Surf's Up fan mix

[runnersdialzero]

The answer for me is rarely changed albums, but more albums - this is especially true in the late 60s and very early 70s when they seemingly had more songs than they knew what to do with, all of which are, at worst, still worthwhile.

[chris.metcalfe]

I love 'Take A Load off Your Feet' - It is a consciously silly song in a SMiLE sort of way.

When my daughter was four she could sing it note for note.

+1

But I like the idea overall.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Long Promised Road & 4th of July are too similar to be on the same album. Long Promised Road is really a longer better 4th of July.

Much as i love LPR i disagree that it's the better of the two songs. As for them sounding alike... what? Only in that they both feature Carl singing lead vocal, but that presumably doesn't mean Feel Flows and This Whole World song alike either.

[UK_Surf]

I've been thinking about this for a while as Surf's Up is an album that I like but at the same time I find it frustrating that it's weighed down by lesser songs (Take A Load Off Your Feet, Student Demonstration Time) ) when the Boys had much better songs recorded at the time that were never used (4th of July, Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again). With this in mind I present my alternative version/vison of Surf's Up:

Side One

Don't Go Near The Water
Long Promised Road
Big Sur (4/4 version)
Disney Girls
Fourth of July

Side Two

Surf's Up
Feel Flows
Lookin' At Tomorrow
A Day n The Life Of A Tree
'Till I Die
Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again

I put this together last night, using the AMCB version of WIBNTLA of course, (release the proper version already!!) and it flows rather nicely. Had the Boys released Surf's Up with this track selectin and running order then we would have had an all time classic rather than an album which is merely good.

Yeah...I like. It has what the released album lacks, which is balance. It turns hodge-podge into variety, while retaining some of the more tolerable moments of the album's too-often-distracting quirks. Thanks for taking the time to do this,  I'm looking forward to giving this a run-out.

[Jeff]

For anyone who hasn't given a revised Surf's Up a try-out, you should.  We don't (yet) have WIBNTLA, but try adding 4th if July and removing Feet and SDT.  It's short of course, but it's infinitely better.  The mood of the album is a wistful, somewhat serious longing for what could be (or could have been), and that's completely destroyed by SDT and Feet, but enhanced by 4th of July and (presumably) WIBNTLA.

If it were up to me, UN special forces would go house to house and remove all traces of Feet and SDT from the universe, but even if you like those songs, you would have to admit that the album sounds better without them, unless you want Surf's Up to have a White Album feel, which IMO it was not supposed to have.