How the Holland LP stands up in 1973

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I really don't know the answer to this sense I am not sure what the big albums (commercially and proggressivly) were that year. I know that Dark Side of the Moon came out that year which is one of the greatest albums of all time. Dark Side is much better then Holland, but the track Steam Boat stands up. But Dark Side is one of the greatest albums of all time. What are some of the other albums of 1973? The big hits? Now lets see how Holland stacks up.

[Peter Reum]

Well, it was a Rolling Stone Album of the Year in 1973...

[Curtis Leon]

I really don't know the answer to this sense I am not sure what the big albums (commercially and proggressivly) were that year. I know that Dark Side of the Moon came out that year which is one of the greatest albums of all time. Dark Side is much better then Holland, but the track Steam Boat stands up. But Dark Side is one of the greatest albums of all time. What are some of the other albums of 1973? The big hits? Now lets see how Holland stacks up.

Personally, I think Dark Side of the Moon is rather overrated... I mean, yes, it's a great album, but it's kinda like Led Zeppelin IV or The Wall when it comes to popularity. I believe The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is actually a better album, because it lacks the intense, suffocating seriousness that the latter Pink Floyd had in droves.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I really don't know the answer to this sense I am not sure what the big albums (commercially and proggressivly) were that year. I know that Dark Side of the Moon came out that year which is one of the greatest albums of all time. Dark Side is much better then Holland, but the track Steam Boat stands up. But Dark Side is one of the greatest albums of all time. What are some of the other albums of 1973? The big hits? Now lets see how Holland stacks up.

Personally, I think Dark Side of the Moon is rather overrated... I mean, yes, it's a great album, but it's kinda like Led Zeppelin IV or The Wall when it comes to popularity. I believe The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is actually a better album, because it lacks the intense, suffocating seriousness that the latter Pink Floyd had in droves.

I would say that Dark Side is perhaps their best, but Piper may be my favorite.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Well, it was a Rolling Stone Album of the Year in 1973...

Are you refering to Holland or Dark Side?

[the captain]

I am not a fan of Dark Side much at all, but 1973 had (as most years end up having once enough time passes and you can look back) a LOT of great albums. Some others, Randy Newan's Good Ol' Boys, Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, Stevie Wonder's Innvervisions, Big Star's Radio City, the Stooges' Raw Power, Wings' Band on the Run, Lou Reed's Berlin, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, Frank Zappa's Over-Nite Sensation, to name just a few I am fond of. I like Holland, but with all due respect to the Beach Boys, I don't think I could include it among my Top 10 of that year.

[mtaber]

Holland was the RS album of the year...

[drbeachboy]

I seem to recall that RS rated "Holland" the third best album of the year, though my memory could be fading a bit.

[drbeachboy]

The Beach Boys were voted Band Of The Year in Rolling Stone. I'm not sure if it was the same year or in 1974?

[rogerlancelot]

I enjoy Holland but I usually skip the California Saga (too white for me ). Dark Side of the Moon and Houses Of The Holy are solid efforts throughout. John Lennon's Mind Games is a very underrated album in his canon. Overnite Sensation is pretty enjoyable all of the way through. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath came out that year as well. 1973 was dominated by singer/songwriter acts too like Jim Croce, James Taylor, Carol King, etc. And weren't the Carpenters big at the time as well?

My own quick thoughts on Holland now (I actually listened to it last night before I went to sleep so my memory is sort of fresh):

Sail On Sailor: Cool groove but suffers from being written by committee with very little of Brian's input.
Steamboat: Probably my favorite song on here.
California Saga: Boring. But popular amongst BB fans.
Leaving This Town: Interesting synth solo in the middle but I much prefer the live version on "In Concert" with the organ solo and cool percussion. I really enjoy the lyrics to this one as well.
The Trader: I know I'm going out of order here. I really love this song and I like Jack's lyrics too. Nice mellow 2nd part.
Only With You: I love this song put I prefer the version on the POB cd with accordian. And I love that live version from Carnegie Hall '72.
Funky Pretty: The live version on "In Concert" totally rocks. The only real problem here is Brian's limited drumming.
Mount Vernon:   I mean, what can you say about that track?   It scares me, okay?
We Got Love: An okay song but better live.
Carry Me Home: Powerful song and would love to see it released someday.
Hard Times: Okay but quickly forgettable.

To be honest, I prefer So Tough to Holland as a studio album but I still believe they were a much better live act than recording artists during this era. I would love to see more of the tapes from those shows be released as a boxed set of sorts.

