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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Jan 1, 2019 14:36:50 GMT -5
Released in 1976, 15 Big Ones received mixed reviews. Perhaps capitalizing on the success of Endless Summer, it reached #8 in the US. Rock and Roll music climbed to #5 on the hot 100, while It's OK hit #29. Attachments:
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Departed
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2019 7:41:31 GMT -5
This is an album that has grown on me through the years. It's very listenable from start to finish. It starts off relatively strong with RR music, its ok, had to phone ya. If you have never heard the instrumental track of the latter it's a must-listen -
The second half of side 1 is the weak point for me. Chapel of Love is bizarre and disjointed. Talk to Me is an exception, it's a nice track. everyone's in love with you, that same song, and TM song are at best forgettable at worst a little off-putting.
Side 2 picks things up again with some nice rockers. The amount of covers on the album is a little disappointing, but most of them end up being fairly well-performed. Back Home is a nice inclusion and the new chorus really makes the song work well.
My favorite track is the closer, 'Just Once In My Life'. The production on this cover is immaculate. I think it is the artistic peak of Brian's synthesizers + wall of sound technique (i think Love You goes a little too far, to be honest). The lead vocal is a little rough but it's heartfelt and passionate. When I had the opportunity to meet Brian at a book signing I shared my admiration for this track and he gave me a big smile, banged his fist on the table, and yelled "alright!" I will always think fondly of that moment when I listen to this number.
Overall I give this album a 5/10. It's not really very innovative or creative. But it's a mostly enjoyable listen from start to close, which is rare to say about a post-60s BB album.
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Post by E on Jan 5, 2019 11:24:16 GMT -5
I've warmed to this, but I realise that after three years fans were expecting something different, not a bunch of songs the Boys liked and which were sung with voices fairly distant from those created in their heyday. I enjoy Had to Phone Ya, Just Once in My Life, A Casual Look, In the Still of the Night, Susie Cincinnati, Palisades Park, Back Home, Rock and Roll Music, TM Song, That Same Song - pretty much in that order.
And yeah, I prefer That Same Song boosted by the Double Rock Baptist Choir
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Post by Vale on Jan 5, 2019 12:22:46 GMT -5
I've warmed to this, but I realise that after three years fans were expecting something different, not a bunch of songs they liked and which were song with voices fairly distant from those created in their heyday. I enjoy Had to Phone Ya, Just Once in My Life, A Casual Look, In the Still of the Night, Susie Cincinnati, Palisades Park, Back Home, Rock and Roll Music, TM Song, That Same Song - pretty much in that order. And yeah, I prefer That Same Song boosted by the Double Rock Baptist Choir Agree almost 100%. My favorite songs are Just Once In My Life, Back Home and Had To Phone Ya.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2019 14:39:33 GMT -5
In many ways, my least favorite Beach Boy album--even worse than SIP.
It sounds terrible, it killed their best shot at a comeback. But more than that, it doesn't sit well with me the way they used Brian like that. I don't approve of forcing an obviously unwell man into the studio before he's really gotten himself together. It feels wrong and the group shouldn't be celebrated for that action.
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dumbchops
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Post by dumbchops on Jan 5, 2019 21:14:31 GMT -5
I've had this album for decades now and I strongly dislike it. My favorite song is "Had To Phone Ya" (those damn stupid titles!) but I hate, hate, hate the covers including "Rock And Roll Music". I know the Beatles covered it in 1964 but they should have just written another song instead. The Beach Boys version does not rock or roll in any sense and they still play it in their setlist to this day.
I gave it a 3 out of 10 to be generous but the next album Love You is a solid 10 from me. So is Pacific Ocean Blue and from I've read, the title track from that album was offered up for 15 Lame Ones but must have been rejected in place of "Chapel Of Love". Maybe it's their worst album of the 1970's? At least MIU has the heart breaking classic "My Dianne" and to a lesser extent "Pitter Patter".
