The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was curious if anyone else has been toying around with the new album's tracklist at all. I've read some complaints that the middle of the record drags a bit and there may be a bit too many 'mellow' songs grouped together (TPLOBAS--Shelter--Daybreak). Another common criticism I've read is that the record is a bit too short. I tried to rework the tracklist a bit to alleviate some of these complaints and here's what I came up with:

01. Think About the Days
02. Beaches in Mind
03. That's Why God Made the Radio
04. Isn't It Time
05. The Private Life of Bill and Sue
06. Spring Vacation
07. Shelter
08. Waves of Love
09. Daybreak Over the Ocean
10. Strange World
11. From There to Back Again
12. Pacific Coast Highway
13. Summer's Gone

What have you guys come up with?

Isn't It Time   
That's Why God Made The Radio   
Spring Vacation      
The Private Life Of Bill And Sue   
Shelter   
Don't Fight the Sea
Beaches in Mind
Think About the Days
Strange World
From there to Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone

1.  Think About The Days
2.  TWGMTR
3.  Isn't It Time
4.  Spring Vacation
5.  TBLOB&S
6.  Shelter
7.  Strange World
8.  From There To Back Again
9.  Pacific Coast Highway
10. Summer's Gone


ooo, that would be pretty bad.

Me too.

The Beach Boys - Isn't It Time?

1. Think About The Days
2. Do It Again (2012 Version)
3. Isn't It Time
4. Spring Vacation
5. That's Why God made The Radio
6. The Private Life Of Bill And Sue
7. Shelter
8. Don't Fight The Sea (2012 Version)
9. Daybreak Over The Ocean
10. She Believes In Love Again (2012 Version)*
11. Strange World
12. From Here To Back Again
13. Pacific Coast Highway
14. Summer's Gone

* Or another Bruce Johnston song

1. Think About The Days
2. Isn't It Time
3. Spring Vacation
4. She Says That She Needs Me
5. South American
6. That's Why God Made The Radio
7. The Private Life Of Bill And Sue
8. Shelter
9. Strange World
10. From Here To Back Again
11. Pacific Coast Highway
12. Summer's Gone


...Tho I'm tempted to swap positions of the last two.

I've been tinkering a LOT, and still haven't quite nailed it, but my latest as of 2 hours ago is below. It's a bit lopsided perhaps, with the "fun-in-the-sun" material stacked out front, followed by the "artier" stuff, but such a clear division between the two sides of the Beach Boys served Today well, and I like the way it works here too. Many of the transitions are nice: 06-07 being a favorite, 09-10 another.

01 That's Why God Made The Radio*
02 Spring Vacation
03 Do It Again**
04 Beaches In Mind
05 Isn't It Time
06 Shelter
07 The Private Life Of Bill And Sue
08 Waves Of Love***
09 Daybreak Over The Ocean
10 Strange World
11 From There To Back Again
12 Pacific Coast Highway
13 Think About The Days****
14 Summer's Gone

*I'm sold on this as the opener - it gets right down to business. And the corny but jubilant "Spring Vacation" makes a great one-two punch. The Boys are back.
**I usually bristle when retreads are included (case in point: did Al really have to re-record "Rhonda" yet again??? It ruins the middle of the Postcard album for me) but in this case, it feels right. It's the first group LP in 27 years, so how much more appropriate can you get? Plus, I LOVE the re-recording, dare I say it, maybe even more than the original.
***Start of side 2. It probably goes without saying, but I use the version from the physical CD. You know, the one that actually sounds good.
****I've heard all the arguments about how brilliant this is as an opener, and I tend to agree. I appreciate how it brings the album full circle keeping it at the beginning. BUT - I accidentally happened to hear it on shuffle after "Pacific Coast Highway," and my jaw dropped. Just try it - listen to the Suite songs in this sequence. It's amazing.

I like a lot of your ideas, Catbirdman. I tinkered a bit more with my own tracklist and incorporated some ideas from yours, and I like what I came up with a lot more than my original custom tracklist.

01. That's Why God Made the Radio
02. Spring Vacation
03. Beaches in Mind
04. Isn't It Time
05. The Private Life of Bill and Sue
06. Shelter
07. Waves of Love
08. Daybreak Over the Ocean
09. Strange World
10. From There To Back Again
11. Pacific Coast Highway
12. Think About the Days
13. Summer's Gone

It's pretty interesting to play the CD in reverse order - starting with Summer's Gone and ending with Think About The Days. Give it a try!

