Holland - end of an era?

[Rocky Raccoon]

Respectfully disagree about Love You being a full band record. Mike and Al are missing in too many places for me to feel that way. It's  a lot of Brian, Dennis, and Carl.

I would agree. Love You always seemed like a Brian solo record that was "rescued" by Carl (mainly) either because Brian couldn't/wouldn't finish it...or because of record company pressure. We all know that Carl did a lot of work to flesh out the sound after Brian was finished with it.

Don't get me wrong. I love the album...but it is a Brian album...not a true group album.

By that logic, Pet Sounds also is not a true group album.  There's plenty of group involvement on both albums, just not in the songwriting realm.

[Banana]

Good point.

[Jay]

I think the group really missed a good opportunity to release a really good album during the MIU era. Somebody on youtube that makes imaginary beach boys albums made a compilation that I think is s perfect example of what kind of album the group could and should have released in 1978. If this had been released I really think it would have been their best album since Holland, and possibly even the last truly great beach boys album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuyDD4NsNc8

[thorgil]

Or they could have released this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N65BLLg3tY

[Banana]

Scott has made some really interesting alternate versions of just about every BB release. The Beach Boys had plenty of missed opportunities. Still, I'd take their flawed, weird, and mostly brilliant catalog over just about any other group.

[KDS]

I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm glad the Beach Boys continued to make music and tour, all the way until 2012's TWGMTR.

But I've always said that The Beach Boys would be much more respected and revered as the legends that they are had they called it quits in the mid 70s. 

Look at bands like The Beatles, CCR, Hendrix, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, etc.  They are highly regarded because they did a lot of great in a short amount of time, and that was it.  No forays into disco or 80s productions.   No embarrassing fashions.  No fractured lineups.  Etc Etc.

Granted, I'm glad the Beach Boys hung in there.  While I rarely play any albums between Holland and TWGMTR all the way through, I do think there's a lot of good music there. 

I'm just saying had they packed it in early.....or maybe even after Dennis died, you'd hear their names in the same breaths as rock legends a lot more often. 

[Banana]

They had such a fractured history. You had the glory years...up through Good Vibrations. Then you had the wilderness years where they were making good music that nobody listened to and I think that lasted through Holland.

They had a comeback with Endless Summer and that cemented their place as legends, but at the expense of everything they had done after Good Vibrations.

What came after was such a mixed bag. You had a messed up Brian. You had Dennis and Carl who were moving forward as individual voices. You had Mike and Al (and later Bruce) who were seemingly more content to ham it up on the nostalgia circuit...really wrecking (in my opinion) the credibility of the group.

Carl jumping ship for a few years and then Dennis dying maybe should have been it...but it's like whenever they were on life support and conventional wisdom should have said "pull the plug" just enough happened to keep them going. Maybe it was one of Brian's comebacks or their attempt to cash in on 80's synth pop (I actually like BB85).

However, by the end of the decade...I just have a hard time finding much of redeeming value. Still Crusin'? Summer in Paradise? Stars and Stripes. The stuff is mostly just gunk.

If anything...maybe we should be thankful that they somehow kept going long enough to release TGFTR...which wasn't their best ever...but it was a good, listenable album that had some truly wonderful, moving songs on it. A good way to bow out...but then we still have Mike and Bruce playing county fairs...

[KDS]

They had such a fractured history. You had the glory years...up through Good Vibrations. Then you had the wilderness years where they were making good music that nobody listened to and I think that lasted through Holland.

They had a comeback with Endless Summer and that cemented their place as legends, but at the expense of everything they had done after Good Vibrations.

What came after was such a mixed bag. You had a messed up Brian. You had Dennis and Carl who were moving forward as individual voices. You had Mike and Al (and later Bruce) who were seemingly more content to ham it up on the nostalgia circuit...really wrecking (in my opinion) the credibility of the group.

Carl jumping ship for a few years and then Dennis dying maybe should have been it...but it's like whenever they were on life support and conventional wisdom should have said "pull the plug" just enough happened to keep them going. Maybe it was one of Brian's comebacks or their attempt to cash in on 80's synth pop (I actually like BB85).

However, by the end of the decade...I just have a hard time finding much of redeeming value. Still Crusin'? Summer in Paradise? Stars and Stripes. The stuff is mostly just gunk.

If anything...maybe we should be thankful that they somehow kept going long enough to release TGFTR...which wasn't their best ever...but it was a good, listenable album that had some truly wonderful, moving songs on it. A good way to bow out...but then we still have Mike and Bruce playing county fairs...

I actually like a lot of what's on Still Cruisin.  Love TWGMTR. 

Mike and Bruce do put on really good shows, as does Brian with his band.  So, we have two really good bands out there spreading The Beach Boys legacy. 

[shangaijoeBB]

I'll pitch in and share my newer mix:

My follow-up to Holland: Ecology (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBeSpcOCOP4&feature=youtu.be

Im' actually working on a blog revisiting each 70s album (and inventing new ones like the 1974 one) where better song choices were made, all according to the sessionography from AGD's site (http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs.html). Many thanks to Scott G for his mixes!

Enjoy this one, the rest is coming soon!

[donald]

Holland has long been a favorite BB album for me, and for a time, I considered it their best album.  SOS, the Big Sur/California set, "Spark in the Dark", seemed like they were all strong and contributing members for a moment.   and the bonus EP Pied Piper/magic transistor.    Loved the packaging.