gfxgfx
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
logo
 
gfx gfx
gfx
684546 Posts in 27836 Topics by 4100 Members - Latest Member: bunny505 February 19, 2026, 06:47:07 PM
*
gfx*HomeHelpSearchCalendarLoginRegistergfx
gfxgfx
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.       « previous next »
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 Go Down Print
Author Topic: Which album is the Beach Boys' most polarizing release?  (Read 26546 times)
Smile4ever
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 196


View Profile
« on: January 17, 2013, 08:22:17 PM »
My opinion is that it's likely "Love You." Seems like fans have vastly different opinions on this one.

What do you think?
Logged
EgoHanger1966
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 2891



View Profile
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2013, 08:44:00 PM »
Smiley Smile.
Logged
Hal Blaine:"You're gonna get a tomata all over yer puss!"
Brian: "Don't say puss."
Phoenix
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1212



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2013, 08:48:06 PM »
It's definitely either one of them.  Too close for me to call.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2013, 08:49:05 PM by Phoenix » Logged
Magic Transistor Radio
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 2974


Bill Cooper Mystery Babylon


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2013, 08:53:27 PM »
Love You seems not to far off from 15 Big Ones. Smiley Smile seems like a more logical choice. 15 Big Ones from Holland as well, but they were 3 years apart. Going from Pet Sounds to Smiley in a little over a year is insane.
Logged
"Over the years, I've been accused of not supporting our new music from this era (67-73) and just wanting to play our hits. That's complete b.s......I was also, as the front man, the one promoting these songs onstage and have the scars to show for it."
Mike Love autobiography (pg 242-243)
Smile4ever
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 196


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2013, 09:00:00 PM »
I was going to suggest Smiley Smile too. But wasn't sure if it was as polarizing for content or because it wasn't Smile. But I'm sure you're right.
Logged
Awesoman
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1841


Disagreements? Work 'em out.


View Profile WWW
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2013, 09:14:12 PM »
*sigh*
Logged
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there
halblaineisgood
Guest
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2013, 09:14:31 PM »
.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2014, 08:45:16 PM by halblaineisgood » Logged
halblaineisgood
Guest
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2013, 09:15:11 PM »
.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2014, 08:45:29 PM by halblaineisgood » Logged
halblaineisgood
Guest
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2013, 09:17:59 PM »
.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2014, 08:45:43 PM by halblaineisgood » Logged
DonnyL
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1990



View Profile WWW
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2013, 09:29:56 PM »
in the grand scheme of things, my vote goes to 'Love You'. Among fans, it really seems to be a love or hate thing (rarely do people seem to think it's just alright, or 'good'). An album considered to be the group's last classic by many critics, yet would also likely cause casual listeners to scratch their heads. 'Smiley' contains 'Good Vibrations' & 'Heroes & Villains' ... universally acclaimed.
Logged
http://www.trounrecords.com
DonnyL
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1990



View Profile WWW
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2013, 09:30:43 PM »
Quote from: Awesoman on January 17, 2013, 09:14:12 PM
*sigh*

come on, this one's not that bad !
Logged
http://www.trounrecords.com
halblaineisgood
Guest
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2013, 09:40:26 PM »
.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2014, 08:47:32 PM by halblaineisgood » Logged
halblaineisgood
Guest
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2013, 09:41:27 PM »
.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2014, 08:48:38 PM by halblaineisgood » Logged
Al Jardine: Pick Up Artist
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 298

I am an asexual walrus


View Profile WWW
« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2013, 09:55:39 PM »
Quote from: DonnyL on January 17, 2013, 09:29:56 PM
in the grand scheme of things, my vote goes to 'Love You'. Among fans, it really seems to be a love or hate thing (rarely do people seem to think it's just alright, or 'good'). An album considered to be the group's last classic by many critics, yet would also likely cause casual listeners to scratch their heads. 'Smiley' contains 'Good Vibrations' & 'Heroes & Villains' ... universally acclaimed.

I think it's just alright...I like the "drunk" tunes as I call them (Side 1 + Solar System, Love is a Woman) and not so much of the others.
Logged
Quote from: Bubba Ho-Tep on March 09, 2013, 04:59:49 PM
Which song: Inappropriate relationship with sister-in-law

Which song: Gonna straight up bang you with "the wood".

Which song: Weather conditions make me horny

Which song: Lack of proper shoes leads to potential blood poisoning and death.

Which song: Who needs church? Let's do it on the couch.

Quote from: Don Malcolm on May 30, 2013, 07:35:10 PM
Dennis: "Holy sh*t, Al, you're finally showing signs of developing facial hair!!!"
Don Malcolm
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Online Online

Posts: 1191



View Profile
« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2013, 09:57:09 PM »
Yes, Hal, it's a list, or it's about to be...

Taking the old poll data and spreading the votes into 5-4-3 and 3-2-1 bundles, you get the following ratios:

Pet Sounds .97; Sunflower .94; Today .92; All Summer Long .92;
Summer Days .89; Friends .89; Wild Honey .86; Surf's Up .84; Love You .84; Holland .83; TWGMTR .81;
20/20 .79; Smiley Smile .76; Shut Down v2 .72;
Carl and the Passions .64; Surfin' USA .62; Stack o'Tracks .61;
Little Deuce Coupe .59; Beach Boys Party .58; Light Album .55;
Surfin' Safari .45; MIU .45; BB85 .44;
Keepin' the Summer Alive .38; Still Cruisin' .38; 15 Big Ones .37; Summer in Paradise .36

The closer to even these two overlapping counts are, the more divided or polarizing the voter opinion is...the ones in bold are the likely "winners" for this concept.

