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I would until rfecently have always said Sunflower but of late I've felt that 20/20 is a little grittier and tighter: I absolutely love the Dennis tracks on it, for example, more than I like his Sunflower ones (Forever excepted).

Alternatively I'd be happy to take a compilation just of Dennis tracks that were officially released on Beach Boys albums; or a double album of "Wilson brothers", omitting the Mike-Bruce-Al compositions.

Friends for sure. Besides one of the b-sides (Diamond Head), Friends is an incredibly rewarding album. I always felt that Brian could have been a fantastic jazz composer and Friends is proof of this. Although I'd definitely miss T'ill I Die and ADITLOAT and All I Wanna Do.

If I could only keep one?  Who's the ass who will only 'allow' us to keep one?  He [or she] can fire it out his backside.  I'm keeping them all...20/20 to the double live album...'cause it's mostly about '73.

If someone comes and tries to take away ANY of my BBs albums...I'll POUND them.

[if I lose the fight...I'll keep 'Sunflower'...and link up with frends who kept the various other choices and have listening parties...with drinks... ... ...LOTS of drinks...then we'll go find the SOB who took aour albums, cds, files etc...and POUND him.]

In Concert

Friends is my favourite, so: Friends

I'm with you, if I could choose only one, then In Concert is it. Gives me a full overview from 1963 to 1973. Plus I get 20 songs instead of the 8-12 that I would get with the studio albums.

FRIENDS

slinking in about 3AM( be sure to be asleep)  Promise to leave pics of everything you used to own....

Friends, no doubt about it.

Friends for me too.

Agreed. He's Jon Harrison from the UK. We go way back. This is one more variance on "Desert Island Disk". On any given day, I'll listen to:

Wild Honey, In Concert '73, Sunflower, or CT&P. Or maybe Holland and skip "Beaks of Eagles". All depends on the mood.

Surf's Up. It's my favourite BB album, so how could I not choose it?

SUNFLOWER, without question. For me, the greatest of all their "group" efforts.  A perfect album.

I love IN CONCERT, but tracks from Friends, 20/20. Sunflower and Surf's Up are conspicuous by their absence. That album only covers 1963-67 and 1972-73.  That's a big five year hole.

And there are no Dennis songs or even lead vocals on IN CONCERT, another drawback.

Sunflower without a doubt for me. Friends has a lovely first side but I find the second a bit more scattershot... Sunflower is wonderful all the way through.

My dog doesn't really 'dig' slinkers.  Even 3:00 am slinkers bgas.

Meanwhile I still have all my 62 - TWthe man in the skyMTR and LIVE 50th tour cd/dvd stuff.  [let alone 68-73 material and everything subsequently released to augment it.]
No one has come to tell me I can only keep one.
I am prepared to stand and fight.  I also have a number of duplicate copies and most versions on both vinyl and some on cd which are strategically hidden for safe-keeping...just in case.

I've decided to continue enjoying the WHOLE roster of choices...although some perhaps a little less often than others. 


But jon...which Monkees album would you keep?

I'm not sure this is worth fighting for :lol

Hear you.  It's just part of the whole 9.  I'd honestly rather have it than not. :hat

Indeed. There are some great tracks on it (especially In My Room, All This Is That). But sadly most of the songs are ruined by poor production.

Same here. I'd pick either this, Sunflower or 20/20

Sunflower, without a doubt. That's my all-time favorite album.

The one with Transcendental Meditation on it.

Surf's Up w/ "WIBNTLA" as the bonus cut. That was easy.

I heard that Jesus got bored turning water into wine, so he started turning other albums into Friends.

Friends, Friends, Friends

Friends.  Would sure miss Sunflower, "Time to Get Alone," and "Til I Die," though.

Friends -no doubt about it

It's a tie-Concert and Surf's Up.

Probably Surfs Up, but it's rough leaving several of my overall favorites behind.

This isn't being enforced, is it? or is it just one of those stupid internet rumors like about the gov'ment?  ;)

Sunflower - it's the closest thing to a perfect album after PS. And yes, I don't even mind that damn Tears in the Morning.

Happy to see all the love for Friends! It has been my favorite for decades.

Friends would be my top choice too.

My rankings:

1. Friends
2. In Concert

3. CATP So Tough
4. Sunflower
5. 20/20
6. Surf's up (these 4 very close)

7. Live in London
8. Holland
9. Stack o Tracks
 

A data DVD-R containing their 1968-1973 albums AND MORE put into a CD case with "i luv the beach byos" written in comic sans as the album cover

+ 1 - + Fourth of July too.

It's funny how Friends has gathered so many dedicated followers by this point considering it was one of their biggest flops in terms of sales and it's definitely not the most exciting record by conventional rock standards (unlike Surf's Up, for example).

For me, it's almost like an Ambient record and I mean that in an entirely positive way (after all it's my own personal fave as well).

What wasn't cool and hip back then becomes so now, because we get tired of those bands and trends we're supposed to consider classic for their time. That's why nowadays 'Village Green Preservation Society' is more appreciated than the Grateful Dead, for example. 'Friends' seems so strange when placed in the 1968 context - a record so unassuming, so unpretentious, so modest in concept released in a year when there was so much going on - that it becomes brilliant and refreshing.

Along those lines, I think it's fascinating to hear and appreciate music both in and out of its original context. Don't dismiss something being perfectly of its time (even if it doesn't work later). That's its own kind of brilliant.

