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Author Topic: All Summer Long is my least favorite Beach Boys album  (Read 15574 times)
Aegir
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« on: June 14, 2012, 09:40:58 AM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.
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« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2012, 09:43:17 AM »

except that Girls On The Beach is one of the greatest songs ever written.
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EgoHanger1966
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« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2012, 09:45:39 AM »

except that Girls On The Beach is one of the greatest songs ever written.


I wouldn't go that far, but it certainly is beautiful.

All Summer Long (the album) is lightyears ahead of the first two albums. A little better or even with Surfer Girl, LDC, and Shut Down 2.
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« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2012, 09:53:43 AM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.
and Drive-In is one of Brian's favorite tunes. I rank All Summer Long second after Today as far as pre-Pet Sounds albums go, and probably rank it 5 or 6 overall. That album just encapsulates the Summer of 1964 perfectly.
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« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2012, 10:02:52 AM »

Hushabye is excellent too. Our Favorite is stupid but the rest is a lot of fun. Drive In, Do You Remember, and Girls, aren't the top rank of the songs on there, but they work in context and  it's still an amazing album imho.
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« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2012, 10:13:45 AM »

Girls On The Beach is so great that it's the only Vocaloid cover I've ever been able to find for them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95duyvWIgvc
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Jason
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« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2012, 10:14:12 AM »

Along with Surfer Girl, it's the best of the pre-Today albums.
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« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2012, 10:14:52 AM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.
I think in terms of 'teenage coolness', ALL SUMMER LONG is second only to SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS!!) - and just because SDASN is more sophisticated in every way, while ASL is more like the raw deal. But it's great. So great. "Do You Remember?" is simple but fun, "Girls On The Beach" is as beautiful as any beach-themed ballad Brian ever wrote, "Drive-In" is a personal favourite of mine (it's so energetic) and "Our Favorite Recording Sessions" is.. well, "Our Favorite Recording Sessions". Obvious filler, but a child of its time nonetheless, and for some reason those early filler tracks with the boys in the recording studio always seemed fitting to me on these LPs.
Oh, and the obvious stand-out tracks you have already mentioned.  Add the stunning "Hushabye" and one of my earliest BBs favourites, "Little Honda", and you got a damn fine album.  Smiley

Bottom line: ALL SUMMER LONG kicks ass.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2012, 10:18:46 AM by Lowbacca » Logged
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« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2012, 10:43:14 AM »

Girls on the beach would fit nicely on that "forced songs" thread, i always skip it.  I'm not big on the album either, minus the ones aegir posted.  I'm not even crazy for Wendy, but well run away is pure classic.
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« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2012, 10:45:11 AM »

I'm not even crazy for Wendy.
That's because she's a cheatin' bitch.
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Jon Stebbins
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« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2012, 10:51:57 AM »

In many ways this is the quintessential Beach Boys album. Pet Sounds is more sophisticated, Sunflower is a greater team effort, Endless Summer sold more copies, but All Summer Long is the definition of what made the Beach Boys great. Released in the summer of 1964, it sparkles with harmonic magic, and it exudes an irresistible zest for fun. The songs offer a sweetly framed window into the lives and feelings of California boys and girls. The album captures its place and time so perfectly that with every listen you are transported there again.

All Summer Long shows a continuing maturation of the Beach Boys sound. An increased complexity in the arrangements is integrated. The Beach Boys themselves still play the majority of the instruments heard on the tracks, but saxophones, piccolo, marimba, and timbales are among the added seasoning. The album begins with the megahit single “I Get Around,” which reached the number-one position on the Billboard chart on July 4, 1964. “I Get Around” features one of the most progressive musical and vocal arrangements of its time. There was a shiny space-age quality to the song’s overall sound. Exciting sax and percussion flourishes accent the beat, and a killer Carl Wilson guitar solo propels the song forward like a rocket. The lyrics written by Mike Love have gained an iconic familiarity that perfectly communicates the somewhat hedonistic concerns of the teen cruising culture.

Following the sonic onslaught of “I Get Around,” the album continues with an unforgettable string of classic Brian Wilson songs. The wistful title track is somehow instantly nostalgic, and recounts the pure fun that filled those carefree days of summer. “Hushabye” is a cover of a doo-wop oldie that the Beach Boys completely make their own with one of the most beautiful and dramatic group harmony performances ever. “Little Honda” is joyous garage rock, with the Beach Boys, as a band, rocking out to one of Brian’s catchiest songs, and one of Mike’s best lead vocals. The melancholy “We’ll Run Away” could be Brian’s most underrated ballad, and his heartfelt lead vocal is one of his greatest. The hook-filled “Wendy” could have been a giant hit single. It is both progressive-sounding musically, and a throwback to the ’50s with its “we went together for so long” sentiment. “Girls on the Beach” shows off Brian’s incredible vocal-arranging skill, with complex group blends and multiple key changes. Dennis’s brief solo vocal in the middle section is one of the album’s most soulful moments. “Don’t Back Down” provides one last burst of bravado extolling the insane thrill of surfing giant waves.
All Summer Long was a hugely successful album, reaching #4 on the charts, but even more impressive was the fact that it remained in the U.S. Top Forty for over nine months. Another factor that solidified its classic status was the wonderful cover, which absolutely shimmers with the aura of summer and fun. To see the boys and their girls, enjoying the beach and each other, and actually having fun all summer long, somehow made the music better. There is an undeniable fleeting quality that is projected, and it’s a bittersweet sensation. As Dennis writes on the back cover, “It won’t last forever . . . but the memories will.” It didn’t, and they did.

