MrMagpie wrote: ↑12 Dec 2018, 20:26
Very true. And to my ears even when they went for the more interesting stuff in '66-'68 that surf sound was STILL there below the surface which kind of kills it for me a bit. Think of the White Album where every chord progression reminds you of A Hard Day's Night and you'll see what I mean.
I generally if not always respect other conflicting opinion and varying tastes and I resent when it seems I am pressing someone on theirs, but your statement that the "surf sound" was still evident from '66-'68 is not completely true. Only one song they reverted back to that was the 1968 single (which appeared as the lead track on their 1969 album, "20/20") "Do It Again". They were in a nostalgia mood and wanted to recapture that sound. However, they did completely revisit the "surfing sound" on their mid-late 70s albums (except 1977 "Love You") due to the IMMENSE success of their 1974 greatest hits record, "Endless Summer".
You mentioned '66-'68, but their albums from '69-'73 (and the aforementioned "Love You") are albums in which the casual music listener would be shocked to know it's the Beach Boys, especially when Carl and Dennis began writing more. Brian also tried to push the creative envelope, but Mike Love and even Al Jardine didn't like when they "messed with the formula", but they had completely abandoned the surfing motif/sound by that point.
I apologize, but perhaps you might have overlooked some albums of theirs or don't have an entire accurate recollection of all those albums.
But I know we differ on some Beatles' related matters at times. Such as I consider "Revolver" their best album and I feel "Sgt. Pepper" hasn't aged that well whatsoever and has become vastly overrated over the years. Again, we are entitled to our own opinion/taste obviously and I don't mean to be overly persistent w/my stance regarding the Beach Boys, but I feel you might be missing out on something more special than you realized or remembered.