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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 18, 2020 17:30:15 GMT
I had especially hoped to include more deep tracks, but the reality is that I love those songs nearly as much, not more, than the hits. That is something I'm glad to hear someone else say. I can say for myself--especially in my earlier fandom, say late '90s through mid '00s--I used to find these deep connections with songs that I'd certainly never heard before and I felt most nobody else had appreciated or heard, either. So it was always those songs I wanted to list, those songs I wanted to champion. I loved and love those songs!
Yet as time rolls on and things settle to some kind of equilibrium, I can't help but admit that I'm not so different than the more typical, historical fan: I love "Fun Fun Fun," "Little Deuce Coupe," "In My Room," and all these other songs that everyone has always known were great. They are great! They belong on lists!
Greatest Hits or Best Of lists?
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 18, 2020 17:31:47 GMT
You've just made my head explode.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 18, 2020 17:36:17 GMT
This song's greatness has always escaped me. I think the track drags slightly and it has to be Carl's worst vocal ever. I wish Brian would've tackled it with his "Here Comes The Night" voice. The later live rockin' version featuring Blondie's vocal is superior IMO. I, too, would have liked to hear Brian attempt it, but I doubt he would have done a better job. We'll have to agree to disagree on the rest. Carl's going for it like Mike did on "All I Want To Do". I dig that. For those songs, I wouldn't be interested in replacing those leads with, inevitably, more laid-back performances.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 18, 2020 17:37:14 GMT
You've just made my head explode. Relax and have another helping of pork and chili.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 18, 2020 17:41:36 GMT
You've just made my head explode. Relax and have another helping of pork and chili. Oh the chili has hours of simmering to do!
But while I can distinguish best and favorite, I'm not sure I can distinguish best and greatest...
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jan 18, 2020 18:10:46 GMT
I'm surprised you have "Funky Pretty" so high, but I do occasionally see it on others' Beach Boys "favorites" lists, and it did make the cut on The Beach Boys In Concert. It must be me. It wouldn't make my top 50. Maybe not top 75. I don't know, that would take some effort to figure out. But I'm definitely among those who thinks it's overrated. (That said, I get its appeal to some extent. I think it sounds awful on the album, though, which doesn't help. It sounds kind of blah, muddy, dull, even when there are interesting little parts going on.) I had a feeling Funky Pretty might get called out. I really love it. I think it’s one of the most interesting and magical songs in the Beach Boys’ catalogue. I never hear the muddiness – to me it comes across as vivid and vibrant, perhaps surrounded by a gentle but mysterious gauze. Every layer has something special. The vocals are wonderful and that counterpoint synthesizer melody is an otherworldly voice that seems to be having a conversation with the vocals. The whole thing is perfect, in my opinion. And I even kind of love that it doesn’t seem to belong on Holland at all, and yet there it is. It’s like, if Holland is a tall, majestic redwood tree, then Funky Pretty is a glistening gemstone that has absolutely no business growing out of the side of it. But because it’s there, it makes the whole package that much more special. And I’m done gushing now.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 18, 2020 18:15:52 GMT
Gauze is an interesting word, and probably the heart of the issue. That gauze to me hides any underlying brilliance; for others it seems to be part of the brilliance.
(Making it a little faster would help me, too. Gauze notwithstanding.)
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Post by kds on Jan 19, 2020 13:11:50 GMT
Here's my top ten for today
1. Surf's Up 2. Warmth of the Sun 3. Kiss Me Baby 4. All Summer Long 5. You Still Believe in Me 6. Don't Worry Baby 7. Please Let Me Wonder 8. All I Wanna Do 9. Til I Die 10. Surfer Girl
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 19, 2020 14:08:55 GMT
Here's my top ten for today 1. Surf's Up 2. Warmth of the Sun 3. Kiss Me Baby 4. All Summer Long 5. You Still Believe in Me 6. Don't Worry Baby 7. Please Let Me Wonder 8. All I Wanna Do 9. Til I Die 10. Surfer Girl C'mon, kds, give me something to object to.
It is interesting how you have mostly love/relationship songs, with somewhat straightforward lyrics, then when you get to No. 1 - bam! Columnated ruins domino indeed (where's a Mike Love emoticon when you need it).
