/12/2025]
Year of Release:
1962
Appears in:
Rank Score:
310
Rank in 1962:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Brian Wilson’s God (1963)
There’s a world where I can go
And tell my secrets to
In my room
In this world I lock out
All my worries and my fears
In my room
Lie awake and pray
Do my sighing and my crying
Laugh at yesterday
Now it’s dark and I’m alone
But I won’t be afraid
In my room - In My Room
It’s like a psalm from the Old Testament. But instead of God, Brian (and his two brothers) found sanctuary in their room. In their music. Especially their sibling sing-alongs night after night in their shared room on Hawthorne Street. As Brian would recall years later…
There is a story behind . When Dennis, Carl and I lived in Hawthorne as kids, we all slept in the same room. One night I sang the song "Ivory Tower" to them and they liked it. Then a couple of weeks later, I proceeded to teach them both how to sing the harmony parts to it. It took them a little while, but they finally learned it. We then sang this song night after night. It brought peace to us. When we recorded "In My Room", there was just Dennis, Carl and me on the first verse ... and we sounded just like we did in our bedroom all those nights. – Brian Wilson
The production is simply bonkers for an album from 1963. Leaps & bounds better than ANYONE else at the time. And it wasn’t just the production either. The songs and arrangements were certainly FAR more sophisticated, complex, and mature than even those of the fledgling Beatles in 1963 Every song sounds radically different from each other which, funnily enough, is the exact OPPOSITE of how I always imagined these early Beach Boys tracks would sound. On the Surfer Girl LP in particular, Brian take us on a tour of the many different sub-genres of early rock n’ roll and oldies. If you’re a fan of old-timey rock n’ roll, this album is a gem and showcases Brian and da gang’s eternal love for these classic sounds.
The Ranking: Well so much for the notion that all the early Beach Boys albums sound the same. Absolute rubbish! Third album. Third completely different sound. Gone is the Surf Rock of Surfin' USA (to my chagrin a bit) to a more mature and sometimes even melancholy sound (best exemplified by “In My Room,” “Surfer Moon”, and "Your Summer Dream." This is Brian’s best production yet (with "Hawaii" being its peak sort of like "Finders-Keepers" on Surfin' USA). And his most diverse batch of songs too. Each song occupies its own little niche of early rock n’ roll. Even the 2 instrumental tracks sound nothing like the five from Surfin’ USA. Although, for whatever reason, our heroes from the last album – David & Carl – are relegated to the sidelines. And that choice results in the albums only flaw, to me. I would have liked more guitar! I’m, a rocker at heart so it’s not surprising that I slightly prefer the rougher and rawer sounding Surfin’ USA. But the more remarkable thing is that all THREE so far are very worth owning and completely stand on their own as GREAT LPs. [First added to this chart: 06/26/2025]
There’s a world where I can go
And tell my secrets to
In my room
In this world I lock out
All my worries and my fears
In my room
Lie awake and pray
Do my sighing and my crying
Laugh at yesterday
Now it’s dark and I’m alone
But I won’t be afraid
In my room - In My Room
It’s like a psalm from the Old Testament. But instead of God, Brian (and his two brothers) found sanctuary in their room. In their music. Especially their sibling sing-alongs night after night in their shared room on Hawthorne Street. As Brian would recall years later…
There is a story behind . When Dennis, Carl and I lived in Hawthorne as kids, we all slept in the same room. One night I sang the song "Ivory Tower" to them and they liked it. Then a couple of weeks later, I proceeded to teach them both how to sing the harmony parts to it. It took them a little while, but they finally learned it. We then sang this song night after night. It brought peace to us. When we recorded "In My Room", there was just Dennis, Carl and me on the first verse ... and we sounded just like we did in our bedroom all those nights. – Brian Wilson
The production is simply bonkers for an album from 1963. Leaps & bounds better than ANYONE else at the time. And it wasn’t just the production either. The songs and arrangements were certainly FAR more sophisticated, complex, and mature than even those of the fledgling Beatles in 1963 Every song sounds radically different from each other which, funnily enough, is the exact OPPOSITE of how I always imagined these early Beach Boys tracks would sound. On the Surfer Girl LP in particular, Brian take us on a tour of the many different sub-genres of early rock n’ roll and oldies. If you’re a fan of old-timey rock n’ roll, this album is a gem and showcases Brian and da gang’s eternal love for these classic sounds.
