The Beach Boys Classics

But down to the music. I don't have any other 'Best Of' CDs of the Beach Boys but I would certainly recommend this one. It doesn't contain 'Fun Fun Fun', 'Barbara Ann' or some of their other well-known poppy hit songs. It's very geared towards the artistic side of the Beach Boys as you might expect, so Brian concentrates on the stuff he's most proud of. Of course there's 'Good Vibrations', 'California Girls' (Brian's favourite), and two typically brilliant cuts off the famous 'Pet Sounds' - the gorgeous 'God Only Knows' and wistful 'Caroline No'.

But I knew all of those, owning Pet Sounds and obviously having come across the big hits on the radio etc. What was a really great revelation for me was the second half of the album. I'd always thought the Beach Boys lost it after 'Pet Sounds', and this shows they did have some very very strong songs after that.

Whilst I can't vouch for their later albums themselves, not having heard them, the particular songs Brian has picked off them here ensure the album doesn't let up at all after the 'Pet Sounds' era section. The entire section from 'We're Together Again' through to ''Til I Die' is simply great melodic music, making the CD as a whole a great addition to the collection any fan of classic pop in this style.

The bonus track 'California Feelin'' does have a tacked-on feel, whilst a fairly good song and recording, but it seems a little limp after the stunning 'Marcella', 'Sail On, Sailor' and ''Til I Die'. Best to have it released than not, though, I suppose.

All in all, a great CD and a great idea for a 'best of'.

This compilation is different, in that the responsibility for the choice of tracks has been given to the man who was the creative force behind the vast majority of them thirty odd years ago: singer, writer, arranger, producer Brian Wilson. As such, this new album deserves a place in the history of Beach Boys releases for that reason alone.

All Beach Boys fans will have their own theories on what a greatest hits compilation should consist of, and probably the collection that has come the closest to providing a reasonable overview is the Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys boxed set, though even that critically-acclaimed collection has its bewildering inclusions and glaring oversights.

This latest compilation though, with its promise of a further insight into the mind of the great Beach Boy, is different in that, refreshingly, it doesn?t aim to please anyone in particular, except perhaps the legion of Brian Wilson Obsessives who feel that every release will bring them closer to their God. What we actually get here is a selection of largely brilliant Beach Boy tunes that is likely - as has been suggested in reviews of various releases ? to ?please both avid Beach Boys fans and listeners new to the group?s music?. This is not ?the best of?, but a selection of songs by Brian Wilson who, judging by the success of his recent ??Presents Pet Sounds Live? activities, seems finally to have recovered most of his emotional equilibrium after decades in the wilderness.

Opening with the simple beauty of Surfer Girl, and closing with the desperate Till I Die (and with a rather nice recently-recorded California Feelin tacked on the end of the album ? and why not?), the tracks chosen are on the whole examples of the perfect pop synthesis of melody, arrangement and vocal performances, and as such are a great pleasure to listen to. Apart from well-known up-tempo hits such as I Get Around and California Girls, there is also the gorgeous Busy Doin Nothin from the Friends LP and the intriguing inclusion of Wonderful from Smiley Smile, the curious, hurried, unfinished album that, released in the wake of the extraordinary Good Vibrations single, persuaded an unfortunate number of industry and executives and fans alike that the Beach Boys, and Brian Wilson were - in the face of a more hard-edged, politically-aware rock n roll sensibility - history.

What ??Classics Selected by Brian Wilson? offers is a curious, offbeat selection of favorites that, as Wilson admits in the accompanying booklet, was difficult to make and would have probably have been different if he?d chosen them on a different day. This album is not a record of the Beach Boys best work and, gives only a small part of the story of sublime beauty and eccentric juvenilia that have been the hallmark of Brian Wilson?s career both with and without the Beach Boys. However, with its 24 bit HDCD remastering all the tracks sparkle just a little bit more and, if you want to know how Brian Wilson felt on February 11th 2002 when he chose these tracks (which I and I suspect an astonishing number of others do) then buy this and enjoy.