The Very Best Of The Beach Boys: Sounds Of Summer

The selections, to my way of thinking, are top notch. Nice to have this group all on the same CD, especially a great new stereo version of the original DANCE, DANCE, DANCE and a well-produced DO YOU WANNA DANCE, even if it is mono. This is about as career-comprehensive as one can come for The Beach Boys on one CD. Capitol did a good job in that respect.

What galls me about this CD, and keeps me from giving it five stars, is the large number of mono tracks which are included. Thirteen of the thirty tracks are mono and Capitol does not provide the consumer with that information on the outside packaging of the CD. You need to buy it to find this out.

Why Capitol, why? Why release yet another Beach Boys compilation, which could have been absolutely superb, which contains excellent new stereo versions of the some of these classics, while including so many mono versions? Why not wait until most or all of these tracks were available in the terrific-sounding stereo versions? To be fair, all tracks are well-produced, digital quality. Nevertheless, I feel deceived.

So that you can make the informed decision that was denied me in purchasing this CD, following are the thirteen mono tracks: GOOD VIBRATIONS, DARLIN', SURFIN' SAFARI, I GET AROUND, FUN FUN FUN, DON'T WORRY BABY, HELP ME RHONDA (the good version, not the one included on "Endless Summer"), BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL, WHEN I GROW UP, BARBARA ANN, DO YOU WANNA DANCE, DO IT AGAIN and WILD HONEY. If I had known these tracks were mono, I may not have purchased this CD, but then again I may have just the same. I just don't like to be deceived and intentionally misled. At least now, you will not be.

Despite all, I can not end this on such a negative note because this is "up" music and there is one other good point about this collection. Virtually all of the new stereo mixes are superb. There are new or relatively new stereo mixes for CALIFORNIA GIRLS, SHUT DOWN, DANCE DANCE DANCE, HEROES & VILLAINS, GOD ONLY KNOWS, SLOOP JOHN B and WOULDN'T IT BE NICE. All are the original versions, but in updated, crystal-clear stereo. The remaining songs are older stereo mixes that sound just fine.

All in all, I don't think you would regret purchasing this CD but at least now you know what I did not, and can decide for yourself if the mono versions matter to you or not.


The Teenage Declaration of Independence   June 18, 2008
'Giordano Hussein Bruno' (Campo dei Fiori)
32 out of 39 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.


The FINAL Beach Boys Compilation?   June 14, 2003
Anthony G Pizza (FL)
27 out of 32 found this review helpful

Beach Boy fans who've walked past collections from three 60s best-ofs to "Endless Summer" in the 1970s to two sets of re-release two-fers, box and rarity sets as countless as sands on the seashore....finally have their ultimate one-disc greatest hits. "Sounds of Summer" gives the Beach Boys a comprehensive hits collection to rest beside hisorical rock figures from Elvis to the Beatles to Elton John.

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)
16 out of 16 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.