All Summer Long = My Favorite Beach Boys LP.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2012, 10:56:43 AM by Jon Stebbins » Logged
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« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2012, 10:56:47 AM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.
Why create a post about your least favorite Beach Boys LP? Seems you could have given your opinion on the albums threads. It should have gone in the Album, Book and Video review area.

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SG7
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« Reply #12 on: June 14, 2012, 10:57:25 AM »

Shame, that has to be my favorite early album.
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Paul J B
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« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2012, 11:04:02 AM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.

It always blows my mind when someone that posts here a ton says something that makes no sense. The Beach Boys themselves have several albums with a span of four songs much worse than the likes of GOTB or Drive In. Have you not heard MIU or BB 85? .............and you say by anyone ever? ANYONE?...........really? If I closed my eyes and walked into a used record shop the first random thing I picked would almost certainly suck in comparison to All Summer Long.

But then, I still think Smiley Smile is a train wreck overall and I know a lot of my brethren here think I'm nuts for that.
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« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2012, 11:04:21 AM »

The only thing I could think in response to the first post is, "no".  I realize taste is subjective, but this is just wrong.







Also, Summer in Paradise.
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« Reply #15 on: June 14, 2012, 11:06:35 AM »

Girls on the beach would fit nicely on that "forced songs" thread, i always skip it. 


you are missing out my friend!

there's a lushness there that you just don't find in all that many BBs tunes... heavenly.
and the entire song is worth it just for Denny's soulful lead on the bridge, as Jon pointed out above.

great review Jon!
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« Reply #16 on: June 14, 2012, 11:25:51 AM »

Short (very) story.  In 1985 I was 17.  Driving in my car and heard Getcha Back on the radio.  I went to the record store and bought the then brand new 1985 album (my first Beach Boys album of any kind). The next day I went back and bought All Summer Long. It always reminds me of that first summer I discovered the Beach Boys, it was the perfect summer album for a teenager discovering their music, even 20 years after it was recorded. All Summer Long remains my favorite album to this day.
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« Reply #17 on: June 14, 2012, 11:48:35 AM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.

Wow, utterly and totally disagree!

Do You Remember? - Great rock n roll pastiche and love the name dropping, Elvis, Chuck Berry etc.
Girls On The Beach - The opening harmonies are majestic and as other people have mentioned, Dennis' 'the sun in her hair...' line gives me goosebumps.
Drive-In - Love the sleigh-bells, the backing vocals and the silences which foreshadowed The Little Girl I Once Knew
Our Favorite Recording Sessions - Ok, I'll concede that this is filler but it's the best of the 3 'in the studio tracks' and it's great how that piano note at the end is in the same key as the song that follows.

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« Reply #18 on: June 14, 2012, 11:48:55 AM »

All Summer Long is so awesome some people do whole Master's theses on it:

http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=22458&local_base=GEN01-MCG02

There's even an interesting analysis in it of the album cover, which I agree is wonderful
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« Reply #19 on: June 14, 2012, 12:01:48 PM »

I love that album What do you want to do? Punish me?
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« Reply #20 on: June 14, 2012, 12:44:44 PM »

I must admit that Drive-In is one of the band's most underrated songs. It's total, utter nonsense but it's a fuckload of fun. When Brian started playing the song in concert, it was a real treat. Brian would ham it up in true Brian Wilson style, as well. It's a fucking classic. Deal with it.
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« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2012, 12:54:37 PM »

Little Honda (alternate take) is one my favorite Beach Boys song right now. Brian's falsetto in that is awesome.
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« Reply #22 on: June 14, 2012, 01:10:04 PM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.


Oh my f*cking lord.
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« Reply #23 on: June 14, 2012, 01:14:27 PM »

There's a reason George Lucas played All Summer Long at the end of American Graffiti (an American film).  It captured the innocence and happiness of summertime better than any song I can think of, it's pure Beach Boys magic.
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Jason
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« Reply #24 on: June 14, 2012, 01:57:09 PM »

I mean, I Get Around, All Summer Long, We'll Run Away, Wendy, and Don't Back Down are good or very good songs. I love We'll Run Away.

But the rest of the album? ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Do You Remember, Girls on the Beach, Drive-In, Our Favorite Recording Sessions - you can't get a worse span of four songs than that on any album by anyone ever.


Oh my fodering lord.

That was my reaction, but with a much larger number of four-letter descriptive adjectives.
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