20/20

[theeponymuseudonym]

at the beginning of DoItAgain--is it just me or can anyone else
hear a voice that says "lets pull this off"? its during Dennis' drum intro right b4 the vocal

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Ebmaj7,  Eb7, Ab,  Gm7,  Cm7,  Gm7/C,  Dm7,  Cm7

[Jason Penick]

A bit of a mixed bag.  When I got the 2fer back in 1990 I liked 20/20 better than Friends, mainly due to what I perceived as improved production values, but my opinion has since switched.  The easiest way to assess this one is to do a quick track-by-track breakdown:

Do It Again-- Used to love it.  Has since worn a bit thin, probably due to overexposure.  Great drum sound on the intro.  A nice retreat into safer territory for Brian.  I'd probably have more appreciation for the song if it wasn't such a thematic harbinger of things to come for the Beach Boys.

I Can Hear Music-- Everyone fawns over this song.  Except me.  It sounds GREAT, but this is still a dangerous step backwards into nostalgia territory.  I think folks overrate this one a bit as it was Carl's baby, and face it-- everybody loves Carl, don't they?

Bluebirds-- Take what I said for the previous review and multiply it by about 1000x.  The lead guitar here is cool but gimmicky, but the rest of the song is a total waste of space.  If you've ever seen that awful "music video" that accompanies this song, you'll have a better understanding of my hatred for it.  (Notice Dennis did not appear anywhere in that travesty-- I respect the hell out of the guy for taking a stand against the band he loved being artistically debased in such a way.)

Be With Me-- Dennis proves that he possesses an ungodly level of artistic talent on this monster.  Amazing.  My wife's favorite Beach Boy song.

All I Want to Do-- FUN would be the best word to describe this number.  Great vocal from Mr. Love.  Worked well in concert, too.

NFAP-- Pleasant.  The essence of Bruce, distilled to a 2 minute instrumental.  It ain't Pet Sounds, but a remarkable simulation.  As opposed to "Do It Again", this one is a grower for me.

Cottonfields-- Not a huge fan of this track in general, and I like Al's version better than this one by Brian (who doesn't seem to be trying awfully hard here).  I get the feeling Big Bri was being a bit passive aggressive towards the rest of the band by not blessing this one with his usual magic touch.

I Went to Sleep -- Gorgeous outtake from the Friends sessions.  Now this is the real Brian Wilson in mini-epic form.  The little production touches he provides are incredible.

Never Learn Not to Love--  Another winner from the Dennis/ Charlie Manson well.  An almost surreal level of beauty attained here.  Dennis was proving himself to be far and away the strongest writer and producer in the 1969 Beach Boys.

Time To Get Alone-- BW firing on all cylinders.  Astonishingly good.  Originally intended for Redwood, but the Boys make it their own with a great lead vocal from Carl.  Shows B-Dub was still capable of achieving greatness when he stayed focused (as opposed to going through the motions as with "Cottonfields").

Prayer/ Cab-- Another reason this album sinks a bit in my estimation.  These are SMiLE songs, tacked on to fill out the LP.  Since I hadn't heard SMiLE when I first got this, I could accept it.  But now that I know where these songs are supposed to go, they seemed ill-suited for this compilation.


4 stars

[Daniel S.]

Prayer/ Cab-- Another reason this album sinks a bit in my estimation.  These are SMiLE songs, tacked on to fill out the LP.  Since I hadn't heard SMiLE when I first got this, I could accept it.  But now that I know where these songs are supposed to go, they seemed ill-suited for this compilation.

4 stars

I agree.

Our Prayer and Cabinessence are really out of place on this album. They should have replaced them with Break Away and Celebrate The News.

[donald]

John and Punkinhead are right.  Nearest Faraway Place is great.  Try using it on a compilation as a bridge from other material to Do It Again.  The piano fades into a soft tinkling followed by the funky opening rhythm of Do It Again.  Should have been that way on the album.

[punkinhead]

awesome! thanx donald

[Don't Back Down]

Prayer/ Cab-- Another reason this album sinks a bit in my estimation.  These are SMiLE songs, tacked on to fill out the LP.  Since I hadn't heard SMiLE when I first got this, I could accept it.  But now that I know where these songs are supposed to go, they seemed ill-suited for this compilation.

4 stars

I agree.

Our Prayer and Cabinessence are really out of place on this album. They should have replaced them with Break Away and Celebrate The News.

Yeah I never understood the placing of Our Prayere and Cabinessence on 20/20. Break Away would have fit the album well, one of my favorite tunes.

[Mitchell]

Carl thought that the music was great and needed to be released for people to hear it.

[Aegir]

Yeah, you can't really fault them for putting two Smile songs on the album, because the buyers didn't know any better at the time, they wouldn't've cared.. why should we? I think the fadeout on Cabinessence is a great way to end the album, actually.

[Daniel S.]

Our Prayer is the last song on the album which is a strange way to go out. Cabinessence is right before it.

[Aegir]

Not on my copy..

[Mitchell]

Our Prayer is the last song on the album which is a strange way to go out. Cabinessence is right before it.

Nope, it's the other way around.

[Daniel S.]

You guys are right. The song order got screwed up when I imported the album into iTunes.

[I. Spaceman]

Is there anybody left on the board who heard The Beach Boys before 2002?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Been a fan since 1995

[Aegir]

I liked the usual songs, you know, Good Vibrations, Kokomo, Surfin' USA, et cetera.. but I didn't get "into" the Beach Boys until 2003.

[Compost]

Fan since 1981.  It's my 25th anniversary in May.

[Daniel S.]

Actually, I didn't get into the Beach Boys until 2002. Crazy.

[mike thornton]

since i heard i get around when i was 5.

[punkinhead]

on the production notes, it says Time to get alone was produced by Carl, but didnt brian originally produce the one for Redwood? i know that's a slightly different version with a horn section solo, but did carl totally re-produce it? i highly doubt it

[Mitchell]

They actually re-tracked a separate version but didn't use it. The horn section is just edited out of the Beach Boys' version. The Redwood one, the 20/20 one and the Hawthorne one all use the same backing track.

Technically, I became a Beach Boys FAN the way I am now in 2003. Prior to that, I was a fan of the Beach Boys. I know I wrote in a school project that they were my favourite band when I was 12, and that was in the early-90s. I didn't explore their music enough at that age, though.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I'm looking forward to the first Beach Boys fan of the year 2020 that becomes a fan by listening to 20/20.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I can't wait until the music industry folds. Hopefully it will have started by 2020. It's really a disgusting business driven by selfish want for ridiculous amounts of un-needed money. Consider any point system that a major act signs up for on a major label. Imagine all that money going to total waste. "The rich are eccentric, the poor are crazy". Money that could re-shape the world into a beautiful place for all. Money enough to cease wars and struggles. All going into the pockets of untalented people who knew how to play their hand of cards.

[Capt.Tuttle]

I give it a five.  I really like this album.  The first three and the last two are my favorites.

[Capt.Tuttle]

at the beginning of DoItAgain--is it just me or can anyone else
hear a voice that says "lets pull this off"? its during Dennis' drum intro right b4 the vocal?

I hear it.