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Post by B.E. on Jul 16, 2023 12:47:23 GMT
"Surf's Up" is being saved for a future poll.
Voting is open!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 16, 2023 12:52:02 GMT
This one might be tough for me. No, it doesn't have the all-timers of 1964-66, but I think it's probably more even across the board. The quality control was very solid, maybe because you had so many songwriters contributing.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 16, 2023 13:44:46 GMT
The House That Jack Built:
1. Til I Die - Yes, he still had it. 2. Cuddle Up - The MOST underrated song in the BB catalogue. 3. Sail On, Sailor - Yes, he still had it...again. 4. A Day In The Life Of A Tree - The ending is pure genius.
The rest are really close:
5. Only With You - Dennis AND Mike. Who'd a thunk it? I always thought somebody would cover this and make it a hit.
6. California - Well, Al, where did this come from? The lyrics could've been better, though.
7. Marcella - If it just rocked a little more and maybe slightly faster (the In Concert version is too fast). 8. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone - The "she don't know" part is very underrated, brilliant actually. This song is growing on me. 9. Disney Girls - Yes, Bruce's best, but it hasn't aged well with me. It drags slightly. 10. All This Is That - A really cool song; I wish they would've continued making good songs like this.
Like I said, you can interchange the rankings from 5-10. Similar quality. It depends on the day of the week. Contenders include Long Promised Road and The Trader. And, it pains me to exclude Child Of Winter, but that spoken-word bridge did it in.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 16, 2023 14:09:44 GMT
8. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone - The "she don't know" part is very underrated, brilliant actually. This song is growing on me. Now we're talkin'! Someday when we do a similar poll a few years down the road, I want to see it in your top 5.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 16, 2023 14:21:01 GMT
8. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone - The "she don't know" part is very underrated, brilliant actually. This song is growing on me. Now we're talkin'! Someday when we do a similar poll a few years down the road, I want to see it in your top 5. It's definitely moving up the ranks. I sometimes think of "You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone" as three segments joined together into one song. You have that eerie piano opening, and you think Brian's going off into one of his "out there" excursions. Then the song quickly turns into a country jaunt, complete with banjos! Finally, the song slows into this psychedelic doo-wop "she don't know, she don't know" part. There's a lot going on in 3:30. Fascinating stuff.
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Post by carllove on Jul 16, 2023 14:31:59 GMT
This one might be tough for me. No, it doesn't have the all-timers of 1964-66, but I think it's probably more even across the board. The quality control was very solid, maybe because you had so many songwriters contributing. Well, unlike Kapitan, this was easy for me. There are 12 standout songs here for me, and it pains me to leave off “ A Day In The Life Of A Tree”, but I went with what I listen to most. 1. “Long Promised Road” - One of my most listened to Beach Boys songs. Carl’s voice is peaking here and makes my toes tingle. The song takes me so many places. “Hit hard at the battle that’s confronting me yeah” - Thank You Jack Rieley. That synth! Just a stunning song. 2. “Til I Die” - A Beach Boys all timer that combines stellar, meaningful lyrics with perhaps my very favorite vocal interplay of any song of the Boys. 3. “Sail On Sailor” - This song has soul. Blondie nails the vocal. The guitar counterparts are so good I want to play them. Was my ringtone for two years. 4. “Disney Girls (1957)” - Seeing Bruce sing this song in concert is always a highlight for me. So very Bruce. A nice, well written nostalgic song that I enjoy listening to. 5. “Feel Flows” - That reverse echo, saxophone, flute and guitar coupled with the trippy lyrics, just sounds amazing to me. 6. “All This Is That” - Once again, a song with trippy lyrics, so yep, I love it. The song relaxes me. Would have been great on Friends. 7. “Cuddle Up” - The song is just darned gorgeous. Dennis’ vocal, the piano, the lyrics, just all work for me. I just wish there were more lyrics, but it’s a Dennis song, so… 8. “Funky Pretty” - Love how this song just starts right off and it’s a cosmic love song, so I’m all in. The chorus rocks too. 9. “The Trader” - Not your Mother’s Beach Boys. Carl was on fire. 10. “Only With You” - Dennis once again shines. How was this not a big hit? I much prefer the recent SOS “Marcella” to the CATP version, but even if they were switched, it still wouldn’t make my top ten.
