The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi, I was wanting some suggestions on which album (only one) you'd recommend out of the following:

Friends
Wild Honey
Love You
Sunflower
Surf's Up
Holland
20/20

As for what I'm looking for, I'm pretty open.
Thanks a million!

Well overall I'd say Sunflower, as it best showcases the Beach Boys as a band and as composers. It is not just the Brian & Mike show here.

Sunflower or Love You

reason for this is that one can hear many similarities between Sunflower and the others, but Love You is just completely different. both musically and in terms of message and lyrics, pure BW.

The first step is to admit you have a problem and get all of them and rotate which your favorite is depending on the phase of the moon and your own moodswings.

Surf's Up...

I'm biased though, as on 3 out of 4 days that's my favorite Beach Boys album

I assume you're gonna get all of them at some point. But here is the order I would get them.

Friends - very tranquill, peacefull listen. Lots of Brian.
Sunflower - this is a great "group" album and it's got a lot of ups and downs, but with a cohesive feeling. Deirdre on this is my favorite Bruce track.
Wild Honey - the very lo-fi production takes a little bit of time to get used to on this album, and also Carl's lead on the title track might not sit well with you for a little while, but this is a really fun, groovy listen.
20/20 - more of a grab bag - it doesn't have much of a flow but you get some great Dennis and Brian tracks, plus Carl's leads are fantastic.
Love You - it took me a really long time to appreciate this album. If you have a deep love and appreciation of Brian's goofy, childish wacky thing, you'll wanna keep listenining until you love it. :)
Surf's Up - I like about half of this album a lot (title track, Til I Die, Disney Girls, Feel Flows, Long Promised)....the rest doesn't do much for me.
Holland - this is the least "Beach Boys" sounding album of the ones you listed. I don't dislike it, but it hasn't grabbed me yet, hopefully it will someday. I'll keep listening!

Listen to all of them! get them all RIGHT NOW!

that's my answer.

Wild Honey of course :) it's solid every song is great!

Friends.

It's the closest album (in cohesiveness and theme) to Pet Sounds. It has elements of SMiLE placed in there (Little Bird), it has some of the most beautiful harmonies out of any Beach Boys album (Anna Lee, Friends). It has beautiful instrumentals that take you far away (much like 'Let's Go Away For Awhile' from Pet Sounds). Busy Doin' Nothin' - 'nuff said. Heck, that cello in 'Little Bird' is one of the coolest moments in BB history.

Friends is the most cohesive Beach Boys album that has mostly every member influencing a song or two. Sunflower has incredible compositions on it, but the album as a whole lacks a clear vision, imo. Thus I vote Friends.

Edit: Oh yeah, how could I forget Wake The World? Probably one of the happiest pop songs ever recorded.

Thanks everyone!

I'll add some more Friends love. Great album, deceptively simple. 20/20 and Sunflower contain brilliant songs too (as do all of the choices) but Friends is definitely the cohesive, as rab2591 says.

Also you've skipped Carl and the Passions and 15 Big Ones, is it because you already have them? Or are deliberately avoiding them (which would be slightly understandable in the case of the latter - for someone starting out - but CATP shouldn't be avoided)?

I'm not avoiding them, they just slipped my mind.
Which one's more solid of the two?

Definitely "Carl and the Passions". It lacks cohesion but there's some gems on there ("All This is That" for one, and "Marcella" for another). "15 Big Ones" should be considered less of a concern for now :-D

Obvious answer: Get all of them

Real Answer: Friends is probably my favorite post Pet Sounds 60's album by them. I'd start with that. It's only 25 minutes long, but that is the absolute perfect length for it. It passes by quickly but is so fulfilling it leaves you with a pretty peaceful feeling. Plus it comes with 20/20

I'd recommend Summer In Paradise. If you enjoy that, you'll LOVE the rest.

Summer In Paradise was so bad, they didn't even reissue it. Lol.