The Ranking: Well so much for the notion that all the early Beach Boys albums sound the same. Absolute rubbish! Third album. Third completely different sound. Gone is the Surf Rock of Surfin' USA (to my chagrin a bit) to a more mature and sometimes even melancholy sound (best exemplified by “In My Room,” “Surfer Moon”, and "Your Summer Dream." This is Brian’s best production yet (with "Hawaii" being its peak sort of like "Finders-Keepers" on Surfin' USA). And his most diverse batch of songs too. Each song occupies its own little niche of early rock n’ roll. Even the 2 instrumental tracks sound nothing like the five from Surfin’ USA. Although, for whatever reason, our heroes from the last album – David & Carl – are relegated to the sidelines. And that choice results in the albums only flaw, to me. I would have liked more guitar! I’m, a rocker at heart so it’s not surprising that I slightly prefer the rougher and rawer sounding Surfin’ USA. But the more remarkable thing is that all THREE so far are very worth owning and completely stand on their own as GREAT LPs. [First added to this chart: 06/26/2025]
Year of Release:
1963
Appears in:
Rank Score:
426
Rank in 1963:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Brian's Playhouse (2011)
Leave it to Brian to yet again create something new. Because The SMiLE Sessions is NOT even a rock album. The closest fit would be a soundtrack to some unreleased, unfinished film that was dancing around Brian's skull. Let's call it Brian’s Playhouse in homage to the great Pee-Wee Herman's Playhouse. Come to think of it, SMiLE, with its demented capitalization sort of works perfectly too, doesn't it? A great Cheshire Cat's SMiLE. Because once more, Brian's gone down that rabbit hole.
Though this is a FAR different trip into Wilsonland than Smiley Smile. That in fact is my biggest takeaway from this past week. Just how DIFFERENT SMiLE is from Smiley Smile. Despite being culled from the same sessions, they sound and feel worlds apart. Hell some of my favorite tracks on Smiley Smile, like “Fall Breaks and Back To Winter” and “She’s Going Bald,” don’t even make it on here.
Whereas Smiley Smile felt like a manic, traumatized, acid trip; SMiLE feels more like a whimsical children's storybook curated by a sensitive, well-heeled boy who has excelled at violin and etiquette classes under the thumb of his Tiger Mom. Yes. That’s it! It sounds like a child’s audiobook. One of those books I had as a kid that emits a distinctive “Ping!” when you need to turn the page. Not too far off really from what Donovan was doing with his For Little Ones in 1967 or a bit later with his HMS Donovan in 1971.
OR, perhaps a better way to look at it is that Brian created exactly what he wanted - A Teenage Symphony to the Gods. But, you know what my problem is with most symphonies? The boring parts. The mid-tempo slog you have to endure in order to get to the good parts which are usually right at the beginning and the end; just like what we've got here with "Heroes & Villians" and "Good Vibrations" as the grand transcendent bookends. Yes, it's beautiful & immaculate, BUT it also tests your patience after awhile. It works, but it would have worked so much better with visual accompaniment. It'd be the perfect soundtrack for one of those whacked, vaudeville-style cartoons my kids watch like Helluva Boss. Or acted out at some midnight movie a la the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Something like that would have been simply fantastic. Or I could see some crazed alternate high school reality where marching bands were bigger & cooler than football and this was their Friday Night Lights.
Because Smiley Smile and SMiLE are SIMILAR in one key way. This is music for outsiders. These are CULT albums. Albums that will appeal to highly specific yet rabid audiences. Two transcendent soundscapes that sound like nothing else ever made. Albums that inspire entire fandoms, not just a couple of bands.
The Ranking: Surprisingly, this is actually a fairly easy one for me to rank and place. It's brilliant but a bit of a slog for that seventh-inning stretch . I prefer the free-ranged & latch-keyed kid feel of Smiley Smile to the helicoptered & hoovered SMiLE. But, let's face it, they’re both pretty FREAKin' weird & amazing. It just depends what kind of weirdness you're into.
So I'll slot it just below the breezy, proto-punk of Surfin' Safari, the surf rock of Surfin' USA, and the California-Is-Life of Surfer Girl. (All three essential gems of early 60s album rock imo!)
