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Post by B.E. on Dec 30, 2022 15:53:20 GMT
I think it's interesting to know how we listen to the albums. Do we listen to albums from start to finish or do we skip around? Or do we go even further, adding select tracks to a playlist and ditch the album all together. I imagine we all sort of have our preferred method (generally-speaking, I like to listen to albums in their entirety), but I doubt we listen to all the albums in the same way (I know I don't).
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to go through their entire catalog and place the albums into groups. I'm thinking the groups could be:
Group 1: Most likely to listen to the album as a whole (perhaps skipping 1-2 tracks along the way, but otherwise treating the album as an album to be heard in sequence from start to finish).
Group 2: Equally likely to listen as a whole or just skip around to select tracks. Perhaps you tend to listen out-of-sequence, but otherwise listen to all (or nearly all) of the album.
Group 3: Most likely to listen to only a portion of the album. This could mean skipping around to certain tracks or forgoing the album entirely in favor of playlists or compilations that feature certain tracks from the album.
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Post by B.E. on Dec 30, 2022 15:58:02 GMT
So, this was harder than I thought...and if I'm the only one interested in this exercise, that's OK! Here's my breakdown:
Group 1:
Surfin' Safari Surfin' USA - I no longer skip the instrumentals Little Deuce Coupe - sometimes skip "409" All Summer Long - usually skip "Favorite Recording Sessions", sometimes "Carl's Big Chance" Concert Christmas Album - sometimes skip "Frosty the Snowman" Party - often skip "I Get Around/Little Deuce Coupe" Pet Sounds Wild Honey Friends Live in London Sunflower Love You
Group 2:
Surfer Girl - I sometimes focus on the top 6-9 tracks and usually skip "South Bay Surfer" Today - sometimes focus on side 2 and usually skip "Bull Sessions" SDSN Smiley Smile CATP - sometimes skip "Here She Comes" Holland - sometimes skip "Leaving This Town" In Concert 15 Big Ones - usually skip "Everyone's In Love With You" LA - skip "Here Comes The Night" KTSA BB85 - inexplicably, I do listen to this in full TWGMTR - it's trending toward group 3
Group 3:
Shut Down Vol. 2 - I mainly stick to the top 7 tracks. The lesser tracks and poor sequencing mean I almost never listen in its entirety. 20/20 - I tend to only listen to a few (similarly styled) tracks at a time depending on my mood. Surf's Up - I like every track, but I rarely listen to the album in its entirety. I gravitate toward the top 3-6 tracks. MIU - I mainly stick to the top 6 or so. Still Cruisin' Summer in Paradise Stars & Stripes Good Timin': Knebworth Live - 50th Anniversary
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Post by kds on Dec 30, 2022 17:13:48 GMT
Group 1 - If I want to listen to a full Beach Boys album, these are the ones I'll typically pick.
Surfin USA Surfer Girl All Summer Long Christmas Album Today Summer Days Summer Nights Pet Sounds Friends 20/20 Sunflower Surf's Up CATP Holland TWGMTR
Group 2 - These are ones that I don't listen to as often, but on occasion, I'll play them from start to finish
Surfin Safari SDV2 Smile Sessions (Disc 1) Wild Honey BB85
Group 3 - For the most part, there are tracks from all of these scattered on my BB playlists (save for SC, SIP, and S&S which are not on Spotify).
Little Deuce Coupe Party Smiley Smile 15 Big Ones Love You MIU LA KTSA Still Cruisin' SIP Stars and Stripes - which I really never make an effort to listen to. To date, I don't even own a copy.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 31, 2022 13:13:02 GMT
Good topic, B.E. I'd like to respond as accurately as possible, but I have to go outside the parameters you set if that's OK. I listen to The Beach Boys in three very distinct ways, and it hasn't changed for awhile.
1. I have a boom box (yes, I still do! ) in my bedroom and will occasionally play a Beach Boys' CD - usually a 2fer - while I shave, brush my teeth, shower, get dressed, etc. I let it play, don't skip around, but sometimes will repeat a track.
2. I have several Beach Boys' comp CDs in my car, all custom made, that I listen to quite a bit. They all have themes and are painstakingly assembled.
3. I have all of the Beach Boys-related stuff on my computer and I will pull it up and listen to it based on what I'm thinking about, reading about, or writing about. Obviously, this message board is influential as to what I'm listening at any given time.
So, basically I can't slot specific albums into specific categories. They're all over the place!
