Customer Reviews

Sounds Of Summer: Very Best Of the Beach Boys

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Between this and the Warmth of the Sun CD, you have all the hits in great remastered sound. You can put either CD on and just let it play. These CD's helped me rediscover how great the Beach Boys were. Of course, you should also have Pet Sounds!!! At this price, these CD's are a steal! Get rid of your previous Beach Boys collections and replace them with these.

An excellent compilation of the Beach Boys, great quality of recordings. It has quickly become one of my favorite CD's. My only regret, it does not contain Louie, Louie

The Beach Boys have had more than their fair share of compilations over the years, always containing good music but very rarely taking advantage of the cd format (Most of the single-cd hits albums only had between 10-20 songs, sometimes barely using up half the space available on the cd); someone at Capitol finally realized that there was a market for a Beach Boys cd that contained as many hits as possible(much like the Beatles 1 cd). So finally the Sounds Of Summer is released, and it is the ultimate Beach Boys collection, with 30 songs, containing nearly all their Top 40 hits from Surfin' Safari to Kokomo, and many of them newly remixed for this cd (California Girls in particular sounds great). Of course if you want to dig deeper than just the big hits, there are many other multi-disc sets out there, or go for the individual albums (Pet Sounds should be in everyone's collection); but if you want the one best Beach Boys cd to own, this is it.

This is the best collection of Beach Boy hits on the market. They have chosen the best recordings of the songs (some mono) and this is fine. When the Beatles brought out their early CD's they were all in mono and nobody cared because they sounded better than the stereo versions. I believe this is the case here. If the mono version sounded better then it was chosen.
It is too bad some of their other great songs could not have been added, but for the average person this CD gives you a taste of every phase of the Beach Boys career.
The DVD is a bonus. It was sure great to see the boys in their striped shirts and white pants. They looked so clean cut on the early videos.
Anyway, this is a great package to buy and is very deserving of 5 stars.

I can't think of a better compilation of a single band's work than this!

I've always been of two minds regarding the Beach Boys. On one hand they can provide fuel for cynics by producing songs with trite lyrics that look silly beyond belief on the printed page. But when you listen to the music and their harmonies, you quickly fall under the spell of fantastic musicianship. They can be crass and commercial in the extreme, with concerts that are formulaic and multiple "Best of..." collections that only exploit the show business maxim of "always leave them wanting more." But there is nothing to criticize here... nothing at all.

When all is said and done, it's about the music, and the music of the Beach Boys is something special! Listening to this collection of thirty hits (with nary a clinker among them), you can almost wear yourself out just tapping your foot and moving with the music.

Ask any group of fans for their favorite Beach Boys classic, and you'll likely get a different answer from each; my vote would be for Sloop John B. But I'd be willing to bet that 99% of the population will fine their own "my favorite Beach Boys" song on this CD. And they will sing/hum/dance or drum along with every cut on this fantastic body of work!

Countless Beach Boys hits collections have been thrown around like trash over the years. Most of them are not good. 2003's 30 - song "Sounds Of Summer" is the exception. It features all the big hits plus a few less recgonized tracks.

All the Beach Boys classics are here. Whether you enjoy "Surfin' USA", "Fun, Fun, Fun", "California Girls" or "Good Vibrations", it's unlikely that your favorite Beach Boys song isn't here. But there's more than a few unrecognizable songs hear that make this collection even more worthwhile: the latter - day singles "Wild Honey", "Darlin'", "Do It Again", "I Can Hear Music", "Good Timin'", "Come Go With Me" and "Getcha Back" are just as good as anything from their peak period.

As usual, there is a fair amount of hits missing, even with 30 songs. There are too many to list here, so I'll just list the ones that reached the Billboard top 40. They are:

"Little Saint Nick" (numner 6)
"The Warmth Of The Sun" (number 13)
"The Man With All The Toys" (number 3)
"Caroline No" (number 32)
"It's Ok" (number 29)

But overall, this a very worthwhile collection of classic music, perfect for this time of year. Also, get the boxed set "Thirty Years Of Good Vibrations".

I don't think there is a single American child over the age of three that hasn't heard a Beach Boys song. They are still a significant part of our culture and a glimpse into the teen culture of our past (which isn't that different from today's). People loved them and still love them, that's why they are, perhaps, the greatest American band of all time. I don't think I can say that about many other artists, only R.E.M. and Talking Heads come to mind.