Here's my attempt to add in lots of Al and Mike, and some extra Brian too. This isn't a plausible album, but some nice things happen.

Opening prelude:

1.) California Feelin (AJ version) *

Possible singles:

2.) TWGMTR
3.) Isn't It Time
4.) Cool Head, Warm Heart
5.) Spring Vacation
6.) PT Cruiser **

Brian interlude:

7.) The Private Life of Bill and Sue
8.) Shelter

Ocean mini-suite:

9.) Waves of Love
10.) Daybreak
11.) Don't Fight the Sea ***
12.) Beaches in Mind

Brian and Mike interlude:

13.) The Spirit of Rock and Roll
14.) Unleash the Love

My Life's Suite:

15.) Think About the Days
16.) What Love Can Do +
17.) Strange World
18.) From There to Back Again
19.) Pacific Coast Highway
20.) Summer's Gone

* The wave sounds at the beginning bookend the album perfectly!
** Why wouldn't we need a car song?
*** I'm especially fond of this transition
+ Surprisingly effective as an extra song in the suite

What is "What Love Can Do"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8A_J4KSvRg

My running order for the monent:

Side one (I'm old)
1. Isn't It Time
2. Beaches In Mind
3. Spring Vacation
4. Strange World
5. That's Why God Made The Radio

Side two

1. Daybreak Over The Ocean
2. Shelter
3. From There To Back Again
4. Pacific Coast Highway
5. Think About The Days
6. Summer's Gone

I hesitated separating Strange World from the suite, I think it is part of it? Still it fits better with the happier songs.

No TPFOBAS. (cringes) :wink

The other day I listend to Daybreak 10 times in a row - fits my feelings at the moment perfectly... ;(

I know this is getting a little too absurd, but I just placed Southern California with the Hard Day tag removed in between Pacific Coast Highway and Summer's Gone my goodness, it sounds absolutely breathtaking. The bombastic ending of Southern California is the perfect place for the understated and fragile intro Summer's Gone to pick up - it really showcases that opus' beauty in a whole new light.

This is awesome.  I'm huge into sequencing album tracks and have repaired (in my mind anyway!) many albums.  I haven't played with TWGMTR yet (still a bit too new) but noticed immediately that I was going to.  I can't wait to try some of your tracklists.

Ah...The art of sequencing.  It can take a good album -- with great tracks -- into a masterpiece!  It's amazing how many albums appear to be sequenced by chimps.

I know I did one for Summer Days/Nights that I loved....but I can't find it!!!  That album's sequence is pretty bad.

I edited out the instrumental parts out of Think About The Days for the album opener. It sounds much better and it's only about 45 seconds.
Then I use the complete Think About The Days as a reprise just before From There To Back Again. Sounds sweet.

Thanks for sharing your custom tracklists. I'm looking for a sequencing that doesn't end with "Summer's Gone." My experience so far is that ending the album with the suite at the end doesn't feel like the album is completed to me.

1. Think About the Days
2. Do It Again
3. Isn't It Time
4. That's Why God Made the Radio
5. Shelter
6. Don't Fight the Sea
7. Beaches in Mind
8. Strange World
9. From There and Back Again
10. Pacific Coast Highway
11. Summer's Gone

I guess you could end with the title cut- that would work. It totally changes the album, but it would work as a closer.

I share this opinion. The last three tracks combined are too weak, and Salt Lake City needs to be on a different side of the LP than TGFNYC and Ausement Parks USA. Here's my running order:

A
1. The Girl From New York City
2. You're So Good To Me
3. Amusement Parks USA
4. Girl Don't Tell Me
5. I'm Bugged At My Old Man
6. California Girls

B
1. Then I Kissed Her
2. Salt Lake City
3. Let Him Run Wild
4. Summer Means New Love
5. Help Me, Rhonda
6. And Your Dreams Come True

I'm with you, Bean Bag. I like to have fun with re-sequencing. And, that's all it is - fun. I don't know why it bothers some people. It's just for your personal use, and, if others like it, that's all the better. It actually has added to my enjoyment of some albums. This is what I've been using for SDASN:


SIDE A

1. California Girls
2. Amusement Parks USA
3. Salt Lake City
4. Then I Kissed Her
5. You're So Good To Me
6. And Your Dream Comes True

SIDE B

1. Girl From New York City
2. Girl Don't Tell Me
3. Let Him Run Wild
4. Help Me, Rhonda
5. Summer Means New Love
6. I'm Bugged At My Old Man

are you some obscure troller ? :(

I think it's perfect the way it is.  "TPLOBAS" is "mellow"?  Ok bro.