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 31, 2022 13:28:57 GMT
This is hard for me because of how dramatically my listening to Beach Boys music has changed through the years. Now--and by "now," I mean over the past 5-10 years--I honestly don't listen to all that much Beach Boys music except when we're rating and ranking and reviewing, or when there are new releases. Oh, I have my days when the mood strikes for this or that album, or those night when after a drink or two I go down some rabbit-hole listening to song after song as my fancy takes me. And I used to (meaning from circa '98 to 2010 or so) listen to a lot of the albums very, very often--generally straight through, though repeating favorite tracks.
But for the most part, I guess I'd have to put it this way:
Full Albums: Pet Sounds, Smile, Love You. Often in the car (because my car still has a CD player), but even in the house, these are the full albums I tend to play straight through. TWGMTR would probably be the fourth-most often listened to in this straight-through format.
Comps: Taking a note from Sheriff John Stone, I also listen to my own comps more than I do a lot of the original albums. I have a few of these burned to CD, but most of them are in my Apple Music or Spotify accounts. They tend to be "era-based," so in that way quite similar to some of the archival copyright releases ... except they're my choices, and they tend to be intended to flow like "real" albums.
Individual Songs: Everything else, the rest of the time. A lot of these are just shuffle accidents, sometime intentional, often based on discussions from the board.
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Post by B.E. on Dec 31, 2022 14:18:47 GMT
Good topic, B.E. I'd like to respond as accurately as possible, but I have to go outside the parameters you set if that's OK. I listen to The Beach Boys in three very distinct ways, and it hasn't changed for awhile.
1. I have a boom box (yes, I still do! ) in my bedroom and will occasionally play a Beach Boys' CD - usually a 2fer - while I shave, brush my teeth, shower, get dressed, etc. I let it play, don't skip around, but sometimes will repeat a track.
2. I have several Beach Boys' comp CDs in my car, all custom made, that I listen to quite a bit. They all have themes and are painstakingly assembled.
3. I have all of the Beach Boys-related stuff on my computer and I will pull it up and listen to it based on what I'm thinking about, reading about, or writing about. Obviously, this message board is influential as to what I'm listening at any given time.
So, basically I can't slot specific albums into specific categories. They're all over the place! Yeah, that makes it hard. But assuming you mostly listen to comp CDs, then I'd say most (if not all) Beach Boys albums would then be Group 2 or Group 3 for you depending on how much of each album is represented on the comps you listen to. Perhaps if there's a twofer or two that you gravitate towards when listening with your boombox or on the computer, there might be a case for a Group 1. Now, that's not an assignment, just an observation! But I would like to ask you this: which albums are you (or were you, in the past) most likely to listen to in full?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 31, 2022 14:39:18 GMT
Good topic, B.E. I'd like to respond as accurately as possible, but I have to go outside the parameters you set if that's OK. I listen to The Beach Boys in three very distinct ways, and it hasn't changed for awhile.
1. I have a boom box (yes, I still do! ) in my bedroom and will occasionally play a Beach Boys' CD - usually a 2fer - while I shave, brush my teeth, shower, get dressed, etc. I let it play, don't skip around, but sometimes will repeat a track.
2. I have several Beach Boys' comp CDs in my car, all custom made, that I listen to quite a bit. They all have themes and are painstakingly assembled.
3. I have all of the Beach Boys-related stuff on my computer and I will pull it up and listen to it based on what I'm thinking about, reading about, or writing about. Obviously, this message board is influential as to what I'm listening at any given time.
So, basically I can't slot specific albums into specific categories. They're all over the place! Yeah, that makes it hard. But assuming you mostly listen to comp CDs, then I'd say most (if not all) Beach Boys albums would then be Group 2 or Group 3 for you depending on how much of each album is represented on the comps you listen to. Perhaps if there's a twofer or two that you gravitate towards when listening with your boombox or on the computer, there might be a case for a Group 1. Now, that's not an assignment, just an observation! But I would like to ask you this: which albums are you (or were you, in the past) most likely to listen to in full? The most-played 2fer is easily 15 Big Ones/Love You. I am still fascinated by those two albums after all these years. The next most-played would be Today/Summer Days (And Summer Nights). Music doesn't get much better than that. Period. Sunflower/Surf's Up gets some plays, too.
The mostly likely to listen to in full?
1. The Beach Boys Love You - Recently I listened to it repeatedly, over and over, for about 2-3 weeks. 2. SMiLE - My personal mix. It took me years to assemble/sequence to my satisfaction. I'm still blown away by that material. 3. Pet Sounds - Why turn it off? Seriously, I'll prep for it, allot some time, and just let it flow. 4. The Beach Boys Today! - I used to listen to this frequently, but not as much recently. The sequencing (fast side/slow side) still bothers me.
