Rank the tracks #23: L.A. Album

[Myk Luhv]

1.) Love Surrounds Me--I think there are better songs on The Bambu Sessions than this, but this bleak song from Dennis has an emotional resonance that I find lacking from so many of the songs on this ballad-heavy album.  I find both Dennis' lead and the falsetto backing vocals haunting.  In my view, this is the only really essential song on the album.

This is the correct answer.

[Summertime Blooz]

My 2nd favorite studio album, right behind Friends!  I love every track.

Eric, I know we're all entitled to our opinions and all, but.... really?!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Isn't it funny how different we all are? I mean, I really don't like this album, yet others do. Yet, BB 85 is one of my favorites, and most people hate it@

[I. Spaceman]

A very nice album, as underrated by some of the fanbase as Passions and Holland are overrated. A fair attempt at a beach Boys equivalent to Rumours.


Unbelievable:

1. Good Timin' (One of the band's greatest)
2. Baby Blue

Excellent to very good:

3. Love Surrounds Me
4. Angel Come Home
5. Lady Lynda
6. Full Sail

Good to fair:

7. Here Comes The Night (Takes up too much of the album, but if it was the length of the single, it would be one class higher. Disco rules)
8. Goin' South
9. Shortnin' Bread

Horrific:

10. Sumahama.

[The Dumb Angel]

Great
1. Baby Blue (Absolutely gorgeous)
2. Good Timin'
3. Love Surrounds Me

Good
4. Angel Come Home
5. Full Sail
6. Lady Lynda

Decent
7. Shortnin' Bread
8. Goin' South

Awful
9. Sumahama
10. Here Comes The Night (Why!? It was such an awesome song on Wild Honey!)

[Sheriff John Stone]

10. Here Comes The Night (Why!? It was such an awesome song on Wild Honey!)

You know, it's funny.... I can easily understand the debate over whether The Beach Boys should've recorded a disco song, though I didn't have as much objection to it as others. But, I think they did make a good choice in picking "Here Comes The Night".  It was a good song that wasn't an old single, never made a comp, was rarely (never?) performed live, and was a really good candidate to be "transformed". I think it works fairly well, and it kinda gave the song a second life. I know some may disagree....

[Jeff]

If this is what an "adult Beach Boys" sound like, I'll pass. The only good songs are "Love Surrounds Me", "Baby Blue", and "Angel Come Home". No surprise, given who wrote/sang 'em!

I'd add Good Timin' to that list.  But the fact that L.A. is generally considered to be the best post-Love You album speaks volumes about how far they fell.

I can only come up with a dozen decent post-Love You (late 70s/early 80s) songs, and that includes outtakes (Still I Dream Of It, It's Over Now, Lines, Everybody Wants to Live, Stevie), tunes that were supposed to be solo Dennis (Love Surrounds Me, Baby Blue), and songs that originated from an earlier time (My Diane, California Feeling, Angel Come Home, Good Timin’).  That leaves just Goin' On, and even that one borrrowed from Smile.

[Wrightfan]

Good Timin'
Lady Lynda
Sumahama (Love this song)
Full Sail
Baby Blue (sorry, Dennis's voice starting in 1976 is practically not listenable.)
Here Comes the Night (guilty pleasure)
Angel Come Home
Goin' South
Love Surrounds Me
Shortenin' Bread

[I. Spaceman]

Baby Blue (sorry, Dennis's voice starting in 1976 is practically not listenable.)

Sorry, you're messed up in the head.

[TimeToGetAlone]

1. Baby Blue
2. Angel Come Home
3. Good Timin'
4. Love Surrounds Me 
5. Lady Lynda
6. Full Sail
7. Goin' South
8. Sumahama
9. Here Comes the Night
10. Shortenin' Bread

Easily one of their most ecclectic albums.  The best songs are great and highlight Dennis' last shining moments for the band.  The worst songs are boring and tacky.  A higher peak than the albums surrounding it, but probably also the worst low points of those as well.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

For me the worst thing a song can be is boring. That's why Brian on Oh Darlin was better than the released version even though carl's vocals were technically better

[Eric Aniversario]

My 2nd favorite studio album, right behind Friends!  I love every track.

