Surf's Up

This album awakens my fury. Not because of the music, but due to how we treat the world around us and how powerless I am to change it. That's how the entire album sounds: powerless and anemic, with just enough strength to spread the message.

Don't Go Near the Water sets the tone immediately with a switch from their sunshine roots onto more serious themes. The harmonies sound exhausted, the instrumentation is lethargic, and the sombre solo vocals, especially on tracks like Til I Die, carry a sense of quiet resignation.

The harmonies sound tired, the instrumentation is lethargic, and alongside the sombre solo vocal deliveries, it turns whatever you thought about the Beach Boys upside down.

2 stars. Very eco friendly. Not the Beach Boys I was expecting from the two songs I knew of theirs before now. Maybe I need to listen to it on a beach.

Well, I don't hate it, I only intensely dislike it. That is a pleasant(?) surprise from the other Beach Boys - and Beach Boy adjacent - albums I've been forced to listen to in this project.

Now THIS is the beach boys I wanted to hear

I can't figure out why this album is on this list.

a departure from the beach boys you might expect with dark and plainly weird songs. Laudable but not listenable

Wishy-washy.

Controversial opinion: I think the Beach Boys were better when they were making cheesy, silly surfing songs in their early career. I'm fine with serious music but I'm just not interested in hearing it from this band. Maybe my opinion will change once I get to Pet Sounds though. I admit I've never listened to that one in full. But for now I'm going to keep listening to California Girls and Surfin' USA.

Unmistakably The Beach Boys and yet, there is a sad undercurrent which bobs above the surface every so often. Wasn't expecting to get through the album but it was so pleasant on the ear. Strong 4.

darker in tone than the usual beach boys album. i think the highs are higher and the lows are lower than pet sounds.

The Beach Boys have really been growing on me throughout this project. Going in I really only knew their hits and I genuinely didn’t understand the praise or comparisons they frequently drew, which to be fair they are not a greatest hits kind of band and are best experienced through full albums. They finally clicked for me some time during my second listen of Pet Sounds, which was the last album the generator gave me.

Surf’s up is the first Beach Boys album that pulled me in right away. Likely because I finally started to understand and appreciate them after Pet Sounds, but also partially because this is the most outwardly psychedelic sounding album of theirs that I’ve heard.

I’m surprised to see so much dislike for Student Demonstration Time. I genuinely didn’t think it was a bad song despite the lyrics being a bit too easily construed as an anti-protest song. I was expecting Revolution 9 levels of experimentalism, which is actually another maligned song that I really don’t mind.

Also, aside from the music, the cover for Surf’s Up is probably one of my all-time favourite album covers.

I've been trying to "get" The Beach Boys for a long time now, and they are starting to click with me. This album is much more interesting than most of their others I've heard, very dark and artistic. Some of the lyrics are pretty ham fisted though (especially the weird victim blaming on Student Demonstration Time), and the environmental symbolism a bit obvious. But there's really high highs on here too, like Feel Flows, 'Til I Die, and the title track. Overall it sounds like a band that was falling apart as it's members moved in different creative directions - which is pretty accurate I think.

Brian wasn't active enough in the production and it shows. Student Demonstration Time is a nice surprise.

molim? »pet sounds« se može sakrit pred ovim neobičnim a divnim albumom. al da je tolko čudan kolko ga neki ljudi opisuju, pa i nije baš. al je svakako dobar, dosta dobar. slušat ću ponovo

Some great tracks. But too odd and inconsistent for me to come back to it very often.

A strange album with some excellent and some questionable songs. The strength of the final 3 tracks alone warrants 4 stars.

This is very just ok, whatever to me.

A return to form of the Californian band. It is not as brilliant as Pet Sounds by any chance but it offers a darker and more psychedelic glimpse at Brian Wilson's songwriting. The feel it has, with a lesser production makes it feel like a foil to their Magnus Opus.

8/10 [KEEP]

Sad beach boys, aww

not what i expected from this scary ass album cover but it is what i expected from the beach boys. beautiful harmonies as always