What a great group of songs from the Beach Boys. These songs just keep coming up in new shows all the time. Example: Big Love Theme Song.

Not many groups today can put a song together like these fellows. It's sad what happened to them. I had the pleasure of seeing the "New Beach Boys" in Florida and they were great too. Or maybe it was the 3 marghueritas. If you liked their music I would highly suggest this one. All the songs on this disc were their hits.

No need for much analysis here. An excellent Beach Boys compiliation. It's got all of the radio hits, the fun in the summer in the 60s. Maybe that's why "In My Room" and "When I Grow up to Be a Man" aren't here, which is because they're more thoughtful and introspective. Too bad, but what's here is excellent, great ambassador from its era.

This album brings together all the all time favorites from the infamous Beach Boys. The classics like Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, and Good Vibrations are all included in this CD that is guaranteed to get your blood pumping. Its hard to resist getting up and dancing to these wonderful tracks. If you like the Beach boys, you are sure to love this album. Its got all the right tunes and grooves. It makes you feel as if you live right there, ten feet from the beautiful ocean. I highly recommend this album to any person of any age, its safe for kids, another perk of these amazing tracks.

This has all of the good ones, with awesome sound quality.

Great songs from the BEST California 60's group ever! As a Californian, I can listen to these songs and see in my mind's eye the locale where the Boys are singing about. I've been to the beaches and jumped in the waves. I am the California Girl they sing about!

Just load it up into your jukebox or IPod. If you've never been to Cayucos, CA then you're hopelessly guessing at what these guys are talking about.

Why doesn't everybody own this album?! This is the essential album of summer. My wife and I love to play this every year we go to the beach as it puts us in the perfect mood for sun and fun! This CD has it all: great surf hits (Surfin' Safari, Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Catch A Wave, etc.), classic girl songs (Barbara Ann, Help Me Rhonda, etc.), the greastest song of all time (Wouldn't It Be Nice - played this song at my wedding!), fun songs (Fun Fun Fun, Be True To Your School, California Girls), and even dance songs (Dance Dance Dance and Do You Wanna Dance?). Oh yeah, and I love the song "God Only Knows." And to top it all off, the album ends with the perfect "Kokomo," which I believe was once voted the greatest summertime song of all time. Beach Boys hit their harmonies perfectly and are the rare band that is timeless and can also get you to close your eyes and escape to another place. This album is truly a masterpiece and is a must have for summer!

This was a good enough compilation in its day, but it has been replaced by the far superior Sounds of Summer collection, released in 2003. This CD only gives the listener 20 songs and has a downright meager running time of 49 minutes. SoS has 30 songs and runs for over 70 minutes. The only songs found here and not on SoS are "409" and "Catch a Wave".

Add this to the fact that Sounds of Summer is frequently on sale, and there's no reason to go back to this outdated collection.

Greatest Hits Volume 1 has several classic Beach Boys songs on it, and is a fun upbeat CD.

Every now and then, this album gets its airplay, respectfully I might add. Not a big fan of theirs, but as you see my title tells you that anyways. Heres a list I think sounds suitable for the casual Beach Boys listener:)

Surfin' Safari 5/5
409 4/5
Surfin' U.S.A. 3/5 (sorry this one gets too much airplay for me)
Shut Down 5/5
Catch A Wave 4/5
I Get Around 5/5
Dance,Dance,Dance 4/5
Help Me, Rhonda 3/5
California Girl 4/5
Wouldn't It Be Nice 3/5
God Only Knows 5/5
Good Vibrations 5/5 (one of favorite from them)
as you see a good little selection for us casual listeners of these guys, as you notice, I didn't put Kokomo on here, well all I have to say about that is when your name is Beach Boys, when you're in your 40's and still trying to sound like teenagers, it's time to hang it up right there, I remember this certain song when it came out and I didn't even like it then. If you like older Beatles compilations or even a little bit, not a lot of bubblegum music, this album will do you find. So anyways, heres my review, I hoped it helped you a little.

This cd has the best songs that the beach boys ever made. I would not have bought any other. This cd is really good. My favorite song is of course Surfin' U.S.A. the best song they ever made.

