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Post by Kapitan on Mar 15, 2019 16:21:19 GMT
I'm no great fan of this album anymore, but I suspect it's a cyclical thing. When I first got it as part of the twofer with CATP around 2000, I thought it the far superior album, and even one of the band's best albums overall. In those days I was excited to learn that the Beach Boys had such creative bursts of quality in those post-Smile years where, as far as I knew at the time, they were all but dead and gone.
Since then, though, I came to appreciate the mid-60s "hits" era a lot more. Concurrently I more generally moved into purer pop music, concise songs, and away from meandering jams and oh-so-serious intentions. I guess my point is, I don't like the poetry in the trilogy. I really don't. Not at all. And I suspect if I had a conversation with Jack Rieley at a party, I'd try to find a way to escape rather than listen to him explain to me how clever he was when he said [whatever].
However I do like all three songs of the California Saga trilogy. "Trader" is really good. I like "Steamboat" for at least a couple minutes. "Only With You" is probably my favorite Dennis Wilson ballad. "Funky Pretty" has interesting bits, and at least it brings a little fun to the album. And I really enjoy the music of the fairy tale. The sound of some of the songs has often been described as muddy, and I have to agree. Maybe makeshift studios in the Netherlands aren't ideal for the Beach Boys after all.
I no longer prefer Holland to CATP, but it's still a good album to be sure, if a bit pretentious. Much as I said with the two earlier-70s albums, I think these two could be paired to make a dynamite single album. (OK, I actually said the others would make a double. But you get the picture.)
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Post by beforkers on Mar 15, 2019 18:33:15 GMT
Holland honestly has lost it's effect on me, too. The Trader is my personal favorite Beach Boys song, though, so it has that.
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Post by sebevedomy on Mar 22, 2019 17:47:47 GMT
I love the heck out of it, especially the California Saga and "Steamboat." But I like it all.
Yeah, Reilly's writing is like high school poetry: you feel that someday he's really going to get good, but he's not there yet. Still, none of that matters to me. I add the outtakes ("Carry Me Home", "We Got Love" and "Hard Times" to make a killer double album.) I consider Mt Vernon and Fairway something completely differnet.
CATP is what it is. There's not a bad song on it, really, but it is less than the sum of its parts. Collating the best of both would be interesting, I guess.
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Post by kds on Mar 24, 2019 3:53:00 GMT
I am so grateful to the 57 people who wrote Sail On Sailor. Granted, it took 30 years for Warren Buffett's cousin to release the definitive version, but it was worth it.
And can we please have more songs with spoken word passages and flutes?
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Post by B.E. on Feb 28, 2020 14:44:38 GMT
Listening to this album a few days ago, I found myself really appreciating the choice of (supplemental) instrumentation. The pedal steel and slide guitar work, the harmonica and banjo, it all works together really well, serving the music, creating the appropriate atmosphere. It doesn't sound forced.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 28, 2020 15:50:48 GMT
Listening to this album a few days ago, I found myself really appreciating the choice of (supplemental) instrumentation. The pedal steel and slide guitar work, the harmonica and banjo, it all works together really well, serving the music, creating the appropriate atmosphere. It doesn't sound forced. I agree with you about that. This album has dropped in my estimation over the years, but definitely not for reasons of arrangements. I think the instrumentation is really good. They keep things somewhat big without really reaching out to session players: no big horn charts or string arrangements, for example. The banjo, the harmonica, etc., really fit with the Americana vibe.
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Post by jk on Feb 29, 2020 12:21:22 GMT
Listening to this album a few days ago, I found myself really appreciating the choice of (supplemental) instrumentation. The pedal steel and slide guitar work, the harmonica and banjo, it all works together really well, serving the music, creating the appropriate atmosphere. It doesn't sound forced. I agree with you about that. This album has dropped in my estimation over the years, but definitely not for reasons of arrangements. I think the instrumentation is really good. They keep things somewhat big without really reaching out to session players: no big horn charts or string arrangements, for example. The banjo, the harmonica, etc., really fit with the Americana vibe. Oddly, it has only gone up in mine! I agree with you and B.E. about the instrumentation (cool descriptions both). Curiously, I was a mere ten odd house numbers away from the Baambrugge site in 2008 when we visited a centre to order some tiles. This was at Rijksstraatweg 23 and the BBC 2 studios were where #45 is today. I had no idea I was that close!
