Beach Boys' albums by genre

[punkinhead]

Alright, so basically, to the music world, the Beach Boys are of the oldies genre, and if they're specific, surf rock/pop, or even more specific bubblegum pop....I've also seen them located in the vocal genre (in old pics of record stores). But I only consider the early albums (Surfin Safari - All Summer Long) to be of the surf/rock/pop genre... Could somebody be so kind to label each album (Today! - Summer In Paradise) by genre? I mean, you dont have to do every album, but the ones you know of, it's hard for me to decide what albums like Friends or Sunflower or MIU would be considered...perhaps I'm missing a genre in the early albums, correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: and if you wanna do their solo albums as well, go right on ahead!    

[Jon Stebbins]

Surfin Safari - Surf/Garage/Pop
Surfin' USA - Surf/Garage/Rock
Surfer Girl - Surf/Garage/Pop/Rock
Little Deuce Coupe - Hot Rod/Garage/Rock
Shut Down Vol 2 - Hot Rod/Pop/Rock
All Summer Long = Pop Rock
Concert - Garage Rock
Today - Pop Rock
Summer Days - Pop Rock
Party - Folk Pop
Pet Sounds - Genius Pop
Smile - Scrapped Genius Rock
Smiley Smile - Bunt Rock
Wild Honey - White Soul
Friends - Chill Out Rock
20/20 - Kitchen Sink Rock
Sunflower - Sublime Rock
Surf's Up - Ecology Rock
Carl and the Passions - Gospel Pop
Holland - '72 Rock
15 Big Ones - Beard Rock
Love You - Farting Synth Rock
MIU - TM Rock
L.A. Light - Heroin Disco
Keepin the Summer Alive - Bland Rock
BB's 85 - Levine Pop
Still Cruisin - Old Guy Rock
SIP - No One Cares Rock

[Awesoman]

Nice stuff, Jon, but you left out In Concert; the 1970's live album.  I call that Hipster-Wannabe Rock.   

Naw, I'm just kiddin'; that's actually one of my favorite albums by the band. 

[PongHit]

 

[punkinhead]

good stuff, i'd like to hear other's opinions as well!

[SG7]

Sweet Insanity - Gay



 

[rogerlancelot]

Smiley Smile - Do-It-Yourself Acid Casualty Doo-Wop
Stack'O'Tracks - Karaoke
In Concert (1973) - Arena Rock
Going Public - Gay Disco Samba
Love You - Surf/Punk/New Wave
Adult Child - Easy Listening/Oldies Rock
Bambu - Progressive Rock/Pop Rock
Country Love - Did I really need to even have to go there?
Looking Back With Love - Oldies Rubbish
Summer In Paradise - Should have never happened
Imagination - MOR / Soft Rock
Stars And Stripes - Surf Country
Gettin' In Over My Head - Pop Rock

These are a few off the top of my head.

[Smilin Ed H]

"Sweet Insanity - Gay"

Good to see tolerance making a comeback.

[Synth Wash]

I think Pet Sounds defined a new genre that is often called "Chamber Pop". SMiLE probably would have fit into that genre as well. I think BWPS certainly does. I've heard bands like The Pernice Brothers compared to Brian Wilson style Chamber Pop. I'm not sure if TLOS would be in that category though, because it's theme is a litte more down to earth.

[SG7]

If you actually look on real player, it is considered a genre. Also weird genre is Art Rock. At least that's what they use to describe Stereolab. Maybe the same can be used for Smile.

[Awesoman]

"Sweet Insanity - Gay"

Good to see tolerance making a comeback.

How about this?

Sweet Insanity - Better left in the vaults Rock

[grillo]

"Sweet Insanity - Gay"

Good to see tolerance making a comeback.

How about this?

Sweet Insanity - Better left in the vaults Rock

Don't you mean '...in the closet... "!?

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I consider Pet Sounds to be symphonic pop. Maybe Smile as a Symphonic psycadelic barbershop quartet.

Even though many describe Wild Honey as white r&b, I think it is one of the most psychadelic albums they made. It really sounds like a lot of the psychadelic music of the period.

[Mr. Cohen]

I don't know that I'd call Wild Honey psychedelic. It has psychedelic elements, but I don't think it was conscious. Brian had just done a psychedelic album and I'm guessing that he was still using a lot of drugs, so I think that those psychedelic touches just came out naturally. Musically it almost reminds me of The Doors in places, so I see where you're coming from, but the themes never seem intentionally psychedelic. I think he just wanted it to be a pure R'n'B album, although that's not exactly what we got. Actually, I'm just talking in circles. Let's call it psychedelic!

