I keep listening to this more and more. Surround sound, and headphones, sounds supurb in both. I'm not one for Christmas songs, I actually never heard some of these songs until I bought this album, and I love it. The a capella intro to "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" is so smooth. I love how Brian mixed a saxophone with the harmonies around it, while the sax becomes a "voice" following the falsesetto - my favorite bit on the album. My favorite tune on here is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" I just enjoy the beat and of course the sax solo (the solo gets better as the song fades) sadly we don't get Jimmy Kimmel where I live so I wasn't able to watch Brian perform this on there live, but anyhow...I give this album a 4, not as good as the Beach Boys' Christmas album but I do agree MUCH better than the '77 material. This will be playing on Sunday for sure. *This definately was played while I was opening my presents, along with the Beach Boys' Ultimate Christmas.
One of my favorite Beach Boys albums. I absolutely love the a capella opener to "Island Girl", and I enjoy the title track as well. Mike's bass vocal in "Wipe Out" is fun to sing along with. I rate this a 4, only because I wish they put out a few new songs instead of "California Girls", "I Get Around", and "Wouldn't It Be Nice".
A non-Mike Love Beach Boys would be hard to imagine just as far as harmonies go. He has such a unique voice, especially his really deep bass vocals not necessarily his "nasal" voice, but his bass is so crisp (especially throughout the '60s) his bass is still in good shape now after watching them live last month.
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