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Post by Kapitan on Oct 1, 2019 1:40:46 GMT
I really still love the music on this album. It was also a great moment in Brian Wilson's solo career: coming off the successes of his first Pet Sounds shows and the Smile shows and album, plus the pretty good Christmas album, this was (finally!) new music. Not Landy and Paley leftovers, but actually new music. Mostly.
He was singing pretty well. The band was great. The songs are really solid, some of the best of his solo career in my opinion. Every time there's some reference to "the rock and roll album," I think about "Morning Beat" and "Going Home" and think, yeah, ok, just as long as it's like that.
It's nowhere near perfect, obviously. The mushmouthed and entirely unnecessary spoken interludes theoretically tie in VDP, but don't actually add anything. But I really enjoy this album more than a decade after the fact.
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Post by kds on Oct 1, 2019 12:20:25 GMT
I didn't realize we hadn't rated any BW albums on BBT yet.
That Lucky Old Sun is easily my favorite Brian Wilson solo album. Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl, Midnight's Another Day, and Southern California are among by favorite songs of his. Unlike most of his solo albums, this one actually has a good flow to it. The only downside are the spoken word bits which are thankfully short.
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Post by jk on Aug 25, 2020 11:09:51 GMT
It's taken me all 12 years to get into TLOS but yesterday I saw the light. All it took was a gentle push in the right direction and there I was. If folks hadn't shouted about it in the past I might have got there earlier. I'm about halfway through (my early morning/late night listening strategy) but it's a wonderfully warm album so far. "Mexican Girl" has some hilarious Brianesque lyrics: "Hey bonita muchacha Don't-cha know that I want-cha Hey bonita muchacha I need to know that I gotcha "You have my sacred heart We'll finish at the start Can you picture me In your family tree?" No problem with the spoken bits (sort of a distant relation of Brian's dorky French in "At My Window".) It's as if Brian is returning the honours in some way after OCA... More about my latest discovery when I've heard the whole thing.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 25, 2020 11:50:08 GMT
If folks hadn't shouted about it in the past I might have got there earlier. LOL this feels familiar: I cannot tell you how many movies I have not seen, albums I have not heard, because of the annoying insistence that I must from others. (I'm not saying that's a wise way to live one's life, but it's true for me.)
Glad you're finding enjoyment in TLOS. I've always liked it.
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Post by kds on Aug 25, 2020 12:26:49 GMT
If folks hadn't shouted about it in the past I might have got there earlier. LOL this feels familiar: I cannot tell you how many movies I have not seen, albums I have not heard, because of the annoying insistence that I must from others. (I'm not saying that's a wise way to live one's life, but it's true for me.)
Glad you're finding enjoyment in TLOS. I've always liked it.
I'm like that to a certain degree, but it's usually with things that I had little to no interest in anyway, and others telling me I "need" to watch / listen just made the decision easier (ie. Stranger Things).
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Post by jk on Aug 25, 2020 20:56:11 GMT
If folks hadn't shouted about it in the past I might have got there earlier. LOL this feels familiar: I cannot tell you how many movies I have not seen, albums I have not heard, because of the annoying insistence that I must from others. (I'm not saying that's a wise way to live one's life, but it's true for me.)
Glad you're finding enjoyment in TLOS. I've always liked it.
TLOS is wonderful all the way through. It's a bit like Love You, I suppose -- I just had to come at it from a different angle.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 25, 2020 20:59:56 GMT
So glad you've enjoyed it. And that's how it is with art, isn't it? You can't be told how or why or when to appreciate, enjoy, or love it. You just do (or don't) however, why ever, and whenever you happen to engage or re-engage.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Jan 4, 2022 0:35:51 GMT
I scored a new original vinyl "Limited Edition" from a record store over the weekend. I see it's $25 on Amazon, so I guess I got a pretty good deal. It's been a minute since I've listened to the whole thing, so I'm looking forward to putting it on while I relax on the couch. I briefly thought about just never opening it, but I don't really want to go down that road, especially for something that won't become super valuable. I have a sealed original Sunflower LP, and that's enough for me.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 14, 2022 19:35:33 GMT
After listening to this the other day, I cannot get it out of my head. Especially the feeling of a missed opportunity that this didn't become the kickoff to the Beach Boys reunion in 2008. Along those lines...
First, I'm sure I'm not the only one (and we've probably discussed it at some point), but does anyone else dole out leads to the Beach Boys in their imaginations? Who fits on which songs (or sections)? It's fair to say that had it been a Beach Boys album, some of it would have been different, but we can't really take that into account. (What I mean to say is, at least Mike Love would presumably and justifiably wanted to co-write some of the songs rather than having Bennett handle so much. And "Mexican Girl" would've been 25% better for it. )
Second, I actually do think that despite not being affiliated with a nice, round number like a 50th anniversary, a reunion based on the same sort of Royal Festival Hall commission/event kicking off a tour and the album coming shortly thereafter could have been even bigger than TWGMTR.
And I even think beside the spectacle of that kind of rollout, the album is a better album for the Beach Boys. There is more room for David Marks to rock, and several of the songs suit the different tastes of the musicians. It's not too ballad-heavy for the likes of Mike and David, for example. Mike could be great on something like "Morning Beat," parts of "Mexican Girl," and "Going Home." And you know what else, for my sleeper pick? I'd have him handle some of "Midnight's Another Day," which is really quite low for Brian in parts; I might give Mike the first half of each verse. I'd put Bruce on "California Role."
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Post by lonelysummer on Jun 16, 2022 1:33:14 GMT
First couple times I heard the album, I didn't like it. A few more plays and I loved it. Now I'm kind of in the middle. The production is faultless, the playing is perfect; some of the songs are very good to excellent, and others, to me, feel forced - Goin' Home, Oxygen to the Brain. I love Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl, Mexican Girl, Midnight's Another Day, and the snippet of Can't Wait Too Long.
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Post by kds on Jun 16, 2022 12:29:16 GMT
The one part of Goin Home that feels a bit forced to me is the "At 25, I turned out the light..." bit. I feel like it's a bit of selling one of those old BW myths there.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 16, 2022 12:40:00 GMT
The one part of Goin Home that feels a bit forced to me is the "At 25, I turned out the light..." bit. I feel like it's a bit of selling one of those old BW myths there. I agree with that very much. In fact, I don't especially like the lyrics in general for similar reasons. That said, the song kicks ass.
You know what, speaking of a hypothetical Beach Boysing of the album, I'd be curious how Mike might have approached this song, removing some of that Brian-struggled-but-he's-back angle. It might have been an improvement imo.
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Post by kds on Jun 16, 2022 12:46:40 GMT
The one part of Goin Home that feels a bit forced to me is the "At 25, I turned out the light..." bit. I feel like it's a bit of selling one of those old BW myths there. I agree with that very much. In fact, I don't especially like the lyrics in general for similar reasons. That said, the song kicks ass.
You know what, speaking of a hypothetical Beach Boysing of the album, I'd be curious how Mike might have approached this song, removing some of that Brian-struggled-but-he's-back angle. It might have been an improvement imo.
I'd be interested to hear an alternate universe BB version of TLOS with some Mike Love contributions. Maybe he could improve a few lyrics here and there. I'd also pay good money to see Mike's reactions to some of the spoken word bits that Van Dyke wrote. I imagine it would be along the lines of "not this shit again."
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