What is their strongest post-Pet Sounds album? (1967-1977)

[Dave Modny]

For me:

Sunflower: A
20/20: A
Surf's Up: A -
Friends: A -
Holland: B +
Wild Honey: B + (unfortunately, sound quality alone probably pushes this one out of "A" territory for me)
CATP: B
Smiley: B -
Love You: B -
15 BO: C - 


Can we keep going? This is fun.

[filledeplage]

WHY DO SO MANY BB FANS HATE "BLUEBIRDS OVER THE MOUNTAIN" ? :/

I don't hate it. But IMO, it's a childish song, and although I usually love loud distorted guitars I just don't think they belong on Beach Boys records.

:/ i'm the only that likes it.

Nope.  Not the only one.

u do too?

Bluebirds is an awesome song!  Upbeat!  Great vocals...I just downloaded 20/20 (Friends) for cheapo  $4.99, today.  (I wish it had been paired with Stack-O-Tracks!)

With (sure-to-go-deaf earbuds) I heard it, differently, for the first time today! the guitar parts are fabulous...(Ed Carter) and what sounds like a marimba (xylophone) - the album rocks!  It was a weird time, (post-psychedelic lasting about the same length as disco) music and in the middle of the Woodstock social consciousness, post MLK and RFK murders.  Sort of a transition period...

Do It Again!  The summers of '68 (the single) and '69 (20/20) Charting is irrelevant to me.  But, weird that some songs were hits abroad. 

The impossible poll - Best since Pet Sounds...(one is not enough) 

1. Surfs Up - tie with Holland etal (So Tough)
2. 20/20 (a gem!)
3. Wild Honey (Get a breath of that Country Air, Darlin'!)



   

i agree with everything you just said except "1. surf's up" c'mon now, There aren't any good songs on there besides surf's up and til i die. everything else is ughhhhh :/

Now, c'mon, you whippersnapper, listen to Day In The Life (a stunning production and song) Carl songs (Ditto), Disney Girls, and try and be kind to Feet. Lookin' At Tomorrow is in exactly the right place, but doesn't hoe my row, and Don't Go Near The Water is redeemed from boredom by the godly tag and generally fantastic production. Student Demonstration Time can piss off, I don't care how good it sounds. 

Now, Darlin' Mr. Hypehat - You might be trying to trick me!  Day in the Life's "cathedral  organ"vocals are listed on wiki as having been sung  by Mr.  Al  Jardine alongside  VDP and an impostor.

You won't sway me on Student Demonstration Time...;-)

[mammy blue]

A nerve has indeed been touched! As both a Brianista and a Boyista, it's annoying when people try and split hairs to prove that anything good must be somehow due to Brian's magic touch.

Brian is a musical genius but the Beach Boys were awesome and talented too! Big deal!

"So young" .... from the line "The night was so young" is the same melody as the  "write their names" part of the line "who couldn't even write their names" from The Trader. Should we suggest Carl get's co-writer credit on The Night Was So Young???

Such analogies in music would be bottomless if one cared to sniff around.

I really hope Mike isn't reading this or there will be a flurry of new lawsuits for songwriting credit!

Well, Brian did get a cowriter credit on Dierdre. It's not like we're adding him into the equation out of thin air. I was just responding to the suggestion that Brian did little to deserve the credit. Strange how the tables of logic somehow got turned there.

[mammy blue]

"together again" and "tomorrow at ten".... that repeated melodic phrase, clearly is heard in both songs and there is one person listed as a contributor for both tracks.

Ron Wilson wrote We're Together Again, not Brian.

Why are Brian and Ron listed everywhere, then?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

WHY DO SO MANY BB FANS HATE "BLUEBIRDS OVER THE MOUNTAIN" ? :/

I don't hate it. But IMO, it's a childish song, and although I usually love loud distorted guitars I just don't think they belong on Beach Boys records.

:/ i'm the only that likes it.

I like it too, although IMHO the horns were a bit of overkill.

[RockabillyNBlues]

This is a great topic!  It's a tough call to say which is my favorite.  I think these albums sometimes get overshadowed by Pet Sounds and even all the attention the SMiLE project has gotten over the years (both deserving the attention I might add).  These were all great projects and I've had periods where I've really dug into each.  Right now though, I've been listening a lot to the Carl & The Passions and Friends albums.  Some great stuff!  I love that they've surprised us many times over the years with doing something different.  For that fact alone, I'll go with Carl & The Passions.

[Peter Reum]

Definitely  Sunflower  with  Wild Honey second...

[runnersdialzero]

I now understand the fellow who once raged about how annoying it was that most people only think of the Beach Boys pre-Pet Sounds and post-Pet Sounds.

