# 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:** 2
**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, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/21 "2017-04-06T17:52:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > 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. I don’t think any of that is necessary. You either connect to it or don’t. The first few times I heard it, I kind of passively listened and it just blended in the background. Then one day, I had an epiphany with the album, and it’s leapt to my favorite album of all time. The sounds, melodies, harmonies, rhythms, experimentation, lyrics, etc. on that album just tickles all the right things for me, and I found the album anything but “pablum,” but rather a heartfelt, earnest, joyful, sad, touching, heartbreaking, human record. And it deserves your full sonic attention, and should be played pretty loud to fully take in its sonic and emotional adventure. FTR, I agree with you on Sgt. Pepper, finding all those other albums preferable to it. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/22 "2017-04-06T17:59:45Z")
I’m just dropping by to say that, man, I wish people still sang about cars and drag racing. I love me some “Shut Down” by the Beach Boys, and that’s nothing more than a lyrical description of a street race. ---
**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, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/23 "2017-04-06T18:04:48Z")
The one that fits the OP for me the most is Liz Phair, although she’s probably not as mainstream “world famous” as the other acts mentioned in this thread. It’s almost a cliche to mention her, but, really, no artist has been more disappointing to me as a listener. _Exile On Guyville_ was one of the definitive albums of the 90s (and would be on my list of favorite albums of all time), and everything that followed slipped more and more into generic pop, so much so that the only album of hers I can listen through is that debut. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/24 "2017-04-06T18:59:55Z")
I do agree that the Doors were hit or miss. Some very great songs, plus a lot of undistinguished stuff (sometimes even in the same song – the best thing for their career was when the record company cut that awful organ solo from “Light My Fire.”) It is hard to come up with any group that’s consistently great (other than the Beatles, and they were only around about five years). The only other act I can think of that was that way was Spirit, and they only did four albums (and reformed several times to lesser success). ---
**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, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/25 "2017-04-06T19:08:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It is hard to come up with any group that’s consistently great (other than the Beatles, and they were only around about five years). The only other act I can think of that was that way was Spirit, and they only did four albums (and reformed several times to lesser success). Steely Dan is for me the most consistent group with the fewest number of misses. Of course, that’s the real Steely Dan not the post-1993 imitators. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/26 "2017-04-06T19:19:05Z")
Abba. Need I say more? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/27 "2017-04-06T19:20:28Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Abba. > > Need I say more? Yes, you need. Are you suggesting them as an example of “great/awful” or of “consistently great”? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/28 "2017-04-06T19:24:22Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yes, you need. Are you suggesting them as an example of “great/awful” or of “consistently great”? Almost entirely awful. ---
**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, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/29 "2017-04-06T20:48:09Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Almost entirely awful. Really? ABBA were pretty consistently good throughout. Maybe not your style, but solid pop music with great melodies, hooks, and harmonies. ---
**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 6, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/30 "2017-04-06T20:56:25Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Almost entirely awful. Almost entirely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/31 "2017-04-07T00:10:56Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > The faithful may howl, but The Grateful Dead are on record as saying ‘sometimes we play awful.’ I remember in 1980 “Circus” magazine commenting about how given the various things deadheads ingested, they weren’t aware what the band was doing. Garcia said no, deadheads are perceptive and quite often knew the band was having a bad night before the band did. Deadheads felt in a five night home stand they get one lousy show, two okay shows, one pretty good and one superlative show. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/32 "2017-04-07T03:16:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > 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. That’s funny, because also I think Sgt Pepper’s is way overblown, and those are also my four favorite Beatles albums. But I also LOVE Pet Sounds. It would be a really tough choice between Pet Sounds and Abbey Road. Then Rubber Soul is right behind them. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/33 "2017-04-07T04:22:23Z")
On the topic of Pet Sounds, I hadn’t really heard it until several years ago either, and found it hard to hear it with fresh ears and really appreciate it, having heard so much of it as radio singles when I dismissed it as inane surf music without really listening. OTOH, when Brian Wilson released SMILE, I bought it without having heard any of the earlier released versions of the material and found it to be a pretty great album, and my opinion of it has only improved since then. If I could somehow erase my earlier exposure to the songs on Pet Sounds and hear them now for the first time, I’m pretty sure they would blow me away, but I can’t, so I can’t really get into the album. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/34 "2017-04-07T05:02:48Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > 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. Musical factoid: Signe Anderson died the same day as Paul Kantner. :eek: It seems that “Kokomo” gets more airplay than all the other Beach Boys songs combined. I can’t figure out how that crap ever got recorded. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/35 "2017-04-07T05:05:04Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > 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. I felt that way about Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks”, which is usually listed along with “Pet Sounds” in compilations of The Greatest Rock Albums Evah. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/36 "2017-04-07T10:07:40Z")
This thread seems to be about bands. Otherwise, given his genre shifting and commercial sensibilities, I think **Rod Stewart** is a poster boy for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/37 "2017-04-07T11:26:59Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Almost entirely awful. You’ve never heard the drums before then. You had to be there, there was just something in the air that night. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/38 "2017-04-07T11:49:43Z")
Music is incredibly personal; I’m not sure how one person’s takeaway is right or wrong… its right for them. The rest is just statistics… and even then if they love a song 99% of the world hates, they can still play it loud in earbuds and laugh at everybody else. Some Beach Boys music I like; it can bring up for me a happy memory and/or a good mood. But that’s just me. Maybe someone else was stuck on a stalled elevator for an hour with five people with bad B.O. while “Surfin’ Safari” was on repeat through an overhead speaker. ie- not all music memories are good ones but some are. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/39 "2017-04-07T12:00:11Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > I’m just dropping by to say that, man, I wish people still sang about cars and drag racing. I love me some “Shut Down” by the Beach Boys, and that’s nothing more than a lyrical description of a street race. Best drop in ever. I would say something also, but I have nothing more to add. Most underrated Beach Boys song. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835/40 "2017-04-07T12:11:16Z")
Also there should be more songs where someone eats another man’s corn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beach-boys-are-great-awful/783835.md?page=3)