The Beach Boys - Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights)
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Free Music Notes for Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights)
Free Music Review: Timeless and beautiful songs on Today
Hit: 5 Stars
After Pet Sounds, I believe that The Beach Boys Today! is their greatest album. I gave this CD five stars because of this, not because of Summer Days... The record Today! is filled with timeless songs of tenderness and yearning which seem to invite someone back to a simpler, more romantic time. The fact that this album doesn't get more attention only adds to its appeal. Pay close attention to the increasingly sophisticated lyrics (for that time) as well as the music. On Summer Days..., in addition to the huge hits, there are great songs such as "Girl Don't Tell Me," which seems like a tribute to the Beatles ("Girl don't tell me you'll wri-i-ite...") "Let Him Run Wild" and "Summer Means New Love" also represent the new emerging harmonies and wonderful experimentation of Brian Wilson during this era leading up to Pet Sounds.
I can understand why so many reviewers may have given it four stars instead of five; because of comparing either album to Pet Sounds. However, I don't believe that this is a fair judgment. If it were, then perhaps only a dozen or so albums in history could deserve five stars.
Free Music Review: Three Words...KISS-ME-BABY
Hit: 5 Stars
For those considering purchasing this CD, I have three words to offer you...KISS-ME-BABY. If this song doesn't knock you off your feet, then go straight to N'Sync or The Back Street Boys, because they're more your style. There are several great hits included in this 2-Fer. The single version of Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, Dance-Dance-Dance, etc are familiar to those familiar with The Beach Boys, (and you'd have to reside on another planet if you're over 16 and don't know their music). But the real gems on this set are Please Let Me Wonder, She Knows Me Too Well and the before mentioned Kiss Me Baby, all taken from side 2 of the orginal album release of The Beach Boys Today. Here is where Brian's song writing and production skills took full blossom. For my money Kiss Me Baby is the most beauitful and fully realized production of all time. Consider this...In 1965, at the height of Beatlemania and the time The Beach Boys Today was released, who do you think The Melody Maker, (the UK equivilant of Billboard) readers poll voted their most popular vocal group? Hint...It wasn't the fab four.
Free Music Review: This Is It: The Boys In Their Prime
Hit: 5 Stars
This two-album package represents the finest compilation of Beach Boys music, during the period when the band was actively competing with the Beatles for the top slots on the pop charts. Looking back, it must have been rather daunting for other songwriters of that era to mount a challenge to the two reigning pop kings of the early 1960s, Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney.
Although there are a few duds on this collection (most notably, "In The Back of My Mind" and "Amusement Parks USA"), most of the tracks are vintage Brian Wilson classics. From the heartache of "Please Let Me Wonder" to the emotional and direct "Let Him Run Wild" and "The Little Girl I Once Knew," the listener hears the Boys at the peak of their powers.
Soon, with the release of "Good Vibrations," "Pet Sounds," and "Smile," the blue-water-at-sunset innocence of the Beach Boys would disappear forever. But listen with satisfaction to music that evokes the sounds of summer like no other, before or since.
Free Music Review: American Beauties
Hit: 5 Stars
I agree with the general consensus that "Today!" is the Beach Boys' best album after "Pet Sounds" -- it's a surprisingly deep, gentle record that must have sounded strange upon release. It's pretty obvious that Brian Wilson (with mind sufficiently "expanded" already by this point -- he beat Lennon & McCartney in the "Tune in, Turn on" sweepstakes by at least a year) was starting to tire of the Beach Boys' formula, and the result is his finest batch of songs yet. "Summer Days" (released a few months later), on the other hand, is something of a spotty regression. I think Mike Love & company weren't too hip on "Today!"'s mellow vibe and put the pressure on Brian to come up with more upbeat tunes. The result is, like I say, mixed, but there's no denying the stunning magnificence of songs like "Let Him Run Wild" and "Girl Don't Tell Me" -- even if you have to wade through nonsense like "Salt Lake City" and "Amusement Parks USA" to get to them.Free Music Review: Today is So Insanely Good It Hurts
Hit: 5 Stars
Let me begin by saying that The Beach Boys are clearly my favorite band and that I think Brian was sent by a superior being to display to mankind how music and melody can affect the human soul. With that being said I also want to say that I think Summer Days and Summer Nights (the 2nd of 2 albums in this set) is almost dead awful and devastatingly dissapointing. The true gem here is possibly The Beach Boys best work: TODAY. I own Today on vinyl and I have to exclaim loud and clear that Side Two is just too incredible for words. I am a sucker for adjectives and description yet I just can't come up with anything worthy of describing Side Two. As fun and timeless as Side One is with Help Me Rhonda and Do You Wanna Dance it is just nothing compared to what Brian crafted for us on the flip side. Please Let Me Wonder is soft and smooth, it flows perfectly, and screams of teenage longing. The cover of I'm So Young is just great and She Knows Me Too Well is pure vocal bliss. Get Today now if you love and respect brilliance.