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Post by kds on Dec 10, 2021 15:30:49 GMT
I definitely think that for the serious fan and encompassing the full band's material, that's true: it has at least begun to get old, if not quite having gotten all the way to tedium. (I think you could argue even that it has gotten tedious.) Especially if you're including the touring acts and planning to see them repeatedly.
But for more casual fans, and just in terms of Brian's recordings, it might be more true. While he has returned to well known oldies a few times (Live at the Roxy, Pet Sounds Live, Brian Wilson & Friends), in general his studio albums have not primarily comprised remakes. (BWPS is an exception, but it's one that casual fans probably wouldn't have much known. I suspect it was mostly new to them.) A few tracks on Imagination were remakes, but they weren't especially well known to general audiences, either. You have the old songs being released officially for the first time--which are many--but that's something only serious fans would know, too. Probably the Christmas album would be the most obvious example of remakes to those fans. But even that was 15 years ago or so.
So I can see the more casual fan finding this album quite enjoyable and not necessarily thinking "oh god, more remakes from a Beach Boy." I mean, Brian hasn't pulled a Love and done a full album' worth of remakes (and a few more remakes on the "original" album, either).
I don't really include the touring acts. For legacy live bands, some repetition is to be expected. Brian did release the IJWMFTT soundtrack, which is barely album length. Granted, there were some deeper tracks and a some solo songs, and it's immensely more enjoyable than UTL Disc 2 but it's still there. I can kind of see the casual fan view of this at something of a novelty, but to me (and maybe I'm being unfair here), it seems odd that a reviewer wouldn't be a little more aware of the trend of BB remakes.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 10, 2021 15:49:20 GMT
I forgot IJWMFTT, but to be fair, that was further back still (than those others I mentioned).
IDK, I don't think the reviewer has to take into consideration remakes by people like Al and Mike when reviewing Brian. He's not speaking of Brian as one of the Beach Boys and in that context. And for Brian, there hasn't been a new studio album including a lot of remakes for quite a long while.
That said, I also don't disagree entirely with you, in that even if a lot of them were a while back, Brian hasn't exactly been avoiding his Beach Boys material on record... It's just that his solo catalog includes a lot more new (at least to the general public) material than remakes.
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Post by jk on Dec 15, 2021 10:00:28 GMT
In the middle of listening to this now. Next up: "Wouldn't It Be Nice". It's a heart-warming listen, certainly when it has been confirmed that it's Brian playing all the parts. Without wanting to cause another riot (I don't mean here -- this is a riot-free zone), I feel if the LPR OST and AMP were to be Brian's last musical offerings to his fans (one wide-screen, the other intimate), there could be a far worse way to end one's recording career!
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Post by B.E. on Dec 16, 2021 23:13:54 GMT
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fdleone
Denny's Drums
Posts: 6
Likes: 14
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Post by fdleone on Dec 17, 2021 0:49:24 GMT
I prefer to listen to the truly great stuff. I sampled a few of the tracks of At My Piano, and thought it sounded like easy listening, or Muzak versions of Beach Boys songs. I am happy BW is still healthy enough to make any record, but am also saddened by this product.
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Post by jk on Dec 17, 2021 9:07:05 GMT
I prefer to listen to the truly great stuff. I sampled a few of the tracks of At My Piano, and thought it sounded like easy listening, or Muzak versions of Beach Boys songs. I am happy BW is still healthy enough to make any record, but am also saddened by this product. Agreed! Still, it's very interesting what Aimee Nolte says in her video about Brian playing different lines to the ones she's always heard. I'd say that fascinating aspect validates the album in itself. Brian's choice of SMiLE excerpts is another argument in the album's favour.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 17, 2021 16:07:45 GMT
This music has actually been growing on me. It will never replace the original versions of the songs, and I still don't really like the engineering/production choices resulting in that soft, reverb-drenched sound. But the arrangements are interesting, and obviously the songs themselves are brilliant raw material.
"Interesting" isn't the same as "favorite" or "brilliant" or "classic," but it ain't bad.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 17, 2021 18:30:15 GMT
As I kept going back to this, I decided to buy it. Surprised myself, actually, considering my first impressions. Still not among my top 10 (or 20) BBs-related albums, but neither is the KTSA/85 twofer, and I've got that...
Funny thing, the song titles are all written twice. It's weird. So "Good Vibrations" shows up as "Good Vibrations: Good Vibrations."
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Post by B.E. on Dec 17, 2021 20:14:59 GMT
Funny thing, the song titles are all written twice. It's weird. So "Good Vibrations" shows up as "Good Vibrations: Good Vibrations."
Yeah, that's been annoying me. You purchased on iTunes, right? I think it might have to do with being labeled a "classical crossover" genre. It seems to be treated kind of like a compilation, but with each track being separately identified by songwriter(s). I tried all sorts of things to fix it but failed.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 22, 2021 20:23:32 GMT
Funny thing, the song titles are all written twice. It's weird. So "Good Vibrations" shows up as "Good Vibrations: Good Vibrations."
Yeah, that's been annoying me. You purchased on iTunes, right? I think it might have to do with being labeled a "classical crossover" genre. It seems to be treated kind of like a compilation, but with each track being separately identified by songwriter(s). I tried all sorts of things to fix it but failed. Correct: I got it on iTunes.
And by the way, I've come to the point where my only serious gripe about this album is the sound of the piano. It seems to me very muffled, very mid-rangy, obviously lots of reverb. What's funny is, it's not a piano sound I associate with Brian Wilson! (Usually I think of a slightly out of tune, trebly upright piano...which might not even be fair or correct, either.)
But compared to my general dislike of the album upon announcement and first release, I've come not quite 180 degrees ... but 174 degrees or so. It'll never be a favorite, but I do appreciate it much more now.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 6, 2022 12:50:43 GMT
Still loving this album. It’s calming and comforting, moving and inspiring. It’s one achingly beautiful track after another. I thought I had always appreciated the beauty of Brian’s (and The Beach Boys’) music, but I don’t think I fully realized that the production and vocals merely matched the beauty of the music itself. (And that’s at the peak of their capabilities!)
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