Most/Least Cohesive BB album

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

I can't understand why people on this thread (and others) cite 20/20 as a complete hodge-podge album, dismissing it as a compilation. The two earliest tracks are the SMiLE ones, from late '66 - nothing goes further back than that. Almost all of the songs were started AFTER Friends was finished! It certainly is a mix of styles, but just because "Bluebirds" is so different from "Be With Me", which is so different from "I Went To Sleep", doesn't mean it was a haphazardly thrown together colllection of tracks from all different eras.

But it sounds like it was.

[Bicyclerider]

I can't understand why people on this thread (and others) cite 20/20 as a complete hodge-podge album, dismissing it as a compilation. The two earliest tracks are the SMiLE ones, from late '66 - nothing goes further back than that. Almost all of the songs were started AFTER Friends was finished! It certainly is a mix of styles, but just because "Bluebirds" is so different from "Be With Me", which is so different from "I Went To Sleep", doesn't mean it was a haphazardly thrown together colllection of tracks from all different eras.

But it sounds like it was.

And it was a collection of singles, old tracks and random tracks being worked on - so in some ways it was haphazard.  But it's still a great album.

I would object to Sunflower being labelled non cohesive - even though it's a group/individual effort, and not all Brian, like 20/20, Carl's production and Stephen's engineering make it sound cohesive - backing vocals are treated the same song to song, the songs have a similar layering and ambience.  The songwriting is less cohesive but that's true of all the "group" albums.

[I. Spaceman]

I can't understand why people on this thread (and others) cite 20/20 as a complete hodge-podge album, dismissing it as a compilation. The two earliest tracks are the SMiLE ones, from late '66 - nothing goes further back than that. Almost all of the songs were started AFTER Friends was finished! It certainly is a mix of styles, but just because "Bluebirds" is so different from "Be With Me", which is so different from "I Went To Sleep", doesn't mean it was a haphazardly thrown together colllection of tracks from all different eras.

But it sounds like it was.

So does the White Album, and it wasn't.

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

I can't understand why people on this thread (and others) cite 20/20 as a complete hodge-podge album, dismissing it as a compilation. The two earliest tracks are the SMiLE ones, from late '66 - nothing goes further back than that. Almost all of the songs were started AFTER Friends was finished! It certainly is a mix of styles, but just because "Bluebirds" is so different from "Be With Me", which is so different from "I Went To Sleep", doesn't mean it was a haphazardly thrown together colllection of tracks from all different eras.

But it sounds like it was.

So does the White Album, and it wasn't.

I love em both!

[I. Spaceman]

I can't understand why people on this thread (and others) cite 20/20 as a complete hodge-podge album, dismissing it as a compilation. The two earliest tracks are the SMiLE ones, from late '66 - nothing goes further back than that. Almost all of the songs were started AFTER Friends was finished! It certainly is a mix of styles, but just because "Bluebirds" is so different from "Be With Me", which is so different from "I Went To Sleep", doesn't mean it was a haphazardly thrown together colllection of tracks from all different eras.

But it sounds like it was.

So does the White Album, and it wasn't.

I love em both!

High five, then.

[mabewa]

Just a comment about this thread:  some people seem to be listing the albums they feel are most and least cohesive, but others the albums they feel are most and least consistent.  To me, the two are pretty different. 

For example, "Carl and the Passions" is quite consistent to me (songs range from fairly good to great), it's not cohesive at all--the R&B style songs, Dennis's ballads and the more Beach Boys style songs fit together uneasily. 

"Shut Down Vol II" is extremely inconsistent, with stunning songs like "Fun Fun Fun" "Don't Worry Baby" and "Warmth of the Sun" rubbing shoulders with stuff like """Cassius" Love vs. "Sonny" Wilson"  and "Denny's Drums," but it is reasonable cohesive--there is a similar range of musical styles tying the record together. 

"Summer in Paradise" is fairly consistent and fairly cohesive (the production ties it together, and the most of the songs range from horrific to fairly bad). 

To me, Pet Sounds is both extremely consistent and extremely cohesive (the songs and production all have a distinctive style, and everything is great IMHO). 

Ditto for "Wild Honey" and "Friends"--both albums feature songs that are similar in style and production, and also similar in quality.  "20-20" is not very cohesive, but reasonably consistent. 

