When one looks at the pop music scene, one finds a few bands and artists that rise above the level of merely being good and become symbols of not only popular music, but music in general. Such musicians change the face of music; their tracks leave lasting impacts, create new sub-genres of music and, most importantly, influence generation upon generation of future music stars. Frank Sinatra fits into this group, as do the Beatles. The Beach Boys certainly belong in this category, as well. Looking back at the early days of The Beach Boys, it's hard to imagine a group less likely to achieve such immortality. Looking at the covers of albums such as the band's debut, Surfin' Safari, or their third album, Surfer Girl, one sees what appears to be nothing more than a disposable surf-rock band of the type that were prominent in the early 1960s. When one looks at the track list for said albums, it does nothing to change that impression; while the songs are well-produced, the songs, for the most part, have no more substance than a bag of cotton candy. There are exceptions, of course (and we'll discuss them later), but they're few and far between. If it weren't for Brian Wilson, the brilliant songwriter/composer who produced most of the songs for the group, the Beach Boys would most likely have faded away by the mid-1960s, like most similar groups did. However, Wilson, never content with his own work, continued pushing the band on to new musical horizons. The evidence of this pushing can be first seen in albums like The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!), but it reached its full flower in 1966 with the seminal album Pet Sounds, an album that invariably holds a high place on any list of the greatest pop and rock albums of all time. Unfortunately, Wilson suffered a drug-fueled nervous breakdown during the production of the Boys' next album, the infamously never-completed Smile, and the band went into a slump that some say they never recovered from. However, although the band's post-Pet Sounds music never has reached the high points that their music of the early-to-mid-1960s did, there are still great songs to be mined from the band's later albums. This is primarily because, after Brian's meltdown, Wilson brothers Carl and Dennis stepped up their game, releasing a number of great songs that, while not besting their brother's work, often found itself reaching the same level as Brian's songs. Also helping things along was the fact that Brian hadn't retired from writing music; every album contained at least one Brian Wilson masterpiece. All of this history, however, only provides the backdrop for what really matters: the music. Despite a backstory as troubled and strange as any other band's, the Beach Boys continued producing song after wonderful song, songs that are still treasured, listened to, and loved just as much as they were forty years ago. It's on the basis of that music that the Beach Boys became the legends that they are. This article will look at ten of the band's best songs, the songs that best prove why the Beach Boys deserve the stardom they gained.