[Peter Reum]

In the early toMid 70s, Rolling Stone selected several albums as albums of the year...as I recall, Holland was one of 5 or so in 1973...

[Jason]

I had a real love/hate relationship with Holland years ago. I used to think that half of it was so unbelievably head in your hand pretentious (Big Sur, The Beaks of Eagles, The Trader, Leaving This Town) and half of it (Sail On Sailor, Steamboat, California, Only With You, Funky Pretty, Mount Vernon and Fairway) was righteous, standing with their finest material.

Nowadays, I've come around a lot more to it. I think it stands up well as a Beach Boys album, and certainly feels more like one than Carl and the Passions did if we're using the Blondie/Ricky era as a reference point. In the context of 1973, it's a very warm album. It's inviting, provoking, and organic. Revisionism seems to dictate that Carl and the Passions and Holland had the potential to be combined as a great double LP, but honestly I don't see how that would work at all. Carl and the Passions catches them in a very disjointed frame of mind and lacks a cohesive sound, despite the presence of four undeniable gems (You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone, Marcella, All This Is That, Cuddle Up). Holland, while still going all over the place, doesn't feel like an album made by a band split into factions.

We could be very (possibly overly) kind to Holland and say that it stands up well as the Beach Boys' form of a country rock album. There are bits and pieces of contemporary sounds spread all over the album. It sounds similar to what artists like Neil Young and the Eagles were doing around that time. The album is also one of their best as far as the imagery it conjures up in your mind. I think Andrew Doe said it best in his book (or at least I think it was him), that the album named for the area they called home for a few months was the one most predominantly about California. It makes a whole lot of sense when you take it in that context. This is an album for road trips.

I amaze myself at how bipolar my taste in Beach Boys music is sometimes...

[phirnis]

I wonder if Wishbone Ash released an album in 1973...

[Mike's Beard]

I think 1973 had much fewer great albums compared to '72. As much as I love Holland I doubt it would have made top 5 in RS if it had been made a year or two earlier.

[The Heartical Don]

I wonder if Wishbone Ash released an album in 1973...

I believe a new running gag has been born...

[Smilin Ed H]

Great album

[The Heartical Don]

I wonder if Wishbone Ash released an album in 1973...

1973:

[matt-zeus]

1973 is a great year for albums, aside from the aforementioned Floyd, Lou Reed and Zeppelin, there was also Queens debut album (great), Genesis' 'Selling England by the pound' (my favourite of theirs), Black Sabbaths 'Sabbath bloody Sabbath' (brilliant) - those 6 albums are some of my favourite albums of all time and I don't think Holland comes even close to them...
I much prefer CATP to Holland which I was primed not to like after reading AGDs book in the 90s but then was pleasantly surprised by it.

[The Heartical Don]

1973 is a great year for albums, aside from the aforementioned Floyd, Lou Reed and Zeppelin, there was also Queens debut album (great), Genesis' 'Selling England by the pound' (my favourite of theirs), Black Sabbaths 'Sabbath bloody Sabbath' (brilliant) - those 6 albums are some of my favourite albums of all time and I don't think Holland comes even close to them...
I much prefer CATP to Holland which I was primed not to like after reading AGDs book in the 90s but then was pleasantly surprised by it.

Nice call, surely evokes some memories. I loved the odd Queen single back then (Seven Seas Of Rhye), a bit of Led Zep, singles by Lou Reed, Sabbath's Paranoid, and I preferred Yes over Genesis. Floyd, I never 'got'. My tastes have changed a lot over the years, but that is hardly the issue here. I was a pubescent young lad and found it all very exciting.

[Surfing Moose]

1973:

[The Heartical Don]

1973:

Who are these bozos? The Edgar Broughton Band, perchance?

[Andrew G. Doe]

With the two obvious exceptions, all people well-known in the UK (well, back then) who wouldn't mean anything to anyone in the US who wasn't a Macca fan.

[The Heartical Don]

With the two obvious exceptions, all people well-known in the UK (well, back then) who wouldn't mean anything to anyone in the US who wasn't a Macca fan.

Ah well, I was just doing a bit of sarcasm. Your reply, sir, is, however, quite cryptical...

[Runaways]

i have  loot of trouble getting into the music of this time.   a lot of the songs meander too much for me.

[The Heartical Don]

i have  loot of trouble getting into the music of this time.   a lot of the songs meander too much for me.

That is why I'm not a Yes fan anymore. 'Nous Sommes Du Soleil' wanders. And boy, can they wander...