I just wanted to point out that there were other "oldies" recorded during this time including "Sea Cruise", "On Broadway" and "Mony Mony". If I were them back at the time, I would have waited for an all original album with songs from all the members. That could have been a game changer in the ongoing popularity of this oldies band.
The cover is absolutely fucking awful too.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2019 22:03:35 GMT -5
15 Big Ones is one of the two albums that I have to admit it was a misstep in their career, even though I love them on their own. (The other being Smiley Smile)
The sound is rather distinctive, with synth-oriented, fresh production provided by Brian. The originals are all decent (yes, even TM Song is), with my favorite being That Same Song. The covers are not the most inspiring ones The Beach Boys ever done, but they are at least creative and they do their very own thing with them.
However, the vocals are evidently weak compared to what had come before, though they do have their charm. The song selection is terrible, with some of the better covers being left off (Sea Cruise, On Broadway, Peggy Sue) as well as originals (Dennis' songs). The song order is far from the best, either.
All in all, it's an album that has its own charm and attraction, but definitely could have been 10 times better with different approach and more artistic decisions. Releasing this album in 1976 certainly didn't do them any favor, but I do hope people would discover its underlying greatness if the copyright extension release for this album would indeed happen in 2026.
I rate it 7/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 9:40:18 GMT -5
Wata has pretty much summed up my thoughts on 15 Big Ones, even if I gave it a slightly lower rating of 6.
The cover of the album doesn't do it any favours, but I also friggin' hate the name of it. 15 Big Whats? If you leave it open to interpretation like that, well then... but I guess they couldn't call it "It's OK" or "That Same Song", even if those are the best "ones" on the album.
Highlights: It's OK, Had to Phone Ya, Talk to Me, That Same Song, Susie Cincinnati, A Casual Look, Just Once in My Life
Lowlights: Chapel of Love, Everyone's In Love With You, TM Song
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Post by kds on Jan 6, 2019 9:47:46 GMT -5
The decline in quality from Holland to 15 Big Ones is swift and severe.
Frankly, I think it was a mistake to put Brian back in the drivers' seat on the heals of his decade old nuggets being rediscovered in 1974. And I think thats why the BB went back to a more band oriented approach after Love You.
The result is pretty mediocre, starting with the limp version of Rock and Roll Music. It's OK showed what could've been, as its a fun nod to the BB 60s glories, and easily the best song on the album. Their Palisades Park is pretty good too.
A very mixed bag. I'll be generous and give it a six.
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 6, 2019 10:52:02 GMT -5
And yet the LP charted at #8 and the single "Rock and Roll Music" was #5.
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Post by kds on Jan 6, 2019 22:10:19 GMT -5
And yet the LP charted at #8 and the single "Rock and Roll Music" was #5. And Sunflower charted at #151. One of many reasons I put little stock in chart position.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 22:53:36 GMT -5
Agree with kds . Judging an album by its chart position is ludicrous. Besides, in many ways the chart performance is as much a reflection of how well the previous album(s) did. People like what came before, they come back for more. Then they hit a stinker and bail. The albums immediately proceeding 15BO were greatest hits comps that sold really well--especially Endless Summer. The album which immediately followed 15BO? Love You, which charted at 53, reflecting the dissatisfaction with this release. Charts are not a metric of quality, just popularity, marketing and brand momentum.
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 7, 2019 9:54:50 GMT -5
And yet the LP charted at #8 and the single "Rock and Roll Music" was #5. And Sunflower charted at #151. One of many reasons I put little stock in chart position. Apples and oranges and a whole different time warp. Sunflower - the first on Reprise. A lovely album. But, the band was in a mess. Wiki has some of the backstory. Manson, Sea of Tunes being sold by Murry, etc. Still wartime, race riots, protests everywhere. Charting is important as it gets the band name back "up in lights" and publicity and airplay always flows from that. Charting in the top 10 means you get into that Hit Parade show with more airplay. Often more for singles sales than LP's. And more promotion. 15 Big Ones did ride the coat-tails of the Olympics and new-found interest after the big success of several re-packs - Endless Summer - Spirit of America and Good Vibrations - Best of the Beach Boys. It was a thrill to hear the BB's come blasting out of a radio speaker with Rock and Roll Music. And 15 Big Ones came at a time that was post war - almost euphoric that it was finally over.