The compilation contains thirty of their Top 40 hits and spans their entire career. If you're already a fan, you know all the songs and hold them dear to your heart. If you're a new fan, this is a great CD for you to begin your Beach Boys experience. There are a few splendid stereo mixes of songs that were only found in mono or poor stereo versions. "Heroes and Villians" is a major highlight, as well as "Good Vibrations."

It's possible to get through life with only two Beach Boys albums, but you've got to pick the one that isn't Pet Sounds pretty carefully. This is a perfect choice. Following the popular fill-the-disc format of recent greatest hits albums, it packs 30 tracks together on a single CD. What's impressive about this is that there's very little dropoff in quality between the very best songs in the collection and the few that might be less recognizable to a Beach Boys neophyte, like "Wild Honey," "Darlin'," and "Good Timin'." All the big hits are here, and they sound great thanks to good sequencing and a few new stereo mixes. You can't go wrong with this album.

I just became interested in The Beach Boys and this is the first CD I bought by them. I was very impressed. Although I like The Beatles, I think The Beach Boys are even better. And fortunately this CD has very close to all of their big hits. All the tracks on this CD are wonderful. I especially love their great harmony. My favorites on the CD are California Girls, I Get Around, Surfin' Safari, Surfin' USA, Fun Fun Fun, Surfer Girl, Help Me Ronda, and Kokomo. Another great thing about this CD is that there are 30 songs. I think The Beach Boys should have had more recognition. I think they are most definitely one of the best bands of all time. Very highly recomended.

As the innovators of California's vast musical landscape (which also includes Jan and Dean and The Fifth Dimension, among many others), The Beach Boys had a string of hits in the 1960s', a few in the 1970s' and three in the 1980s' (including a number one single). 30 of those songs are on this cd.

It starts off with "California Girls". This song, with its majestic intro and bouncy organ, remains as fresh and vibrant today as it was in 1965, when it went to number 3. "I Get Around", their first nuber 1 hit, follows. I love the song's sonic whirl and Brian Wilson's sophisticated lyrics, which capture the times. "Surfin' Safari" was the band's first top 15 hit in 1962, climbing to number 14. "Surfin' USA" follows. I think this song and the following "Fun, Fun, Fun" remain timeless anthems of summer. "Surfer Girl" and "Don't Worry Baby" remain their best love songs ever. "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Shut Down" remain great car songs when you're cruising down the California coastline. "Help Me, Rhonda" has a bouncy urgency to it, and Al gives one of his best lead vocals ever. "Be True To Your School" has become an anthem for school spirit. "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" is a great coming - of - age song. "In My Room" is a such a somber and peaceful song. "God Only Knows" is perhaps their greatest achievement. Carl's vocal is so ethereal. When I listen to it, I immediately see the image of waves rolling onto the shore. "Sloop John B" still bristles with distressing energy, while "Wouldn't It Be Nice" still remains a song of the times, dealing with issues all young lovers deal with, even today. "Getcha Back" is an '80s singles. It shows how good The Beach Boys could combine contemporary sounds with their signature style, which may explain why the song was a top 30 hit in 1985. "Come Go With Me" is even better than the original and becomes a great anthem for summer travelling. "Rock And Roll Music" is good but it is not the single version that sounds more energetic. "Dance, Dance, Dance" has great vocal interplay by Mike and Brian. "Barbara Ann" is a great singalong while "Do You Wanna Dance" has a great Dennis vocal. "Heroes And Villains" is great but could've been better. "Good Timin'" has a great Carl Wilson vocal and breathtaking harmonies. "Kokomo" is so upbeat and fun. I don't care about what people say about it because it's good in my book. "Do It Again" deserves more attention than it receives. "Wild Honey" is full of energy. "Darlin'" is a great soul number. "I Can Hear Music" sounds like it was sung by angels. "Good Vibrations" is excellent.

Alas, it's not a perfect collection. For starters, a few top 40 hits are missing:

"Little Saint Nick" (number 6)
"The Warmth Of The Sun" (number 13)
"The Man With All The Toys" (number 3)
"Caroline No" (number 32)
"It's Ok" (number 29)

And what about:

"Surfin'"
"409"
"10 Little Indians"
"All Summer Long"
"Wendy"
"Little Honda"
"Friends"
"Bluebirds Over The Mountain"
"Breakaway"
"Cottonfields"
"Add Some Music To Your Day"
"This Whole World"
"Long Promised Road"
"Til I Die"
"Surf's Up"
"Sail On Sailor"
"Honkin' Down The Highway"

Still, it's the most complete Beach Boys collection you can find except for the boxed set.