Box sets that mostly regurgitate already-released material make no sense to me. If it's the CD era and I'm dropping a ton of money on a set, that probably means I already have most of the main albums and 75% of the set is redundant. If I'm a casual fan just looking for a more in-depth career overview, a) I'm probably not dropping $70 for this, opting for one of the other dozen comps out there, or b) probably will never play disc 5. I know this was basically the standard format during the early CD boom, but musically I don't really get it.
Going all the way from late 1971 to late 1974, including all the lost material from the Caribou sessions. I can dream....
Does the streaming of unreleased material on Brian’s site protect it from the 50 year EU copyright rule?
Then Feel Flows must tick you off, too. Its going to include Surf’s Up & Sunflower in full, the rare tracks from Good Vibrations & Made in California, as well previously released tracks from other comps such as Endless Harmony & Hawthorne. They will be new remasters and some new mixes, but that was the case with the previously released tracks on the earlier box sets as well. I’ll be happy to have everything together from that era. Also, these boxes aren’t always just for the die hard fans. The Good Vibrations box set turned me into a die hard fan years ago.
I mean, yeah, it seems utterly pointless to include two full studio albums that everyone already has. I mean, I don't do CD's so it doesn't really matter to me, but since, for some reason in the digital age, we're still operating under this weird thing where things have to conform to a certain number of discs, it seems like a total waste of space (And they probably won't sound as good as the AP versions anyway?). Repurposing the rare stuff from the previous boxes at least makes sense.
That line reminds me of Woody Allen's 'You have the most eyes of any woman I've ever met'. Not that we can mention WA any more.
Yes, I read my post later and realised I had left out the most important word! Hey, let's use our imaginations and maybe it will improve it!
Yes! Even in 2021, the box still has things on it you wont get on other releases. A necessity to any Beach Boys collection.
I'm working my way through a backlog of CDs and boxsets to be ripped to my server. My freshly opened copy of Made In California has this error. An internet search shows that they are no longer supplying replacement discs (unsurprising given the set is from 2013!) Would any kind soul be able to provide flac files for a corrected replacement Disc 3, please?. I can share a photo of the boxset to prove ownership. If this is permitted, and someone is willing, I can share a folder where they can be uploaded using a browser to my personal cloud account. Many thanks.
Without wishing to go back over 192 pages - are there any tracks on the 2CD set which are not on the 5CD set? For example, looking at the track listing on the HMV site I'm failing to see a long When Girls Get Together..... Also, annoyingly for we UK Sunflower fans who may only buy the 2-fer, Cottonfields (lead track on the UK LP in 1970 and a top 5 hit here) is missing from that one; would have made sense to include it on the basic version. Final question - if I get the 5-fer, do I really need to keep Made In California?
Basically you need to get both to have all songs and edits. And why would you get rid of 'Made In California'?
2CD does have Cotton fields. An error was made on the website, but it is on there. The alt Add Some Music Isn’t however. If you get the five CD version, you are not missing anything from the two CD version. The only differences are that some tracks on the two CD version have shorter fades and cut off intros to shorten the track length to save space, but that’s it. As for When Girls Get Together, The instrumental is disc three track 17 and runs One minute 47 seconds, and the 2020 mix of the entire track is disc four track 21 and runs for three minutes and 46 seconds. Keeping or getting rid of made in California is entirely up to you, but there are some tracks on there that are not on this.
The GV30 box came at just the right time. interest in the bands catalog was beginning to grow throughout the early 90s, the 60s albums had just been reissued with a successful campaign, they hadn’t had the huge amount of bootlegs that would hit them later in the decade, and there was a lot of material that was unreleased or long out of print at that time. The gv30 box not only rounded up all of their greatest hits, but this was the first place to hear any type of official smile material. This was the first time the vaults had really been opened, and if you were anything more than just a fan of the hits, this box was absolutely essential listening. Meanwhile, Made in California just feels like a huge missed opportunity. To start with, it was supposed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band, and got delayed almost a entire year, so by the time it actually came out in August 2013, all of the 50 year celebrations had been long over. Secondly, it was released only nine months after the 50 big ones compilation, and included all of the exact same tracks. All 50 tracks from the 50 big ones comp reappear on MIC. And finally, the unreleased material, while some of it was absolutely revelatory, a huge majority was just disappointing. Obviously this box was the first appearance of wouldn’t it be nice to live again and where is she and the California Feelin’ Demo, but The majority of the previously unreleased tracks were things like Pom Pom Play Girl (Vocal Session Highlight), Brian's Back (Alternate Mix), and There's No Other (Like My Baby) [2012 "Unplugged" Mix With Party Session Intro]. Not that these things aren’t cool, but a lot of them are just things we already have with slightly more session chatter at the beginning, and it’s quite a stretch to call them “exclusive previously unreleased tracks.” Not to mention all of the repeats from previous compilations. MIC recycled quite a bit from the Hawthorne compilation, and the Smile Sessions which weren’t even two years old at this point. That eight minute smile backing vocal medley from the smile sessions also takes up eight minutes on this box, eight minutes that could’ve been taken up by something different. Not to mention, for a career retrospective, I don’t think it’s a very good one. It spends 2.75 discs on the 60s material, while Surfs Up to LA get one disc. I mean hell, they’re far from their best albums but MIU, KTSA and BB85 deserved better than just one track each. N Lastly, when it came to the catalog, nothing had really changed that drastically between 1993 and 2013. They recorded a couple tracks in 95 and one album in 2012, that’s it. An entire new career retrospective wasn’t exactly necessary at this point. What they should’ve done is, instead of making a huge six disc box set that was overpriced and under delivered, they should have made a 2-3 CD rarities set to go along side the 50 big ones Comp. Not only could it have given those who were just going to buy the new greatest hits CD another option to get more into the catalog, but it would also be a cheaper entry into the lesser known part of the catalog instead of a six CD $130+ Mammoth box set. But this was all over seven years ago, so not much we can do about it now. I am happy it exists for the new tracks that it gave us. My Love Lives On is still a masterpiece
Funny, I love the MIC bonus tracks. Great live material, fun vocals-only pieces, alternate vocal for "Don't Worry Baby"... I find myself constantly going back and loving the tracks excusive to this set. Maybe they could have been released as their own rarities set, but I'm fine with them as they are. I think it's a great updated version of the Good Vibrations box. Both are essential in their own ways.
