# The Beach Boys are great/ awful **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835 "2017-04-05T18:58:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/1 "2017-04-05T18:58:40Z")
Has any other “significant,” “important,” “world-famous” band made so much \>\>\>bad\<\<\< music? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy much of their output (even some less well known stuff from the 70s) but the good is often surrounded by … Blech! I’m not interested in the “why.” Just curious what other (not obscure) bands have similar great/ crap ratios. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/2 "2017-04-05T19:01:52Z")
Any band that’s been around for decades and decades. I feel exactly the same way about the Rolling Stones. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/3 "2017-04-05T19:18:19Z")
I’ll nominate _Radiohead_. I’m not a fan, I’ve tried, but I just don’t know how the hell they are so famous for such crap? Sure, they got a couple cool songs, but, the rest? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/4 "2017-04-05T19:22:54Z")
**The Doors**. A couple of good songs, then dreck, then Morrison with a song or two that were okay. They were cult figures, though. **Jefferson Airplane** in all their various incarnations. A lot of schlock surrounding a few good tunes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/5 "2017-04-05T19:29:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **The Doors**. A couple of good songs, then dreck, then Morrison with a song or two that were okay. They were cult figures, though. > > **Jefferson Airplane** in all their various incarnations. A lot of schlock surrounding a few good tunes. Quoted for when the truth is shown to be lies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/6 "2017-04-05T19:45:32Z")
And all the joy within you dies. I lay 90% of the **Beach Boys** dross at the feet of Mike Love. I disagree (sorta) on **Jefferson Airplane**. The original(ish) **Airplane** was great, in a “You had to be there” fashion. It was only after Marty left and Jorma and Jack left for **Hot Tuna** that they lost three engines. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/7 "2017-04-05T19:52:03Z")
I"m a huge fan of **The Kinks** , and think their 1960s (_Lola vs. Powerman…_ and earlier) and late 70s-mid 80s output (_Low Budget_ through _Word of Mouth_) is stellar. But most of their 70s output? A handful of gems (“God’s Children”, “Celluloid Heroes”, “The Hard Way”, a few others) and a whole lot of meh to some outright dreck. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/8 "2017-04-05T21:58:40Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And all the joy within you dies. > > I lay 90% of the **Beach Boys** dross at the feet of Mike Love. > > I disagree (sorta) on **Jefferson Airplane**. The original(ish) **Airplane** was great, in a “You had to be there” fashion. It was only after Marty left and Jorma and Jack left for **Hot Tuna** that they lost three engines. And then came **Starship** and ::shudder:: “We Built This City”. I’m old enough to remember JA when they were new and fresh and Gracie Slick was still someone you’d like to shtupp. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/9 "2017-04-05T22:23:22Z")
The Beatles but out a lot of great stuff, but some complete shit as well. And I mean shit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/10 "2017-04-05T22:30:09Z")
I dunno… Everything the Beach Boys ever did all sounds the same to me. Not exactly bad, but you get tired of it really quick. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/11 "2017-04-05T23:37:39Z")
Show me a good **Maroon 5** song. Cant. Be. Done. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/12 "2017-04-05T23:54:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I dunno… Everything the Beach Boys ever did all sounds the same to me. Not exactly bad, but you get tired of it really quick. Product of its day, of course. We all thought it was the shizzle back then. Of course, they were stealing Chuck Berry licks and just happened to realize that they could cash in on the sudden surfer popularity. But really, after Pet Sounds it all went to shit. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/13 "2017-04-06T00:14:30Z")
Meh. You just don’t really like the Beach Boys music, that’s all there is to this. You like the few things they did which are similar to what you DO like, and you choose to interpret that as their having made a lot of “blech” music. I only like a couple of pieces that Beethoven wrote. I only like one piece by Wagner. That doesn’t mean that those guys wrote “mostly blech,” it means that I don’t like their work as much as I like some others. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/14 "2017-04-06T00:34:12Z")
