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The Beach Boys

dunno what this is/all reviews on the site bar two of them are shit discog series imminent/don't fuck with the formula
1The Beach Boys
Today!

one of the two albums that gave an idea of what was to come, with songs like "In The Back of My Mind" sounding like a warm up to Pet Sounds with its elaborate orchestral arrangements. The other album...
2The Beach Boys
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)

focuses a lot more on the sunnier, pop-focused sound that was prominent on the first side of Today! Aside from California Girls, the whole album is rather upbeat but the vocal arrangements give insight into the Boys' musical progression
3The Beach Boys
Beach Boys' Party!

compared to the albums before it and what was to come, this album more of a breather and showcases Brian Wilson's fascination with "party tracks" that many artists would use on their recordings for years to come (Zappa, Hendrix, Stones, Fab Four). Considered the first "unplugged" album by many, and while not exactly of top quality, bought Wilson time to create....
4The Beach Boys
Pet Sounds

This album changed music as we know it, and marked the beginning of a new era in music. Pet Sounds prompted many to use the studio to its absolute limits and inspired many to experiment in any way possible. As the Boys' were in Japan during the initial recordings, Wilson brought in the legendary "Wrecking Crew" to record the instrumental pieces that Wilson had written. Met with opposition from a certain Beach Boy, Pet Sounds was a far cry from the hits they had churned out from '62-'64. No surfing songs, no hot rod tunes, but elaborate baroque pop songs about alienation, self-doubt and the loss of innocence. It may have fucked with the formula, but it ensured the Boys' place in music history as pop auteurs.
5The Beach Boys
The Smile Sessions

The most famous unreleased album of all-time (for decades at least), Smile was Wilson's attempt at creating something not only greater than Pet Sounds, but his go at beating The Beatles as well. Had the album come out in '67, it would've been huge. Not in the commercial sense (for what it's worth, the record buying public wouldn't be all too big with something like Mrs. O'Leary's Cow), but with the big name critics who would've undoubtedly championed it as a masterpiece (or as a huge, pile of nonsense - it could go both ways with this album). The biggest tragedy in music was this not making it to the press, and being shelved for decades. Not only that, but it marked the beginning of Wilson's mental decline - which would last for well over a decade.
6The Beach Boys
Smiley Smile

The replacement album: quoted by Carl Wilson as "a bunt instead of a grand slam" and the end result of well over a year of hard work (gone to waste), Smiley Smile came in the wake of a mentally and physically exhausted Brian canning Smile, instead opting to start over with a more simplified album. Featuring "Heroes and Villains" and "Good Vibrations", the album ended up being the band's lowest charting album in the U.S. (#47) yet was a top 10 hit in the U.K. (#9). A few other Smile songs ("With Me Tonight", "Vegetables", "Wind Chimes", "Wonderful") were entirely remade and scaled down. Other songs featured bits and pieces of other pieces from Smile with only "Little Pad", "Gettin' Hungry" and "Whistle In" being entirely new songs. Met with confusion with the press, it went on to be highly influential in the avant-garde and ambient scene oddly enough.
7The Beach Boys
Wild Honey

The Boys' try at rhythm and blues, Wild Honey was the next album in a line of "low-fi" albums (due to the rather low tech equipment at Wilson's home studio during '67). This album marked a change in the direction of the band with Brian relinquishing his role as the sole producer of the band's albums. The album performed rather fine (#24 in the U.S. and #7 in the U.K.) yet it was the lowest selling album the band had put out yet. With the public still expecting the highly experimental Smile, Wild Honey was seen as another stop gap release to hold people over and further alienated the band's audience and critics. It's unfortunate, since it features the Boys' at their most soulful with concise, rhythmic tunes such as "Wild Honey", "Here Comes The Night" and "Let The Wind Blow".
8The Beach Boys
Friends

The last in a series of "low-fi" albums, Friends practically tanked upon its release (#126 U.S. / #13 U.K). Despite this, it showed Carl and Dennis Wilson, as well as Al Jardine, making significant contributions to the band's material. While it features new material, it was the second album (in a period lasting until 1971) to borrow from the cancelled (at that time, it was in limbo) Smile album.
9The Beach Boys
20/20

The final album for Capitol Records, 20/20 did far better than its predecessor (#68 U.S. / #3 U.K.) but in terms of quality, is the weakest they put out since Pet Sounds made waves in the industry three years earlier. With Brian away in a psychiatric hospital, Carl and Dennis retrieved outtakes recorded earlier to fill up the runtime of the album. While probably their most diverse album yet, the quality of the music isn't exceptional. Bruce Johnston makes his first significant contribution with the instrumental "The Nearest Faraway Place", and the Smile outtake "Cabinessence" makes its appearance (complete with the infamous "over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield" lyric.
10The Beach Boys
Sunflower

