After gaining control of
the Beach Boys' entire catalog (including all the band's post-1969 material), Capitol released two-fers covering their out of print '70s records and a Brian Wilson-selected compilation titled Classics, then later, this hits compilation - the longest single-disc American collection ever seen. With all but five tracks coming from their 1962-1969 peak, and every one a Top 40 hit, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of
the Beach Boys is also the best, a worthy digital-age successor to previous classics like Endless Summer and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. Though the songs don't appear in chronological order, the compilers improved the concept of a hits compilation by bunching the disc into minisets - one of classic adolescence songs ("
Be True to Your School", "When I Grow Up [To Be a Man]", "
In My Room"), one of surfing songs ("
Surfin' Safari", "
Surfin' U.S.A"., "
Surfer Girl"), one of frat-boy classics ("
Dance, Dance, Dance", "
Barbara Ann"), and another including selections from their masterpiece Pet Sounds ("
God Only Knows", "
Sloop John B"., "
Wouldn't It Be Nice"). Nearly any compilation on an important artist can be argued, but it's the rare one that covers as many bases and leaves out so few classics as Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of
the Beach Boys.
Sounds Of Summer - The Very Best Of The Beach Boys review by allmusic.com