Thursday 28 December 2017

Best Of Vol. 3 – THE BEACH BOYS***

Do It Again/The Warmth Of The Sun/409/Catch A Wave/Lonely Sea/Long Tall Texan/Wild Honey/Darlin’/Please Let Me Wonder/Let Him Run Wild/Country Air/I Know There’s An Answer/Friends/Heroes & Villains (UK track listing)

Very few groups can claim to have charted with a third volume of hits, so Best Of Vol. 3 must be recognised as some kind of achievement for The Beach Boys. (US:153 UK:8)

"It would prove to be the last official 'best of' package by the band on their first record label."

"This was the third Best Of Beach Boys album issued by the Capitol label. As with the first two there was some padding to fill out the release."

"These early compilation albums by The Beach Boys have been made obsolete by the dozens which followed. Still songs such as Darlin' and Heroes & Villains are always worth a listen."

"The album combines material from different eras of their career, which makes for an uneven listen."

"Another hodgepodge compilation from Capitol Records, it's just another poorly sequenced compilation that is really a last ditch attempt to sell something with The Beach Boys name on it."

"Having gone through most of the chart hits and notable album tracks from The Beach Boys' early history, the label was forced for the first time to include some of their psychedelic-era songs on this compilation. But there wasn't enough of a track record to build an entire album in that direction, so alongside Heroes & Villains, plus the recent single Darlin', there is the car song 409."

"This was so downright weird as a collection that it was never less than interesting, even if it was satisfying to very few listeners. And it was something of a sign of their longevity and impact on music that The Beach Boys could release a reasonably legitimate Best Of Vol. 3. Other than Elvis Presley, one would have been hard pressed to name an American rock act in 1968 that could have generated a third such volume, flawed though it was."

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