Somebody above commented that "Sunflower" is rendered cohesive by the production, and I agree:  despite the extremely eclectic nature of the songwriting, the production and vocal approach are very similar from song to song, and that makes it sound fairly cohesive.  IMHO, it's not particularly consistent though:  a lot of brilliant stuff, but songs like "Tears in the Morning" and especially "At My Window" sound extremely weak compared to stuff like "This Whole World" "All I Wanna Do" and "Forever." 

[Summer_Days]

You know, I forgot one. I'd say Surf's Up isn't very cohesive either. Not as bad as Still Cruisin' and of course a much better album, but think about it. When you have 'Student Demonstration Time' jutting up against 'Disney Girls' and 'Feel Flows', it's not exactly of one heart and mind, thematically and musically. But precisely because it's all over the map may be a key to it's quality, I dunno.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Most = Pet Sounds

Least = 20/20

Simple.

[mabewa]

You know, I forgot one. I'd say Surf's Up isn't very cohesive either. Not as bad as Still Cruisin' and of course a much better album, but think about it. When you have 'Student Demonstration Time' jutting up against 'Disney Girls' and 'Feel Flows', it's not exactly of one heart and mind, thematically and musically. But precisely because it's all over the map may be a key to it's quality, I dunno.

I think that Surf's Up is pretty cohesive EXCEPT for SDT--most of it is quite lush, but SDT doesn't sound like anything else on the album. 

[Jukka]

Who in the history of recorded pop music came up with the idea of cohesive album? Was it Brian's and Pet Sounds' fault? Inspired by this topic, I started going through my favourite albums, and a good percentage of them is anything but cohesive. The canonized and cohesive masterpieces are often bit boring in all their cohey cohesiveness.

By the way, I listen to 20/20 more often than Pet Sounds. You know why? It's not cohesive!

[runnersdialzero]

Anyone not saying Still Cruisin' for least cohesive is full of lies/donuts.

20/20? More like Cohesive/Cohesive when compared to Still Cruisin'.

[Dunderhead]

I can't understand why people on this thread (and others) cite 20/20 as a complete hodge-podge album, dismissing it as a compilation. The two earliest tracks are the SMiLE ones, from late '66 - nothing goes further back than that. Almost all of the songs were started AFTER Friends was finished! It certainly is a mix of styles, but just because "Bluebirds" is so different from "Be With Me", which is so different from "I Went To Sleep", doesn't mean it was a haphazardly thrown together colllection of tracks from all different eras.

That's a huge amount of time though, October 1966 through November 1968! It's like putting I Get Around on Pet Sounds. Sure it's a great song, but it would sound really out of place. Two years is a long time in Beach Boys land...

Cottonfields, I Went to Sleep, and Time To Get Alone all have the unity of Brian's unique post Smile aesthetic.
Our Prayer and Cabinessence are Smile tracks.
Be With Me and I Can Hear Music share their own unique production.


There's no central idea holding all the tracks together. I feel like I really have to emphasize the fact that none of this makes 20/20 a bad album per se, some of the tracks here rank among my all time favorite Beach Boys tunes. But I do think that it's weak in terms of its' overall effect.

[mabewa]

Who in the history of recorded pop music came up with the idea of cohesive album? Was it Brian's and Pet Sounds' fault? Inspired by this topic, I started going through my favourite albums, and a good percentage of them is anything but cohesive. The canonized and cohesive masterpieces are often bit boring in all their cohey cohesiveness.

By the way, I listen to 20/20 more often than Pet Sounds. You know why? It's not cohesive!

I hear your point, here.  I like tend to like eclectic records, and they can often be better than records that all have the same style IF the production holds the record together, and also if the record is programmed well so that the difference from song to song doesn't sound too jarring.  For example, The White Album all has a pretty raw production sound, and it's programmed in a very interesting way that holds it together.  I'm not as big of a fan of Sunflower as many BBs fans, as I think some of the songs are pretty weak, but the fact that it is eclectic but produced and programmed in a way that makes it sound cohesive--this to me is a big plus and makes the album more than the sum of its parts.  I'm pretty positive about 20-20 too, and it's programmed quite well, but the production does sometimes make it sound like a collection of unrelated songs that happened to be put together on one album--in that sense, it's a bit less than the sum of its parts to me (tho luckily, it has lots of great parts!) 

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Surprised there haven´t been more votes for Holland, which to my ears is seamless. All the songs - despite changes in pace, tempo and tone - have a similar feel and production throughout. Each track follows on perfectly from the one before it. The only way it could´ve been even better would´ve been the inclusion of Carry Me Home (which i very much hope in on the forthcoming boxset, its long overdue a release).