Poll--The Weakest Link: The Beach Boys WILD HONEY, Round 7

There's no more to come for "Aren't You Glad."

Three remain, one must go.

Discussion question: Where do you rank WILD HONEY in the Beach Boys canon?

4 Aren't You Glad
5 Country Air
6 Here Comes The Night
7 I'd Love To See You
T8 I Was Made To Love Her
T8 A Thing Or Two
T10 How She Boogalooed It
T10 Mama Says

 

Let The Wind Blow, with regret. Gorgeous, stately piece.

At least the three strongest tunes made it this far.

DQ: in the middle somewhere, recent buzz around here notwithstanding. That upcoming box does look nice.

 

"Wild Honey." Bittersweet voting it off.

DQ: For me, it's "Pet Sounds," "Surf's Up" and the usual pile of classic singles. I do like "In Concert" and "Holland." So somewhere just below those.

 

I knew these would be the final three. And these three songs were part of the set list in 1972/73...gosh, we need an expanded In Concert.

 

Top 5 of all Beach Boys albums

 

Where I rank it: not as good as the stuff before it, better than the stuff after it other than TWGMTRadio

 

canon question: somewhere in the top ten after "holland" and "love you"

top 5:
surf's up
pet sounds
sunflower
today !
friends

 

Let the Wind Blow

 

"Wild Honey" to go.

 

I picked Wild Honey. Good song, but wish it was pitched in a somewhat lower key.

 

Top 5 or 6

"Let The Wind Blow", with regret too

 

Wild Honey.

Darryl

 

I'm giving Darlin' the boot. Overplayed.

DP: Top 10, possibly top 7. Was the joint third of their original albums that I bought on a twofer with Smiley Smile) after Pet Sounds and a boot of Smile (yes I heard Smile before I heard Smiley Smile), so I have a soft spot for it.

 

"Wild Honey" again.

It seems the best song on the album is gonna get the boot this time.

 

I'm giving Darlin' the boot. Overplayed.

DP: Top 10, possibly top 7. Was the joint third of their original albums that I bought on a twofer with Smiley Smile) after Pet Sounds and a boot of Smile (yes I heard Smile before I heard Smiley Smile), so I have a soft spot for it.

 

Wild Honey.

DQ: Somewhere in the top 10. My top 3 is solid: Pet Sounds, Today!, & Love You but the other 7 slots are in flux.

 

I love that weird organ solo in WH. Man, they loved that Baldwin organ around then.

 

These last three are the classic on this album, and I'm voting for "Wild Honey", I get what they were aiming for with the vocals, but it doesn't work i.m.o.

Very hard to rank, but it is a bit slight compared to surrounding album, so for the sake of simplicity I'll just say I think I'd have to put it below the other albums in the Today through Surf's Up period (which is really fantastic all the way through), but above everything else.

 

One vote in it! Come on somebody vote "Wild Honey"!

 

DQ: Most Beach Boys albums are somewhat flawed with at least one of two lesser tracks. I rank this up towards the top of the heap, due to the prevalent Wilson/Love partnership, which is the core of the greatest BB albums.

 

I didn't answer the DQ: Before this week, I would have said "kinda lumped in with the post-PET SOUNDS albums, none of which I care about too much, except most of SURF'S UP."

Now, I would have to listen to SURF'S UP again to see if I like it better than WILD HONEY. It is possible WILD HONEY is my #3 album behind PET SOUNDS and 15 BIG ONES (yes, I like that record a lot).

As for the pre-PET SOUNDS releases, I have trouble keeping them straight in my mind. I like many of the songs from that era that wound up on ENDLESS SUMMER, but for the most part, the deeper album cuts haven't made a big impression on me. That could be because I haven't invested the time with them as I have with other groups.

Poll--The Weakest Link: The Beach Boys WILD HONEY, Round 8, The Final