Most overrated and underrated BB's Albums

[bluesno1fann]

It would be interesting to see people's opinion on which BB's album you think is the most overrated and which one is the most underrated.
This is just people's opinion, it doesn't necessarily mean it's fact.

I'll get things started:

Most Overrated: "All Summer Long"
Most Underrated: "The Beach Boys (1985)"

[veryape]

over-rated = Sunflower
under-rated= M.I.U

[Gertie J.]

ah, that's easy, ps and catp.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Most Overrated: Wild Honey
Most Underrated: 15 Big Ones

[sockittome]

Question to the OP:  do you mean by the general public or people on this board?  The answers would be vastly different.

[Micha]

overrated: Love You
underrated: M.I.U.

[Phoenix]

Question to the OP:  do you mean by the general public or people on this board?  The answers would be vastly different.

^  What he said!

[Mike's Beard]

Question to the OP:  do you mean by the general public or people on this board?  The answers would be vastly different.

Seeing as the general public are only aware of one BB album, I'm guessing OP meant on this board.

(Vastly) Overrated - Love You. A good third of this album is absolutely hideous.
Underrated - SIP. Despite it's (mostly deserved) bad rep there are a handfull of good songs on it. People very rarely mention this.

Also, although it's not a proper album per se I think some of the Smile material is insanely overrated.

[bluesno1fann]

Question to the OP:  do you mean by the general public or people on this board?  The answers would be vastly different.

To individuals. Their opinions, not to the general public

[bluesno1fann]

Question to the OP:  do you mean by the general public or people on this board?  The answers would be vastly different.

Seeing as the general public are only aware of one BB album, I'm guessing OP meant on this board.

(Vastly) Overrated - Love You. A good third of this album is absolutely hideous.
Underrated - SIP. Despite it's (mostly deserved) bad rep there are a handfull of good songs on it. People very rarely mention this.

Also, although it's not a proper album per se I think some of the Smile material is insanely overrated.

I think the general public definetely are aware of Pet Sounds, plus I think Smile and the Smile Sessions are also well-known to the general public as well.
Although other than the two, all the other albums, whether they be insanely great, or disgustingly horrible, is not well-known at all to the general public

[sockittome]

Ok......

Maybe it's me, but I just don't understand why Love You gets put up on that pedestal.  I've tried and tried, but I don't see it.  To me, it's just another one of those late 70s Beach Boys thingys....

As for underrated, I'm gonna say Sunflower, just because so many folks call it overrated.  Really?  How can someone declare Sunflower, one of their most brilliant albums but a huge commercial failure, overrated?  Who's overrating it?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Ok......

Maybe it's me, but I just don't understand why Love You gets put up on that pedestal.  I've tried and tried, but I don't see it.  To me, it's just another one of those late 70s Beach Boys thingys....

As for underrated, I'm gonna say Sunflower, just because so many folks call it overrated.  Really?  How can someone declare Sunflower, one of their most brilliant albums but a huge commercial failure, overrated?  Who's overrating it?

You are, by calling it one of their most brilliant albums 

Apples and oranges though, I think Love You is one of their most brilliant albums.

But my answer to the original question is ....

Overated - Sunflower / Holland (its a tie)

Under rated - Smiley Smile

[Rocky Raccoon]

Overrated:  Surfer Girl.  Besides the title track, In My Room, Your Summer Dream, Catch a Wave. and Hawaii.  I've never really been crazy about Surfer Moon, I don't know if that's an unpopular opinion but it at least doesn't even compare to the other three ballads on the album in my opinon, South Bay Surfer is just laughable, Our Car Club and Surfers Rule are just generic forgettable car/surf songs, and then Rocking Surfer is instrumental filler.  I would say that Shut Down Vol. 2 was their first really great album.