If you liked this cd check out all of the other beach boys cds

good CD, nice mix of their pieces. Recommend to any Beach Boy fan!

If you want the most Beach Boy bang for your buck, get this album. It has a lot of fun songs on it including such hits as Good Vibrations and Kokomo. I heard there was a second Beach Boy's Greatest Hits album out there... Maybe I should investigate...

Get this album.

If you're looking for a "greatest Hits" cd, well, then be sure to grab this one as well as the others in this set. We just love this record in our house and it has the classics, "California Girls, Good Vibrations, and I Get Around." We just recently got this out for our toddler who saw a toy car in the grocery store that played "I Get Around." Well, he fell in love with that song and so when we got home, we popped this into the player and well, we've heard that song straight about a zillion times now! Even a toddler knows these guys are fantastic and this album is just a must-have. The Beach Boys rank right up there with the Wiggles in our house! Highly recommend!

I am not a huge Beach Boys fan. In fact, some of their big hits of the 60's have been so overplayed that I am tired of them. But as a collector, I still wanted to get as many of their hits on as few CD's as necessary. When you have a CD collection numbering over 1,000 CD's, space becomes a problem. I wish the record company would have done something similar to what Aerosmith did recently with their greatest hits, "O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits". That package was a 2 CD set with almost all of Aerosmith's Hot 100 hits fitting into one jewel case package. If Capitol had done a similar release with The Beach Boys, they would have packed a lot more hits into one jewel case 2-CD package. The way it is now, you have to buy 3 separate CD's to get most of their hits, but then you will still be missing tracks like "The Beach Boys Medley" and the remake of "Wipeout" that they did with the Fat Boys.

I guess if you are just looking for the biggest Beach Boys hits, this is the CD to buy. If you are wanting all of the hits on one collection, I guess keep waiting until Capitol puts out something else. And after putting out several Greatest Hits CD's and even a box set, you think they could finally get it right.

Everyone loves the Beach Boys, but not everyone can be a fanatic. For those of us who are casual fans and don't need to own every album, but love to tap our toes and sing along to their big hits, this CD is great!
Every song on this CD is easily recognizable, you don't have to wade through any filler to get to the classics you really love.
This album is perfect mood music for driving, working in the yard or the garage on a sunny day, or just having fun celebrating a good mood.
There's a perfect mix here of happy upbeat songs, and slow beautiful balads.

The Beach Boys 1960s biggest hits are included with the exception of "Kokomo" from 1988. Their well-known songs from appoximately 1962-1966 are included and sound great. Honestly, I was hoping for slightly longer versions of the songs since some of them are less than three minutes, but at least the songs are the radio versions you have heard.

There are plenty of positives in this collection: 1) It's a great place to start if you are not sure about buying any of their albums. 2) If you want to buy an actual studio album during this time period, then buy "Pet Sounds" (you'll enjoy it!). 3) It contains enjoyable liner notes, songs credits with chart postions, and colorful pictures that you may have not seen before. 4) Although there is still space in minutes to add more songs, twenty is perfect (not too short or too long) if you are just a casual fan and only want one Beach Boys' CD.

As my title indicates, if you like this CD, then you need the other two volumes to have a more complete portrait of this group. Highly recommended.

These guys are Domestic and just purely better then the Beatles
they are so underrated Here is my Review for the Boys.
Still Priceliss summer music to just rewind to.
1.Surfin Safari-Great 10/10
2.409-Great 10/10
3.Surfin U.S.A.-One of there Best 10/10
4.Shut Down-Great 10/10
5.Surfer Girl-Love this one 10/10
6.Little Deuce Coupe-Yes Yes Yes 10/10
7.Catch a wave-Great 10/10
8.Be True to your school-no doubt from cool people not nerds
some of the Beatles 10/10
9.Fun Fun Fun-Why so much BB comercials no Beat thats right 10/10
10.I get Around-Great 10/10 1st #1 hit single
11.Dance Dance Dance-Just Dance 10/10
12.Do you wanna dance-Great 10/10
13.Help me Rhonda-Great 10/10
14.California Girls-Great 10/10
15.Barbera Ann-Great 10/10
16.Sloop John B.-Great 10/10
17.Wouldn't it be nice-Great 10/10
18.Only God Knows-Beautiful by a Genieus 10/10
19.Good Vibrations-just an absolute masterpiece 10/10
20.Will Kokomo be a 10/10 the answer is yes
This album gets a perfect score it rules