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Post by jk on Jul 16, 2023 17:53:32 GMT
Oooff -- difficult. I could only choose eight, six from Surf's Up ("LPR", "DG(1957)", "FF", "LAT(AWS)" "ADITLOAT" and "TID") plus "Sail On, Sailor" and "Leaving This Town".
Interestingly perhaps, two of my picks, "Feel Flows" and "Leaving This Town", are the only two BB songs that have at their centre an extended instrumental workout unrelated to the rest of the song...
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Post by carllove on Jul 17, 2023 1:40:13 GMT
Just realized the “Current Status” under my Avatar pic is from “Til I Die”. I am indeed “A cork on the ocean”.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 17, 2023 3:51:31 GMT
This is a tough one for me, primarily because of having the California Saga as 3 separate tracks. I think it's a great work, but I always listen to the full work. Long Promised Road, Feel Flows, Til I Die, Cuddle Up, Sail on Sailor, Funky Pretty and Only With You are standouts.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 17, 2023 13:24:10 GMT
OK, my first pass at the list leaves me with 19 songs in my Top 10. That's a problem.
I think my strategy will be to now go through as quickly as I can and note which I can't imagine the Top 10 not including. Hopefully that will leave me with 10 or fewer songs, and then I can debate the relative merits of however many more spots I've got.
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Post by kds on Jul 17, 2023 13:38:36 GMT
There were some tough omissions here, but here are my Ten, as of 9:35am EDT on Monday, July 17, 2023
Long Promised Road Disney Girls Feel Flows Til I Die Hold On Dear Brother All This is That Sail On Sailor Steamboat California Leaving This Town
It was tough leaving our Lookin at Tomorrow, Tree, Marcella, Big Sur, Trader, and Only With You.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 17, 2023 14:12:31 GMT
OK, so my rapid-fire "Top 10 essentials" picks yielded 7 songs; while it took some internal debate, I was able to eventually select 3 more songs to finish off the list. But I feel awful making the choices, because I really do think another 5-7 songs could just as easily have ended up on my lists.
Here they are, first with the 7 songs I chose right away (in order of appearance on the list) and then the 3 I added at the end (also in order of appearance on the list).
1. Long Promised Road 2. A Day in the Life of a Tree 3. Til I Die 4. You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone 5. Hold On, Dear Brother 6. All This Is That 7. Trader
8. Don't Go Near the Water 9. Disney Girls 10. Only With You
A few fan favorites just don't rate quite so highly with me, but it still feels crazy not to include Feel Flows, Marcella, and Sail On Sailor. Then some that I personally love quite a bit, like Big Sur, California, Steamboat, He Come Down, and Leaving This Town were painful to omit. And let's be honest, I LOVE Feet. I wanted to vote for it, because I assume nobody else will, and I wanted to represent. But while I like it much more than most people, it still doesn't crack my Top 10 for this batch.
However, we're early in the week ... I could adjust my choices before it's all said and done.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 17, 2023 14:21:51 GMT
I really can't argue with any of these lists. I want to but I just can't. I guess I always knew it, but sometimes it takes exercises like these to realize it. With a few exceptions, and I'm talking about only 4-5 songs, there is a closeness in quality of the overwhelming number of songs on Sunflower, Surf's Up, Carl & The Passions, and Holland.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 17, 2023 14:22:33 GMT
I just realized I am the only vote (so far) for Don't Go Near the Water. That surprises me a little. Not a lot--I know it's not exactly Wouldn't It Be Nice--but I thought maybe somebody else would pick it.
Anyway, I guess if I couldn't rep Feet, at least I got to be a contrarian with that one! (Actually I am not making picks based on contrarianism, I swear. However often I might seem like it...)
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 17, 2023 14:23:55 GMT
I really can't argue with any of these lists. I want to but I just can't. I guess I always knew it, but sometimes it takes exercises like these to realize it. With a few exceptions, and I'm talking about only 4-5 songs, there is a closeness in quality of the overwhelming number of songs on Sunflower, Surf's Up, Carl & The Passions, and Holland. That's how I feel, too. I mean, I could argue with some, but mostly because I don't agree personally, not because I can say in any really serious way that they're befuddling. (For example, my not especially liking Sail On Sailor doesn't make me unable to see that objectively it's a favorite, a minor hit, and will get a lot of votes. And it's obviously well done.)
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