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Post by kds on Jan 7, 2019 11:13:22 GMT -5
And Sunflower charted at #151. One of many reasons I put little stock in chart position. Apples and oranges and a whole different time warp. Sunflower - the first on Reprise. A lovely album. But, the band was in a mess. Wiki has some of the backstory. Manson, Sea of Tunes being sold by Murry, etc. Still wartime, race riots, protests everywhere. Charting is important as it gets the band name back "up in lights" and publicity and airplay always flows from that. Charting in the top 10 means you get into that Hit Parade show with more airplay. Often more for singles sales than LP's. And more promotion. 15 Big Ones did ride the coat-tails of the Olympics and new-found interest after the big success of several re-packs - Endless Summer - Spirit of America and Good Vibrations - Best of the Beach Boys. It was a thrill to hear the BB's come blasting out of a radio speaker with Rock and Roll Music. And 15 Big Ones came at a time that was post war - almost euphoric that it was finally over. Charting is somewhat important from a fiscal standpoint. But, when you're rating music quality, chart position means ab-so-lute-ly nothing. Sing it again.
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 7, 2019 11:26:18 GMT -5
Apples and oranges and a whole different time warp. Sunflower - the first on Reprise. A lovely album. But, the band was in a mess. Wiki has some of the backstory. Manson, Sea of Tunes being sold by Murry, etc. Still wartime, race riots, protests everywhere. Charting is important as it gets the band name back "up in lights" and publicity and airplay always flows from that. Charting in the top 10 means you get into that Hit Parade show with more airplay. Often more for singles sales than LP's. And more promotion. 15 Big Ones did ride the coat-tails of the Olympics and new-found interest after the big success of several re-packs - Endless Summer - Spirit of America and Good Vibrations - Best of the Beach Boys. It was a thrill to hear the BB's come blasting out of a radio speaker with Rock and Roll Music. And 15 Big Ones came at a time that was post war - almost euphoric that it was finally over. Charting is somewhat important from a fiscal standpoint. But, when you're rating music quality, chart position means ab-so-lute-ly nothing. Sing it again. How many non-industry people would know that? It is also important from a media standpoint. It gives bragging rights to the artist for press related activities.
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Post by kds on Jan 7, 2019 11:32:10 GMT -5
Charting is somewhat important from a fiscal standpoint. But, when you're rating music quality, chart position means ab-so-lute-ly nothing. Sing it again. How many non-industry people would know that? It is also important from a media standpoint. It gives bragging rights to the artist for press related activities. Are you asking how many non industry people know that when rating quality, chart position is meaningless? If so, I'd say the vast majority of non industry people.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 11:37:44 GMT -5
Arguing with Filled is pointless. You will never win, just waste your own time
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 7, 2019 11:56:48 GMT -5
In many ways, my least favorite Beach Boy album--even worse than SIP. It sounds terrible, it killed their best shot at a comeback. But more than that, it doesn't sit well with me the way they used Brian like that. I don't approve of forcing an obviously unwell man into the studio before he's really gotten himself together. It feels wrong and the group shouldn't be celebrated for that action.1 You may not like an album but I have no idea where you get all your information. A book - an interviewer? Brian looks like he is having a fine time here. And in the other video from the Baptist church choir for That Same Song.
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 7, 2019 12:02:12 GMT -5
And this one also in 1976 - with the controversial Hey Little Tomboy but mentions 15 Big Ones. Brian looks and sounds confident and like he has it very much together. He mentions Rock and Roll Music and the great Chuck Berry groove.