[EDIT: see further below in the thread for what is quite probably a better way to do this, if you are inclined at all to look at it in such a way.]
« Last Edit: January 18, 2013, 07:43:15 AM by Don Malcolm » Logged
MBE
Guest
« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2013, 10:20:49 PM »
Love You is it for me. Smiley took me some time but the vocals won me over. Love You just never did it for me outside maybe three or four songs.
Logged
Sheriff John Stone
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 5309



View Profile
« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2013, 10:26:17 PM »
Smiley Smile first, 15 Big Ones second.
Logged
halblaineisgood
Guest
« Reply #17 on: January 17, 2013, 10:39:20 PM »
.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2014, 08:35:25 PM by halblaineisgood » Logged
Andrew G. Doe
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 17767


The triumph of The Hickey Script !


View Profile WWW
« Reply #18 on: January 17, 2013, 10:49:34 PM »
Love You - says so in my book, so it must be true.  Old Man
Logged
The four sweetest words in my vocabulary: "This poster is ignored".
Lonely Summer
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 4011


View Profile
« Reply #19 on: January 17, 2013, 11:16:28 PM »
Quote from: Mike Eder on January 17, 2013, 10:20:49 PM
Love You is it for me. Smiley took me some time but the vocals won me over. Love You just never did it for me outside maybe three or four songs.
That nails it for me - how can anyone fail to be won over by the flawless vocals on Smiley? It was hard at first for me to "get" the idea of the BB's singing with such sparse backing; I grew to love it over time. Love You's vocals in no way compare to Smiley's. And the backing gets kind of grating after a few songs.
Logged
buddhahat
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 2644


Hi, my name's Doug. Would you like to dance?


View Profile
« Reply #20 on: January 18, 2013, 12:19:11 AM »
I dunno - Whenever I see posts about the quality of Love You, most people here seem pretty into it. Smiley even more so. I'd say the BB albums that are most polarizing are ones like MIU, LA, BB85. These albums really split the board straight down the centre into those that find things to enjoy in them and those that revile them!
Logged
Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes, Bedroom Tapes ......
John Manning
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Online Online

Gender: Male
Posts: 7429


Biding time


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: January 18, 2013, 12:36:19 AM »
In the US: Pet Sounds
In the UK: Summer in Paradise
Logged
EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES, EPSTEIN FILES.
smilethebeachboysloveyou
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 628



View Profile
« Reply #22 on: January 18, 2013, 05:48:53 AM »
Quote from: buddhahat on January 18, 2013, 12:19:11 AM
I dunno - Whenever I see posts about the quality of Love You, most people here seem pretty into it. Smiley even more so. I'd say the BB albums that are most polarizing are ones like MIU, LA, BB85. These albums really split the board straight down the centre into those that find things to enjoy in them and those that revile them!

Perhaps, but I've never encountered anyone who has counted MIU, LA, or BB85 as one of the band's greatest albums.  The debate is more over whether the albums are completely unredeemable or whether they have a handful of good songs on them.  They are not "love or hate" albums so much as "hate or tolerate" albums.  "Love You," on the other hand, really does seem to be a "love or hate" album, with few opinions in between.

As far as the mathematical approach goes, I'm not sure I completely understand the formula for calculating, but if you split the votes into 5-4-3 and 3-2-1, won't the formula overrepresent albums that have gotten lots of middling votes (i.e., lots of 3s, some 4s and 2s)?  It seems to me that such an album would have a fairly solid consensus of opinion.  For it to be polarizing, I think it would have to have lots of 5s and 1s or perhaps 4s and 2s with very few 3s.
Logged
AndrewHickey
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 1999



View Profile
« Reply #23 on: January 18, 2013, 06:54:56 AM »
Quote from: smilethebeachboysloveyou on January 18, 2013, 05:48:53 AM
Quote from: buddhahat on January 18, 2013, 12:19:11 AM
I dunno - Whenever I see posts about the quality of Love You, most people here seem pretty into it. Smiley even more so. I'd say the BB albums that are most polarizing are ones like MIU, LA, BB85. These albums really split the board straight down the centre into those that find things to enjoy in them and those that revile them!

Perhaps, but I've never encountered anyone who has counted MIU, LA, or BB85 as one of the band's greatest albums.  The debate is more over whether the albums are completely unredeemable or whether they have a handful of good songs on them.  They are not "love or hate" albums so much as "hate or tolerate" albums.  "Love You," on the other hand, really does seem to be a "love or hate" album, with few opinions in between.

I don't know... while I wouldn't say I 'love' LA, I'd put it at least as high as Sunflower, and track-for-track I'd say the only 70s albums that beat it are Love You and Carl And The Passions... I certainly don't just tolerate it.

But in general, I'd agree that Love You and Smiley are the two most polarising albums the band ever did. They're also my two personal favourites.
Logged
The Smiley Smile ignore function: http://andrewhickey.info/the-smiley-smile-ignore-button-sort-of/
Most recent update 03/12/15
NHC
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 529


View Profile
« Reply #24 on: January 18, 2013, 06:55:46 AM »
Quote from: halblaineisgood on January 17, 2013, 09:17:59 PM
We all like Smiley Smile. Some folks don't like Surfin' U.S.A. though, right ?

We don't all like Smiley Smile. Other than the two obvious hit songs, it's unlistenable to me.  But I can listen to Surfin' USA all day long.
Logged
gfx
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 Go Up Print 
gfx
Jump to:  
gfx
Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines Page created in 0.245 seconds with 21 queries.
Helios Multi design by Bloc
gfx
Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!