The Beach Boys - 15 Big Ones + Love You [24-bit Digitally Remastering]

This two-fer, which compiles two of the band's late-period albums, 1976's 15 BIG ONES and 1977's LOVE YOU, should give both critics and fans much to chew on. While not up to the caliber of milestones like PET SOUNDS and SURF'S UP, both sets contain the hallmarks of the Boys' best material: irresistible melodies, inventive, intricate arrangements, and melting harmonies from heaven. 15 BIG ONES, the album on which Brian Wilson re-teamed with the rest of the band after a hiatus of many years, alternates originals with covers such as "Rock and Roll Music" and "Chapel of Love". As usual, Wilson's compositions outshine the rest, as on the pop carousel of "It's OK" and the delightfully quirky "TM Song". The real treasure, however, is found on LOVE YOU. Though the brilliant studio sheen of classic Beach Boys production is absent here, what remains is an album of honest, original, idiosyncratic pop songs. A trip through Brian Wilson's warped, sunshine-splattered funhouse, LOVE YOU delivers up gems of sweet melancholy like "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and the ridiculous, amazing "Johnny Carson". Ragged and intimate, LOVE YOU alone makes this disc a must for fans of the band and scholars of alternative pop.

Learning quickly from the utter failure of their modernist, roots rock bent (circa 1972-1973) and the overwhelming success one year later of their greatest-hits package Endless Summer, the Beach Boys returned to the studio in 1975 with the newly conferred status of America's favorite oldies act. Content to give the people what they wanted, the group cobbled together a few of their favorite oldies (hoary chestnuts like "Rock and Roll Music", "Chapel of Love", "Talk to Me", "Palisades Park", "Blueberry Hill", and "In the Still of the Night") and balanced the set with a few eccentric originals. Unfortunately, the oldies just don't work in the slick production context of the mid-'70s, and despite a few fan favorites ("It's OK", "Had to Phone Ya") among the originals, 15 Big Ones was yet another red flag to the commercial public that the Beach Boys were as out of touch as ever. Its follow-up (1977's Love You) is a distinctly different album altogether, and perhaps the best the band released during the '70s. Originally projected to be a Brian Wilson solo effort, Love You features all originals and is packed with Wilson/Love compositions, a parade of endearing oddities like "Let Us Go On This Way", "Roller Skating Child", and "Honkin' Down the Highway". True, the oddball lyrics and skeletal synth-heavy productions are far removed from the group's classic late-'60s sound, but fans of the sillier side of Brian Wilson will dig Love You almost as much as 1971's Surf's Up. And the band even looked back to its prime with a quasi-suite on side two ("The Night Was So Young", "I'll Bet He's Nice", "Let's Put Our Hearts Together") reminiscent of Brian's endearing adult-child persona. Buy this two-fer for the wonderful Love You, then program your CD player to catch the scant nuggets on 15 Big Ones.

~ John Bush, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Rock And Roll Music
02. It's Ok
03. Had To Phone Ya
04. Chapel Of Love
05. Everyone's In Love With You
06. Talk To Me
07. That Same Song
08. TM Song
09. Palisades Park
10. Susie Cincinnati
11. A Casual Look
12. Blueberry Hill
13. Back Home
14. In The Still Of The Night
15. Just Once In My Life
16. Let Us Go On This Way
17. Roller Skating Child
18. Mona
19. Johnny Carson
20. Good Time
21. Honkin' Down The Highway
22. Ding Dang
23. Solar System
24. The Night Was So Young
25. I'll Bet He's Nice
26. Let's Put Our Hearts Together
27. I Wanna Pick You Up
28. Airplane
29. Love Is A Woman

Originally released on Brother/Reprise Records
Reissue producers: Cheryl Pawelski, Paul Atkinson
Digitally remastered by Andrew Sandoval & Dan Hersch (DigiPrep)

Original Release Date: June 1976 | April 1977
Re-Release Date: August 15, 2000
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: Brother Records / Capitol Records
Catalog No.: 27945-2