Eric, I know we're all entitled to our opinions and all, but.... really?!

Yup! Really!  

But if you include live albums and solo albums, then that bumps it down a couple of notches.

[shelter]

1. Lady Lynda: Beautiful melodies (even if they're stolen), beautiful harmonies (as good as they ever were), beautiful arrangement (there's no such thing as The Beach Boys sounding too sweet), and it's got my girlfriend's name. I love it.
2. Good Timin': I think the backing track could have used a little bit more work, but those harmonies are gorgeous. Easily one of their better songs from the late 1970s.
3. Baby Blue: Beautiful.
4. Shortenin' Bread: Goofy and groovy. I think it's fun.
5. Angel Come Home: OK chorus, but not one of Dennis's most inspired songs.
6. Love Surrounds Me: Again, Dennis has written better songs.
7. Here Comes the Night: For what it's supposed to be, I don't think this is all that bad. But obviously it's out of place and way too long (the 7" edit would've done just fine).
8. Going South: Just boring.
9. Full Sail: Also just boring.
10. Sumahama: One word: cringeworthy.

[Smilin Ed H]

Carl wrote Angel Come Home.  Arguably the only decent track he wrote after Holland.

[Cabinessenceking]

Baby Blue (sorry, Dennis's voice starting in 1976 is practically not listenable.)

Sorry, you're messed up in the head.

and it's 80% Carl singing that song ^^

[Cabinessenceking]

Carl wrote Angel Come Home.  Arguably the only decent track he wrote after Holland.

Full Sail is pretty competant I would say and avoids the bore which Goin' South becomes imo. I agree Angel Come Home was one of rare good musical pieces coming out by the late 70's. Shame Carl/Dennis didnt go off on their own after the airport fight

[shelter]

Carl wrote Angel Come Home.  Arguably the only decent track he wrote after Holland.

Oops. You're right, Carl wrote it, of course. But I would say he wrote a few more tracks that weren't all that bad. 'Heaven', 'I Wish for You', 'Where I Belong'...

[El Molé]

This is much better than MIU but has a mixture of very good and very poor tracks. The best ones are top quality and the worst are embarrassing. Whilst I like one or two tracks on KTSA and '85, it took over thirty years and the passing of both Dennis and Carl before the rest of the band could release a decent album again.

Very good:

1. Love Surrounds Me - An excellent song and hints at a direction that I think they should have followed (using Dennis' talents a lot more).
2. Baby Blue - Another great song and good vocal performances. A great example of why this album is streets ahead of the MIU disaster - Carl and Dennis are back.
3. Good Timin' - A nice song with more great vocals from Carl. It might not be the most original song, but its very enjoyable and the brief appearance of the 'Surfer Girl' melody is a far better nod to the past than lyrical references to Fun, Fun Fun, or Good Vibrations. Its a good example of good later Beach Boys work (there are some similarities with TWGMTR, for example).
4. Angel Come Home - The arrangement and backing vocals could have been better but its a good song and Dennis' lead vocal is great. His voice was in the process of deteriorating, but he attacks this better than any of his band mates could have, with power and emotion. I would say that parts of the verses give the impression that he was having to work his voice harder and harder to get something from it.

Not so good:

5. Shortenin' Bread - I enjoy this, but I think they were capable of better.
6. Full Sail - Too slow and a bit boring. I don't like the production or arrangement. It'd be passable as filler if the album didn't have several worse tracks on it.
7. Lady Lynda - A good effort, but not top my taste. Overly sentimental and cheesy.
8. Goin' South - Full Sail but even worse. I love Carl's voice on almost anything, but I get bored of this very quickly.