Man, I gotta find that tracklist.  I thought I jotted it down on a yellow sticky (this was before my Foobar days).  Anyway...I believe, I started with "And Your Dreams Come True."  Kind of an "Our Prayer" sort of opening -- that went into the orchestral beginning of the mighty anthem - "California Girls."

I think I tossed out "Bugged" from the list entirely.  Maybe stuck in "Graduation Day" and "Little Girl I Once Knew" too.   ???

Considering it sounds like a cheesy Jimmy Buffett song, yeah, I'd say so.

After playing around with a few sequences I've found this one to be the most satisfying.

Isn't It Time
Daybreak Over the Ocean
Shelter
From There to Back Again
That's Why God Made the Radio
Beaches In Mind
Spring Vacation
Strange World
The Private Life of Bill and Sue
Think About the Days
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone

Although starting with IIT seems a little too obvious, I think it works well. It also suggests the overall tone of the album better than "Think about the days."
The first 4 songs have a lyrical connection of getting together and the benefits of doing so with a nice variety of musical styles.
The upbeat fade out of "From There and Back Again" leads nicely into TWGMTR, which suggests that the couple/band is getting together again.
Beaches and Spring Vacation celebrate being together.
Strange World and TPLOBAS just seem to fit lyrically and again provide nice musical variety. They also suggest that all is not perfect without being too dark.
Think About the Days seems like the perfect lead-in to Pacific Coast Highway. I like it much better here than as the opener to a generally upbeat album. It also just doesn't fit well before TWGMTR for me.
Summer's Gone is the perfect closer.

Is there any evidence to suggest The Little Girl I Once Knew was around during the SD(ASN!!!) sessions or do people just like putting it on the album so it has a home? If it's the latter, doesn't that mean Trombone Dixie would be eligible to go in these mixes? They were recorded a few days apart from one another if my memory's correct. I'd have loved to see Trombone Dixie replace one of the weaker cuts.

Hey, thank you!!! :spin

My alt.  tracklisting tries to combine the album into "light" and "heavy" sides--meaning lyrically light and heavy, kinda like "Today" (although it works better with Today because the "light" songs are so upbeat and the "heavy" songs are so mellow!).  The big difference is just subtracting "Think About the Days" and "Shelter" from the first half and having them open the second half instead.  The only other change was switching the order of Isn't It Time and the title track--just thought that Isn't It Time worked better as an opening track, plus it has that "reunion" theme going on. 

The danger here is getting an overload of nostalgia and "fun in the sun" on the first side, and having the second side sound like a Brian solo album with the Beach Boys guesting on vocals.  But actually I really like how it works--"Daybreak," for example, sounds really nice after "Private Life," and the six songs on "side two" sound really terrific together--like half of a genuinely great Beach Boys album.  Plus Al's vocals on "Think About the Days" and "From Here to Back Again" help make it less Brian-centric. 

All in all, it results in an album with two really distinctly different "sides," and that for me works better than the official tracklist.  I definitely like the second half better, but I actually like the weaker "light" songs like "Spring Vacation" and "Beaches in Mind" more when they are all together--you take them for what they are and then get on to the serious stuff. 

1).  Isn't It Time
2).  That's Why God Made the Radio
3).  Spring Vacation
4).  The Private Life of Bill and Sue
5).  Daybreak Over the Ocean
6).  Beaches in Mind

7).  Think About the Days
8).  Shelter
9).  Strange World
10).  There and Back Again
11).  Pacific Coast Highway
12).  Summer's Gone

My tracklist, called From There to Back Again

Can't Wait Too Long
Daybreak Over the Ocean
Spring Vacation
Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl
Beaches in Mind
Shelter
The Private Life of Bill and Sue

Think About the Days
Midnight's Another Day
Don't Fight the Sea
Strange World
From There to Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone

Double A-sided single:
That's Why God Made the Radio
Isn't it Time

They're catchy songs but I don't like them on the album.  I haven't heard Waves of Love yet.