In 1999-2000, Capitol Records put out three separate volumes of the Beach Boys greatest hits. For the casual fan who didn't want to shell out for the box set GOOD VIBRATIONS, this seemed like a logical marketing decision. Volume I has the highest hit quotient and included all of their Sixties Top 10 hits (with the exception of "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)"). The 12-page foldout booklet is a bit awkward, but it contains a terrific essay by Beach Boy author Brad Elliot, recording information on each song, and great photos (including a couple including one-time Beach Boy David Marks). If you buy all three volumes, you wind up with all thirty-four Beach Boy hits from 1962-1988. [Note: 1981's "Beach Boy Medley" is not included on any of the volumes.] And with a total of 60 tracks between the three volumes, you also get key album tracks and lesser hits. ["Catch a Wave" is the only non-hit from Volume 1, but the song charted for Jan & Dean in 1964 when they changed the lyrics and retitled it "Sidewalk Surfin'."] The only drawback to this CD is its 49:10 running time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

As the editorial reviewer already pointed out, Capitol designed this cd with fans who crave nothing but the hits in mind. It is a good collection if you are a beginner's Beach Boys fan, but if you are a hardcore fan, it offers nothing you don't have already.

As a whole, this album does give a nice overview of The Beach Boys' early years. Here is where you'll find the songs that put them on the map ("Surfin' Safari"), the songs that stormed up the top 10 ("Surfer Girl", "Fun Fun Fun", "Surfin' USA"), their 4 number one hits ("I Get Around", "Help Me Rhonda", "Good Vibrations" and the late - in - the day hit "Kokomo", which does seem a little out of place here), and the ingenius creations of Brian Wilson (the afore - mentioned "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "God Only Knows"). Still, it's nothing new.

As I said earlier, this cd should be skipped by hardcore fans but thoroughly investigated by newer fans, because it opens you up to the fantasy world of cars, beaches, surfing and girls that The Beach Boys made a reality.

If you're a new Beach Boys fan (as I was 6 years ago), this is definitely the CD to start out with. Yes, it's true that a supposedly better CD was released this past summer - SOUNDS OF SUMMER - and contains 30 songs, whereas GREATEST HITS, VOL. I: 20 GOOD VIBRATIONS contains only 20. And many people would probably argue that SOUNDS OF SUMMER is a better starter CD than 20 GOOD VIBRATIONS. But the 20 songs on this CD have proven time and again to be the 20 best crowd pleasers. They are the 20 Beach Boys songs most likely to be played by your local oldies radio station. Two of the songs on this CD are not contained on SOUNDS OF SUMMER: "Catch a Wave" and "409."

There are 12 songs on SOUNDS OF SUMMER which are not contained on 20 GOOD VIBRATIONS, eight of which are on GREATEST HITS, VOL. II: 20 MORE GOOD VIBRATIONS (along with, of course, 12 other songs not contained on SOUNDS OF SUMMER). The 4 other songs can be heard on THE GREATEST HITS, VOL. III: BEST OF THE BROTHER YEARS (and this CD will contain an additional 16 hits not contained on SOUNDS OF SUMMER).

To make a long story short, this is the ideal Beach Boys CD for someone who is just starting their Beach Boys collection. If you like what you hear (how could you not like what you hear?), I recommend VOLUME II and VOLUME III. In the end, those three CDs will give you a more expansive Beach Boys collection than most people have.

In my honest opinion, Capitol should have stopped releasing Beach Boys "greatest hits" material after 1997's "Pet Sounds" boxed sets. But Capitol was still craving more money, and targeted die - hard fans' wallets with yet another colledction of songs that are on over 50 cds.

