MiC up for order on Amazon, August release

[Nicko1234]

I think we must be using different definitions of "essential". Obviously I'm the kind of person who can find value in a lot of the less objectively-good stuff, but realistically I'd say that at most there are a hundred or so "essential" Beach Boys records -- things that matter either artistically, for their value to the band's history, or commercially.

I do agree with a lot of what you say and I do understand that Capitol will want to attract those fans who can't be bothered going through every album and want all the best stuff in one place. And if it were cheaper then it would be a decent choice but...

As I've mentioned before, a consumer could buy every studio album up to and including Love You plus Sounds of Summer and The Warmth of the Sun for this price. If I was doing that then I would want to be sure that all of the great songs from each album are included so that I wouldn't have to make any more purchases.

The choices here are largely good but there is still at least as much filler (the radio promos, Da Doo Ron Ron etc.) as you would find on things like the Today/SDASN or Sunflower/Surf's Up twofers. And not all of the celebrated songs are included so would buying this box really mean they would not want to buy any of the twofers later? It doesn't make financial sense to me.

[hypehat]

Seems to me the box is for the semi-serious music fan who wants to move beyond the greatest hits and PS/SMile.  For many, the next step from there really isn't taking a full leap into buying all the albums, which, thinking back to more virginal days, seems like rather a large and daunting commitment.  People still generally don't expect to find much quality on the Pre-PS albums, barring the hits, and are still largely ignorant of the post-Smile albums.  A box set can correct them here, like the GV box probably did for many.

A semi-serious music fan can be expected to own many Beatles albums, probably all of them.  That's not really the case with The Beach Boys.  A halfway spot is needed.   Sure, they'll give some new rarities for the hardcore fans, but that's ultimately by-the-by.  They're probably thinking about sales for the next twenty-thirty years or so, purchased by new, incoming Beach Boys fans, not just how many hardcore fans will pick this up on the day of release.

Exactly. There are a *lot* of people who only own a copy of Pet Sounds and a hits CD, and want to know if there's anything else as good out there. Even if this box *is* as expensive as buying all the albums from Surfin' Safari through Love You, it will have the big advantage to those people of *not containing all the filler*.

It's for people who would appreciate hearing In The Back Of My Mind but have no desire to ever hear Bull Session With The "Big Daddy", who might like Baby Blue but wouldn't want a ten minute disco version of Here Comes The Night -- saying "here's all (or almost all) the good stuff in one place. We've done the filtering work so you don't have to."

Exactly as the GV box was.

Exactly - a lot of people here say that they heard stuff on the radio, had a CD or two, and bought the GV box on a whim to see what else the group had done. And promptly fell in love with the group.

That, in my mind, is this boxes main function - a summation of the group to less knowing ears. Not The Complete Works of The Beach Boys. A lot of the rarities in the main sequence are my favourites too, like Old Man River and Shunshine, so it's great they're getting more exposure than on OOP CDs and twofers. We're not the primary audience!

For everyone speculating about Shunshine, I've always understood it was a trial to get it mixed the way we have it today, so I don't know how much scope there would be for a drastic remix unless they've discovered some new tapes. Which could be possible!

Also, we said a lot of 'Oh, they'd never put the California Feelin' demo/WIBNTLA/this/that on it, they wouldn't release that' and Linett, Boyd & Wolfe have actually put a lot of our holy grails on there. And we complain because they haven't put tat like My Solution on it.

[Bicyclerider]

The guy takes a little time to highlight a few songs on the MIC track-list to create a little food for thought and next thing half the board is tearing his head off. It was just totally uncalled for. Yeah AGD can be grumpy/aggressive at times - I fail to see how copying him achieves anything? Is no one aware of the saying 'he who loses his temper loses the argument'.

Or to put it in a way you'll perhaps better understand: f*** off, you twat.

Except that that isn't true at all.

After his post Andrew Hickey, Lee Dempsey and another poster simply asked if he meant that those songs were unreleased or different versions. Then AGD responds with his, 'FFS is everybody terminally stupid' comment. His post was daft and didn't make any sense.

Andrew should have been more specific what he meant by John Q Public if he was going to get offended by others questioning his list of "new" 'tracks.  I assumed he meant a normal record/CD buying person who had no access to bootlegs and unreleased recordings - which would mean no one on this board, surely.  But I think we can let this subthread die, it's not really relevant to the discussion.

