Do It Again/I Can Hear Music/Bluebirds Over The Mountain/Be With Me/All I Want To Do/The Nearest Faraway Place/Cotton Fields/I Went To Sleep/Time To Get Alone/Never Learn Not To Love/Our Prayer/Cabinessence
20/20 was the final Capitol album from The Beach Boys. It includes the British chart topper and US No. 20 Do It Again, plus the UK No. 10 I Can Hear Music. By this time Brian Wilson, their chief songwriter, had been largely sidelined. (US:68 UK:3)
"This is The Beach Boys final release on Capitol records, and it's an album that shouldn't work but somehow does. It's an entirely hodge-podge affair, but most of the material is actually quite strong and makes for an enjoyable listen. At this point in Beach Boys history, Brian Wilson had mostly retreated to the sidelines and left the bulk of the songwriting and studio craft to the others. The results are actually quite good, as every track is solid and tuneful, even if they lack the magic spark of genius."
"As the end of the 60s rolled around, The Beach Boys fulfilled their contract with Capitol Records by putting out 20/20, an album cobbled together from recent single releases, fragments of the aborted Smile project and a handful of new tracks. As messy as this proposition sounds, 20/20 actually maintains the high standard the band had kept up since Pet Sounds."
"20/20 was an album of singles and leftovers, albeit pretty good ones. Fans in particular can appreciate the presence of two Smile cuts which were finally released: the multi-part Cabinessence and the hymn like Our Prayer. One of my favourites is the instrumental The Nearest Faraway Place, a lush track featuring soft, echoed keyboards and understated strings."
"The 20/20 album was a patchwork of hit singles and some really good Beach Boys originals, but even with the slapdash atmosphere, it was still a finely-crafted album that deserved far better than the reception it first received in the US on release."
"The songs are in a variety of styles that seem to clash with each other. But there are a lot of good songs here, taken individually. It features The Beach Boys last two top 30 hits for seven years, Do It Again and I Can Hear Music, plus other worthwhile songs like the bizarre Cabinessence, and the non-single version of Cotton Fields."
"20/20 is an above average release and still listenable almost forty years later."
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