Endless Harmony (TV Documentary O.S.T.)

The Beach Boys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 11, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00004R95Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,759 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #42 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Surf Rock
  • #66 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Baroque Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Those familiar with the Beach Boys' decades of familial squabbles and personal discord will find the title Endless Harmony almost too ironic. But this soundtrack from the band-sanctioned VH-1 television special wisely focuses on the band's undeniable vocal prowess and the vaunted composing/arranging/producing skills of its chief architect, Brian Wilson. It also manages a fresh take on one of the most over-exposed catalogs in pop, largely by raiding the vaults for some unexpected gems. Twenty-one of the 23 music tracks (two brief radio promos are also included) here are previously unreleased. Several Brian Wilson demos give insight in to his creative process. Worshippers of that grail of unreleased albums, Smile, will be excited to find that the piano demo of "Heroes and Villains" also includes snippets of "I'm in Great Shape" and "Barnyard," long-lost pieces of that legendary album/puzzle. Wilson's demo for "Breakaway" illustrates how he would arrange songs by recording each band member's vocal part himself--Wilson quite literally is the Beach Boys here. Also notable is "Surf's Up" engineer Steve Desper's radical (for 1970) remix of Wilson's fatalistic classic "Til I Die," early versions of "Do It Again," and "Help Me, Rhonda," and gorgeous (if heretical) stereo mixes of "California Girls" and "Kiss Me, Baby." The other band members' creative instincts are succinctly documented, but as always, it is the sound and vision of Brian Wilson that overshadows them. "Genius" might just be too weak an adjective. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended if you're a Brian/Carl fan, August 20, 2004

By 

Benjamin Lukoff (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Endless Harmony (TV Documentary O.S.T.) (Audio CD)

If you're a fan of Brian Wilson and his brother Carl, you should pick up this CD if only for "Soulful Old Man Sunshine," a previously unreleased 1969 track that's unlike anything else in the Beach Boys' catalog. Beyond that, there are wonderful new stereo mixes of "Kiss Me Baby" and "California Girls" that make you wish everything from before "20/20" could get the same treatment, plus Brian's demo of "Break Away." This, the greatest thing Murray Wilson ever did besides fathering the Wilson brothers, makes you wonder why Brian let Carl and Al take the lead vocals on the released track instead of doing it himself. (It also demonstrates that every other Beach Boy save Carl was superfluous when Brian was in full control of his faculties).

However, if you're new to the Beach Boys, a fan of their car and surfing songs only, or just getting into their post-"Today!" period, I'd avoid this for now.

PS: Lowlights include the last two songs, Mike's "Brian's Back" and Bruce's "Endless Harmony."

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VH-1 "Soundtrack" to the Beach Boys doc scores well!, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Endless Harmony (Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

From what is expected to be the most profound vault of unreleased material, the remaining Beach Boys released some real gems. Look for the astounding "Old Man Sunshine", which should have been released at the time for another worldwide number one. Check out "Loop De Loop", which harkens back to the "Amusement Parks", "Palisades Park", and "County Fair" motif used earlier. The version of "Break Away" is what's called a guide vocal -- Brian had the instrumental track complete, and added his own lead/backing to demo the song to the band. Amazing. "God Only Knows" and "Do It Again" are rehearsals for their current tour (from which LIVE IN LONDON was recorded) of the time. Compare them with the live versions, phrase and breath for phrase and breath. The CD is wonderful for collectors, and even has some gems to be appreciated by the casual fan ("Help Me Rhonda" remix, for example). Steve Desper's editing on "Til I Die" is sloppy, but profound. Dennis always had a sad-sounding song to offer on each BB album from 1972 until his death, so the inclusion of "Barbara" is great. Sadly, an alternate version of Bruce's "Endless Harmony" wasn't used, so this is the only real duplicate amongst all the other unreleased material. For Bruce's song, and "Old Man Sunshine" alone, it's worth the purchase.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible sounding stuff WITHOUT a Bootleg price!, January 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Endless Harmony (Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

Sure, while it is true that BB collectors have heard aLOT of this stuff over the years, this is a MAJOR breath of fresh air, when most BB fans still have "Stars and Stripes" fresah in their mind. A compilation that spans just about the 30+ years of "America's Band", it delves so deep into the vaults that you need scuba equipment for the lack of oxygen! But the dive is WORTH IT! Ranging from remixes of already well-known tracks, to long-"lost" tracks, this only adds to the already widely known fact that Brian Wilson WAS the BB's in the 60's and early 70's, but then handed off the creative torch to Deenis and Carl. One needs only to listen to the demo of "Breakaway" or the demo version of what would become "Loop de Loop" to realize that Brians range of different styles is unreal. From complex harmonies, to simple, surreal sounds of Brian and a piano, bass, and simple percussion, it's obvious that although he hit some stumbles along the way, Brian can NEVER do wrong.

Highlights: STEREO remixes of "Kiss Me Baby" and "California Girls", and the unreleased remix of "'Til I Die"--itself a deeply unmoving "autobiography" of Brian circa 1970-71. Simply beautiful.

A solid vault compilation. HIGHLY recommended.