The Rating: 😈 😈 😈 😈
Leave it to Brian to yet again create something new. Because The SMiLE Sessions is NOT even a rock album. The closest fit would be a soundtrack to some unreleased, unfinished film that was dancing around Brian's skull. Let's call it Brian’s Playhouse in homage to the great Pee-Wee Herman's Playhouse. Come to think of it, SMiLE, with its demented capitalization sort of works perfectly too, doesn't it? A great Cheshire Cat's SMiLE. Because once more, Brian's gone down that rabbit hole.
Though this is a FAR different trip into Wilsonland than Smiley Smile. That in fact is my biggest takeaway from this past week. Just how DIFFERENT SMiLE is from Smiley Smile. Despite being culled from the same sessions, they sound and feel worlds apart. Hell some of my favorite tracks on Smiley Smile, like “Fall Breaks and Back To Winter” and “She’s Going Bald,” don’t even make it on here.
Whereas Smiley Smile felt like a manic, traumatized, acid trip; SMiLE feels more like a whimsical children's storybook curated by a sensitive, well-heeled boy who has excelled at violin and etiquette classes under the thumb of his Tiger Mom. Yes. That’s it! It sounds like a child’s audiobook. One of those books I had as a kid that emits a distinctive “Ping!” when you need to turn the page. Not too far off really from what Donovan was doing with his For Little Ones in 1967 or a bit later with his HMS Donovan in 1971.
OR, perhaps a better way to look at it is that Brian created exactly what he wanted - A Teenage Symphony to the Gods. But, you know what my problem is with most symphonies? The boring parts. The mid-tempo slog you have to endure in order to get to the good parts which are usually right at the beginning and the end; just like what we've got here with "Heroes & Villians" and "Good Vibrations" as the grand transcendent bookends. Yes, it's beautiful & immaculate, BUT it also tests your patience after awhile. It works, but it would have worked so much better with visual accompaniment. It'd be the perfect soundtrack for one of those whacked, vaudeville-style cartoons my kids watch like Helluva Boss. Or acted out at some midnight movie a la the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Something like that would have been simply fantastic. Or I could see some crazed alternate high school reality where marching bands were bigger & cooler than football and this was their Friday Night Lights.
Because Smiley Smile and SMiLE are SIMILAR in one key way. This is music for outsiders. These are CULT albums. Albums that will appeal to highly specific yet rabid audiences. Two transcendent soundscapes that sound like nothing else ever made. Albums that inspire entire fandoms, not just a couple of bands.
The Ranking: Surprisingly, this is actually a fairly easy one for me to rank and place. It's brilliant but a bit of a slog for that seventh-inning stretch . I prefer the free-ranged & latch-keyed kid feel of Smiley Smile to the helicoptered & hoovered SMiLE. But, let's face it, they’re both pretty FREAKin' weird & amazing. It just depends what kind of weirdness you're into.
So I'll slot it just below the breezy, proto-punk of Surfin' Safari, the surf rock of Surfin' USA, and the California-Is-Life of Surfer Girl. (All three essential gems of early 60s album rock imo!)
The Rating: 😈 😈 😈 😈
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,120
Rank in 2011:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Step Right Up! (1965)
Hurry, hurry, hurry, folks!
Step right up to the Beach Boys Circus,
the best little show in town.
Hurry, hurry, hurry,
it's only a dime folks.
One thin dime,
just one tenth of a dollar.
Come on in… ("Amusement Parks USA")
Brian Wilson needed an escape. A vacation. So, like most workaholics, he tried to create one for himself at work (i.e the studio) with Sumer Days (and Summer Nights!!) An album far, far away from the vulnerability and relationship worries of The Beach Boys Today!
It’s really important NOT to approach this album hoping for some plumb line between Today! and Pet Sounds. It’s not. It’s something very, very different. Again, the narrative that all these Beach Boys albums predating Pet Sounds are similar is wrong. Very, very wrong. And Summer Days is a completely different animal from Today! Just like Surfin’ Safari is different than Surfin’ USA which is different from Surfer Girl. You get the picture. Summer Days is a sideshow at a cartoonish carnival. An attempt to go back to their simpler days of summer fun and goofing off, not by recreating the past, but by projecting that past onto a funhouse mirror.