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 520
Likes: 532
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Post by Emdeeh on Dec 31, 2022 15:00:42 GMT
I have multiple CD players, but tend to play BB music as custom comps grouped around particular time frames more than full albums. I have custom iTunes playlists, as well. And I still have a vehicle with a tape player, so custom comp cassettes there. When I do listen to entire albums, it will be one of the live ones (esp. In Concert, Live in London, Knebworth, and now Carnegie Hall) or a recent box set. I play Endless Harmony all the way through too.
I started making custom comp tapes to save wear and tear on my vinyl and to get longer play time, instead of having to get up and flip the record over. The custom comps turned into iTunes playlists and custom CDs.
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Post by kds on Dec 31, 2022 16:11:22 GMT
I never thought I'd say this, but I no longer have a standalone CD player in my house. When I do play CDs at home, its on the BluRay player.
So, most of my listening now is via Spotify (according to my year end stats, I'm getting my money's worth). But, I do listen to albums via Spotify pretty often at work.
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 520
Likes: 532
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Post by Emdeeh on Dec 31, 2022 17:01:20 GMT
We have CD players in every room of the house except the kitchen and bathrooms, plus one in a car and one functioning portable player. We also have a LOT of CDs to play. I've got a stack next to me right now with the new BB set, new Springsteen album, Tom Petty's recent live Fillmore set (2-disc version), and the 2-disc Revolver, along with a bunch of Christmas comps and albums, and that's not counting hubby's listening stack.
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Post by kds on Dec 31, 2022 22:37:31 GMT
I still have a ton of CDs. I got quite a few for Xmas too. Including the deluxe SOS Box. But, oddly enough, I tend to collect them more than actually listen to them now. I'll listen once before sticking to the streaming version for convenience sake.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 1, 2023 0:10:13 GMT
I've still got an old Bose CD player in the living room and a CD player in my car, and so I do sometimes listen to my CDs. But nowhere near as much as I listen to things out of my Apple Music or streaming sites (which go through the Bose, too). I kind of annoy myself considering how many CDs I've still got, probably 500 in the living room and 2500-3000 in the basement. It feels like a pretty gigantic waste how little use they get!
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 520
Likes: 532
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Post by Emdeeh on Jan 1, 2023 0:23:34 GMT
I seldom listen to streaming, mostly only Sirius (but almost as often CDs) in the car. What I don't listen to much any more is local radio on the air, as well as BBC Radio online (which I used to listen to a lot at work before I retired, as well as the NPR station located literally right above me).
Happy New Year to all!
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Post by carllove on Jan 1, 2023 7:19:55 GMT
Well tonight I finally broke out my AP Mono 45 RPM of Pet Sounds and decided to do a shootout between all of my vinyl versions of Pet Sounds.
Positioned my Lane recliner ten feet away from my Klipsch the Sixes and started with the two fer. Sounded good. Then onto the brown cover. Brown cover sounded slightly better, but green label blew it away. AP Stereo 45 knocked my socks off. My toes were tingling. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the most wonderful album ever sounded. I wish I had the DCC vinyl, because the DCC Gold CD almost made me wreck my car the first time I heard it. I really don’t know how Pet Sounds could sound any better on vinyl though. Something about that clarity the 45 RPM brings out - It’s just breathtaking.
I played the mono 45 RPM AP and it sounded so familiar - perfect clarity - just like the first time I ever heard the album. Still - I missed the lushness of the Stereo 45 AP.
So I Played the stereo 45 AP again. Yep - That’s the winner.
Now I’m listening to the green label Friends. So Wonderful! The bass on the green label Friends is booming. You need this version if you listen to vinyl. I decided on this version awhile ago for vinyl. I would love to get a backup copy. Nothing like listening to it lossless on Apple Music. The green label Friends is a whole other level of awesomeness. My Klipsch speakers have Bluetooth, so I have streamed the album from Apple Music from the same speakers in the same chair and the vinyl listening experience is so superior.
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Post by carllove on Jan 1, 2023 7:48:56 GMT
Another note - I never liked Smiley Smile until I heard the green label vinyl version. It’s just effing amazing. It’s not even like the same album I heard streaming. Smiley Smile is meant to be heard on vinyl - and on the green label vinyl. It’s an experience. A wonderful experience. I blame streaming services for my initial hatred of Smiley Smile. Not sure why it is so much better on vinyl - but believe me - it is.
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