The faithful may howl, but The Grateful Dead are on record as saying ‘sometimes we play awful.’ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/15 "2017-04-06T02:39:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **The Doors**. A couple of good songs, then dreck, then Morrison with a song or two that were okay. They were cult figures, though. Hmmm…I just finished listening to The Door’s first 6 albums over the weekend(with my awesome new Sennheiser headphones 😃 ) and I’m going to have to disagree with you on that. The Doors put out more than a couple of good songs. They put out quite a bit of great music. No accounting for my tastes, of course-I don’t like the Beach Boys all that much. I do agree that outside of their “hits”, The Doors are a probably a band you either love or hate. There’s a lot of weirdness and darkness going on in their songs–definitely not for everybody. There’s no denying their critical and popular success though–a groundbreaking and influential group that deserves their spot in the RNR Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/16 "2017-04-06T15:36:27Z")
Ninjaed by blondebear. The Doors were one of the most consistently good to great groups of the American 60s. The Byrds had great highs and a lot of meh. The Grateful Dead did some magnificent albums and some only obsessive fans could love. Even the Airplane, which I love, made a point of going weird a few songs too often, although all their stuff before Starship was superior. Santana had Carlos S. and he is always brilliant, but the group’s roster changed with every album and he needed to have good songwriters and too often lacked them. The Beach Boys were hitmakers in the days when singles were a thousand times more important than albums. So their early albums were hit singles and filler. I think their first consistent album didn’t come until _The Beach Boys Today_, when Brian stayed home with the Wrecking Crew while the rest of the group toured. But that only lasted a couple of years until he had his breakdown. \*Holland \*was the last meaningful album of theirs. That’s still a good long run of greatness. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/17 "2017-04-06T15:44:06Z")
I quickly tire of the Beach Boys. The occasional song on the radio is fine. I could never get through an entire album. I like the Byrd’s and listen to their albums. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/18 "2017-04-06T16:59:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Product of its day, of course. We all thought it was the shizzle back then. Of course, they were stealing Chuck Berry licks and just happened to realize that they could cash in on the sudden surfer popularity. But really, after Pet Sounds it all went to shit. Yeah, for me, Pet Sounds is one album I listen to constantly. I can’t see ever tiring of it, and it hardly sounds samey. The description of it as a “pocket symphony” is apt. I’m with you on the Doors, too. As for the Beatles doing shit–of any band I’ve ever listened to, they’re the one with the least amount of clunkers. There is precious little in their discography I’d categorize as complete shit. (And, no, I’m not a boomer who grew up with them or have any special nostalgic attachment to them.) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/19 "2017-04-06T17:13:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And all the joy within you dies. > > I lay 90% of the **Beach Boys** dross at the feet of Mike Love. > > I disagree (sorta) on **Jefferson Airplane**. The original(ish) **Airplane** was great, in a “You had to be there” fashion. It was only after Marty left and Jorma and Jack left for **Hot Tuna** that they lost three engines. Glad you tossed in that “(ish)”. Otherwise, I’d pedantically chastise you for not mentioning Signe Toly Anderson–who left to have a kid & was replaced by Grace Slick. That very first album was interesting folk-rock (I\* like\* folk-rock) but the Airplane really “took off” when Grace joined. And they had a string of mostly great albums until the events you mention… I like the Beach Boys a lot–mostly because of the great radio hits. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/20 "2017-04-06T17:27:25Z")
This is straying a bit, but up until 2 or 3 years ago I had never heard the “Pet Sounds” album. Boy, I sure heard and read a lot about it, but when I finally threw caution to the wind and bought it I was totally underwhelmed. Maybe I could get the brilliance if I was a sound technician or recording engineer or something, but I still don’t get the praise for this mediocre album of mostly pablum. But then again, I feel EXACTLY the same way about “Sgt. Pepper’s” and I’ve been listening to that for 40 years now. It’s OK, but “Abbey Road”, “Revolver”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, and “Rubber Soul” are better friggn’ albums. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835.md?page=2)