[LostArt]

I don't think we know what the retail price for this box will be in the US.  We do know that Amazon has it listed for $145.52 today, but that is no indication of the suggested retail price from Capitol.  As with the Smile Sessions, and most releases on Amazon, that price will likely lower before the release date.

I paid $65.00 for the Good Vbrations box in 1993.  That amount in 2013 dollars is about $105.00.  So, as of today, I'd be paying quite a bit more for this box, if I bought it from Amazon US.  We know there are retailers who have priced the box cheaper.

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter what demographic they're marketing to, or what tracks should or shouldn't be on there, or any of this other nonsense that you folks are getting your tits in a wringer about. 

All I can do as a consumer is to decide if the product for sale is worth the money that the seller is asking.  If it is, I buy the thing.  If it isn't, I don't.  There's no more to it than that.  This back and forth bickering is stupid.  The box is what it is.  The price is what it is.  As many before me have said...If you want it, buy it.  If you don't want it, don't buy it.  It really is that simple.    

[Matt Bielewicz]

It's not just for us nutbags who have 48 copies of "Barbara Ann".  It's for the guys who've got one or two.

Oh, and me?  After 15 years of being a Beach Boys fan, I've got two copies each of "Barbara Ann" and "Kokomo":  the random Greatest Hits I first bought them on, and the '93 box set.  (ETA:  plus the live "Barbara Ann" from Knebworth, I missed that.

Well, Kokomo is easier to avoid. I've only got two copies of that, too. But Barbara Ann... if you're a fan, the thing is like a sticky dog turd... once you've got it, it keeps cropping up in unexpected places. Like you, I have the track on a Greatest Hits that kicked off my interest in the group, and also on the GV box. I thought that was it; I'm not wild about live material so I don't have Knebworth.

...but then, I realised the damn thing is on Hawthorne, CA, as well. *Surely* most people here have a copy of that?

And of course, as a fan of the studio backing tracks, I had to have the 1990s Party/Stack of Tracks twofer for Stack Of Tracks (and for what is still, I believe, the only official release of the California Girls backing track)... so I get the original, unexpurgated horror on there in the Party half of the album, too. (Fortunately, apart from Barbara bloody Ann, it turns out I quite like Party in spots, so it wasn't all bad).

And my first EVER album by the Boys, a badly scratched vinyl copy of Live In London which my parents used to own, has the track on it AGAIN. So that's five... and I confess I did upgrade that via a copy of the 1990s Concert/Live In London twofer years later, for old times' sake. So technically I suppose I have six copies of it, if you're counting vinyl and CD copies of the same thing as distinct.

Jeez. Six copies of a track I hate. And I thought I was being careful. It's like nails down a blackboard to me, or that snippet of 'I Got You Babe' to Phil Connors every morning in Groundhog Day. As soon as I hear that little fragment of laughter and the vocal going 'A-Ba, bah-bah, bah-Barbara Ann...' I just want to leap across the room and turn the damn thing off.

And MiC will make seven. Anyone managed to get a lower Barbara Ann count, while still being a fan?

EDIT: Oh no!! I have the damn thing on bootlegs, too!!!! I forgot those!!!!!! So put me down for another TWO renditions on the SOT Live box (in the Michigan 66 Live set), which I got for the Lei'd In Hawaii Wally Heider Sessions... and of course I have the SOT Party sessions too... so that's TEN!

EDIT AGAIN: AAAAArrrGGGHHHH!!!!!! DEATH!!!! DEATH!!!!!! It's in the solo Brian stuff, too!!!! I have a bootleg recording of a solo Brian concert at the Festival Hall in London, and the Live At The Roxy album, of course. And what does he encore with at both...?

That's 12 and counting, once MiC is in my hands... I feel like Barbara Ann is the endo-parasite steadily taking over my Beach Boys collection... [croaks] Vira, kill me! Kill me now!!!!

In all seriousness, I guess the live version on Live in London with the horns isn't THAT bad...

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Ha, I know what they'll be playing at your funeral.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but can't you just skip passed Barbara Ann and/or Kokomo and thus avoid having to listen to them?

[ontor pertawst]

Nope, one of the most appalling things about the sequester is that we're actually legally required to listen to both. Damn big government!

