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What post Holland songs do you consider to be 10/10 in music/production/lyrics/etc. I don't mean just one, but in all these areas. Here is the list I have come up with:

The Night Was So Young
Baby Blue
Where I Belong
From There to Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone
You're Still a Mystery

Honorable mention (I considered, but my say 8 or 9 of 10):
Let Us Go On
Johnny Carson
My Diane
Love Surrounds Me
Santa Anna Winds
Kokamo (yes I said it!)
Soul Searchin

Just to be clear I'm meeting your criteria, ALL areas have to be 10? That eliminates a lot of songs due to various member's vocals NOT being a 10. The Beach Boys Love You is an example of this. Anyway, here goes:

- Palisades Park
- Matchpoint Of Our Love
- Good Timin'
- Lady Lynda
- Baby Blue (this is soooo close because of Dennis' raspy/hoarse vocal, but maybe you like that style)
- Livin' With A Heartache (the length of the song might disqualify it from this survey, but otherwise...)
- Where I Belong
- Somewhere Near Japan
- Pacific Coast Highway
- Summer's Gone   

Interesting with Matchpoint! I think that's a highly under rated song! Palisades Park surprises me a bit. I can see a point for the rest though. Was Palisades Park a cover song or written by a BB? I would like to keep it to songs written by the Beach Boys. Other wise I would add Just Once In My Life.

"Palisades Park" was a hit record for Freddie "Boom Boom" Cannon in 1962 and written by none other than Chuck Barris of The Gong Show fame. :o

"Love Surrounds Me" is pretty ace on all fronts.  The track doesn't get enough love but it's a really cool production, song, and a nice late period Dennis vocal.

I think Lady Lynda is a masterpiece. One of the all-time best BBs songs.

I'll probably get teared to shreds for saying that. But god, I love that song!!!

California Dreamin'
California Calling
Kokomo
Pacific Coast Highway

"Perfect" (tho 10 out of 10 might be pushing it on a couple of them)
California Dreaming
Chasin' The Sky
Somewhere Near Japan
Kokomo
Soulful Old Man Sunshine
From There To Back Again


Very near misses
Had To Phone Ya
She's Got Rhythm
Keepin' The Summer Alive
The Beach Boys Medley
Getcha Back
Isn't It Time
Strange World
Summer's Gone
(Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again

I like 3 of those songs. California Calling? I can't stand it!

Let Us Go On This Way
Good Timin'
Good Time
It's OK
Rock N Roll Music (2012 Mix with extra verse)
Had To Phone Ya
Honkin Down The Highway
Just Once In My Life
Goin' On
Getcha Back
I Do Love You
Where I Belong
You're Still A Mystery
That's Why God Made The Radio
Spring Vacation
From There To Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone

I'll exclude Love You -songs because in my opinion it's a perfect album and I could easily fill the top ten with it.

1. Goin' On
-Well, the production may not be 10/10, but I think the actual song is great.

2. Some of Your Love
-It rocks and it's catchy, it's the Beach Boys!

3. Kokomo
-A stone cold classic

4. Still Cruisin'
-This one has really grown on me over the years.

5. Lady Lynda
-Al's finest hour as a songwriter. A perfect gem. That cembalo!

6. Good Timin'

7. My Diane

8. Rolling Up To Heaven

9. Stevie

10. TWGMTR

He had a little help from Bach. It's an OK record but that intro has got to go! (as it was on the single version)

It's OK
The Night Was So Young
Good Time (if that counts)
It's Over Now
Matchpoint
Love Surrounds Me

To me, the Knebworth live one is THE definitive version.

Some of the above &

Angel Come Home  :o

Angel Come Home, of course! On second thought, I'd pick that one over TWGMTR.

Think About the Days. 

I think the others I had in mind have all been mentioned. 

