I've read tribute upon tribute to this album, so I decided to give it a listen on Rhapsody before spending money on it...

What am I missing here???

Ya got me. I'm still trying to figure out Brian Wilson's "Smile."

Hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I think it was a great soulful set of music.
I think everyone has their own "I don't get cd or group".
Personally, I really don't get Springsteen. I think he's totally crap.

Pacific Ocean Blue was definitely better than what the Beach Boys were doing in the late 70's - early 80's.

I agree about Springsteen (even though I inexplicably have all of his CDs as still-sealed Japanese imports (a story for another day)). I think the *deal* with this particular album was that it was out of print and hard to find for a long time, which whippped up fan frenzy. I concur about Smile as well, and don't plan to get this one unless I get it for a REAL bargain (OK, just explained the Springsteen purchases...).

That's the beauty of music. There's something for everyone, and always something new to discover. Actually, one of my favorite things about this board is discovering artists I'd never heard before. Thanks to people here, this is the summer of Chuck Prophet and Wilco for me. I'm having a blast getting to know their music. I suppose some of us will latch onto this Dennis Wilson record in the same way.

You're not alone on that one!...

I too heard rave reviews for POB for years. I finally tracked down a boot of it on EBay a cpl of years ago. I put it in the CD player expecting a big musical revelation. After it was over I thought "That's it?"
I've tried several more times to get into it, but I cant. To me there's no melodies to the songs, and he sounds he's had a few too many to my ears...


Jeff

I agree about Pacific Ocean Blue not being all that special to my ears. I love Smile, though. Like someone else said above, it's all a matter of your personal taste... I'm sure mine drives people crazy sometimes (well, it drives my wife crazy anyway... )

I picked up Pacific Ocean Blue just based on the songs that Dennis Wilson was contributing to the Beach Boys' albums around that time, and I have to say that the album immediately grabbed me... conceding observations that he sounds like he's "had a few too many", I love the record's sort of wooziness - I think it's a very atmospheric, moody album - and "Riversong" blows me away. (I like Smile too, but this, obviously, is a very different animal.) I haven't given a listen to the Bambu disc yet, but, like I said, I'm really digging Pacific Ocean Blue.

Having never heard POB before, I bought it on the strength of what I read here. My reaction to my first listen was "WOW, this is incredible!" I've listened to it probably 5 times now and whilst I still like the album alot, it's not now as impressive as it was on first listen. I've heard about half of Bambu and to me it comes across as very much second best to POB.

A friend lent me Smile just after it came out and I found it completely unremarkable. I should add, however, that I'm not really a Beach Boys fan anyway.

My Dad absolutely adores the Beach Boys and I got him "Smile" for Father's Day and we sat and listened to it and he looked at me and said, "Do you still have the receipt"? I laughed my ass off, and also told him no. He hated it.
"Smile" is utter crap. I like some Beach Boys stuff and I really like Brian Wilson (I took my dad to see Mr. Wilson in Philly at the Tower Theatre in 1999 ad it was excellent), but I think "Smile" is a very cruel joke. I also think most critics are pretentious douchebags who will tell you something is genius just so they look smarter than you. "Smile" is one such case.
But, as always, if you dig it, more power to you.

I listened to POB online as well and I don't hear the genius either. But then I really don't hear it in Pet Sounds either. It's just another album to me.

A lot of people don't get 'Tales Of Topographic Oceans' by Yes,,,,,,,,,,,, but I love it !

I'm with you there too...

Man, did you ever hit the nail on the head!
After listening to it, I thought "It shoulda stayed unreleased!"
I'm lucky I got it used, cause if I would have paid full price I would've been very upset!


Jeff

Don't look at me--I still can't understand how the song "Africa" by Toto can possibly "rock".

Yes fans either like it or lump it. I lump it - though "The Revealing Science Of God" has grown on me a bit. The rest of it's too flabby and bloated for me. But if you like it, that's cool.

Smile is a masterpiece........It would of had a lot more impact had it been released in the 60s......POB,its allright.Riversong is worth the price of admission.I don't like a lot of the music that others like.I hate mainstream....I hate rap........Springsteen?Lackluster..Clapton......Lackluster.It boils down to what your taste is.

If that's a joke, it's awful. Nobody said "Africa" rocked, just the band. And they do, or did. And, nobody is looking at you because they can't see you. That was as funny as mentioning "Africa"....again. If you were mocking that whole exchange with the idiot who got banned, then my applause goes out to you. Otherwise, boo hiss.

Well some won't get it, Try to listen to albums like these on a "real" stereo.
You might find it to be a somewhat different experience.

SMiLE would have been an incredible album if the Beach Boys had finished in 1967. Of course, it was very experimental, much more so than Pet Sounds, so it wouldn't have been for everyone. I'm so glad Brian Wilson exorcised those demons and recorded a new version of the album 40 years later. But it is 40 years later, so you can't compare a re-record to what could have been. But I still really enjoyed it. It probably helps because I've been listening to the 60's bootlegs for decades and I appreciate what Wilson had gone through since then. If you listen to Brian Wilson's version in the proper context, there's a lot there to enjoy.

I guess my Bose speakers hooked up to my computer just can't capture the genius. LOL! Darn these Bose!

i bought "pacific ocean blue" on tuesday, but still haven't opened it.

i was afraid my expectations would be too high after reading about it for all these years.

now, after reading more about it since it's re-release, i must say i am intrigued.

i am waiting for the right time to crack this open and give it my full attention.

more to come.......

renny