Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2019 12:42:02 GMT
This week's album is The Beach Boys Love You:
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Post by kds on Dec 2, 2019 13:22:47 GMT
Mona, Honkin, and The Night Was So Young are pretty good.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 2, 2019 13:31:51 GMT
This is one where I know I split from KDS. Here’s what I said in our album discussion section; it still applies. As I wrote in my 15 Big Ones summary, my initial reaction to Love You was just absolute delight. Confused delight, maybe, but delight. The idiotic, anachronistic, incompetent lyrics worked into the mostly ugly--yet memorable--music really tickled me. And it still does.
I do think the best of these songs would have been hits or classics in a different era. Something like "The Night Was So Young," for example, recorded in the '60s on natural instruments and sung by less damaged throats could absolutely have had more broad appeal. Others are more puzzling regardless of context, but give me "Johnny Carson," "Ding Dang," and "Solar System" any day. I love them.
"Good Time" is another absolute favorite song of mine; shame poor Al keeps sticking out like a (long-since recorded) sore thumb though.
Sadly three of the final four songs are crap. Drop "Airplane," "Love is a Woman," and "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and I'm a much happier man.
How about an 8?
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by bellbottoms on Dec 2, 2019 14:24:30 GMT
I think there is a lot of really good stuff on Love You but I’ll admit my general appreciation for it has dimmed slightly. I embraced this album pretty hard from the first moment I heard it, and was very willing to let its flaws slide and focus on its high points. But a little time away from it has made me realize I’m not as comfortable with it as I used to be (or maybe I was just trying to convince myself that I loved it, who knows). I think I was willing to let Brian’s story influence my feelings about it a little too much. So a song like Solar System, which I used to have in my my “love it” list, has gone to the dark the side with Roller Skating Child, Let’s Put Our Hearts Together, I Wanna Pick You Up, and Love is a Woman, where it belongs.
Having said that, I still really do love the majority of songs on this album, it’s more the album as a whole that has slipped in my esteem somewhat. If that makes any sense.
The highlights for me are Let Us Go On This Way, Mona, Johnny Carson (this song is so brilliant), Honkin’ Down the Highway, The Night Was So Young, I’ll Bet He’s Nice and Airplane.
I’m giving it a 7.
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Post by kds on Dec 2, 2019 19:56:55 GMT
My experience is somewhat similar in that I liked LY more on my first listen. But 6-7 years ago, when I first started getting into the catalog, when everything was new and exciting, I was more willing to overlook the flaws. Although, even then, I'd not rate it higher than a 6. I actually liked the album less with each listen. It also didn't help my opinion of the album to be told I didn't "get it" by Brianistas on other boards because I didn't think it was a great LP.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 2, 2019 20:09:41 GMT
That’s definitely one of my big pet peeves: being told I’m supposed to like something because it’s great, and any disagreement on my part is an objective failure or shortcoming on my end. Don’t get me wrong, I get that if 99 people love something and I’m the one who hates it, I’m obviously in a minority, and there probably is something great about it that for some reason just doesn’t connect with me. That’s fine. But it’s not a moral failure or something! But Love You … I really do love that one. I think the song that has made the biggest change up or down on it for me is “Mona.” I didn’t care for it much at first, but over the years I’ve really come to like it a lot. The whole song is just that one basic chord progression in slow motion, over and over again. It’s so simple it’s clever. And I like the lyrics.
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Post by kds on Dec 2, 2019 20:51:42 GMT
There's also the old chestnut "You can't call yourself a fan of (Artist X) if you don't like (Album Y)."
Funny thing is I actually found myself listening to Love You more just to make sure my low opinion of the album as a whole wasn't being negatively affected by BW zealots. (It wasn't).
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by bellbottoms on Dec 2, 2019 23:22:11 GMT
I’m having a hard time reconciling the fact that even though I gave Love You a highish rating, I think it’s the Beach Boys’ most embarrassing album. More embarrassing than Summer in Paradise, and that album definitely gets a much lower rating from me. So what’s behind that? I personally enjoy Love You a LOT more and would vastly prefer to listen to it over SIP, but let's say a friend who wanted to get into the Beach Boys was over at my place and pulled Love You off the shelf and said “how about this one?” I’d probably say “no, not that one” and recommend something else. I wouldn’t push SIP upon them, but if they pulled that one out, I’d have far less of a problem putting that one on.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 2, 2019 23:55:21 GMT
I don't think there is any question that from a perspective of vocal performance, it's their worst album. And for a vocal band, that's not a good thing. And then you've got Brian writing plenty of lyrics, which means, well, you get plenty of Brian's lyrics.
It's embarrassing in a different way than the Mike-dominated atrocities are embarrassing. Mike is thinking he's clever referencing "Good Vibrations" or "Fun Fun Fun" again. Brian, well, he's saying that if Mars had life on it, you might find my wife on it (Rhyming "it" with "it," by the way) before going into that terribly out-of-tune refrain about a solar system that, contrary to the line, brings us no wisdom. Possibly the least wisdom of anything, ever. You lose wisdom hearing it. But Brian is more charming than Mike, frankly. Simple as that, at least from my perspective.
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 3, 2019 6:26:03 GMT
I know this is an album i'm supposed to love because it's pure Brian without any filters, but honestly, how did this even get released? Some of those vocals are just awful. Okay, we know Carl and Dennis were indulging quite heavily at this point, but what's the excuse for Mike and Al? The album has a crude, Crayola texture to it, like these are the demos for the songs. Some of the songs are quite catchy - Let Us Go On This Way, Roller Skating Child, Johnny Carson, Honkin' Down the Highway - despite the goofy - or maybe because of the goofy lyrics. i'm probably harder on this album than some others because i'm always being told i'm supposed to love it. I can't rate it any higher than a 4 or 5.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 3, 2019 12:25:25 GMT
But there’s no such pressure here, as we’d been saying prior to your post. You can hate the hell out of it if you want.
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Post by kds on Dec 3, 2019 13:27:39 GMT
I know this is an album i'm supposed to love because it's pure Brian without any filters, but honestly, how did this even get released? Some of those vocals are just awful. Okay, we know Carl and Dennis were indulging quite heavily at this point, but what's the excuse for Mike and Al? The album has a crude, Crayola texture to it, like these are the demos for the songs. Some of the songs are quite catchy - Let Us Go On This Way, Roller Skating Child, Johnny Carson, Honkin' Down the Highway - despite the goofy - or maybe because of the goofy lyrics. i'm probably harder on this album than some others because i'm always being told i'm supposed to love it. I can't rate it any higher than a 4 or 5. I tend to agree. Although it's been awhile since I've been told I'm supposed to love it. (Can't imagine why).
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Post by kds on Dec 3, 2019 13:32:53 GMT
I’m having a hard time reconciling the fact that even though I gave Love You a highish rating, I think it’s the Beach Boys’ most embarrassing album. More embarrassing than Summer in Paradise, and that album definitely gets a much lower rating from me. So what’s behind that? I personally enjoy Love You a LOT more and would vastly prefer to listen to it over SIP, but let's say a friend who wanted to get into the Beach Boys was over at my place and pulled Love You off the shelf and said “how about this one?” I’d probably say “no, not that one” and recommend something else. I wouldn’t push SIP upon them, but if they pulled that one out, I’d have far less of a problem putting that one on. I would agree with that logic, even though I'd go so far as to give Love You and SIP identical ratings of 4. Although, I go slightly higher for LY since the good songs are better than the best songs on SIP, and the bad songs on SIP aren't as bad as the bad songs on LY. That being said, there are probably more songs I like on SIP than on LY. But, I think the mediocrity of SIP is easier to explain. Dennis was gone. There was no involvement from Brian. Carl and Al are just along for the ride. Mike was chasing ghosts, trying to recapture lightning in a bottle after a somewhat fluky hit four years prior. I don't necessarily find Brian more endearing, but there's no question that he's more talented than Mike. And Love You is supposed to be Brian's baby. And it features the classic BB lineup in full. But, when I listen to it, I'm somewhat reminded of the two solo albums Syd Barrett released after he was ousted by Pink Floyd. There are hints of his past glory there, but overall, a tough listen.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 3, 2019 13:40:53 GMT
If I had some magical computer that could calculate how many times I've listened to The Beach Boys Love You since it was released in April 1977 (the perfect time to release a BB album BTW), it would probably show a tally that is higher than every other Beach Boys' album, with Pet Sounds coming in a close second. I love the album, and have since Day One. It's everything a Brian Wilson diehard like me would want, and in 1977, it was a long time coming. It was ten years since Brian sat down and composed a group of songs and recorded them on the spot. Ten years seemed like an eternity back then. Fourteen (almost) new Brian Wilson songs on one album. Arranged by Brian, produced by Brian, and to a large extent performed by Brian. No covers. No outside collaborators other than a questionable credit for Roger McGuinn. What's not to love about Love You?
