The Very Best Of The Beach Boys: Sounds Of Summer

Attractively packaged and sequenced, "Sounds of Summer" features a cool, sweet but ultimately vanilla Anthony de Curtis essay. (Beach Boy historians David Leaf and Mark Elliot have written better mini-histories of the band on other compilations.) Ultimately, these three-minute West Coast symphonies and California mimi vacations ("Surfin USA," "Sloop John B," "California Girls," "I Get Around") at least retain some freshness more than 40 years later.

It's the hits, nothing but. Longtime Beach Boy fans could easily name a favorite "Endless Summer" or other LP track missing here. But like "Beatles 1" and "Elvis' 30 Greatest Hits," this Beach Boys set ultimately introduces the band's legendary singles to the youngest music fans, many of whom were just learning to wade when "Kokomo" topped the charts in 1988. Buy "Sounds of Summer" for your children who can't wait for June, then buy "Pet Sounds" for yourself to prepare for their adolescence.


A Super Collection on a Single Disc   April 26, 2007
C. J. Leach (Midwest, United States)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Too many mono songs? Another redundant collection? Hmmmm. I guess I don't care.

I just wanted to freshen up my hodpodge of vinyl and audio cassettes with a good comprehensive single source on CD. I made a list of MUST HAVE Beach Boys tunes. And . . . I found that this was the ONLY compilation that had every one on my list (except Spirit of America). And on a single disc (convenient) carrying 30 songs. All of their most popular hits and even a couple of great covers (I love "Come Go With Me).

I think the audio quality is fine and some of the remastering work gives a fresh listening experience to familiar tunes. (Heck, I first fell in love with most of these songs listening to them on a transistor radio with a single 3" paper cone speaker). The liner notes are also nicely done . . . some photos, band history, and a little data summary on each tune. Informative and interesting. This is an outstanding anthology of Beach Boys best and can be had at a very reasonable price.


Finally a comprehensive single disc set   June 18, 2003
Max H. Shenk (Fort Washington, PA United States)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

After years and years of trying to gather the Beach Boys' best known music from all of the different eras of their career, Capitol has finally gotten it right with SOUNDS OF SUMMER.

Until recently, such a career-spanning overview as this was not possible, since the copyrights to the band's music were controlled by several different labels. Capitol finally owns the rights to all of the group's albums, though, and, for those who can't afford the still-definitive boxed set GOOD VIBRATIONS: THIRTY YEARS OF THE BEACH BOYS, this is the place to start.

As with similar sets by other over-anthologized artists (the Beatles, Elvis, Sinatra), diehard fans will quibble with the song selection, but for the casual fan looking to grab one Beach Boys CD for that trip to the beach or to give to a friend (or offspring!) as an introduction to the group's music, SOUNDS OF SUMMER more than fills the bill.

Those who like what they hear on this set, of course, can (and hopefully will) go on to plenty of other CDs (ref: the double play TODAY AND SUMMER DAYS, or PET SOUNDS), but as a Beach Boys starting point, there are few better collections than this one.


Mono was Brian's intention   July 9, 2003
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I must take issue with the reviewers who assessed demerits for this compilation because some of the songs were in mono. Stereo mixes of Mono songs are like colorized Black and White movies. The mono mixes were the product of Brian Wilson's artistic intent. Brian preferred mono for two reasons. First, he had difficulties evaluating a developing Stereo mix, as he has 9% hearing in one ear. Second, he agrees with Phil Spector that with a mono mix, the artist has greater control over the final sound delivered to the audience. With Stereo, there is no way to determine the final mix because of the various configurations of Stereo speakers.
One of the great music marketing travisties of the 70's was the advent of "Mono Reprocessed For Stereo" records. Even with the superb Stereo remixes Mark Linett has achieved on this record, the ultimate effect preoccupies the listener with the differences in the mixes. Don't get me wrong, the stereo mix of Pet Sounds was a revelation, and I anxiously await the release of the 6-channel mix on DVD-A. But in the face of what are probably the greatest pop compositions the US has ever produced, such concerns are a trivality not warranting a full star demerit. Do yourself a favor. Order this CD and PET SOUNDS together. It may just change your life.


The Teenage Declaration of Independence   June 18, 2008
Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

Sounds of Summer, yes! Year-round summer is what California has always represented to the rest of the USA. The Beach Boys sang the surfer lifestyle into American and world consciousness, and doing so declared California's musical and cultural independence from the East Coast. The Beach Boys also sang the independence of teenagers of the Baby Boom, with cars and purchasing power, from their parents' generation of frugal, anxious conformists shaped by the Great Depression. They sang the primacy of summer and outdoor life over the stuffy classroom and grimy workplace. There's not a word of piety or propriety in any of Brian Wilson's songs; the Beach Boys were prophets of a life style free of shibboleths, in a world of sun-tanned smiles and endless summer. How could anyone not be thrilled by such a prospect?

Musically, the Beach Boys were tight, driving, innovative, the best dance music ever, and they never went noir on us, never wallowed, never whined. You might say they never grew up, they lived in a false paradise of surf boards and bikinis, but I'd say 'more power to 'em'. The Miwok Indians of California used to believe that dancing kept the world in balance, and if the dancing stopped, catastrophes would erupt. The Beach Boys kept the world dancing, at least for a few decades.

This is a great, ample, well-engineered collection of the Beach Boys' greatest songs from their golden times. I doubt we'll ever hear their like.