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Feb 29, 2020 17:37:24 GMT
Holland has continued to rise in my esteem - I was initially lukewarm on it. Sail On, Sailor has never been among my favourite Beach Boys songs, but it has continued to grow on me over time. I love California Saga, Steamboat, and The Trader. And of course, the album is capped off by one of my all time favourite Beach Boys songs, Funky Pretty. Just me waving my unpopular opinion flag.
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Post by kds on Mar 2, 2020 13:20:42 GMT
Holland has continued to rise in my esteem - I was initially lukewarm on it. Sail On, Sailor has never been among my favourite Beach Boys songs, but it has continued to grow on me over time. I love California Saga, Steamboat, and The Trader. And of course, the album is capped off by one of my all time favourite Beach Boys songs, Funky Pretty. Just me waving my unpopular opinion flag. I think I held the more unpopular opinion with my indifference to Funky Pretty.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Mar 2, 2020 13:30:02 GMT
Holland has continued to rise in my esteem - I was initially lukewarm on it. Sail On, Sailor has never been among my favourite Beach Boys songs, but it has continued to grow on me over time. I love California Saga, Steamboat, and The Trader. And of course, the album is capped off by one of my all time favourite Beach Boys songs, Funky Pretty. Just me waving my unpopular opinion flag. I think I held the more unpopular opinion with my indifference to Funky Pretty. Really? I was starting to get the impression that I'm the only person in the world who likes that song and thinks it belongs on Holland.
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Post by kds on Mar 2, 2020 13:34:33 GMT
I think I held the more unpopular opinion with my indifference to Funky Pretty. Really? I was starting to get the impression that I'm the only person in the world who likes that song and thinks it belongs on Holland. On other boards I've been on, people rave about Funky Pretty. I don't think it's a bad song, but I do think it's the weak link on a strong album. Not too long ago, on the EH board, I think FP made it to the top 2 on the album survivor poll.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Mar 2, 2020 13:40:50 GMT
Really? I was starting to get the impression that I'm the only person in the world who likes that song and thinks it belongs on Holland. On other boards I've been on, people rave about Funky Pretty. I don't think it's a bad song, but I do think it's the weak link on a strong album. Not too long ago, on the EH board, I think FP made it to the top 2 on the album survivor poll. In that case, good to know I'm not alone on that one!
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Post by kds on Mar 2, 2020 13:43:20 GMT
On other boards I've been on, people rave about Funky Pretty. I don't think it's a bad song, but I do think it's the weak link on a strong album. Not too long ago, on the EH board, I think FP made it to the top 2 on the album survivor poll. In that case, good to know I'm not alone on that one! At the risk of generalizing, fans who tend to appreciate Brian's quirky side seem to have an affection for FP.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 2, 2020 13:59:20 GMT
Then I’m REALLY the oddball, because while I do like Brian’s quirkier music a lot of the time, I don’t much like Funky Pretty. My issue with it is the sound, though. I’ve always thought it was muddy, either poorly engineered or mixed. I’d be curious whether some reissue eventually could bring out some sonic clarity from it, or whether that’s just how it sounds. The song itself? It’s OK. Too long for what it is.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Mar 2, 2020 14:03:19 GMT
Then I’m REALLY the oddball, because while I do like Brian’s quirkier music a lot of the time, I don’t much like Funky Pretty. My issue with it is the sound, though. I’ve always thought it was muddy, either poorly engineered or mixed. I’d be curious whether some reissue eventually could bring out some sonic clarity from it, or whether that’s just how it sounds. The song itself? It’s OK. Too long for what it is. I think we had this conversation in another thread, but I don't hear the muddiness, or at least I don't hear it AS muddy, more as atmospheric. Having said that, I'd love to hear a remixed version, if we should ever get one, just to see if I would feel the same way.
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