The songs that saved the album..

[kookadams]

The weaker BBs albums all have a song or two that SAVE the album from being a waste. First of all to everyone who thinks MIU is so bad, side A has 5 upbeat cuts and pitter patter on the flipside, so all in all six rockin.tunes, and six flops; the Light album has shortenin bread thaf saves it from.being adult contemporary diluted fluff...and lastly Keepin the summer alive has the title song, Some of your love and the rendition of School day..so as Ive stated previously- the Beach Boys were and are a rock band but those late 70s albums are ONLY meaningful to us hardcore fans, they didnt have hit singles, they didnt mean anything to that era historically BUT they had a song or two that kept em afloat, get what Im sayin??

[drbeachboy]

The L.A. Light Album had a Top 40 hit with Good Timin'. That and Baby Blue and Angel Come Home help save that album. Shortenin' Bread is filler and help bring the album down. I have rarely listened to it since I bought the album in 1979.

Goin' On is the album saver for me on Keepin' The Summer Alive. Great Brian tune with great vocals from everybody.

[kookadams]

Yeah dennis' songs were great but they were supposed to be on the 2nd lp that didn't come out. And shortenin bread was the ONLY rockin cut, without it LA was jus so soft and uncharacteristic.

[drbeachboy]

Yeah dennis' songs were great but they were supposed to be on the 2nd lp that didn't come out. And shortenin bread was the ONLY rockin cut, without it LA was jus so soft and uncharacteristic.

Angel Come Home was written by Carl and sung by Dennis. Love Surrounds Me is only song pulled from Bambu. I thought Baby Blue was written earlier? If you like disco, Here Comes The Night was pretty fast tune. I'm no fan of disco, but I love the vocals, a real tour de force.

[Pretty Funky]

While it may not have 'saved' the album, I always liked 'Island Fever' off SIP.

(I have admitted it before under the'unpopular opinions' thread. )

[Rocky Raccoon]

The title track and "Goin' On" save Keepin' the Summer Alive from being completely bland.

[ppk700]

It's all just opinion, but I think LA (Light Album) is solid from tracks 1-10, there's nothing that needs to be "saved."

[TimeToGetAlone]

Somewhere Near Japan is my most fitting answer for this.

[jet without wings]

If I program Sweet Sunday, Belles of Paris, Matchpoint , Woncha come out tonight and come go with me, for me, that is an enjoyable listen from MIU.

On LA, I always appreciated the effort for the disco "here comes the night" but it's 4-5 minutes too long.  Six minutes should have been long enough.  Love Surrounds me and Al's Lady Linda save that album for me. I know others will disagree but I still like Sumahama. Not sure it "saves" the album but a good contribution by Mike.

Jet without wings

[Ron]

Here comes the night was supposed to be long, though, because it was supposed to be a dance track at a disco.  I've never been to  a disco though, so not sure how that would have worked out. 

I'd like to find some 'hip cat' who was around back then, and find out if there were ever any discos (that this hip cat frequented) that actually played that damn song, and if anybody liked it at the disco. 

completely different audience. 

[NateRuvin]

I think Goin' On and Endless Harmony save Keepin' The Summer Alive.

OK, most people disagree, but I LOVE Summer In Paradise (UK) and Slow Summer Dancin, and I think they saved the SIP album. And that album was HARD to save.

[CenturyDeprived]

I think Goin' On and Endless Harmony save Keepin' The Summer Alive.

OK, most people disagree, but I LOVE Summer In Paradise (UK) and Slow Summer Dancin, and I think they saved the SIP album. And that album was HARD to save.

Except from the AWFUL AWFUL super shrill drum snare sound (so, so, so bad... really, soooo bad!), Slow Summer Dancin is a cool track and I quite dig it. It (along with Strange Things happen + Lahaini Aloha, and maybe in a generous mood one or two other tracks) make SIP half a listenable album. It's like an early 90s BB EP. Just pretend about half of it doesn't exist, and it's much better that way.

[kookadams]

Well its not an opinion, Light Album was a mix of a godawful disco remake, 2 dennis solo cuts, 3 carl solo cuts, a mike solo outtake, al's take on bach,  a four yr old brian cut and then shortenin bread, the only rockin number on the lp... and likewise w KTSA , when you take away the title track and the rendition of school day its boring MOR/AOR. Their output

on cbs was so obviously thrown together obligationary mediocrity.

[RangeRoverA1]

Can't think of BBs album. How about solo? Imagination is saved by "She Says that..." & "Happy Days".

[Smilin Ed H]

The weaker BBs albums all have a song or two that SAVE the album from being a waste. First of all to everyone who thinks MIU is so bad, side A has 5 upbeat cuts and pitter patter on the flipside, so all in all six rockin.tunes, and six flops; the Light album has shortenin bread thaf saves it from.being adult contemporary diluted fluff...and lastly Keepin the summer alive has the title song, Some of your love and the rendition of School day..so as Ive stated previously- the Beach Boys were and are a rock band but those late 70s albums are ONLY meaningful to us hardcore fans, they didnt have hit singles, they didnt mean anything to that era historically BUT they had a song or two that kept em afloat, get what Im sayin??

MIU and KTSA are steaming piles of sh*t with a handful of decent songs apiece. LA is better, but it contains a fair bit of crap. Ditto 85. The fact that the tunes may be rocking doesn't mean a thing if they're lousy. I am a hardcore fan, but I prefer not to look the other way or attempt to justify some disappointing songs and choices. Imagine some of that crap from MIU had it turned up on Sunflower, Holland or Friends...

