Audio CD review:
The Beach Boys - Friends/20/20

The Beach Boys - Friends/20/20

Band: The Beach Boys Title: Friends/20/20 Rating: Release Date: 2001-04-10 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Meant for You - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 2: Friends - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 3: Wake the World - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 4: Be Here in the Morning - The Beach Boys, Jardine, Alan 5: When a Man Needs a Woman - The Beach Boys, Jardine, Alan 6: Passing By - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 7: Anna Lee, The Healer - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 8: Little Bird - The Beach Boys, Kalinich, Steve 9: Be Still - The Beach Boys, Kalinich, Steve 10: Busy Doin' Nothin' - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 11: Diamond Head - The Beach Boys, Ackley, Jim 12: Transcendental Meditation - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 13: Do It Again - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 14: I Can Hear Music - The Beach Boys, Barry, Jeff 15: Bluebirds over the Mountain - The Beach Boys, Hickey, Ersel 16: Be With Me - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Dennis [1] 17: All I Want to Do - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Dennis [1] 18: The Nearest Faraway Place - The Beach Boys, Johnston, Bruce 19: Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song) - The Beach Boys, Leadbelly 20: I Went to Sleep - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 21: Time to Get Alone - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 22: Never Learn Not to Love - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Dennis [1] 23: Our Prayer - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 24: Cabin Essence - The Beach Boys, Parks, VanDyke 25: Break Away - The Beach Boys, Dunbar, Reggie 26: Celebrate the News - The Beach Boys, Jakobson, Gregg 27: We're Together Again - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 28: Walk on By - The Beach Boys, Bacharach, Burt 29: Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River - The Beach Boys, Foster, Stephen

Some of the best rock you'll ever hear Great melodies, astounding vocal harmonies and even some studio experimentation plus you get a REAL sense of experiencing the roots of rock n roll. Specially 20/20 is close to a masterpiece (if you like this i recommend you get 'Surf's up' & 'Holland' too). It is felt through out this entire album (20/20). Rock is dead but i am glad we can still enjoy the albums of the creators. Long live the 3 minute rock n roll tune! and long live the Beach Boys music. Could have been one five star album 'Meant for you' is possibly one of the best openers to an album I have ever heard. I really love 'friends'. The album just passes by with mellow and captivating harmonies. The ascending crescendo in 'friends' is captivating and there are no clunkers, except maybe 'be still', which is so simplistic and could have been composed by a child and, 'transcedental meditation', which is very out of tune. A lovely little album, that doesn't try too hard and succeeds for that reason. 20/20 is a different kettle of fish altogether. As soon as 'Do it again' started, I thought 'oh no, unmelodic, nasally Mike Love. ' I further don't like 'bluebirds over the mountain', just tuneless. 'Cotton fields' has no melody whatsoever. 'All I wanna do' is the nadir of the whole of the Beach boys' career. I can't believe they'd record such nonsense as this. There are beautiful songs here also. The best track on the album is the Bruce Johnston composed instrumental ballad 'the nearest faraway place' it is so atmospheric and lush. Other highlights include 'I went to sleep', sounding exactly like a track off 'friends'. Nice counter point woodwind instruments compliment Brian's lead vocal. 'Time to get alone' has some very nice harmonies and a waltzing beat. 'Never learn not to love' has a very nice backing, although I'm never convinced by Dennis's vocals. 'Our prayer' is enchanting and shows how well the voice of the Beach Boys blended together. I wonder if Dennis is in the mix? One of the loveliest sounding songs ever. Friends is barely 25 minutes, I think this could have been a five star album, if they cut 'be still', 'transcendental meditation', and added all tracks from 20/20, except the aforementioned four abysmal tracks. 'Breakaway' should also be included and it is a wonder this never made the album in the first place. . Friends is Meant For You if you're a fan It's 25 minutes of peace, positivity and the lost hippy masterpiece of 1968. Friends is the best BB album. The real fans best kept secret. If you're not a fan you'll hate it, if you're a real BB fan, it is meant for you. 20/20 is worth it for the lost Smile track Cabinessence. . 20/20... The Forgotten Gem 20/20, however is loaded with phenomenal songs. The only reason I gave this four stars is because it's combined with Friends, which with the exception of Meant For You & the title song is just OK, in my opinion. Do It Again,I Can Hear Music,Be With Me, Time To Get Alone,Our Prayer(a capella at it's best), etc. For some reason, critics never even gave this album a chance and I don't know why. Maybe it didn't fit the late 60's groove that was going on, but still the lyrics are strong and the harmonies are fantastic. Yes, there is that one song, "Never Learn not to Love", whose lyrics were written by Charles Manson, but the way the song is done by The Beach Boys is just too good to pass off just because of who wrote it. This 2 CD set also includes Break Away and We're Together Again, which are also excellent songs that never received any airplay. The only 2 songs that did were Do It Again and I Can Hear Music. My advice is to buy this while you can. You won't be disappointed!!. Outrageously Great Albums- Well Kept Secret Among Elite Music Appreciaters The songs on here that will hypnotize and captivate you are ones that you have probably never heard like "Anna Lee The Healer" on Friends. In fact I have heard that "Friends" is Brian Wilson's favorite album. Or the minor hit "I can Hear Music" on 20/20. It's funny but on 20/20 the biggest hit is "Do it Again" and it is actually one of the weaker songs on the album. On Friends Denis Wilson starts to really emerge as a vocal talent and songwriter. And on 20/20 Bruce Johnston contributes something pretty special with the instrumental "The Nearest Faraway Place" which went on to become the title of the Timothy White biography about the Beach Boys. These albums are must haves because a lot of the best material on them is not found on any of the greates hits packages including the Brother Years compilation. Buy these NOW!. You can see a complete list of all The Beach Boys discography, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs