The Beach Boys' Concert (Memorable Music Classic Albums)

Ok, ok, I know this was the first Beach Boys album to go to number one, but that doesn't mean it's the first album you should rush out and buy, or even their first concert album you should listen to. Six of the tracks are cover versions of other hit songs of the day, and I honestly don't like any of them. "Long Tall Texan?" "Monster Mash?" "The Wanderer?" "Little Old Lady From Pasadena?" Ugh. I could've handled much more material from their recently released "All Summer Long" album, rather than listening to Mike Love cheese his way through the introduction to "Little Deuce Coupe." This album, despite it's popular success, was an artistic leap backwards for the Beach Boys, whose studio albums were beginning to take long strides forward in sophistication and songcraft. A similar slide would occur two years later, when the caveman-like grunting of "Barbara-Ann" would commercially out-shine the brilliance of "Pet Sounds."