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Album Reviews

After gaining control of the Beach Boys' entire catalog (including all the band's post-1969 material), Capitol released two-fers covering their out of print '70s records and a Brian Wilson-selected compilation titled Classics, then later, a hits compilation -- the longest single-disc American collection ever seen. With all but five tracks coming from their 1962-1969 peak, and every one a Top 40 hit, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys is also the best, a worthy digital-age successor to previous classics like Endless Summer and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. Though the songs don't appear in chronological order, the compilers improved the concept of a hits compilation by bunching the disc into minisets -- one of classic adolescence songs ("Be True to Your School," "When I Grow Up [To Be a Man]," "In My Room"), one of surfing songs ("Surfin' Safari," "Surfin' U.S.A.," "Surfer Girl"), one of frat-boy classics ("Dance, Dance, Dance," "Barbara Ann"), and another including selections from their masterpiece Pet Sounds ("God Only Knows," "Sloop John B.," "Wouldn't It Be Nice"). Nearly any compilation on an important artist can be argued, but it's the rare one that covers as many bases and leaves out so few classics as this one. [One year after the disc's original issue, Sights and Sounds of Summer followed, with the original CD bolstered by a ten-track DVD program. The DVD includes four songs from the group's 1964 appearance on The T.A.M.I. Show (excellent performances complicated by a wind tunnel of screaming girls) -- plus one song from The Lost Concert, the surreal promo videos for "Sloop John B." and Pet Sounds (the latter is a montage of songs), and both performances from the Beach Boys' 1968 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.] ~ John Bush, All Music Guide