[Jonathan Blum]

Well, Kokomo is easier to avoid. I've only got two copies of that, too. But Barbara Ann... if you're a fan, the thing is like a sticky dog turd... once you've got it, it keeps cropping up in unexpected places. Like you, I have the track on a Greatest Hits that kicked off my interest in the group, and also on the GV box. I thought that was it; I'm not wild about live material so I don't have Knebworth.

...but then, I realised the damn thing is on Hawthorne, CA, as well. *Surely* most people here have a copy of that?

God, you're right.  I'd taken the tracks I liked off Hawthorne and burnt them to a custom CD, so I'd forgotten it's on there.

So with my previous edit, that makes four copies...

EDIT AGAIN: AAAAArrrGGGHHHH!!!!!! DEATH!!!! DEATH!!!!!! It's in the solo Brian stuff, too!!!! I have a bootleg recording of a solo Brian concert at the Festival Hall in London, and the Live At The Roxy album, of course. And what does he encore with at both...?

Have you got a version of Roxy with bonus tracks?  Mine ends with "All Summer Long" followed by "Love & Mercy" -- no Barbara Ann in sight!

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Bean Bag]

Sarcasm not your strong suit, is it ?  

Sometimes, I'm so observant, I miss things.  Other times, I just miss things!  

[Matt Bielewicz]

Have you got a version of Roxy with bonus tracks?  Mine ends with "All Summer Long" followed by "Love & Mercy" -- no Barbara Ann in sight!

My tracklisting ends:

...All Summer Long
Love & Mercy
Sloop John B
Barbara Effing Ann
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Help Me Rhonda
...and an Interview

Clearly, I tried *really* hard (without realising it) and was 'lucky' enough to find a later version with BA as a bonus track... which stretches the definition of the word 'bonus' beyond a limit I am wholly comfortable with!!

[Matt Bielewicz]

Crud, isn't it? That Roxy CD really suffers from Bonus Track Syndrome, where the original CD has been carefully chosen to end on a particular track (I mean, what else does a BW solo live album finish with? it HAS to be Love & Mercy, right?)... but then you get a grab-bag of rubbish so-called 'bonuses' thrown on after that. See also: multiple Pet Sounds reissues that rather destroy Brian's plan of having you listen to the retreating train as the last thing on the album, and instead futz it up with some alt mix of I Know There's An Answer, Unreleased Backgrounds, and the late, er, not-so-great Trombone Furshenliggen Dixie...

But anyway. Back to Made In California...

[Andrew G. Doe]

Just looked up the word "twat". While reading that in AGDs posts for months I figured it was some kind of insult. But the translation made me go "oops!"

Told you before, putting words into my mouth is not a smart thing to do. You've not been "reading that (twat) in AGDs posts for months" because I've rarely, if ever used it, and certainly not in recent months: just did a search to double check. So, suggest you stop telling lies about other posters here, viz., me.

[Bean Bag]

Seems to me the box is for the semi-serious music fan who wants to move beyond the greatest hits and PS/SMile.  For many, the next step from there really isn't taking a full leap into buying all the albums, which, thinking back to more virginal days, seems like rather a large and daunting commitment.  People still generally don't expect to find much quality on the Pre-PS albums, barring the hits, and are still largely ignorant of the post-Smile albums.  A box set can correct them here, like the GV box probably did for many.

A semi-serious music fan can be expected to own many Beatles albums, probably all of them.  That's not really the case with The Beach Boys.  A halfway spot is needed.   Sure, they'll give some new rarities for the hardcore fans, but that's ultimately by-the-by.  They're probably thinking about sales for the next twenty-thirty years or so, purchased by new, incoming Beach Boys fans, not just how many hardcore fans will pick this up on the day of release.

Yup -- that's what I said about 15 pages and umpteen snide comments back.  It's a one-stop Beach Boys shop for those who want to go deeper than the Greatest Hits, maybe have the one (now two) albums that get the best press, but don't really know where to go from there.

Someone who's interested in collecting the Beatles has about five or six obvious next-step albums after the Greatest Hits -- the ones you'll find in any Rolling-Stone-style best-albums list.  And there's only about a dozen albums to go for all told.  The Beach Boys?  Nearly thirty to choose from, none of which are really obvious collectors' targets (at first glance) beyond the most famous two.  Until you get the box set, and realise you love all the "Sunflower" tracks, or the "Today" ones, etc etc.  That's what happened for me.

