jmayer43
Denny's Drums
Posts: 48
Likes: 28
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Post by jmayer43 on Apr 10, 2024 13:54:51 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 10, 2024 14:02:25 GMT
Quite possibly the most polarizing material of the entire catalog for serious Beach Boys fans.
I don't think it's polarizing among non-superfans because it's almost entirely unknown by them. But die-hard Beach Boys fans really run the gamut on this stuff, from "it's as good as or better than anything else they ever did: pure genius!" to "this is unlistenable and embarrassing, a total product of 'Brian is an insane genius' hype."
I wonder if any other artist or band has a set of material that is similarly polarizing among their die-hards. For example, is there anything in the Beatles catalog--I mean an album or two--that a comparable percentage of their die-hard fans absolutely hate? Or Dylan?
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jmayer43
Denny's Drums
Posts: 48
Likes: 28
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Post by jmayer43 on Apr 10, 2024 17:44:57 GMT
Quite possibly the most polarizing material of the entire catalog for serious Beach Boys fans. I don't think it's polarizing among non-superfans because it's almost entirely unknown by them. But die-hard Beach Boys fans really run the gamut on this stuff, from "it's as good as or better than anything else they ever did: pure genius!" to "this is unlistenable and embarrassing, a total product of 'Brian is an insane genius' hype." I wonder if any other artist or band has a set of material that is similarly polarizing among their die-hards. For example, is there anything in the Beatles catalog--I mean an album or two--that a comparable percentage of their die-hard fans absolutely hate? Or Dylan? It definitely is a pretty polarizing set of material, and as I said on the podcast I can see why fans have a hard time getting into a lot of these tracks- between the very synth heavy production, the weird and sometimes off putting lyrics, and the rough and raspy vocals, it can definitely be a lot to get past. However, I think that musically a lot of the tracks are really great, particularly the second side of Love You and the ballads on Adult Child, and I personally feel that people who are just entirely dismissive of this period either haven’t listened to the material enough or just can’t get past the elements I mentioned above. I don’t expect anyone to love either album on first listen or even like that many of the tracks, (I certainly didn’t) but like many other albums they can really grow on you the more you listen. For me it’s the quirkiness and imperfections of the material that make it all so fun and enjoyable, and I personally think a lot of the melodies and chord changes are fantastic. And to respond to your question I really can’t think of another album I know that is as divisive among diehard fans as this one- like you said I’ve seen people say they absolutely love Love You (like me haha) and others entirely dismiss it and say it’s an album for “Brian defenders/apologists.” In a way though i think that makes the album even more unique in the bands discography, and whenever I see people rank The Beach Boys albums I’m always curious to see where they place Love You just because of how all over the place opinion tends to be on it.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 10, 2024 17:48:52 GMT
Quite possibly the most polarizing material of the entire catalog for serious Beach Boys fans. I don't think it's polarizing among non-superfans because it's almost entirely unknown by them. But die-hard Beach Boys fans really run the gamut on this stuff, from "it's as good as or better than anything else they ever did: pure genius!" to "this is unlistenable and embarrassing, a total product of 'Brian is an insane genius' hype." I wonder if any other artist or band has a set of material that is similarly polarizing among their die-hards. For example, is there anything in the Beatles catalog--I mean an album or two--that a comparable percentage of their die-hard fans absolutely hate? Or Dylan? It definitely is a pretty polarizing set of material, and as I said on the podcast I can see why fans have a hard time getting into a lot of these tracks- between the very synth heavy production, the weird and sometimes off putting lyrics, and the rough and raspy vocals, it can definitely be a lot to get past. However, I think that musically a lot of the tracks are really great, particularly the second side of Love You and the ballads on Adult Child, and I personally feel that people who are just entirely dismissive of this period either haven’t listened to the material enough or just can’t get past the elements I mentioned above. I don’t expect anyone to love either album on first listen or even like that many of the tracks, (I certainly didn’t) but like many other albums they can really grow on you the more you listen. For me it’s the quirkiness and imperfections of the material that make it all so fun and enjoyable. And to respond to your question I really can’t think of another album I know that is as divisive among diehard fans as this one- like you said I’ve seen people say they absolutely love Love You (like me haha) and others entirely dismiss it and say it’s an album for “Brian defenders/apologists.” In a way though i think that makes the album even more unique in the bands discography, and whenever I see people rank The Beach Boys albums I’m always curious to see where they place Love You just because of how all over the place opinion tends to be on it. I think the second part of that statement, not getting past the bad singing or weird subject matter in particular, is probably often true. I don't know about "haven't listened to the material enough" though--at least not among serious fans. We have a few people on this board who I am sure have listened, who I'm sure would almost prefer or want to like it (because it's the Beach Boys), but who just don't, probably for those other reasons you mentioned. I'm not among those, though. I love it. There have been times I've rated Love You among my three favorites from the group. I don't think I'd say that right now, but I do still love it and I'm sure it'll stay floating in the upper tier of their albums for me. And I like a lot of the Adult/Child stuff, too. Not just the ballads, either. "Life is For the Living," "Lines," and "It's Trying to Say (Baseball)" are some of my favorites of the era.
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Post by lonelysummer on Apr 12, 2024 19:51:36 GMT
I was told yesterday that I'm NOT a fan of the Beach Boys because I don't like Love You. I can add Adult Child to that list.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 12, 2024 20:04:05 GMT
I was told yesterday that I'm NOT a fan of the Beach Boys because I don't like Love You. I can add Adult Child to that list. Who told you that?
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Post by lonelysummer on Apr 13, 2024 4:02:24 GMT
I was told yesterday that I'm NOT a fan of the Beach Boys because I don't like Love You. I can add Adult Child to that list. Who told you that? Someone on Facebook. I came back with "do you like Summer in Paradise?" No response.
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