Well, as has been said for 43 years now...the vocals. Are they the worst vocals ever recorded by a professional music group? And yet they work. They really do. Somehow with the songs, the subject matter, and the production, they somehow work. Oh, as was mentioned above, good luck trying to sell this one to any fan who isn't familiar with the story of Brian Wilson. Believe me, I did! Even if you were a fan of Brian, it was still be hard to accept. For years I used to wonder if another take or two would've helped. Who knows? Probably not. A few more takes could not overcome the ravages of cigarettes and cocaine - for both Brian and Dennis. But it is interesting that a few months later Brian would lay down some incredible vocals at M.I.U. Even Al came up short with the worst lead vocal of his career on "Honkin' Down The Highway". I have no problems with Carl and Mike's vocals. In the end, if you can get past the vocals, and accept them, then you can fully enjoy the album.
The songs? Incredible. I'll stop short of "pop genius", but it's close. I know it's been said before, but the songs on Love You ARE Brian Wilson. They are a perfect photograph if you will of Brian Wilson in the fall of 1976. I'll leave it to the listener to interpret what that photograph looks like to them. Composition-wise, Brian was still operating at a very high level. There's a lot going on with these songs. It was probably the last time I had that "how did he come up with something like that" feeling. Brian sounds like he was having fun. These songs have that feeling, much like Brian's earlier work, that he was actually enjoying recording them. It has been written that Carl helped to finish the songs. I'm sure that's true. He added some guitar, but I have a bootleg of the earlier, rougher mixes and they aren't significantly different from the released versions.
Never on a Beach Boys' or Brian Wilson solo album were the songs so much all over the place - but in a good way. For Love You, Brian wrote songs about sitting in school, Johnny Carson, going to a movie, the solar system, flying on an airplane, patting a baby (or girlfriend?) on the butt, drinking milk at 3:00 AM, telling a woman she smells good, and lusting over a roller skating child. I love it!
There are a couple of mistakes, things that always bothered me. "Good Time" is a good song, almost a great song, and lyrically it fits in. But the lead vocal sticks out like a sore thumb. I wish they would've either NOT used the song, or else re-recorded the vocal to make it fit in better. I also find the sequencing a little off. They kind of went with that fast Side 1/slow Side 2 concept again which I am not a fan of. Also, some songs are out-of-place. "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" is buried deep on Side 2. "Honkin' Down The Highway" - getting a date, taking one little inch at a time, til they're feeling fine - AFTER "Mona" and "Good Time"? To me, "Johnny Carson" is a "night" song. Makes sense, right? He came on at 11:30 PM. I would've placed "Johnny Carson" somewhere closer to "I Wanna Pick You Up", "Solar System" and "The Night Was So Young". Is "Love Is A Woman" a keeper? It's easily the worst song on the album. I have a feeling it was important to Brian. He performed it on Saturday Night Live and in several concerts in 1977.
The Beach Boys Love You never had a chance. It was the wrong album at the wrong time. Actually, I'm not sure when it would've been the right time. The band lost several fans after 15 Big Ones which hurt the prospects for Love You. Then they proceeded to lose even more fans with Love You. By the time M.I.U. came out, The Beach Boys were on life support. As great as The Beach Boys Love You is, it didn't help the group's...career. It did feed into the still strong "Brian Is Back" campaign, at least with the strength of the songwriting. The album did get a few positive reviews. As a fan who was a newbie and following the group very closely, I was very optimistic. I thought that Brian was back production-wise with 15 Big Ones. Now he was back with composing and arranging on Love You. Now if he could just come back vocally. It wouldn't be long, at least temporarily, with M.I.U. It was a great time to be a Beach Boys' fan. We were back to getting one album per year, albeit with diminishing returns quality-wise. It was fascinating to follow the band, especially Brian, to see how much he was "back". Obviously this was pre-internet, so it was exciting every time you saw a photo or a TV appearance by the group/Brian. Things were changing and you never knew what you were going to see or hear.
I'm struggling with a rating for this album. After Pet Sounds and SMiLE, The Beach Boys Love You might be my favorite BB album. Yet, it's a full grade below those two albums because of the vocals. Love You is kind of in a tie with The Beach Boys Today! I'd like to give Love You an 8.5. I can't quite go with a 9... OK, I'll go with an 8 but I still think that's short-changing it. If we had an 8.5, that's what I'd rate it!
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 4, 2019 6:28:27 GMT
I think the two most divisive albums in the Beach Boys catalog are Love You and Smiley. I never had a problem with Smiley. Yes, the production is minimalist, but oh, those vocals! If I had been around in 67 and lived through all the hype about Smile, I probably would have been disappointed like everyone else; but hearing it for the first time in 1984, I had a clue as to what to expect.
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