Underrated:  The Beach Boys '85 gets a lot of flack because of the production but not only do I absolutely love the production, I think there are some really great songs here that don't get enough attention (aside from Getcha Back).  This was a particularly great album for Carl Wilson, both as a singer and a songwriter and probably the last time he would get a chance to really shine on a Beach Boys album (he's almost nonexistent on Summer in Paradise).  I think it also gets put aside as it was supposed to be a creative comeback for Brian Wilson and his material is, well, awkward to say the least.  And I guess considering it had been five years since their last album, they could have had better material.  But on its own as a whole, I think it's a good album.  Not a great one and not their best by far but one that deserves more attention among Beach Boys fans.

[MBE]

Love You-over rated
20/20 under

[Eric Aniversario]

If we are referring to the fan base on this board:

Overrated: nothing, really. All beach boys albums deserve heaps of critical praise.

Underrated: LA Light album.

[Gabo]

To the general public:

Overrated: None. No other Beach Boys albums is well known to the general public, besides Pet Sounds (which deserves all the acclaim it receives).
Underrated: Smiley Smile. A brilliant album full of brilliant melodies and experimentation. Essential listening.

On this board:

Overrated: Holland. Continues the creative freefall set into motion by Carl and the Passions. Just a heap of boring songs (besides Sail On Sailor, which is amazing). However, it is at least less self consciously roots-rocky and has a lot more of Beach Boy identity than the former album.

Underrated: None. People here seem to love absolutely everything Brian, Dennis, et. al. touched.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Overtated - Summer in Paradise
Underrated - Pet Sounds

[Dave Modny]

Over - "Love You" - I always liked the eloquent quote on this board: "Would've made a great EP."

Under - "20/20" - Still don't understand how a record that has I Can Hear Music, Be With Me, Do It Again, Time To Get Alone, I Went to Sleep, Never Learn Not To Love, Our Prayer and Cabinessence on it, can also have the exact same star ratings as CATP and TWGMTR do on the All Music Guide -- fine as those later two may be.  Somebody pinch me and wake me up!

[Gertie J.]

*pinch* WAKE UP!!!!!!

[phirnis]

How is an album like Love You "overrated" when even some of the most hardcore fans on BB message boards such as Smiley Smile don't like it? That record's actual fan base is still incredibly small as it's not even a particular fave among rock critics. I don't get it.

[shelter]

How is an album like Love You "overrated" when even some of the most hardcore fans on BB message boards such as Smiley Smile don't like it? That record's actual fan base is still incredibly small as it's not even a particular fave among rock critics. I don't get it.

It might have a very small fan base, but there are people who think it's one of the Beach Boys' best albums, while I think it's one of their weakest. So IMO it's enormously overrated by some people.

[Dave Modny]

How is an album like Love You "overrated" when even some of the most hardcore fans on BB message boards such as Smiley Smile don't like it? That record's actual fan base is still incredibly small as it's not even a particular fave among rock critics. I don't get it.

I think there's just as many critics that think of it as a near-masterpiece (e.g. Christgau..."A" rating, etc). Or..as it says in Wiki: "positively received by critics both then and today."

That, and I think it's sort of become the de facto point, by most, in terms of stating: "What's the last great BBs album?" or "So-and-so is their best album since Love You."


It may be controversial, but I still think it's pretty highly regarded.

[Dave Modny]

*pinch* WAKE UP!!!!!!

I changed my mind. I'm having a good dream.

[Phoenix]

.

[Phoenix]

Over - Love You - I always liked the eloquent quote on this board: "Would've made a great EP."

Under - 20/20 - Still don't understand how a record that has I Can Hear Music, Be With Me, Do It Again, Time To Get Alone, I Went to Sleep, Never Learn Not To Love, Our Prayer and Cabinessence on it, can also have the exact same star rating as CATP and TWGMTR do on the All Music Guide -- fine as those later two may be.  Somebody pinch me and wake me up!

I agree.  I'm not a fan of Smiley Smile either but it doesn't get the praise that Love You does.  And you hit the nail on the head with 20/20. Sunflower has as many cooks as 20/20 but no one ever dismisses it as the disjointed hodgepodge many people call 20/20.