Hypehat's drunken review of that album nearly had me keel over I was laughing so hard....so if just for that review SIP was worth being recorded :lol

Friends and Love You are my favourite Beach Boys albums and completely different ends of the boys musical spectrum. There is no weak album on that list though. I probably listen to 20/20 least of the bunch but get the two-fers and you'll have the lot for a minimum spend and you'll be in Beach Boys heaven for weeks!

That's Why God Made the Radio is their best album!

No lie!  Deal with it!

Sunflower, because it features all of the guys, at least the six of them. However, my favorite and most played of that group is easily Love You.

Sunflower is superb, an absolute masterpiece, in my opinion. Bruce's two tracks are delightful, Dennis's songs kick ass, Brian's are relaxed and sweet as punch. It's the best example of what each of them brought to the table in terms of styles and songwriting. But it holds together as a complete musical statement, I think. It's just so purely beautiful beginning to end.

You can't go wrong with Sunflower, it's a solid effort, a very cohesive and democratic album with strong contributions by every member, especially Dennis's four gems. Sunshine pop at it's finest!

I will say, though, it'd be nice to have maybe one more Carl song on there.

  SUNFLOWER may be a more consistent start to finish listening experience than SURF'S UP, the latter's highlights are among the most essential items in the group's entire catalog. Can we truly say the same for SUNFLOWER?

No, of course not. But the question was about which was the best album.

The SMiLE Sessions. It's official now if you haven't heard.

SMiLE

By a long shot.

The best Beach Boys album is SMiLE.

I'd rank em this way:

Love You
Friends
Sunflower
Wild Honey
Holland
20/20
Surfs Up

...but everybody's different. Can't go wrong with any BB album up to and including MIU, in my opinion.

Respectfully disagree.

Can I assume the highlights you would be comparing are these?

- This Whole World
- All I Wanna Do
- Forever

vs.

- A Day In The Life Of A Tree
- Till I Die
- Surf's Up

Check out the ORIGINAL post,Bill!!

Bruce and Alan both said Sunflower was the best. I like Holland. Even 15 Big Ones has some good songs.

Smiley Smile is better, and IT is not even the best, by a country mile.  Sorry.  :smokin

 I was also considering "Feel Flows", Long Promised Road" and "Disney Girls".  Side 2 of SUNFLOWER is a tad sweet.  I've always preferred the darkness of SURF'S UP.  IMO the best SURF'S UP tunes are better than the best SUNFLOWER songs.

IMO, their best album, just in terms of rockin' out and not being stupid hippies, is LITTLE DEUCE COUPE.

IT'S A WINNER !

(http://www.autoweek.com/galleryimage/CW/20120607/REG/607009995/PH/1/4/1932-Ford-%E2%80%9CLittle-Deuce-Coupe.%E2%80%9D&MaxW=630)

Agree.

Surf's Up or Holland, I've always been a particular fan of Surf's Up over Sunflower, but Sunflower is magnificent. 

 LITTLE DEUCE COUPE is Rock's first concept album. Do the cuts borrowed from other albums make it a ringer? Well, the Stones pulled that trick with FLOWERS and the Beach Boys do it with LITTLE DEUCE COUPE. Classic Americana.

Right. It's NEVER bothered me that they snagged 'car' songs from earlier albums. And it still doesn't. I loved that Lp the moment I heard it. I'm going.... YEAH BABY, this rocks!!!

Sunflower or 20/20

20/20 because that's when they had to make it or break it. The album worked and the BB re-entered the dance club song list. Sunflower mellowed things out at a time it was needed and Surf's Up grabbed the listener by the balls and said, this is what you been missing. Holland re-certified those feelings and emotions. Big time!

My personal favorite is Love You. Incredibly inventive backing tracks, bizarre yet ultimately touching lyrics by BW himself, and lots of brilliantly catchy melodies.

Let's not forget Carl and the Passions, by the way, a great little album in its very own way.

Surf's Up, if only for side 2.