As you can see from the above, no-one would've been satisfied. Even without the whiners, look at this board and see how many people would drop tracks from this album or that one, knowing that there were others recorded at the time that could be used as replacements.  And when that wasn't the case, who cares?  Take a track from another album! Then you take SMiLE with the knowledge of all those variations recorded.  Do you really think people would've accepted it as the last word?  Not even for a 66 version. Not for a minute.

Creepy guy.  Very much an empty chair.

Dennis had a bigger c*ck than Ringo.  Try posting that on the Hoffman board and see if you don't get flamed.

No order -

1. Surf's Up
2. Caroline, No
3. The Little Girl I Once Knew
4. Sail on Sailor
5. Feel Flows
6. From There To Back Again
7. Don't Worry Baby
8. All I Wanna Do
9. Forever
10. Kiss Me Baby
11. The Night was so Young
12. Heroes and Villains
13. Til I Die
14. Here Today
15. God Only Knows
16. I Get Around
17. Let Him Run Wild
18. Time To Get Alone
19. I Know There's an Answer
20. I Just Wasn't Made for these Times
21. Darlin'
22. Cuddle Up
23. Long Promised Road
24. Disney Girls
25. California
26. This Whole World
27. Cabinessence
28. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
29. Good Vibrations
30. Please Let Me Wonder

"Unfortunately the same thing happens to the slavery era, in US history.  People always judge it by our politically correct standards of today."

Yeah, because slavery was such a good thing... 

I think it's okay, but a little cheesy. I don't think it measures up to any of the better 60s or 70s stuff at all. From There to Back Again is a different matter.  A song of real beauty.

He's going for a Steinbeck/Jeffers feel and, actually, pretty much hits the mark.  I'd take that over the links on TLOS any day.

Only BJ is further out of touch.

Have I done this?  Months ago?  Years ago?

Anyhow, I won't count Smile or any of the live stuff:

POB
BW88
TLOS
Bambu
Postcard (the final version, unless he's going to bring out another one... )
Gershwin
Imagination
OCA
WIRWFC
Carl Wilson
Like a Brother (I know: not structly solo...)
GIOMH
Youngblood
Disney
Going Public - at least three songs on here are way better than anything on LBWL
LBWL

If I had t include the boots:

POB
BW88
TLOS
Bambu
Paley Sessions
Postcard (the final version, unless he's going to bring out another one... )
Gershwin
Imagination
OCA
WIRWFC
First Love
Carl Wilson
Like a Brother (I know: not structly solo...)
GIOMH
Sweet Insanity
Youngblood
Unleash the Love
Disney
Going Public - at least three songs on here are way better than anything on LBWL
Country Love
LBWL

"Just confirms what I've suspected all along....Bruce Johnston will kick your ass, and he'll do it with a smile on his face."

Wearing shorts and clapping at the same time.

Campbell. By all accounts, not my cup of tea as a person, but a great guitarist and a great singer

Yep - the sax and the drums kill California Dreamin' for me.

No quality control. They were still on an oldies kick and they shelved some of the better new songs. As it stands, LA is reasonably pleasant with three standout tracks (Angel Come Home, Baby Blue and Love Surrounds Me - thank Christ Mike didn't think of that title), one pretty good one (Good Timin') and a couple of decent ones amongst the rest. Thank God we escaped Brian's Back and calendar Girl, however.

Nope.  David made a greater contribution to the nascent BB sound than Bruce did - and i'm saying this as someone who thinks Disney Girls is one of the best BB tracks and as someone who (shudder) likes Tears in the Morning...

Melcher, unfortunately, was way past it when this happened.

I love this band and I love Bruce's voice in the mix. I love SOME of his songs, but this is naive at best and ignorant at worst. That desperate attempt at macho swagger ("so I kicked his ass for ten minutes, with a smile on my face")... Well, Bruce, dude, didn't know you could be so awesome...

1 = Brian
2 = Dennis
3 = Carl
4 = Mike
5 = Al
6 = David (I'm talking in terms of contribution, not longevity)
7 = Bruce
8 = Ricky
9 = Blondie
10 = I'd be tempted to go for Daryl Dragon - maybe even before Blondie and Ricky.

Should Ed go before or after Billy Hinsche?

True, but like a lot of their fun in the sun stuff it has some shitty lyrics.

"I think listening to Al for definitive details on this sort of thing is probably silly."

Yup.  Like Bruce saying Little Girl... was on Summer Days...

Hmmmm.  To me, Brian's voice sounds better than Mike's.  It's as if Mike won't open up his throat. Great version of Sail on Sailor.  Pity the song choice isn't a little wider.

My comp:

1. That Lucky Old Sun
2. Morning Beat
3. Live Let Live
4. TLOS reprise
5. Midnight's Another Day
6. TLOS reprise
7. Tide Pool Interlude
8. Looking Down The Coast
8. California Feeling
9. California Dreaming
10. Strange World
10. Piano Variations on Thoughts Of You
11. Think About The Days
12. From There To Back Again
13. Pacific Coast Highway
14. Summer's Gone

Have to agree with Mr Cunningham here.

LA. Of course.

I can't be arsed to do the whole rank thing, but there are three or four songs on it that I love but too much flippant stuff, often courtesy of the painfullly self-referential and downright dumb lyrics or the occasional heavy-handed production, to qualify it as a 'classic'. However, I think From There To Back Again, a least, is a stone cold classic. I'd go with AGD and say it's their best since Holland (excepting Love You). However, because of the lyrics, some tracks wouldn't be amiss on SIP, which is not a good thing.

Great song.  So you're wrong.

I wouldn't want to merge Love You or CATP or Holland.

I occasionally mix MIU and LA but I stick in the odd outtake too.