It's OK
Had To Phone Ya
Just Once In My Life
Let Us Go On This Way
Roller Skating Child
Mona
Johnny Carson
Honkin' Down The Highway
Ding Dang
The Night Was So Young
I'll Bet He's Nice
I Wanna Pick You Up
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
Life Is For The Living
Deep Purple
It's Over Now
Everybody Wants To Live
It's Trying To Say
Still I Dream Of It
She's Got Rhythm
Hey Little Tomboy
Peggy Sue
Good Timin'
Full Sail
Angel Come Home
Love Surrounds Me
Baby Blue
It's A Beautiful Day
Goin' To The Beach
Keepin' The Summer Alive
Goin' On
Stevie
Getcha Back
Maybe I Don't Know
Rock 'n' Roll To The Rescue
California Dreamin'
Still Cruisin'
Somewhere Near Japan
In My Car
Hot Fun In The Summertime
Island Fever
Still Surfin'
Strange Things Happen
Lahaina Aloha
Summer In Paradise
You're Still A Mystery
Think About The Days
Isn't It Time
Spring Vacation
The Private Life Of Bill And Sue
Shelter
From There To Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone

Sweet Sunday Love.
My Diane.
Baby Blue.
Lady Lynda.
Goin' On.
Santa Anna Winds.
Where I Belong.
Soul Searchin'.

It's a small list. Lots of very good post Holland songs but 10/10 in every catagory from the criteria stated? Few and far between.

Evidently some posters in this thread are having problems with the concept of original Beach Boys songs. FYI, that means "no covers".  :)

Reeding comprehenshun waz never my strong suit (or speeling)

 :banana

Yeah, that was I was trying to communicate.

I really think "Love You" is one of the greatest albums, but I understand that it's rough around the edges ... here's the tracks that I think harken back to the classic era of production quality (not necessarily my personal favorites), post-Holland (I'm including covers!):

1 It's OK
2 Had to Phone Ya
3 Palisades Park
4 It's Over Now
5 Come Go With Me
6 My Diane
7 Good Timin'
8 Baby Blue
9 Goin' On
10 Stevie
11 Soul Searchin'
12 You're Still A Mystery
13 It's Not Easy Being Me
14 From There to Back Again

 

In no order

The Night was So Young
I'lll Bet He's Nice
Johnny Carson
Had to Phone Ya
My Diane
From There To Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Strange World
Angel Come Home
California Feeling
Love Surrounds Me
Baby Blue
Santa Ana Winds
Pitter Patter
Goin' On
Good Timin'
You're Still a Mystery
Where I Belong
Still I DReam of It
It's Over Now
Somewhere Near Japan
Strange Things Happen
Think About the Days
Maybe I Don''t Know

I agree with a lot on here that say Love You isn't far off a perfect album so gets heavily included. People also seem to be including a lot of Brian's solo works, especially from the Paley sessions, so given that that appears to be allowed...

It's not easy bein' me (one of my all time favs of any era ever)
Let us go on this way
Mona
Solar System
Life is for the Living
Still I dream of it
Summer's Gone
Midnight's Another Day
This Beautiful Day
This Song's gonna sleep with you
Concert Tonight (short version  :lol )

I was thinking about making a seperate thread for Brian solo. But here are some of mine:
There's So Many
Rio Grande
Chain Reaction (perhaps my favorite!)
Love and Mercy (iwmftt)
The Waltz
That Lucky Old Sun lp
Some of No Pier Pressure, but I'm not familiar enough with track titles and don't have them with me right now.
If we are including covers, Reimagines Gershwin lp

It blows my mind that a thread on top quality BB songs after Holland has actually extended more than one page.

I think there's plenty of top quality songs after Holland.  Top quality albums?  Not really.  So, you had a ton more filler from 1976-2012 than from 1962-1973.  But still a lot of good. 

Just Once In My Life
The Love You album
My Diane
Good Timin'
Angel Come Home
Love Surrounds Me
Baby Blue

- 15 Big Ones, except for three or four lame cuts
- the entire Love You LP
- My Diane
- most of L.A. (Light Album)
- Getcha Back, Male Ego, Where I Belong
- Kokomo, Somewhere Near Japan
- Lahaina Aloha
- Pacific Coast Highway, Summer's Gone

YES!!!

