Sunflower

This one is my submission! I'll give a quick explanation first on why I submitted it and then go into my deeper thoughts after. WHY? I am a huge Beach Boys fan and knew that I was most likely going to submit one of their 70s albums and it came down to this one or 1977's 'Love You' - Although I think both are underrated and interesting for different reasons, ultimately I went with this one because it's less divisive and the "safer" pick. Obviously another 70s Beach Boys album is on the original list, but I feel like 'Sunflower' and 'Surf's Up' are two sides of the same coin. Both released around the same time, but tonally very different. I was actually surprised that 'Surf's Up' made the list at all - not because I don't think it's a great album, but because generally 'Sunflower' seems to be more of the critical darling between the two. So between the connection to 'Surf's Up' and its general high regard, I felt like this was one that should be considered for the 1001 list if I had my way. 'Sunflower' finds the Beach Boys at an interesting time in their careers. They are incredibly unpopular and culturally very uncool. Brian Wilson has taken a step back from the studio for various reasons (health, drugs, etc.) and Brian's brother, Carl, has become the de facto leader of the group. But that being said, this is the Beach Boys at their most democratic - Every member contributes in one way or another on this album, and definitely a lot more than the Brian and the Wrecking Crew days. The stuff the Brian contributes is good, but I think here the standouts are Dennis' and Bruce's contributions. At this point in time, Dennis is really honing his craft and is on the upswing towards 'Pacific Ocean Blue' - another 1001 album. Dennis' 'Forever' is not only his best contribution on the album, but maybe his best ever, and maybe one of the greatest Beach Boys songs when all is said and done. Bruce's contributions are also a welcome coming out party - 'Deirdre' and 'Tears in the Morning' are both highlights here for me as well, especially for someone who was minimally involved in songwriting for the band before this. This is also when Carl really starts to shine as a band member and as a vocalist - his vocals on 'This Whole World' and especially on 'Our Sweet Love' are terrific. I also want to highlight 'All I Wanna Do' - a really cool proto lo-fi psychedelic jam that as many people have pointed out is a real precursor to a lot of indie music that has come out in the past few decades. Ultimately, when talking the Beach Boys, it's hard to talk about their greatness when inevitably everything is going to be compared to 'Pet Sounds' - but I still think Sunflower encapsulates what is great about the band as an entire entity. 'Pet Sounds' shows what makes Brian Wilson a genius, 'Sunflower' shows that the rest of the band were great musicians in their own right.

Their second best after Pet Sounds? "All I Wanna Do" was added onto this album through a time rift, hard to believe that song was recorded in 1970 by the Beach Boys and not in the 1990s by some obscure Shoegaze band. It's like the musical equivalent of the Antikythera mechanism. Best thing Mike Love ever did, no question. Also shoutouts to the song "Deirdre", famously sampled in classic Super Nintendo game Earthbound in a very interesting way that definitely made everybody familiar with the game shit their pants the second they heard the opening harmony (for the uninitiated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3OJu5PUtPI)

pretty good for a beach boys album

This was a bit of a different Beach Boys album that I really enjoy! Nice songs, with a song for the Deidre’s of the world. Something they probably don’t get a lot of… Terrific!

The last great Beach Boys album (although Surf's Up which follows is also very good), and very much under the radar. I love Dennis's contributions on this, especially Forever. 5 stars.

I can see why this is regarded as being ahead of its time. I can why people point to this as the first example of dream pop. It sounds very modern. Of course, do we need another Beach Boys album? No. Could it replace one of the other ones? Sure. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 4.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes

Sunflower is one of the later The Beach Boys albums. Like Surf's Up it has high ratings by reviewers in retrospect. I like Surf’s Up a whole lot better. This album has too many slow and soft songs. Tears in the Morning is a great song. Slip on Through and Cool Cool Water are fine too. The rest is meh, especially Deirdre and Our Sweet Love

Not a really that up on the Beach Boys later catalog, so this was fairly surprising to me. A harder edge on the rock sound, a cerain world weariness to a lot of the lyrics. But still very pop. I liked it

Not the normal beach boys

Its past their peak. Brian has taken his foot off the gas, and anything that increases Mike Love's influence is bad (he is the worst person involved with the Beach Boys, and I say this well aware of Dennis Wilson's friendship with Charles Manson). That said... It has some fun influences. The more CSNY California seeping in, more modern Motown, at one point it gets downright choral. Good enough. But they had seen much greater heights.

It's a nice album. Glad I heard it,... Favorite Tracks: Forever, Tears in the Morning 3.5

The Beach Boys album that takes a few listens.

Not one known song before listening... It isn't bad. A few of the songs I'd consider really great. 4/5

Soft rock, sunshine pop. Agradable. Un 4, venga.

Soft rock, sunshine pop. Agradable. Un 4, venga.

I think the three Beach Boys albums that deserved this list are on the original. This one is fine though.