Admittedly, I'd be lying if I said I hated these songs. Every song here is classic, and are actually all top 40 hits, the exception being the long - forgotten "409". However, many of the songs here are, as I stated before, are on tons of other compillations. I'm talking about numbers like "Good Vibrations", "Surfin' USA", and "Fun Fun Fun". And incidentally, doesn't seem like the three songs I just mentioned are always on every '60s Beach Boy scompillation. And show the lengths Capitol will go to get the real money off these hits, he saboatges the whole "early years" concept of the album by including "Kokomo", which is a great song but doesn't seem right for this album and should have been included on the far more superior "Greatest Hits, Volume 3 : The best Of The Brother Years".

I enjoyed every song here, but I think that next time out, the folks at Capitol should strive for something a little more new, like the long hoped for "Smile" boxed set or even my dream, a Beach Boys live boxed set featuring live performances from the '70s to the '90s. Until then, we're stuck with these recycled hits that are still nonetheless some of the greatest hits of all time, but are on the border of being overplayed.

The people who made these greatest hits discs split the songs up into two catergories: 1st greatest hits is all of their good songs that they are known for such as surfing songs, car songs, etc. 2nd greatest hits is for good songs that aren't as famous, but I'll talk about them in the review for that CD. This CD you can listen to beginning to end. It's really interesting to see how the Beach Boy matured in their songs and they broadened their horizons and vocal talents and added different instruments to get such songs as "Good Vibrations," (Love the Vocals) "God Only Knows," "Dance, Dance, Dance," "Sloop John B," and "Wouldn't It Be Nice." The CD has a nice finish with "Kokomo."

For the "casual" Beach Boys listener, (s)he will be satisfied with this album, since it contains most of their biggest hits under one roof. Ranging from the more surf-oriented "Surfin' U.S.A.", "I get around", "Help me, Rhonda" and "California Girls" to the deeper and mellow tracks from the Pet Sounds album ("Sloop John B.", "Wouldn't it be nice" and "God Only Knows") this installment will have most people looking for a Beach Boys compilation happy. If you want to go into more detail, there's plenty more where this came from, but I personally don't see much point for the third volume in this series.

Here you can hear the group that actually could sing on key and harmonize. A reviewer referred to Brian Wilson as a derivative of Chuck Barry - why I don't know since none of Brian's song have the slightest resemblance to anything Barry ever did - Barry's stuff
was pretty simple melodically, not likely to get him into any Composer's Hall of Fame. It was against the Beatles that the differences are most striking. The Beatles, quite frankly, were pretty bad singers for one's who sold as many records as they did. Sometimes I swear not one of them can sing in key.
And their songs sound dated and attached to the hippy era. That always happens when writers or jokesters tie their work into
a fad or movement.

This is the best CD ever! I am 13 years old and this the first CD from The Beach Boys I ever owned. I love it. It has all of the greatest hits of their career on this CD. The music is great and the songs on it are the songs you would think of when you think of The Beach Boys. My favorites on this CD are: Surfin' USA, Fun, Fun, Fun, Do you Wanna Dance?, Kokomo, Barbera Ann, and of course, Good Vibrations. I highly reccomend that you get this CD. If you are new to the group, this is the perefect album. Surf's Up!

I am a casual Beach Boys fan. I enjoy some of their songs, but mainly their hits. When I found this CD, I was thrilled because it's the perfect way to own all the songs I like. And, if there are any major hits not on this CD, I sure don't know what they are.

This CD, volume 1 of a three disc series, collects all their well known songs. At least the ones I'm familiar with. Right from the start, I get a smile on my face as I head out on a "Surfin' Safari." The group then sings their way through songs about cars ("Little Deuce Coupe," "409," "Fun, Fun, Fun"), school ("Be True to Your School," "Barbara Ann"), and, of course, the beach and surfing and stuff like that ("Catch a Wave," "Surfer Girl," "Surfin' USA," "California Girls"). I was especially happy to find "Kokomo" on here, since I didn't know it was one of their songs.

Listening to this CD brings pictures to my mind of carefree summer vacations and "Happy Days" era high school life. I plan to keep it on regular rotation this summer and summers to come.

Anybody looking for their best known songs need look no further then this great collection.