[Pretty Funky]

Here comes the night was supposed to be long, though, because it was supposed to be a dance track at a disco.  I've never been to  a disco though, so not sure how that would have worked out. 

I'd like to find some 'hip cat' who was around back then, and find out if there were ever any discos (that this hip cat frequented) that actually played that damn song, and if anybody liked it at the disco. 

completely different audience. 

I'm pretty sure I read the shortened version got some plays. Don't recall where I read it. BBFUN  newsletter maybe?

[Cabinessenceking]

MIU: Come Go With Me, My Diane (+maybe Hey Little Tomboy)

The rest of that album is quite sh*t really.

[kookadams]

The weaker BBs albums all have a song or two that SAVE the album from being a waste. First of all to everyone who thinks MIU is so bad, side A has 5 upbeat cuts and pitter patter on the flipside, so all in all six rockin.tunes, and six flops; the Light album has shortenin bread thaf saves it from.being adult contemporary diluted fluff...and lastly Keepin the summer alive has the title song, Some of your love and the rendition of School day..so as Ive stated previously- the Beach Boys were and are a rock band but those late 70s albums are ONLY meaningful to us hardcore fans, they didnt have hit singles, they didnt mean anything to that era historically BUT they had a song or two that kept em afloat, get what Im sayin??

MIU and KTSA are steaming piles of sh*t with a handful of decent songs apiece. LA is better, but it contains a fair bit of crap. Ditto 85. The fact that the tunes may be rocking doesn't mean a thing if they're lousy. I am a hardcore fan, but I prefer not to look the other way or attempt to justify some disappointing songs and choices. Imagine some of that crap from MIU had it turned up on Sunflower, Holland or Friends...

on.the.nose. post Holland BBs albums very subpar...sept love you (aka BRIAN loveS you)

[ppk700]

Well its not an opinion, Light Album was a mix of a godawful disco remake, 2 dennis solo cuts, 3 carl solo cuts, a mike solo outtake, al's take on bach,  a four yr old brian cut and then shortenin bread, the only rockin number on the lp... and likewise w KTSA , when you take away the title track and the rendition of school day its boring MOR/AOR. Their output

on cbs was so obviously thrown together obligationary mediocrity.

Even allowing that LA (Light Album) is mostly a hodge-podge of solo tracks, I happen to enjoy every one of those tracks, and there's nothing that needs to be saved for me, not even the "godawful disco remake."

Keepin' The Summer Alive, on the other hand... that's where we agree. I think that album is one of their worst, and if it weren't for the title track, "Goin' On," and "When Girls Get Together," I'd literally never listen to it. Those 3 songs "save" the album for me. It's all subjective; some people on here LOVE that album from top to bottom (maybe not many, but their opinions and tastes are equally as viable as anyone else's).

It is an opinion, and just like buttholes, pretty much everybody has one. Doesn't mean you're going to eat it like groceries.

[NateRuvin]

MIU: Come Go With Me, My Diane (+maybe Hey Little Tomboy)

The rest of that album is quite sh*t really.

I'm not a big fan of Hey Little Tomboy. Personally, my take on it, is that the narrator is trying to change this tomboy into a woman, despite her wishes. Maybe I'm analyzing too much…
I really love Come And Go With Me; it fits in nicely on albums like Sounds Of Summer.
But My Diane has to be one of my all-time favorite Dennis vocal. There is just so much emotion!

[phirnis]

L.A. is a very good album and Shortenin' Bread is by no means its highlight, although I do enjoy that track too.

[Dudd]

I'm a bit of an MIU apologist... it's quite possibly the most vapid thing they ever released (with the exception of My Diane, of course), but I never really found it offensive. It's nice to listen to (well, apart from Brian's falsetto on SGR, which he makes up for with the vocal on Match Point and SGR being a bloody great song).
LA, not so much. Too many ballads in a row, too many of them mediocre, and it's kind of a dreary experience... to the point where the standout tracks for me are Lady Lynda, something so sincerely proud of being a piece of schlock that I can't help but enjoy it, and Shortenin' Bread, which is the only halfway fun moment on the record.
And I believe I think of KTSA what most other people think of MIU: it's miserable. Goin' On is the only salvageable thing there, in my opinion. I'd like Sunshine more if it weren't for the calypso instruments. I guess the single version of School Day is alright just because the alternate acappella part isn't as unpleasant as the album cut's.

[urbanite]

Shortenin Bread was one of the worst Beach Boys tracks ever.  It should never have been released.  Same for She's Got Rhtym from MIU.

[NateRuvin]

Shortenin Bread was one of the worst Beach Boys tracks ever.  It should never have been released.  Same for She's Got Rhtym from MIU.

I like She's Got Rhythm.
It's no classic, but it's one of the better Rock songs on MIU, in my opinion. Brian's falsetto is similar when Mike called him "Micky Mouse with a sore throughout…" in the '64 skit, but the song is pretty cool. I like Al's arrangement.

[SamMcK]

Brians soaring vocals save most of their early albums regardless of song selections. The clunky tracks only enhance the better ones IMO, I can find all those 1962-1977 albums worthwhile with the possible exception of 15 big ones which is 2/3rd's crap. 

The later works I have a lot less time for, although I still have favourites here and there.