[schiaffino]

Surf's Up is my favourite Beach Boys album - period.
Sunflower is their most cohesive group effort.
Holland may be slightly superior to Sunflower but a near total lack of Brian makes it feel like a different band at times.
So Tough could have been a contender if it were a few tracks longer.
I love 20/20 even if half of the material were covers or were several years old at the time of release.
Wild Honey suffers from really sh*tty production and poorly mixed vocal arrangements on what would otherwise be a great batch of tunes.
Thanks to the legend of SMiLE and following in the wake of Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile is doomed to be the most misunderstood album of all time.
Friends is a nice mellow record with some cool ideas, but it's just not in the same league as what Brian was achieving just a few years previously.
15 Big Ones is the soundtrack to what occurs when record label pressure and in-house band politics put the two most creative members of The BB's on the sidelines in favour of a guy who would rather be in bed eating junk food, snorting coke and watching porn.
Love You is an audio document of Brian unable to differentiate between great songs and truly awful songs with the added bonus of two thirds of the group's voices ruined by drugs and alcohol.

Still I would not trade these records for the world.

[/quote

Ouis, je suis d'accord avec toi, anything with Surf's Up on it and Long Promised Road O it's genius!

[BananaLouie]

Sunflower by far and also Love You, Surfs Up although a great record could have been better but unfortunatly bad decisions were made.

[Justin]

Where's the love for 15 Big Ones?

Yeah no kidding!  Fascinating results here.  Since posting this poll and reading people's responses I've been revisiting most of these albums again. Particularly Friends after seeing how well it was doing in the voting.  I must say that I had forgotten most of this album and was pleasantly surprised what I found and have a new respect for it. 

I also found more love for 20/20....an album that doesn't seem to be represented well in the polls here!  I actually prefer 20/20 over Friends by a small margin.  But either way, I walked away with a reminder of just how great these albums were.

Here's my revised list:

1 Sunflower
2 Carl and The Passions So Tough
3 Surf's Up
4 Smiley Smile
5 20/20
6 Friends
7 Love You
8 Holland
9 15 Big Ones
10 Wild Honey


Looks like I gotta relook at Wild Honey now!

Still haven't gotten to Wild Honey but I did revisit Holland and found a new appreciation for it.  I've deleted the Mt. Vernon EP from my Ipod...didn't need it. 

Revised list!

1 Sunflower
2 Smiley Smile
3 Carl and the Passions So Tough
4 Surf's Up
5 20/20
6 Friends
7 Holland
8 Love You
9 15 Big Ones
10 Wild Honey

[Quzi]

1. Love You
2. Smiley Smile
3. Sunflower
4. Friends
5. Surf's Up
6. 20/20
7. Carl and the Passions So Tough
8. Wild Honey
9. Holland
10. 15 Big Ones

[Domino]

1. Smiley Smile
2. Love You
3. Sunflower
4. Friends
5. 15 Big Ones
6. Surf's Up
7. Wild Honey
8. 20/20
9. Carl and the Passions So Tough
10. Holland

[Newguy562]

I vote for Smiley Smile. The reason is simple: I enjoy the music of it more than the other albums. Imo every track is great!

I agree 100%
As strange as it sounds besides Smile/Wild honey it's the only post Pet Sounds album that I can listen to entirely and be completely satisfied with.

[Catbirdman]

I picked Sunflower barely over Friends.

I picked Friends barely over Sunflower.

[Ovi]

1.Sunflower
2.Friends
3.Smiley Smile
4.Wild Honey
5.Love You
6.20/20
7.Surf's Up
8.Carl and The Passions - 'So Tough'
9.Holland



10.15 Big Ones

[Quzi]

Strongest: Sunflower
Favourite: Love You

[EgoHanger1966]

I'm having trouble deciding between Sunflower and Friends. It's one of those, though.

[Justin]

Funny, I was thinking of reviving this thread also because I was just amazed how I rated these albums some seven months ago--especially since then I've completely fallen in love with a few albums that ranked so low in my list! Making this list today would be pretty difficult.  I wondered if others would feel the same way when they see their rankings here.  Very interesting!

[lee]

strongest - Sunflower
favorite - Friends

[TimeToGetAlone]

1. Sunflower
2. Holland
3. Surf's Up
4. Love You
5. 20/20
6. Friends
7. Carl and the Passions "So Tough"
8. Wild Honey
9. Smiley Smile
10. 15 Big Ones

[bluesno1fann]

From my least Favourite to my Favourite:

10. 15 Big Ones.
09. Smiley Smile.
08. Friends.
07. Holland.
06. Wild Honey.
05. Love You.
04. Carl And The Passions: "So Tough!".
03. Sunflower.
02. 20/20.
01. Surf's Up.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Kids! Not enough poll threads clogging up your favourite forum? Why not ressurect some from years ago. Maybe start a few new ones too.....

[phirnis]

Been rediscovering the Holland era. So good!

[Gabo]

Love You... best collection of melodies after Pet Sounds