Awful:

9. Here Comes the Night - I think this is an awful track that drags the whole album down but I do at least find it amusing. Terrible vocal sound and a major error of judgement in my view but as a disco attempt, its reasonably well executed. I'd have preferred it if Bruce had 'gone disco' and rerecorded a whole load of Beach Boys songs in this style for a solo project, to sit alongside Going Public and his savaging of Deirdre. I like disco, but I don't like an eleven minute Bruce Johnston-led disco reworking of a great Wilson/Love song.
10. Sumahama - Terrible in every respect. I wonder if this type of song is partly why Mike's reputation as a contributor to the Beach Boys has suffered. At least he was trying something a bit different, even if the end result isn't good. He's not exactly sticking to any formula or trying to recreate their classic sound. In the end though, it might give the impression that this is what Mike comes up with without Brian  and Maybe that causes some people to underestimate Mike's lyrical contributions in the earlier years. At this point, Mike's voice is nasal and unpleasant and his songwriting is as weak, but that should never take anything away from his earlier work.

The album feels like a compromise. Brian was absent again but Carl and Dennis returned with songs and vocals, which improves things considerably. Mike isn't around much and there's a lot less Al, but they each contribute a track to the detriment of the album. Dennis had better material than Carl at this point and replacing some of the weaker tracks with more Dennis would have really lifted this album.

[Quzi]

01.   Baby Blue

02.   Angel Come Home
03.   Love Surrounds Me

04.   Good Timin'
05.   Lady Lynda
06.   Sumahama

07.   Full Sail

08.   Goin' South
09.   Shortenin' Bread

10.   Here Comes The Night

The first six on my list are among my favourite Beach Boys songs.

[gfac22]

I (mostly) love this album.  Ranking most of the tracks is going to be tough, but here goes:

1. Angel Come Home
2. Baby Blue
3. Good Timin'
4. Lady Lynda
5. Sumahama (I've always liked this song a lot.  I could do without the Japanese bits, but I think Mike's melody is top notch)
6. Goin' South
7. Love Surrounds Me
8. Full Sail
9. Shortenin' Bread
10. Here Comes The Night (Predictably, my least favorite, but I really don't hate it...for about the first 3 or 4 minutes.)

[Domino]

1. Love Surrounds Me
2. Good Timin'
3. Lady Lynda - Great last minute
4. Sumahama - One of Mikes best
5. Full Sail 
6. Angel Come Home
7. Here Comes the Night
8. Baby Blue
9. Goin' South
10. Shortenin' Bread

[Sunflowerpet]

 1. Lady Lynda
 2. Angel Come Home
 3. Sumahama
 4. Good Timin'
 5. Baby Blue
 6. Shortenin' Bread
 7. Love Surrounds Me
 8. Goin' South
 9. Full Sail
10. Here Comes The Night

[phirnis]

Over time, this has become a favorite of mine. Yes, it's a bit slick but I really enjoy the overall melancholy feel of this album. Probably their last great effort ever, even though I do like TWGMTR very much too.

Really like Carl's songs on this one, even though they may seem a bit underwhelming in terms of songwriting. I don't mind. Great singing by everyone involved. Now if only they could've added California Feelin' and Calendar Girl...

1. Good Timin'
2. Baby Blue
3. Angel Come Home
4. Shortenin' Bread
5. Love Surrounds Me
6. Goin' South
7. Full Sail
8. Lady Lynda
9. Here Comes the Night
10. Sumahama

[Catbirdman]

A+
Angel Come Home

A
Good Timin'
Baby Blue

A-
Love Surrounds Me

B-
Sumahama
Lady Lynda
Shortenin' Bread (without the wanky guitar, it’s a B+)

C
Here Comes the Night
Full Sail

C-
Goin' South

[joshferrell]

The last of the "Classic" albums
1.baby blue (wow what a beautiful song)
2.angel come home (Ditto)
3.good timing (Good song)
4.love surrounds me (Good song)
5.full sail (nice relaxing song)
6.lady linda (Not bad)
7.summahakma (it's ok)
8.Goin south (not a really good song Imo)
9.Shortening bread (The BW version was way better)
10.here comes the night (WTF??) lol