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Post by Jason (The Real Beach Boy) on Mar 28, 2019 11:42:30 GMT -5
5.5. The low-water mark for that point in time, and Brian was only sort of back. Some of the originals are fun, but the prevalence of limp covers really hurts.
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Hydra
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Post by Hydra on Apr 24, 2020 16:57:05 GMT -5
This is a very average album with a few highlights. First, the highlights of this album have to be Its OK which is a fantastic return to form for the group and it should have been a bigger hit than Rock n Roll Music, Had To Phone Ya is also a highlight along with Pallisades Park and Talk To Me and Just Once In My Life, the rest of the album is full of bad new songs and half assed covers. Not a fan.
Track Ratings
1. Rock And Roll Music 6/10 2. It's OK 9/10 3. Had To Phone Ya 8/10 4. Chapel Of Love 3/10 5. Everyone's In Love With You 5/10 6. Talk To Me 7/10 7. That Same Song 5/10 8. TM Song 5/10 9. Pallisades Park 7/10 10. Susie Cinncinatti 7/10 11. A Casual Look 4/10 12. Blueberry Hill 6/10 13. Back Home 3/10 14. In The Still Of The Night 2/10 15. Just Once In My Life 7/10
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Post by dauber on Jun 9, 2021 10:19:33 GMT -5
[my review, copied from the old PSF] I think your feelings about 15 Big Ones is based on the perspective you had when you first heard it. If you were excited after Holland and saw the artistic trajectory of the band, combined with the word that Brian was going to produce the album, you probably were disappointed with 15 Big Ones. I remember one fan some years back told the story of how WXRT's Terri Hemmert commented on the then-new album: "I waited four years for this crap?" As for me...I first heard the album fairly early in my fandom, before I knew all the dirt that we die-hards eventually learn some time. What I heard was...quite honestly...a really fun album. And I still find it to be an enjoyable listen. "Rock and Roll Music" -- not a good cover, to be honest. It kind of drags. It's a good thing they cut out that last verse. BTW, anybody else notice how the single version starts off with a playback glitch? Notice how the word "Just" is very slow and low and then the song quickly accelerates to the proper speed. "It's OK" -- classic Beach Boys formula that's just plain fun. And lots of hooks. The melody on the verses is hooky. The chorus is hooky. Hooks with "Find a ride" and "In the sum-sum-summertime"....just all the way through. And I know someone on another forum had some lyrics from this song in that user's board signature, but the cited lyrics were wrong: they should be, "Good or bad, glad or sad, it's all gonna pass away, so hey, let's all play and enjoy while it lasts." "Had To Phone Ya" -- I love that each Beach Boy gets a turn at singing lead. Fun little tune. But I'm at a loss as to where "Trombone Dixie" comes into play here...any hints??? (BTW, who's on the phone with Brian at the end? Is that Diane?) "Chapel Of Love" -- bleh. Boring. "Everyone's In Love With You" -- proof that Mike had his moments. Very pleasant song (until I learned that it was a love song to the Maharishi). Only complete is the lazy repeat of the bridge and last verse, courtesy of the Paul McCartney School of Songwriting. (Not that it's always a bad thing; indeed, Macca could make it work often. But it doesn't always work.) "Talk To Me" -- very nice rendition. Beautiful voc Now does anybody know if "Tallahassee Lassie" was part of this song, or was it a separate recording that they just stuck in?al from Carl. Highly enjoyable. "That Same Song" -- my favorite song on the album. Just so much fun! Even more fun? The version with the Double Rock Baptist Choir, performed in the 1976 TV special. Wish Brian would add this to his concerts. "TM Song" -- very bizarre track that's somehow fascinating. I'd love an accurate, reliable transcript of the argument though...hard to make out what everybody's saying. I wonder if Brian wrote this during the songwriting sessions Landy made him go through, given the quirky nature of the song's lyrics. It would easily fit in with The Beach