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I didn't think Wild Honey was psycadelic, but I just got the Nuggets box set for the early psycadelic era (65 - 68) and quite a bit of it sounded like it could be on the WH album.

Plus when I first saw footage of Blondie singing it around 1972, that changed the way I thought of the song. Even though it was not Brian's intention. 

Brian's Smile music was way far out there, but when Brian tried to be normal, it sounded like a lot of other bands trying to be psycadelic.

[Jon Stebbins]

Even though many describe Wild Honey as white r&b, I think it is one of the most psychadelic albums they made. It really sounds like a lot of the psychadelic music of the period....I didn't think Wild Honey was psycadelic, but I just got the Nuggets box set for the early psycadelic era (65 - 68) and quite a bit of it sounded like it could be on the WH album.

So you do, but you don't...or something like that? I'm confused. First off...Psychedelic is the term. That type of music is usually production heavy, hallucinogenic sounding, with tape manipulation, speed effects, backward loops, flangeing, heavy echo, voice effects (think Tomorrow Never Knows, Lucy in the Sky, Strawberry Fields, Astronomy Domine... anything to make it druggy, and to keep it from sounding like reality...unlike Wild Honey which is very dry, limited production, compact, clean, sober themes. Yes they use organ and harpsichord in places, but every '60's band was doing that whether they were psych or not. In my opinion WH is actually one of the least Psychedelic BB's records in the '66 to '69 period...certainly Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, Smile, Friends,  and 20/20 have more Psychedelic auras than WH. And someone mentioned the Doors? They were not very Psychedelic either, more of a blues/jazz/beat poet meets rock thing...although The End is the raga rock sound perfected.

[Jason]

About the Doors being "psychedelic"...that was more of a case of being lumped in with the prevalent scene in California at the time, and naturally, they were right in that maelstrom along with so many of the other big California bands in 1967, your Loves and Grateful Deads and Jefferson Airplanes and such. I think at their core, the Doors were pretty much a good ol' rock 'n roll band comprised of non-rock 'n roll-styled players in Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore and a limited-range crooner in Jim Morrison, although I don't want to get into the whole thing about how they were so far ahead of the crowd as musicians, like so many biographers like to claim. Densmore's use of international rhythms wasn't totally novel, Krieger's flamenco style was at least innovative if not showoff-ish, and Manzarek's keyboards were either there as part of the rhythm section or to add the occasional flourish.

[Sam_BFC]

unlike Wild Honey which is very dry, limited production, compact, clean, sober themes. Yes they use organ and harpsichord in places, but every '60's band was doing that whether they were psych or not. In my opinion WH is actually one of the least Psychedelic BB's records in the '66 to '69 period...certainly Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, Smile, Friends,  and 20/20 have more Psychedelic auras than WH.

Would you not call Friends 'dry, limited production...' etc ?

I wouldn't say it has much more of a psychedelic aura than WH?

[Jon Stebbins]

unlike Wild Honey which is very dry, limited production, compact, clean, sober themes. Yes they use organ and harpsichord in places, but every '60's band was doing that whether they were psych or not. In my opinion WH is actually one of the least Psychedelic BB's records in the '66 to '69 period...certainly Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, Smile, Friends,  and 20/20 have more Psychedelic auras than WH.

Would you not call Friends 'dry, limited production...' etc ?

I wouldn't say it has much more of a psychedelic aura than WH?

I would. Diamond Head veers into psych territory for sure with all that delay/echo slide guitar stuff...Transcendental Meditation has a somewhat psych vocal treatment ala the Stones We Love You. Be Here in the Mornin' has some psych-ish vocal effects, and overall the themes are Peace/Love in a mellow, humble but obviously "turned on" way. I think Wild Honey avoids all of that purposely and goes for a simple R&B sound with virtually no acknowledgment of the Summer of Love style themes.

[Synth Wash]

I don't know if I buy into any of the BB's productions being psychedelic. I think Good Vibrations was played up to that genre for the TV performance with all the colored lights, but other than the theremin, what's trippy about the production? Some of the lyrics certainly are. "She goes with me to a blossom world" sounds a lot like like Lucy In the Sky.