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 19, 2020 14:13:30 GMT
I was going to say, KDS's list is definitely the most agreeable from top to bottom. Not an oddball in the bunch.
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Post by kds on Jan 19, 2020 14:14:51 GMT
Here's my top ten for today 1. Surf's Up 2. Warmth of the Sun 3. Kiss Me Baby 4. All Summer Long 5. You Still Believe in Me 6. Don't Worry Baby 7. Please Let Me Wonder 8. All I Wanna Do 9. Til I Die 10. Surfer Girl C'mon, kds, give me something to object to.
It is interesting how you have mostly love/relationship songs, with somewhat straightforward lyrics, then when you get to No. 1 - bam! Columnated ruins domino indeed (where's a Mike Love emoticon when you need it). I've always been a music first, lyrics second guy. And the music of Surf's Up is magnificant enough to overcome Van Dyke's acid alliteration.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 19, 2020 14:36:28 GMT
C'mon, kds, give me something to object to.
It is interesting how you have mostly love/relationship songs, with somewhat straightforward lyrics, then when you get to No. 1 - bam! Columnated ruins domino indeed (where's a Mike Love emoticon when you need it). I've always been a music first, lyrics second guy. And the music of Surf's Up is magnificant enough to overcome Van Dyke's acid alliteration. Same here, but I'll be honest, some of the lyrics on "Surf's Up" prevent me from really appreciating the song in the way I appreciate a "God Only Knows" or even an "All Summer Long". This is gonna get me in trouble and I know it's a very Mike Love-ian thing to say, but I want to be clear. I love "Surf's Up", too, it's totally brilliant and mesmerizing. And, Brian should've had every right to explore his art and go wherever it took him. I wish he would've recorded several albums of "Surf's Up"/SMiLE music. But, frankly, some of those esoteric lyrics don't reach me emotionally like the simplistic words of a "Surfer Girl" - Little surfer, little one, make my heart come all undone. I don't want to say that I like songs like "Surf's Up" less, but maybe I like the more relatable songs more, if that makes sense. Jeez, I do sound like Mike Love, don't I? We've been having fun all summer long...
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 19, 2020 16:44:26 GMT
I love the Smile lyrics, personally. But that said, I think they're much better than his other lyrics. I think they matched the music beautifully, being evocative without a clear meaning and just sounding great when sung. Many of his non-Smile lyrics, though, I think just sound like someone trying really hard to make sure the listener knows he's smart.
And I love many of Mike Love's lyrics, particularly up through Holland. After that he got too corny, too self-referential, too hackneyed for my tastes. But for the first decade+ of his career, he showed his gift for getting to the heart of the matter with memorable turns of phrase.
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Post by kds on Jan 19, 2020 20:34:21 GMT
I've always been a music first, lyrics second guy. And the music of Surf's Up is magnificant enough to overcome Van Dyke's acid alliteration. Same here, but I'll be honest, some of the lyrics on "Surf's Up" prevent me from really appreciating the song in the way I appreciate a "God Only Knows" or even an "All Summer Long". This is gonna get me in trouble and I know it's a very Mike Love-ian thing to say, but I want to be clear. I love "Surf's Up", too, it's totally brilliant and mesmerizing. And, Brian should've had every right to explore his art and go wherever it took him. I wish he would've recorded several albums of "Surf's Up"/SMiLE music. But, frankly, some of those esoteric lyrics don't reach me emotionally like the simplistic words of a "Surfer Girl" - Little surfer, little one, make my heart come all undone. I don't want to say that I like songs like "Surf's Up" less, but maybe I like the more relatable songs more, if that makes sense. Jeez, I do sound like Mike Love, don't I? We've been having fun all summer long... I agree wholeheartedly. I find many of the lyrics from Smile range from pretentious to absurd.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 21, 2020 7:08:54 GMT
Surf's Up Don't Worry Baby The Warmth of the Sun Feel Flows God Only Knows The Little Girl I Once Knew This Whole World Where I Belong Surfin' Safari In My Room Good Timin' Good Vibrations Little Pad Wake the World I Can Hear Music Please Let Me Wonder She Knows Me Too Well Time to Get Alone California Girls Caroline, No Full Sail Only With You Our Sweet Love Passing By
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