Or to put it another way:  it's not just for us nutbags who have 48 copies of "Barbara Ann".  It's for the guys who've got one or two.

(Oh, and me?  After 15 years of being a Beach Boys fan, I've got two copies each of "Barbara Ann" and "Kokomo":  the random Greatest Hits I first bought them on, and the '93 box set.  (ETA:  plus the live "Barbara Ann" from Knebworth, I missed that.)  Because I'm not fricking stupid, and I'm willing to buy just the tracks I want from a new Greatest Hits online.  If you're honked off cause you'd be buying "Barbara Ann" for the 37th time?  Look at your *last* 35 choices, way more than this one...)

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Yes.  I agree.  But if it were as simple as you make it sound, there wouldn't be 60+ pages of this.

The point is "when you aim for everything, you often hit nothing."  Or...  "When you try to please everyone, you please no one."  Etc. Etc.  Not that they hit nothing or didn't please anyone, of course.

That said... the price doesn't really make sense.  I think we're the target, just based on price.  Like all those super deluxe -- $100+ Immersion, single album box sets of late.  Those are targeted sets.  This is trying to be both.

Honestly... I think the 50 year reunion-thing was closing fast.  Capitol saw this as its last chance to cash in.  And thus, has saddled this fantastic box set opportunity with barbara ann packing peanuts to get the most out of us.  They either padded the set -- or perhaps held back items -- to get mo' cash from us trash. 

I think that concludes my thoughts on this.  I'm happy.   

[Andrew G. Doe]

Honestly... I think the 50 year reunion-thing was closing fast.  Capitol saw this as its last chance to cash in... They either padded the set -- or perhaps held back items -- to get mo' cash from us trash.  

I think that concludes my thoughts on this.  I'm happy.  

Interesting theory. Just happens to be entirely wrong.

May I offer a thought - does anyone here seriously think that when the "career-spanning" box was announced, it wouldn't include all the major hits ? That's what "career-spanning" means: Capitol didn't announce it as "a career-spanning box comprising purely rarities, deep cuts and archive material, sorry about the hits". More to the point, the initial announcement clearly stated there would be GH releases in tandem with the box... and by crackey, so there were.

[Bean Bag]

I said I concluded my thoughts!! 

[AndrewHickey]

I said I concluded my thoughts!! 

OK everyone, Bean Bag has spoken. He "concluded his thoughts" so nobody is allowed to discuss this any further...

[Bean Bag]

No, no... you may continue...

[ontor pertawst]

Eh, for some people it boils down to: for the money, throw in another disc of rarities and live stuff. For that price and without neat packaging and interesting artifacts like the Smile box, it would've shut up a lot of the people complaining here. I have no idea what Joe Lunchpail, John Q Public, or somethingsomething redneck thinks about the set nor am I as obsessed as fannier-than-thou types with speaking as to their motives and odd behaviors, so why not have a bonus disc for direct presales and obsessive types? Charge a little more and include a Keep it Clean with Al Jardine moist towelette. Use all the mixes prepared, proposed, and not included in the track listing. WIN/WIN.

[joshferrell]

How do you do, my name is John Q Public, yes that's my real name and a few months ago capitol called me and asked me what I wanted on the box set so I told them and so they did it.. John Q Public.

[joshferrell]

you NITWIT

Hey, I resemble that remark.. you....you...HUMAN BEING!!!!! (gasp now I'VE gone to far)

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

This thread makes me hang my head in shame.  Fighting over stupid sh*t....sorry, but this mess is (even) older than the cheese in my fridge. Take this sh*t to PMs.

edit


obviously, I'm responding to some of the earlier posts.

[monicker]

I think one of my worst nightmares is the idea of someone else doing the “filtering”/curating for me.

[tansen]

..sorry, but this mess is (even) older than the cheese in my fridge.

That makes me wonder..how old is the cheese in your fridge?
Got something like this laying around:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/10/08/the-oldest-edible-cheese-in-the-world ?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Mmmm, I love me some extreme cheeses. What's all this about only eating a tiny bit at a time though? I'd stick the whole thing on a crackerbread with some Podfather chilli jam.