The Ranking: A psychedelic, mischievous, & playful romp. Is it sometimes absurd? Yes! But, it's that way on purpose. It is NOT by mistake that the title ends with not one, but TWO exclamation points. The deep baritones on "The Girl from New York City"? The cartoonish cackling on "Amusement Parks USA"? Just embrace the madness!! Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) is excessive, oftentimes goofy and most importantly, playful!! I’m going to keep coming back to that word - playful! Brian used this album to escape. This is him going down the rabbit hole. Something I think he was trying once again AFTER Pet Sounds with Smile, but by that point, he was too far gone.
I would even argue that THIS is the album that influenced The Beatles in the creation Sgt. Pepper's more so than the oft remarked Pet Sounds. Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) is Brian’s freewheelin’ magical mystery tour!! [First added to this chart: 09/17/2025]
Hurry, hurry, hurry, folks!
Step right up to the Beach Boys Circus,
the best little show in town.
Hurry, hurry, hurry,
it's only a dime folks.
One thin dime,
just one tenth of a dollar.
Come on in… ("Amusement Parks USA")
Brian Wilson needed an escape. A vacation. So, like most workaholics, he tried to create one for himself at work (i.e the studio) with Sumer Days (and Summer Nights!!) An album far, far away from the vulnerability and relationship worries of The Beach Boys Today!
It’s really important NOT to approach this album hoping for some plumb line between Today! and Pet Sounds. It’s not. It’s something very, very different. Again, the narrative that all these Beach Boys albums predating Pet Sounds are similar is wrong. Very, very wrong. And Summer Days is a completely different animal from Today! Just like Surfin’ Safari is different than Surfin’ USA which is different from Surfer Girl. You get the picture. Summer Days is a sideshow at a cartoonish carnival. An attempt to go back to their simpler days of summer fun and goofing off, not by recreating the past, but by projecting that past onto a funhouse mirror.
The Ranking: A psychedelic, mischievous, & playful romp. Is it sometimes absurd? Yes! But, it's that way on purpose. It is NOT by mistake that the title ends with not one, but TWO exclamation points. The deep baritones on "The Girl from New York City"? The cartoonish cackling on "Amusement Parks USA"? Just embrace the madness!! Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) is excessive, oftentimes goofy and most importantly, playful!! I’m going to keep coming back to that word - playful! Brian used this album to escape. This is him going down the rabbit hole. Something I think he was trying once again AFTER Pet Sounds with Smile, but by that point, he was too far gone.
I would even argue that THIS is the album that influenced The Beatles in the creation Sgt. Pepper's more so than the oft remarked Pet Sounds. Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) is Brian’s freewheelin’ magical mystery tour!! [First added to this chart: 09/17/2025]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
601
Rank in 1965:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Same Recipe, Better Ingredients (1964)
We needed to grow. Up to this point we had milked every idea dry. We milked it fucking dry. We had done every possible angle about surfing and then we did the car routine. But we needed to grow artistically. - Brian Wilson on 1964.
I had quite the journey with this one. For the first 3 listens or so, I didn’t think this was really any better than Shut Down, Vol. 2. I was even going to entitle this write-up “The Sequel No One Asked For!” I’ll be honest, part of that may have been some Beach Boys fatigue setting in. I'm a nomadic music listener by habit so delving principally into ONE artist for weeks at a time might have been taking its toll. What can I say? I've got commitment issues. Laughing BUT, it wasn’t all me. All Summer Long really does follow the same recipe as Shut Down, Vol 2. Let’s examine the ingredients and see for ourselves…
The "Shut Down, Vol. 2 - All Summer Long" Recipe
1) START with 2 unassailable Bangers
2) ADD a Doo-Wop Cover from the 50s
3) Marinate with Instrumental Filler from a Brother Wilson
4) Sprinkle a 4th Wall breaking Gag song that totally breaks up the flow Brick wall < " 'Cassius' Love vs 'Sonny' Wilson" c/w "Our Favorite Recording Sessions"
The difference this time? Better ingredients. AND, as any baker could tell you, timing! Brian at least waited until almost the end of the album to sprinkle in the flow killing Gag Song. Pray
The Ranking: I largely agree with CADreamin. It’s an improvement but not a dramatic one. Same recipe, better ingredients. You can tell that Brian was able to take a bit more time with this one. As a result, it flows MUCH better than its predecessor. And the material was definitely an upgrade. With The Beatles breathing down his neck, Brian knew All Summer Long had to flow and sound better than Shut Down, and to his credit, it does. [First added to this chart: 08/18/2025]
We needed to grow. Up to this point we had milked every idea dry. We milked it fucking dry. We had done every possible angle about surfing and then we did the car routine. But we needed to grow artistically. - Brian Wilson on 1964.