Boys Love You. "Palisades Park" -- meh. Boring rendition of an annoying song. "Susie Cincinnati" -- great, enthusiastic tune from Al. I know I suggested this online years ago, but to me, this is basically "Al Jardine does 'Day Tripper.'" Catchy guitar riff, highly suggestive lyrics... "A Casual Look" -- nothing special about this song. It's okay. Good but not great. I do love Al's vocal, though. "Blueberry Hill" -- I really love the arrangement on this recording. "Back Home" -- great tune, but I think the production on it takes away from its true greatness. Word on the street is that when Landy had Brian write songs during his first go-round with the Landy rehab, sometimes Brian would try to pass off an old song as a new song just to cheat on his homework, as it were. I wonder if this was one of them. "In The Still Of The Night" -- Nice rendition, but I don't like how the lyrics were changed to take away the rhyme: "'Cuz I really love you, promise I'll never let you go..." Dennis sounds stoned out of his mind. "Just Once In My Life" -- not a Righteous Brothers fan, but this is a very good closer. It's especially heartbreaking hearing Brian belt out the chorus, as if he's pleading for goodness to come to his life. But really, 15 Big Ones is a fascinating album if you really look at it. Take, for example, the originals...let's see what we have: - "Had To Phone Ya" -- a version was recorded by Spring three years earlier - "Susie Cincinnati" -- had been released as a B-side twice already by the time this album came out - "Back Home" -- the verses were a re-make from a 1963 recording, and the chorus was a re-make from a Sunflower-era recording. That leaves "Everyone's In Love With You," "That Same Song," "TM Song," and "It's OK" as the only new (as far as I know) originals on the album. And only three of them are Brian-penned songs. Interesting. When you think about it, 15 Big Ones was just pure marketing genius. Beach Boys' fifteenth anniversary, fifteen songs on a single-disc album. It was 1976, the country's bicentennial, and American patriotism was all the rage. Everything was red, white, and blue. What's more American than The Beach Boys? Also at the time, nostalgia was the thing. Happy Days was in its second of a ten-year run. Grease was a popular stage musical. Even The Beatles were exploited with this nostalgia with the Rock and Roll Music compilation. So...The Beach Boys performing some American oldies, kicking off with Chuck Berry...how could you go wrong? And on top of that...Brian Wilson, without whom The Beach Boys would never have happened, and who was hardly involved with the group at all for the last several years....was now back, producing the album, and going on tour. All this put together = marketing, marketing, marketing. And you know what? 15 Big Ones peaked at #8 on Billboard. Something worked.
ADDENDUM FOR 2021:
My friend Ferg and I did a deep discussion of this album for my podcast Autobiography of a Schnook. If you're interested in listening....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2021 10:51:25 GMT -5
That same song is this albums version of bugged at my old man.
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Post by E on Jun 30, 2021 12:16:28 GMT -5
Oooooo... ratings:
1. Rock And Roll Music 6/10
2. It's OK 4/10
3. Had To Phone Ya 8/10
4. Chapel Of Love 3/10
5. Everyone's In Love With You 1/10
6. Talk To Me 5/10
7. That Same Song 4/10
8. TM Song 4/10
9. Pallisades Park 7/10
10. Susie Cinncinatti 7/10
11. A Casual Look 8/10
12. Blueberry Hill 4/10
13. Back Home 5/10
14. In The Still Of The Night 7/10
15. Just Once In My Life 9/10
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Post by drbeachboy (Dirk) on Jun 30, 2021 13:32:19 GMT -5
I guess I like this one a little more than I thought.
01. Rock And Roll Music 5/10
02. It's OK 8/10
03. Had To Phone Ya 9/10
04. Chapel Of Love 6/10
05. Everyone's In Love With You 1/10
06. Talk To Me 5/10
07. That Same Song 6/10
08. TM Song 3/10
09. Palisades Park 8/10
10. Susie Cinncinatti 7/10
11. A Casual Look 4/10
12. Blueberry Hill 4/10
13. Back Home 7/10
14. In The Still Of The Night 7/10
15. Just Once In My Life 9/10
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