A, B, C, D, Z

[The Cincinnati Kid]

I'm going to add "E" as well because leaving out some albums doesn't make any sense for the purpose of this list, imo.

A
Pet Sounds
SMiLE
Sunflower
Today!
Surfer Girl

B
Summer Days (and Summer Nights!)
That's Why God Made the Radio
All Summer Long
20/20
Surf's Up

C
Wild Honey
Friends
Christmas Album
Shut Down Vol. 2
Still Cruisin'

D
Little Deuce Coupe
MIU
Love You
Surfin' USA
Party!

E
Surfin' Safari
Holland
The Beach Boys
15 Big Ones
Summer in Paradise

Z
LA (Light Album)
Smiley Smile
Keepin' the Summer Alive
Carl and the Passion's - So Tough
Stars and Stripes Vol. 1

[Rentatris]

I'm glad everyone's getting in on this. I didn't overally think the game through and adding an E category and sticking to only BB albums seems sensible in retrospect...wish I'd thought of it 

 To clear up, albums that are missed off are just ones that don't really mean anything to you, I guess. It's more like if you only had 5 essential, 5 burnable etc. what would they be, some categories (B list especially) could be 8 or 9 long for me it was about trying to whittle them down to five. Whereras the C list contains some albums I think less of that ones not included. If that's clear? (I'm aware it's not)

[The Shift]

A
Pet Sounds
Sunflower
Carl & The Passions
In Concert
Surf's Up

B
Smiley Smile
Friends
20/20
That's Why God…
Holland

C
Wild Honey
Today
Summer Days…
Love You
All Summer…

D
Surfin' Safari
Surfer Girl
Surfin' USA
Little Deuce Coupe
Shut Down Vol 2

E
15 Biggies
LA
KTSA
MIU
Live in London

Z
Symphonic Sounds
Stars & Stripes
SiP
BB85
Nascar

I omitted solo albums and oddities like the Christmas album, Party, Stack o' Tracks… had to use a few just to justify the "Z" category. I'm hooked though, a fan, and still give even those Z'ers a spin occasionally. I could full categories A and B with most of the albums from the C D and E sections. "Bad" Beach Boys is still better than most other bands' best.


Edited – I already changed my mind…!

[Oswald Thatendswald]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

 

[Phoenix]

Off the top of my head, in MY opinion:


A List (Right up their with the Beatles', or anyone else's best stuff)
In Concert
Pet Sounds
Smile Sessions
Sunflower
Today!


B List (Very near misses or marred by being too short, too long, containing too much filler, or having poor production)
All Summer Long
Brian Wilson Presents Smile
Carl & The Passions
Concert
Holland
Imagination
Surfer Girl
Surf's Up
That's Why God Made The Radio
20/20


C List (Very solid and/or enjoyable, better than most artists could ever hope for)
Bambu Sessions
Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
Keeping The Summer Alive
No Pier Pressure
Pacific Ocean Blue
Party
Summer Days! (And Summer Nights)
Shut Down Volume 2
Songs In the Key of Disney
That Lucky Old Sun
What I Really Want for Christmas


D List (Acceptable catalog material, on par with many major artists of the past few decades)
The Beach Boys Christmas Album
Beach Boys 85
15 Big Ones
LA (Light Album)
Little Deuce Coupe
Live in London
MIU Album
Orange Crate Art
Surfin' Safari
Wild Honey


D List (Serious shortcomings but with varying appeal to fans or niche markets)
Carl Wilson
Getting In Over My Head
Friends
Love You
Smiley Smile
Stars & Stripes Vol 1
Summer in Paradise
Surfin' USA
Youngblood


Z List
Salute Nascar



Not familiar enough with them to rank them
Going Public
Looking Back With Love

[bluesno1fann]

A list:
Pet Sounds
Wild Honey
Sunflower
Surf's Up
Carl And The Passions: "So Tough!"

B list:
The Beach Boys Today!
SMiLE
20/20
Holland
Love You

C list:
Surfer Girl
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Friends
L.A. Light Album
The Beach Boys

D list:
Surfin' Safari
Surfin' USA
Shut Down Vol. II
All Summer Long
Smiley Smile

E list:
Little Deuce Coupe
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
M.I.U. Album
Still Cruisin'
That's Why God Made The Radio

Z list:
Beach Boys' Party!
15 Big Ones
Keepin' The Summer Alive
Summer In Paradise
Stars And Stripes Vol. I

[branaa09]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

Good One! 

[Theydon Bois]

Al, Brian, Carl, Dennis, Zeppo

[SurfRiderHawaii]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

Good One! 

Did I wake up on a different planent?. Cam is using satire to defend Brian from an alternate universe OSD attacking btYhan? Gotta love this board!

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Game Time!

 Arrange the Beach Boys (and related) albums into A List (Essential), B List (Desirable), C List (Listenable), D List (Disposable) and Z List (Burnable).