I had quite the journey with this one. For the first 3 listens or so, I didn’t think this was really any better than Shut Down, Vol. 2. I was even going to entitle this write-up “The Sequel No One Asked For!” I’ll be honest, part of that may have been some Beach Boys fatigue setting in. I'm a nomadic music listener by habit so delving principally into ONE artist for weeks at a time might have been taking its toll. What can I say? I've got commitment issues. Laughing BUT, it wasn’t all me. All Summer Long really does follow the same recipe as Shut Down, Vol 2. Let’s examine the ingredients and see for ourselves…
The "Shut Down, Vol. 2 - All Summer Long" Recipe
1) START with 2 unassailable Bangers
2) ADD a Doo-Wop Cover from the 50s
3) Marinate with Instrumental Filler from a Brother Wilson
4) Sprinkle a 4th Wall breaking Gag song that totally breaks up the flow Brick wall < " 'Cassius' Love vs 'Sonny' Wilson" c/w "Our Favorite Recording Sessions"
The difference this time? Better ingredients. AND, as any baker could tell you, timing! Brian at least waited until almost the end of the album to sprinkle in the flow killing Gag Song. Pray
The Ranking: I largely agree with CADreamin. It’s an improvement but not a dramatic one. Same recipe, better ingredients. You can tell that Brian was able to take a bit more time with this one. As a result, it flows MUCH better than its predecessor. And the material was definitely an upgrade. With The Beatles breathing down his neck, Brian knew All Summer Long had to flow and sound better than Shut Down, and to his credit, it does. [First added to this chart: 08/18/2025]
Year of Release:
1964
Appears in:
Rank Score:
571
Rank in 1964:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 23. Page 1 of 3
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Rank 'Em: Beach Boys composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 16 | 70% | |
| 1970s | 3 | 13% | |
| 1980s | 1 | 4% | |
| 1990s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2000s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2010s | 3 | 13% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| The Beach Boys | 18 | 78% | |
| Dennis Wilson | 2 | 9% | |
| Bruce Johnston | 2 | 9% | |
| Carl Wilson | 1 | 4% |
Rank 'Em: Beach Boys chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 10 from 12th to 2nd Wild Honey by The Beach Boys |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 2 from 7th to 9th Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) by The Beach Boys |
| Down 2 from 8th to 10th All Summer Long by The Beach Boys |
| Down 2 from 9th to 11th Beach Boys' Party! by The Beach Boys |
| New entries |
|---|
 The Smile Sessionsby The Beach Boys |
Rank 'Em: Beach Boys similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Beach boys: Albums ranked. | garycottier | Custom chart | 2016 |  |
| The Beach Boys: Best Studio Albums |  RevolverCB72 | Custom chart | 2023 |  |
| Beach Boys: Best to Worst |  Nobodyisemo | Custom chart | 2018 | |
| Greatest The Beach Boys Albums |  PatrickD | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| ranking albums: beach boys |  paladisiac | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| Ranking The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson | saltysurprise | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
| Solo Albums by Members of The Beach Boys: So Far.. |  AAL2014 | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| Top 20 Greatest Music Albums | Wonders | Overall chart | 2012 | |
| Top 20 Greatest Music Albums | Alex Barysh | Overall chart | 2010 | |
Rank 'Em: Beach Boys similarity to your chart(s)
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| Best Ever Artists | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Radiohead | |
| 3. Pink Floyd | |
| 4. David Bowie | |
| 5. Bob Dylan | |
| 6. Led Zeppelin | |
| 7. The Rolling Stones | |
| 8. Arcade Fire | |
| 9. Nirvana | |
| 10. The Velvet Underground | |
| 11. Neil Young | |
| 12. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 13. Miles Davis | |
| 14. The Smiths | |
| 15. The Beach Boys | |
| 16. R.E.M. | |
| 17. Kanye West | |
| 18. Pixies | |
| 19. Bruce Springsteen | |
| 20. Jimi Hendrix |