Speaking of Lady Lynda, I actually heard a local sportsreporter singing a part of that on the radio the other day on the way to work.  Somebody mentioned the name Lynda (or Linda), and he starting singing the refrain. 

Baby Blue
Good Timin'
Keepin' the Summer Alive
It's Over Now
My Diane

It's OK (single version)
Roller Skating Child
Night Was So Young
Kona Coast
Wontcha Come Out Tonight
Good Timin
Lady Linda
Full Sail
Angel Come Home
Baby Blue
KTSA
Santa Ana Winds
Getcha Back
Where I Belong
Rock & Roll to the Rescue
Kokomo
Still Cruisin'
Summer in Paradise (live single)
Soul Searchin' (MIC mix)
TWGMTR
Spring Vacation
From There and Back Again
Summer's Gone

I have to say that some of the songs that are being listed surprise me. I actually like most of the songs, but a song like It's Ok is catchy and fun, but nothing special in my opinion. Summer in Paradise single? I don't think it's as bad as a lot of people say but top notch? I disagree. Again, I won't argue about opinion.  A lot of songs I really like, such as Male Ego I don't consider a 10/10. :)

I've been listening to a lot of Keepin' The Summer Alive lately, and if "California Girls" is a 10/10 -- then one song that really leaps out at me is "Goin' On."

While they would never again (possible exception:  Kokomo) strike a chord with the general public like they did in the mid-60s, there are still a lot of those brilliant, odd, eccentric moments of pure genius from them and Brian.  Melt Away, much of Love You, etc.  But, I think "Goin' On" (which is top-of-mind for me right now) is the closest in terms of recapturing that brilliant, sparkling diamond of genius that is all over tracks like "Good Vibrations" and "California Girls" AND feels commercial (10/10) -- even though it wasn't a big hit.

I really don't see a 10 of 10 release post-Holland.  Most of the songs listed above seem to me to be about 8's at best, with many hovering in the 5 to 7 range.  Although I still liked them very much post-Holland, that to me is when the career started heading south in terms of album quality.  CATP can be excused partly for being a rush job, but LA, MIU, and 85 scream, "Mediocrity!!".  Well, don't exactly scream it, more like actually inhabit mediocrity.

Oh sure, there are a few almost gems scattered amongst the ruins, but even those don't quite make it.  Something has been lost along the way and even the better songs seem to be attempting to pick at the skeleton of their former work.

I can still listen to the aforementioned titles, but it is more a labor of forbearance than of love, kind of like the affection a parent might still hold for a wayward child.

From the much maligned MIU Album, Al's "Winds Of Change" (which seems very "Brucian" in it's concept, but not in its execution) is a perfect little song.  Certainly not a hit or even widely liked -- but to me the production is at the top of the notch.  The arrangement is everything it needs to be.  I wouldn't change anything on it -- and don't say "besides making it" -- because that's already been factored in.  I think it's a perfect little creation, a part one or precursor to "Santa Anna Winds."

Agree - Winds must be one of the most overlooked songs in the band's output, probably cos it's not associated with Brian.

I think Winds of Change more closely related to And I Always Will from his Postcards album… and that, to my ears, shares some DNA with From There to Back Again. All's voice is probably the main factor affecting my subconscious - they each have different composers/lyricists after all - but I see the three tunes as family.

Unfashionable though it may be to admit this, I agree - and its a song with an ambition sorely lacking from most of tha album (and I love the coda...)

Please, Al's "Winds Of Change"? The liner notes would have it that Ron Altbach and Ed Tejulah cooked this turd up sometime before Al and Mike laid this (additionally) sh*t version down.

Sorry 'bout that, I'm a big Al fan, and hate to see him lumbered inappropriately -(but aknowledge, he is sometimes easily led (for example, Take a Load off, and in later days, Island Girl, Lady Liberty etc).

I wouldn't rate "Winds Of Change" a 10, but in my opinion, it's far from a "turd" and a "sh*t version". One of the biggest criticisms of the M.I.U. Album is that it's not adventurous and not too deep, maybe even shallow. With "Winds Of Change" they tried something a little deeper, a different style; they were even bold enough to go outside the group for the song. I give 'em a break, I like the song, but I still wish they would've ended the album with "Our Team". I love the fade...