What is interesting though is I think GV holds up better than most of the Psychedelic stuff from that era. In my experience, when I put on something like "I am the Walrus" for a casual music fan,it ususally gets a reaction of "how many kinds of drugs were they on?" Same with Lucy or Purple Haze.

GV though, unfairly or not usually gets labeled as the climax to the earlier Beach Boys surf and car hits, and I think most listeners don't even notice the trippy lyrics (though I was ruined by the Sunkist commercial, I immediately crave orange pop when I hear it .

Having said that, I've been on a BB's kick for 5 years now, and listening and relistening to Smiley Smile as much as Steven Page has still gotten me no closer to an idea about what is going on in that album. Is it psychedelic? Is it underproduced or just weirdly produced? Is it a conciously crazy "home run", or a quickly thrown together "bunt"? Someday, I would like to decide what I actually think about it!

[Jon Stebbins]

I don't know if I buy into any of the BB's productions being psychedelic. I think Good Vibrations was played up to that genre for the TV performance with all the colored lights, but other than the theremin, what's trippy about the production? Some of the lyrics certainly are. "She goes with me to a blossom world" sounds a lot like like Lucy In the Sky.

What is interesting though is I think GV holds up better than most of the Psychedelic stuff from that era. In my experience, when I put on something like "I am the Walrus" for a casual music fan,it ususally gets a reaction of "how many kinds of drugs were they on?" Same with Lucy or Purple Haze.

GV though, unfairly or not usually gets labeled as the climax to the earlier Beach Boys surf and car hits, and I think most listeners don't even notice the trippy lyrics (though I was ruined by the Sunkist commercial, I immediately crave orange pop when I hear it .

Having said that, I've been on a BB's kick for 5 years now, and listening and relistening to Smiley Smile as much as Steven Page has still gotten me no closer to an idea about what is going on in that album. Is it psychedelic? Is it underproduced or just weirdly produced? Is it a conciously crazy "home run", or a quickly thrown together "bunt"? Someday, I would like to decide what I actually think about it!

In the context of '66 Good Vibrations definitely had Psychedelic overtones, some of them subtle...but yeah...people thought of it as psych-pop back then. The themes, and the instrumentation gets a little wacky. If you disect it there are undoubtedly psych-ish bits in it. Smiley Smile definitely has some heavy Psych moments, the vocal effect in She's Goin Bald, the shock/echo in Wind Chimes etc...

[punkinhead]

I used to think Wild Honey (the song, not the album) was psychedelic, with the theremin, that organ solo and such...but with the rest of the album, see where it's white R&B

[Synth Wash]

But what constitutes R&B really? Is it just the feel of the music, the fact that WH includes a Stevie Wonder song, or do the chord structures and other technical aspects of the music conform to some kind of Rhythm and Blues standard? I'm sure there are books written on this subject, and I obviously am not well versed in music theory, but I'd like to hear some insight on this from someone who is.

[The Heartical Don]

But what constitutes R&B really? Is it just the feel of the music, the fact that WH includes a Stevie Wonder song, or do the chord structures and other technical aspects of the music conform to some kind of Rhythm and Blues standard? I'm sure there are books written on this subject, and I obviously am not well versed in music theory, but I'd like to hear some insight on this from someone who is.

Hmmm... WH has lots of soulful lead vocals. Carl doesn't try to sound 'angelic', i.e. flat, very precise singing (flat = not quavering here). He more or less 'yells' from his heart. WH is totally characterized by the two hits, starting off its two sides. 'I'd love just once to see you' is more Brian-ish, but it is not pivotal on the LP, despite its beauty.

R&B could be termed 'soul with an imprecise character'. I would call 'What's Going On?' soul, and 'Let's Get It On' R&B. On the first, Marvin sings rather precisely, he does each note equal justice. On the second, he moans, grunts, groans to his heart's content.

I'd say R&B has frequently stingy guitar solos with a blues scale, with dissonants. It 'bites', if you will. Soul is smoother, see The Impressions, and lots of Southern Soul (Arthur Alexander, James Carr). R&B often is dance-oriented, sexy, raucuous, lewd. Soul is more inward-looking, with themes like loss, regret, or intense longing, and unrequited love.

Perhaps R&B benefits from an 'accidental, deliberately shoddy' type of production, and soul does from a precise, carefully measured (but not slick) one.

I may, of course, be wrong in all the above aspects.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Can't something be psychadelic and r&b at the same time? A lot of psychadelic bands were base on r&b, rocknroll, blues, jazz or classical.