i'm not sure what inspired me to purchase this album. i owned a beach boys greatest hits album that had only 10 songs - their biggest surf hits - and i rarely listened to it. but something in me wondered what their studio work was like. some quick research pointed me toward pet sounds - an album considered by many to be one of the most influential recordings ever made.
a quick glance at the back of the cd case showed many songs i already knew ("wouldn't it be nice", "sloop john b"), including one of my favorite beach boy songs of all time - "god only knows"...
ah, i can't tell you how much i love that song. beautiful words, music, harmonies,.. it all comes together to create one perfect melodic work of genius. just seeing that this song was on this album would have sold me right there, but i was pleasantly surprised by everything else as well.
this album became the soundtrack to what i envisioned it would be like when we moved to california. i'll still pack it in the car when we drive along the coast, and pretend this is music and scenery i grew up with. but it speaks to me more because this beach boys album is more folky and less about the surf rock sound that made them famous.
i think this is precisely the reason a canadian boy was never really blown away by the greatest hits album that contained songs like "surfin' safari" and "i wish they all could be californian". it took more heart and depth to win me over to this classic band.
1. u2 - the joshua tree
2. dave matthews band - crash
3. cake - comfort eagle
4. blue rodeo - five days in july
6 comments:
I like your taste in music and nothing says "California" like palm trees and the Beach Boys.
The Beach Boys are so great - and so specifically associated with the "surf" sound - that I think people think of them as some kind of a music-making entity and don't consider the sheer genius of Brian Wilson. I'm afraid it's not going to be until he is gone that people look at the volume of music and lyrics that he wrote and say "Holy s***, that guy was amazing."
Good Vibrations, God Only Knows, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times... these are nothing short of stunning musical accomplishments
The Beach Boys. Got a free ticket so I saw them play at the Anaheim stadium back in 79ish along with Santana
Woah, what a concert lineup! Hate to say this, but that was three years before I was born.
I was barely out of diapers at the time
I can picture it now!
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