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Beach Boys overkill?

tnmike1

tnmike1

AK Member
I usually borrow CDs from my library system when I see something I wouldn't ordinarily buy. So they had Pet Sounds, The Very Best of the Beach Boys, and a 5 CD compilation entitled The Beach Boys--Good Vibrations.

I'm OK with the first two, but apparently this 5 CD compilation looks like everything they ever did, including outtakes, live performances, etc etc.

To quote:

"The ultimate compilation spanning their entire career, from the home demo of "Surfin USA" to the ...hit "Kokomo. Over 120 songs...including many never-before-released selections and rare finds..."

OK--I like the Beach Boys and wouldn't mind hearing selections plus Jimmy Buffett to get me in a Florida-kinda mood. But is this a little much?? In other words, do you have to be a Beach Boy fanatic to want 120 songs, many never-before-released?? Or is this really a treasure to be loved??
 
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"...do you have to be a Beach Boy fanatic to want 120 songs, many never-before-released??"

Hmm, I don't know. I only have 22 Beach Boys LPs and 6 CDs.
 
I had the box set since it came out, and I still love it. When of my best music purchases ever.
 
at the tender age of 66, I well remember Beatlemania and listening to Beach Boys while studying for college finals. So, yeah, do know they were about equally popular--i fact, the CD notes on The Very Best of the Beach Boys alludes to the fact that Beatles and Beach Boys appreciated each others' sounds and were influenced by each other.

Have the Pet Sounds Sessions reserved from the library and should be getting them any day.

I was thinking too that the big 5 CD set is for "Hard Core ONly". That said, I like the Beach Boys--I do not LOVE the Beach Boys. But then again, my fave is probably a few full editions of Mahler Symphonies or Wagner's Ring Cycle.

To each his own, which is why music is so darned interesting.
 
anytune said:
"...do you have to be a Beach Boy fanatic to want 120 songs, many never-before-released??"

Hmm, I don't know. I only have 22 Beach Boys LPs and 6 CDs.
Click to expand...

To me, we're talking about the Beatles' only serious competition in the mid 60's when the Beach Boys won polls IN THE UK on the strength of how good Smile was GOING to be as it was never released at the time. Readers' polls at the peak of the Beatles' storied and illustrious career found the boys from Hawthorn, CA on top of the world. This little known fact keeps coming back up as most music fans only know the Fun Fun Fun Mike Love-style Beach Boys, as diametrically opposed to the avant-hippy stylings of the man with the tent and grand piano in the middle of the sandpit in his livingroom.:thmbsp:
 
I bought it when it first came out and sold it about a year ago. It was just too much BB for me. I’m a big fan, just not THAT big a fan. I wound up getting those fabulous-sounding Capitol two-fers, several audiophile gold discs, and the recent SMILE compilation, and now I’m pretty well set. :yes:
 
tnmike1 said:
I usually borrow CDs from my library system when I see something I wouldn't ordinarily buy. So they had Pet Sounds, The Very Best of the Beach Boys, and a 5 CD compilation entitled The Beach Boys--Good Vibrations.

I'm OK with the first two, but apparently this 5 CD compilation looks like everything they ever did, including outtakes, live performances, etc etc.

To quote:

"The ultimate compilation spanning their entire career, from the home demo of "Surfin USA" to the ...hit "Kokomo. Over 120 songs...including many never-before-released selections and rare finds..."

OK--I like the Beach Boys and wouldn't mind hearing selections plus Jimmy Buffett to get me in a Florida-kinda mood. But is this a little much?? In other words, do you have to be a Beach Boy fanatic to want 120 songs, many never-before-released?? Or is this really a treasure to be loved??
Click to expand...

Is that a serious question?

The Beach Boys are hardly the only band to have released such a collection. The beauty of the digital age is that you can fit a lot of stuff on those discs. Certainly a good deal of it is more for scholarly purposes, but that is what more than casual fans look for.

I own the collection- its been around since the 90s- and enjoy it.

So the answer is, Yes.
 
There are a lot of Beach Boy fanatics out there. Many a serious music lover has gone on a Brian Wilson bender.

I sometimes prefer the BB compilations over the full albums since the latter tend to have some banal filler. Bull Session with Big Daddy leaps to mind.

Some of thee vocals-only versions of their hits are amazingly moving.
 
tnmike1 said:
I usually borrow CDs from my library system when I see something I wouldn't ordinarily buy. So they had Pet Sounds, The Very Best of the Beach Boys, and a 5 CD compilation entitled The Beach Boys--Good Vibrations.

I'm OK with the first two, but apparently this 5 CD compilation looks like everything they ever did, including outtakes, live performances, etc etc.

To quote:

"The ultimate compilation spanning their entire career, from the home demo of "Surfin USA" to the ...hit "Kokomo. Over 120 songs...including many never-before-released selections and rare finds..."

OK--I like the Beach Boys and wouldn't mind hearing selections plus Jimmy Buffett to get me in a Florida-kinda mood. But is this a little much?? In other words, do you have to be a Beach Boy fanatic to want 120 songs, many never-before-released?? Or is this really a treasure to be loved??
Click to expand...
I think it is. Just not all at once! :no: Like most of the "boxed sets", they are great to have and to love and often include "never before released" versions of "stuff", but you can easily overdose on any one band. My Dwight Yoakam box set comes to mind. :scratch2:

My recommendation? Enjoy it like a good Scotch, slowly and over time. I think you'll appreciate it that way.:yes:


Dennie
 
tnmike1 said:
[. . .] But is this a little much?? In other words, do you have to be a Beach Boy fanatic to want 120 songs, many never-before-released?? Or is this really a treasure to be loved?? [. . . ]
Click to expand...

This Beach Boys set looks pretty reasonable, given that Kiss has a 5-disc set:

http://www.amazon.com/Kiss/dp/B00005R72D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329623941&sr=8-1

The Monkees, a 4-disc set:

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Box-Monkees/dp/B000056W0H/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329624955&sr=8-1

And the Osmond Family, a 3-disc set:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Time-Grea...GJX8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329623975&sr=8-1

I wouldn't mind having that Beach Boys set for the disc of unreleased material, especially those isolated vocal tracks.
 
Dennie said:
I think it is. Just not all at once! :no: Like most of the "boxed sets", they are great to have and to love and often include "never before released" versions of "stuff", but you can easily overdose on any one band. My Dwight Yoakam box set comes to mind. :scratch2:

My recommendation? Enjoy it like a good Scotch, slowly and over time. I think you'll appreciate it that way.:yes:


Dennie
Click to expand...

I think you've hit it. After going through a few selections--and listening to the"greatest hits" CD--I think this set is something to be enjoyed in bits and pieces. And as another poster said, the "vocals only" tracks are intriguing in their own way. So yes, I'm glad I DO have this compilation in the library but to be enjoyed slowly
 
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