Even though I am only 14 years old, I still appreciate the Beach Boys' music. The song Kokomo takes me back to when I was 6 when I first heard it from the Muppets. Get this and the rest of the greatest hits albums. You won't regret it.

I wont say better than the Beatles, but they gave the Beatles some competition. I also wont say better than The Bee Gee's, but just as good, only earlier. I'm usually a U2/Soundgarden kind of guy, but I enjoy the Beach Boys so much. Not a guilty pleasure, I'll preach to others about how well they wrote and harmonized. Topics we can all relate to, and if nothing else, just plain fun to sing along with. Most of the big hits are here. It doesn't quite cover as much early material as "Endless Summer" does, but it does have the hits from "Pet Sounds" and the 80's hit "Kokomo". So overall the better package. Don't dismiss these guy's as just "oldies". They are much more than that. I'm sure they taught more recent bands more than anyone knows. Enjoy.

Pop this CD in your car, roll down all the windows (or if you're lucky, put the top down) and off you go! No matter the weather, you'll soon be transported to a land of sunny beaches, sand, surf and scantily clad beautiful people. Who wouldn't want to go?

This is CD is packed with classic 60's tunes. I've ripped 14 out of 20 of 'em for regular listening. They create a great atmosphere for parties or just 'getting away'. Get it for a break from the everyday. Let those melodious harmonies sweep you away!

The Beach Boys were definitely one of the best pop groups ever. This collection shows off what made them so great. You get their #1 hits such as "Good Vibrations" and "I Get Around" along with their other numerous top 10 hits like "Surfer Girl," "Sloop John B" and "Fun Fun Fun." Also on here is their #1 80's hit "Kokomo." My favorites are "Sloop John B," "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Surfer Girl." The only really good and well known hits missing from this volume are "When I Grow Up To Be A Man" and "Don't Worry Baby," but they are featured on Volume 2. This a must for any Beach Boys fan or fan of pop music period.

What can you say about the Beach Boys classic music that hasn't already been said? Brian is a genius . . . . Carl had a "heavenly" voice . . . etc. But for the casual music fan - a person that just wants to have CD's of the "best of" - this - and the other 2 volumes of this latest Capitol effort to sell a few more copies of "I get around" will suffice. Overall, the sound of this disc is very good. Mark Linett, who has been doing all of the re-issues for Capitol and the Beach Boys, did an outstanding job. Fans that want to hear some of Dennis' music will be disappointed - since none of his songs were deemed "commercial" enough for release on a greatest hits CD. All of the songs were hits - all in the "early" days of the Beach Boys - except for one . . . Kokomo. Capitol didn't know how big the market would be for a second installment - so they included "Kokomo" to try and boost sales. I'm not saying that it is a bad song - just a bit out of place with such classics as "I get around", "Surfer girl", God only knows" and "Good vibrations". If you are looking for stereo versions of the early tracks - you're looking in the wrong place. According to Linett, Brian himself wanted to use the mono versions. It would take Brian another few years before he would let Mr. Linett use the 3, 4 and 8 track stereo tapes for release. Overall - a good, solid buy. If you like the music on this disc - you will love "Greatest Hits 2" and "Greatest Hits 3".

The Beach Boys were probably the best American pop group in the 1960s. While the masses were swept away by 4 blokes named John, Paul, George, and Ringo, another group led by Brian Wilson also ruled the charts with a string of well-crafted hits. Cheesy surfer imagery aside, these songs were pretty good: "Help Me Rhonda," "I Get Around," "Barbara Ann," and the irresistible "California Girls." These songs had great choruses, strong hooks, and near-perfect harmonies. But the one single that made me run and grab this retrospective is the brilliant 1966 single "Good Vibrations," which stands as among their true classics. Of course, this disc has the mind-blowingly bad "Kokomo," lifted from the Tom Cruise campfest "Cocktail." But that clinker does little damage to the Beach Boys' reputation as one of the best groups in their heyday.

I love this cd. ...
I have both versions of this cd. One has stereo mixes and the
other has mono. It is strange on the stereo "Shut Down" where
the left channel says, "revvin' up their engines" and the right,
"revvin' up our engines". Also, on the fade, if you listen closely you'll hear,"whoops!"