I would list Goin On and Winds of Change as a solid 7 or 8 of 10. The vocals on Goin On are a bit harsh. The tag of Winds of Change doesn't sound right. Not even close to the perfection in the tag on God Only Knows.

Not many songs in the history of popular music have a tag close to "God Only Knows".:-D

However, the tag on "Winds Of Change" is great! I still remember the first time I played/heard M.I.U./"Winds Of Change". As a fan whose first new BB albums purchased were 15 Big Ones and Love You, and wondering if Brian would ever regain, not just his falsetto but his voice, you can only imagine how I felt when that "Winds Of Change" tag came out of the speakers. Emotional, surprised, and maybe even spiritual would describe it. I was literally doing cartwheels and going "Yes! Yes! Yes!" It still gets to me today.

… and if I recall, the Winds tag was one of those elements which came unstuck on the first CD issue of MiU. Some folks might not yet have heard be correct mix…

Al wasn't prolific but he brought some strong tunes to the table - Susie C is one of my all-time fave BBs rockers; Santa Anna Winds is the kind of soft country whose style, if adopted, could have sustained them through leaner, less creative periods later on; Come Go With Me was a neat tip to their early doowop influences, and continued the theme of 15BOs. Lady Lynda was the hit it deserved to be, something which has eluded them virtually ever since.

But hey, I like Feet too, so feel free to disregard all of the above!!!

Thanks for sharing your perspective on the approach to "WOC", Sheriff & I can appreciate what you are saying in relation to the band remaining adventurous/going outside the "box".

IMHO, or within the ropey square within which I judge BB songs, I find this song a bit on the desperate side as though they were scrambling around for a "BIG" hit but going down an unfortunate MOR path - I could imagine a Dione Warwick or similar turning this into a huge slick hit, unfortunately Mike's a little shakey here (imo, again) and I'm still unconvinced it suited their (or my understanding of) style de jour.

Anyway, yes, I'm on board with Our Team tho' - agree re the fade and it's got that a certain charm I think missing from other numbers from the MIU timeline.     

I don't think they were reaching for a hit with Winds, but then again what do I know. I think they we going for a mood. It's sort of like "All This Is That."  It's a state of mind, mantra, meditating place.

There is an element of cheese -- not maudlin, maybe a slightly lachrymose, or cloying sentiment -- but it only suggests it and doesn't fully succumb to it, for me anyway. And the tag provides a nice pay-off..

But my point in bringing it up is, it is a nice production. It was done right. The arrangement and production of it all is a real achievement.

Ignoring covers, songs that were recorded for albums up to Holland, I'm left with these tracks.

The Beach Boys
Had to Phone Ya (Instrumental)
Let Us Go On This Way
The Night Was So Young
I'll Bet He's Nice
My Diane
Love Surrounds Me
Somewhere Near Japan
You're Still a Mystery
From There to Back Again

Brian Wilson
Melt Away
Midnight's Another Day

Dennis Wilson
River Song
Thoughts of You
Farewell My Friend
Rainbows

Thanks for expressing your thoughts so eloquently - my apologies for jumping on your original post and opinions in the way I did...I recall years ago on binaries.alt.beachboys or whatever a guy called "theoldgeezer' saying - "there are no bad beach boys songs". Such wisdom - cheers

 :beer

-A

Winds of Change always felt kinda off to me. I love the strings, the piano, the melody - but I feel the vocals could've used a bit more work; in my opinion the lead vocals should've been double tracked, and the tag could've used fuller, more drawn out harmonies. It's odd because the rest of the album has amazing vocals - it's the one latter day Beach Boys album that truly utilizes everyone's voices in that classic Beach Boys way.

Regardless of my minuscule qualms with it, Winds has grown on me since I first heard it; it's a good closer to a decent album.

I'm of the mindset that says even a bad Beach Boys' song is way better than most others bands' efforts. :beer indeed!