Now on the Reprise label (with the Brother Records imprint from the Smile era revived), Sunflower went through several rejections before being deemed fit for release. A more experimental endeavor for the Boys' it features several credits to Dennis Wilson, with what could be his signature song, "Forever". "Cool, Cool Water", an outtake from the Smiley Smile sessions (and attempted again for Wild Honey), featured a minimal instrumental arrangement with the emphasis being on the band's group dynamic as a vocal group.
11The Beach Boys
Surf's Up

The final album to borrow anything from Smile, Surf's Up was the final album Bruce Johnston would feature on as a member until 1979's Light Album. Another diverse album from the band, it features no songs from Dennis, with Carl, Al and Mike's material making up the album with Johnston's "Disney Girls" being his sole contribution to the album. The band's manager, Jack Rieley, even contributes with vocals on Brian's "A Day in the Life of a Tree" as well as Carl's "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows". The album is more of a downer in comparison to Sunflower, with a few songs containing an environmental message (especially in the downright depressing "Day in the Life"), and the "Riot in Cell Block #9" rewrite "Student Demonstration Time" from Mike Love that tends to get flak for its confusing message and its attempt to be socially and politically relevant. "Til' I Die" further dampens the mood with Brian's lyrics reflecting his mindset at the time, a man preoccupied with life, death and..
12The Beach Boys
Surf's Up

...his place in the world. The finale, "Surf's Up", taken from Smile, is often considered his magnum opus, and for good reason. The elaborate arrangements, the vocal work, the lyrics from Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, it's a taster of just what Wilson was promising with Smile. Despite Pet Sounds being his most acclaimed work, "Surf's Up" is considered his single greatest composition. With its ironic title, the song details a man's enlightenment and is in someway autobiographical with the lyric "The father's life is done, and the children carry on" (which was removed), which was written with father Murray in mind. The song was almost left off the album due to Brian's resistance of having it included and was practically forced into including it on the album.
13The Beach Boys
Carl and the Passions - "So Tough"

By 1971, Carl had become the de facto bandleader, and by his decision had decided to bring in two new members - Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar of The Flames, a band that had caught Wilson's interest. This album harkens back in a way to the soulful sound of Wild Honey, with songs like "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone", "Marcella" and "Here She Comes" being examples of the band's venture into roots-based rock. Dennis, who had suffered a hand injury at this time, took up the piano and collaborated with Daryl Dragon (more known as The Captain of Captain and Tennille) on the songs "Make it Good" and "Cuddle Up", hinting at the sound of his solo album Pacific Ocean Blue. During the sessions of this album, Bruce Johnston left the band (or was fired by Jack Rieley, depending on which account you want to believe) due to the direction the band was going in, as well as Brian's lessening influence,
14The Beach Boys
Holland

At the insistence of Rieley, the band headed to the Netherlands in the hopes of kicking Brian out of his depression and reviving his creative spark. Holland featured more contributions from Chaplin and Fataar, most notably on "Sail On, Sailor" and "Leaving This Town" (the former had Chaplin on vocals, but was written by Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, as well as Rieley and Tadyn Almer and Ray Kennedy). The rest of the album features minimal contributions from Wilson, with the rest of the band writing most of the material. Wilson put most of his efforts into the ten minute 7" EP "Mount Vernon and Fairway", a heavily spoken-word fairy tale about a magical transistor radio.
15The Beach Boys
15 Big Ones

Marked by the "Brian's Back!" campaign, 15 Big Ones came three years after Holland. Chaplin, Fataar and Rieley were long gone - and in an attempt to follow up on the success of the Endless Summer compilation, tried to get Brian back into the producer's chair. This was met with commercial success, peaking at #8 in the U.S., yet stalled at #31 in the U.K. - and was met with indifference with the critics, who felt the band were exploiting Brian at a critical point where they were relevant once again. The campaign reached a peak (read: low) with their SNL appearance which featured Brian at the center of a "Failure to Surf" comedy sketch in which surf cops played by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi pull Brian out of bed and force him to ride the waves outside. At this time, the band hired Eugene Landy to supervise Wilson in order to ensure his health. This was the first time Landy would be involved with Wilson, with the second time being far more infamous in Beach Boys lore...
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