It is hard to imagine in hindsight Friends having been a commercial success. Even now it wouldn't be, though history has been good to it. Pendulums swing, though, and wank-rock (or whatever) will push its reputation back down again. Funny how unchanging, recorded material can improve and diminish in its merit/quality...  ::) (if an opinionated listener bloviates in the woods with nobody there to hear him, does he make a sound? Probably, because he's only speaking to hear himself anyway.)

And it was then too...for me.  I wore out my vinyl Friends...and had to buy another.  Then I wore out my cd Friends...and had to buy another.  Not a perfect album.  But...aian for me...the first really, REALLY good album after Pet Sounds.  I much prefer it to Wild Honey and especially SS. 

Only one...?

Then it has to be Surf's Up, but my custom version including Big Sur, 4th of July, WIBNTLA and Lady (and keeping all the other tracks). Killer bee.

I haven't done it for quite a few years now, but Friends was most always my Sunday "Breakfast with the Beach Boys" album that also included Sunflower and the L.A. (Light Album).

This is easy, actually. Friends

Holland.

Right! It's not really a big Rock album, compared to others out at the time. I remember reading an interview with Brian way back when and the interviewer asked him what his favorite Beach Boys album was and he replied, "Friends". I assumed Brian was putting the guy on or being sarcastic. Not quite sure if he was being straight-up or not, because if you asked him today what his favorite is, he might give you a different answer.

This might be the most recent sighting of "Friends is Brian's favorite": https://twitter.com/BrianWilsonLive/status/481417263904718849 (https://twitter.com/BrianWilsonLive/status/481417263904718849)

Personally I find it entirely believable that he has a soft spot for this album. After all the singing on Friends is impeccable, Brian is all over it, it's a very sweet and peaceful record... and so on. :)

Friends exists on its own as an album, kind of like Pet Sounds or the SMiLE era music. I suppose the closest thing to it might be Wild Honey, but Friends is more idiosyncratic, laid back yet complex... Brian seems to be trying for a more orchestrated sound for the first time since his artistic collapse. Sadly, by 20/20 he had been told to pack up his Stephen Foster excursions and go home, and the more democratic group dynamic really takes over. I know it's kind of the secret handshake for a lot of Beach Boys fans to prefer the early 70s albums, but I'll take 1964-1968 over 1969-1973 any day.

Sunflower



.....What, no poll?

I cheat and select the Sunflower-Surf's Up Stateside release from UK....also get Al's version of "Cottonfields"....  :smokin

Sunflower

not sure what you mean by this. the Grateful Dead never sold a lot of records (until the late 80s). but there are definitely more fans of the Dead than of the VGPS album




PS - I pick Friends by a wide margin

If it were a poll where people just had to come in and click a button, Sunflower would probably still win, but based on the posts, fans of Friends are very passionate about the album.

My favorite post was the guy who voted for Sunflower but felt the need to justify why he didn't pick Friends. I never thought I'd see that! It used to be the other way around.

Landlocked.

It's very hard for me to choose between Friends and 20/20. They were the two albums that got me into The Beach Boys and are still my two favorite BB albums today.

If I had to choose one, I'd go with Friends.

Stack-o-tracks, obviously.



Really though, I think I'm gonna have to go with Surf's Up. It's not the most consistent album (Sunflower is much more even), but it has so many absolutely phenomenal songs on it (Long Promised Road, Feel Flows, Til I Die, the title track of course) that it gets pushed above the rest of their albums of that era for me.

Funny, my gut reaction was Holland, but thinking about it, I would rank 20/20, Sunflower and Surf's Up higher.

I think I'd keep 20/20 over Sunflower because the Bruce tunes from the latter really grate with me for some reason.

Probably Friends. It doesn't have any of my favourite songs on it, but I like them all.  It's a gorgeous album, it's not like listening to music, it's like feeling it. The other albums have one or two songs on them I'm not keen on (Sunflower particularly)

If I get to keep the single records of the era, the album to keep was Sunflower. Without the singles, it would be a tough tie between that and 20/20. Had the collection of songs commonly referred to as "Landlocked" been released as an actual album, that would be it.

Exactly! Well put. :)

Friends, but if 1967 was included, I'd have picked Wild Honey.

Either Holland or Surf's Up

Tough choices, so I have to rank them based on how I feel now:

1. Sunflower (Bright, happy, and optimistic.)
2. Surf's Up (Sad, depressing, and surprisingly current in today's U.S. climate.)
3. Friends (Happy, but not as good as Sunflower.)
4. Holland (Sad, but not as good as Surf's Up. See what I did? :P)
5. 20/20 (Good but uneven.)
6. Carl and the Passions: So Tough (It's growing on me lately, but still the weakest of the studio albums.)

Forced into a corner and canonly choose one?    20-20.   Has a variety of stuff including smile bits and I Can H ear Music.   do it again, Nearest FAP......    Kind of a comp album...... A lot of variety.

That really surprises me, I wonder why there are not any Dennis songs or leads on the album.  It seems like he sang enough in those years to have at least 1.

My favorite's got to be "Over the Waves". nice short circus ditty.

Holland  for sure.

That piece is all about sound effects. If you listen to it standing right between the stereo speakers, you get dizzy as if you were a carousel. Everything seems to turn around you.

I don't think it would work as a stand alone track imo. You know where it would be great though? Cross-faded into the tag of Loop de Loop.