NO MORE THAN 5 ALBUMS PER LIST

No Lives, Box-Sets, Greatest Hits or Sprawling Boots

Here's mine

A- List

Pet Sounds
SMiLE
Love You
Adult/Child
Wild Honey

B - List

That Lucky Old Sun
Today!
Summer Days (and Summer Nights)
Slightly American Music That's Why God Made the Radio
Sunflower

C - List

Surf’s Up
Smiley Smile
Pacific Ocean Blue
I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times
That’s Why God Made the Radio Friends

D - List

Friends Surfer Girl
20/20
Orange Crate Art
Gershwin
Holland

Z - List

Summer in Paradise
Still Crusin’
M.I.U.
Keepin’ The Summer Alive
Little Deuce Coup

GO!

I dont understand. Am I picking the ones I like the most out of the D and Z categories or the ones I find most disposable and burnable? Is SMiLE the whole boxset, the Disc 1 tracklist, BWPS or anything you imagine SMiLE to be, ie fanmixes included? Anyway...

A-SMiLE if the boxset or fanmix. Pet Sounds if BWPS or just Disc 1
B-Today! and this should be part of the essential category, imo
C-Smiley Smile and this should be moved up a category too
D-Holland is the one I like best out of this category, but 20/20 the one I find most disposable. Holland should also be moved up a category or two
Z-Havent heard any of these but SIP and dont want to. SIP is definitely one Id like to burn

EDIT:

Nevermind, I misunderstood.

A-SMiLE(boxset or fanmixes), Pet Sounds, Today, Smiley and Love You
B-Sunflower, Holland, POB, BWPS, TSS Disc 1 SMiLE
C-Surfs Up, Friends, Wild Honey, Summer Days, All Summer Long
D-The rest of their early albums and later albums
Z-All 80s and 90s releases

[Emily]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

Good One! 

Did I wake up on a different planent?. Cam is using satire to defend Brian from an alternate universe OSD attacking btYhan? Gotta love this board!

Bizarro world. I blinked at those posts for a while.

[Lee Marshall]

Only 5 lps per designation...So...Here's mine.  Several great lps missing as per the 'limit'.  C is ambiguous.  These 5 are quite listenable not barely so.  D and Z were easy.

A.
Pet Sounds
Brian Wilson Presents Smile
Sunflower
Friends
Smile-Beach Boys subsequent release.  NOT the box set...just the finally 'finished' Smile album part

B.
Little Deuce Coupe
Wild Honey
20/20
Pacific Ocean Blue
No Pier Pressure

C.
Surfer Girl
Today
That's Why God Made the Radio
Reimagines Gershwin
Carl Wilson

D
Surfin Safari
15 Big Ones
Stars and Stripes  1
In the Key of Disney
Going Public

Z
Smiley Smile
Love You
Summer in Paradise
Looking Back With Love
Salute Nascar

[Peter Pumpkinhead]

A:

Pet Sounds
Sunflower
Friends
The Beach Boys Love You
Today

B:

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
20/20
Surf's Up
All Summer Long
Surfer Girl

C:

Wild Honey
Smiley Smile
Carl And The Passions "So Tough"
Holland
Shut Down Volume Two

D:

Surfin' USA
L.A. (Light Album)
Little Deuce Coupe
Party!
Surfin' Safari

E:

That's Why God Made The Radio
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
M.I.U.
15 Big Ones
The Beach Boys '85


Z:

Keepin' The Summer Alive
Still Cruisin'
Summer In Paradise

[SurfRiderHawaii]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

Good One! 

Did I wake up on a different planent?. Cam is using satire to defend Brian from an alternate universe OSD attacking btYhan? Gotta love this board!

Bizarro world. I blinked at those posts for a while.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/study-may-have-found-evidence-of-alternate-parallel-universes/ar-BBmNQ3a?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=mailsignout

[Micha]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

 

If this wasn't a parody of OSD, I'd find this highly offensive and irritating. It's so close to the original that even so my laugh gets stuck in my throat.

[Cam Mott]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

 

If this wasn't a parody of OSD, I'd find this highly offensive and irritating. It's so close to the original that even so my laugh gets stuck in my throat.

It's all farce right?  OSD and SB stir the pot with pretend outrage and we all pretend to be outraged by their pot stirring, right?

[Andrew G. Doe]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

 

If this wasn't a parody of OSD, I'd find this highly offensive and irritating. It's so close to the original that even so my laugh gets stuck in my throat.

Thing is, OSD is a parody, and richly deserving of all the odium heading his way. 

[Micha]

A: Kokomo, because it showed Mike was the true genius of the group, not cuHsin brYhan.

You forgot "and without Mike, cuSsin' brYhan would have been pumpin' gas for a living".

 

If this wasn't a parody of OSD, I'd find this highly offensive and irritating. It's so close to the original that even so my laugh gets stuck in my throat.

Thing is, OSD is a parody, and richly deserving of all the odium heading his way. 

A parody of what? "A parody is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of satiric or ironic imitation." Whom or what does OSD imitate? Do you think he even knows what satire is?

[ppk700]

A:

Pet Sounds
Wild Honey
20/20
Sunflower
Pacific Ocean Blue

B:

Smiley Smile
Friends
Surf's Up
Holland
Love You

C:

Surfin' USA
All Summer Long
Today!
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
LA (Light Album)

D:

Surfer Girl
Shut Down Vol. 2
Carl And The Passions - "So Tough"
That's Why God Made The Radio
No Pier Pressure

Z:

Burnable? I wouldn't advise that, plastic and vinyl are bad for your lungs.