Always a fun adventure to dive further into the Beach Boys catalogue

Let’s get into this. There is some incredible potential here. Half the songs are certified bangers. Not necessarily bops, but they go fuckin hard. The other half is made up of a few duds, but mostly contains your average psychadelic sixties flower power ballads. Not terrible just nothing brilliant. Let’s begin. “Slip On Through” has a funky backing track that could fit nicely on a Curtis Mayfield record. Vocally the boys are still as strong as ever. Everything is solid and it’s a strong, energetic start to the album that promises potential. However, you then get, “This Whole World”. Not a terrible song, but it doesn’t start off strong and I don’t believe it ever fully recovers. The songwriting is good, the lyrics are a little simple and a return to form before Pet Sounds. Alright song, very average and so is the next one. “Add Some Music to Your Day” is better lyrically, but has a weak time delivering it. Again, feels a little clunky. Not the worst song. That would be the one that comes after. Very basic paint by numbers funky-blues song. “Got to Know the Woman” is a song that could have written by anyone on an album that mostly feels uniquely Beach Boy. Now, this is where the fun starts. “Deidre” is a fun song because it’s like one of their earlier outings, think Wendy, Rhonda, those types. Good songs, but what they on this track is take a fairly basic song, no crazy lyrics, songwriting or instrumentation, but the production and mixing is way ahead of it’s time and one of the most dreamy songs they’ve recorded up to that date. “It’s About Time” is pretty forgettable honestly, especially because of where it falls. This is where a better arrangement of tracks would have come in handy because it would have been great if “Deidre” was on the B side. Energetic funky stuff on side one, melancholic dream scape on the next. “Tears In the Morning” contains some of the best drum beats of Dennis’s career. The inclusion of traditional European instruments at select moments also makes this one stand out positively. The chorus also just bangs. Great song. “All I Wanna Do” is a straight up shoegaze song. Literally decades ahead of its time. Incredible. One of the best on the album and perhaps the Beach Boys most innovative song. “Forever” is a beautifully written love ballad that is classic Brian Wilson. Gorgeous from start to finish. I enjoy this leagues more than “God Only Knows”. The melancholy continues with “Our Sweet Love”. Not the most innovative on the album, but still immensely pleasant and solid. The next two make up the last two tracks on the album. They’re both experiemental and fun. “Cool, Cool Water” is a great closer for this album. I’m a phan of this. Some weaker spots on here, but ultimately one of their best. Great suggestion. 4/5

A gem from 70s Beach Boys! A solid, consistent collection of tunes. Though not on the level of their masterpieces it holds its own

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Slip on through, Tears in the morning

Typical beach boys with the harmonic voices

The Beatles if they kept going into the 70s

Perfectly adequate Beach Boys, yeah. Fave tracks - "This Whole World", "Add Some Music To Your Day", and "Forever"

Nice

Never heard any of these songs. Seems like an ok album. 3/5

Sunflower is pretty average Beach Boys fare, which is to say it's decent to good but I think lacks some their top end quality and single recognition. I'm not their biggest fan, the three albums of theirs alone we had on the main list got 5/2/2 from me, I think this is better than the 2s, so a low 3.

I enjoyed this, but it’s not a patch on their ’60s work. It’s a nice album to listen to and there’s plenty to like, but I can’t see myself picking this up again when I could put on Pet Sounds instead. It’s good, just not essential for me.

A long way short of their best work. Sounds pretty cheesy a lot of the time, with only a few moments of genius. What a band though, and probably an interesting suggestion - if only to show more of their work outside of the well-known classics.

2.6 I can see why people had started to go off then by this point. It feels kind of hollow. It actually makes me semi-glas that the Beatles stopped when they did, I think they wouldn't carry the same claim they do if they had pumped into mediocre albums (I'd argue Let It Be was tbf but many don't share that view). One thing I am appreciative of this album for is it then led to the change in direction with Surf's Up, which I really enjoyed. But this one, it just washes by.

Always an enjoyable outing when the Beach Boys are concerned, though I’m not sure this add was wholly necessary given the band is adequately represented on the main 1001. Great production though, this was a startlingly crisp listen.

I must admit, when I first saw that today’s album was by the Beach Boys, my first thought was that maybe I should go back and listen to that other thing I was avoiding. However, I persisted and enjoyed 2 × 36 minutes—blissfully short after the last epic album I listened to. An interesting story and phase in the Beach Boys’ history, but ultimately not for me. Standouts: “Add Some Music to Your Day” (that’s my daily life) and “Cool, Cool Water”, a nice refreshing closer.

I can see why this didn’t have the success of the other albums, and it’s a weird choice to put on this list.

I just absolutely cannot give a shit about the beach boys. Every single beach boys song I’ve ever heard (which are legion, thanks to this list) I go “really? This is it?” Yes even pet sounds. You heard me.