Beach Boys comp a coup

Assembling and releasing a solid compilation disc for a band that's had dozens over the course of its 40-plus year career is no easy task. That's where Sights and Sounds of Summer succeeds. Rarely, does a group's "greatest hits" collection cut as wide a swath as this one does. Nor do many bands have the immense staying power and accessibility of the Beach Boys.\nThe strictly musical portion of the package was released last summer, the folks at Capitol, shrewd businesspeople that they are, released the same set a year later, throwing in a 10-track DVD as a bonus. Unlike Beach Boys comps of yore (i.e. Endless Summer and Greatest Hits, Vol.'s 1 and 2), the disc is blissfully sprawling (30 tracks stretching 75 minutes and change) and arranged categorically as opposed to chronologically. The classic songs of surfing ("Surfin' Safari," "Surfin' U.S.A." and the achingly beautiful "Surfer Girl") and adolescence ("When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)," "In My Room"), for which the band is best known, are lumped together. \nOther essentials including the propulsive pop of "I Get Around," a heartrenching trio of ballads "Don't Worry Baby," "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and the band's piece de la resistance "Good Vibrations" are also thrown into the mix. Nearly all of the aforementioned tracks have been remastered and are unlikely to have sounded better before. The album's only downfalls come with inane covers of "Come Go With Me" and "Rock and Roll Music," but then again, 28 tracks out of 30 ain't bad.\nThe DVD is a nice addition, but it's nothing essential. Mainly, viewers will get glimpses at Mike Love's lame dance moves, a wet Carl Wilson (scary!) and Brian Wilson's cracked state of consciousness via a Pet Sounds promotional film in which the band members don Halloween masks to haunt Love in a wooded area. It's best just to let the music speak for itself.