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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 12, 2019 23:47:48 GMT
I was THRILLED not to have an oldie or a remake. Then again, Mike more than made up for that with his three recent albums: all the oldies and remakes a fella could ever hope fo. (Or in my case, far, far more than I would ever hope for.) I'd have to put a qualifier on it - it would have to be the RIGHT oldie, and that's not a given with the post-1973 Beach Boys. I wasn't advocating a "don't fuck with the formula" approach, but like I alluded to above, I don't think TWGMTR sounds Beach Boyish enough. I wouldn't have minded a rocker with Mike doing his thing, and BB harmonies with an audible Brian on top. I AM grateful there wasn't any 12 Sides Of Summer-like crap on it.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 13, 2019 17:40:01 GMT
That's Why God Made The Radio - 7/10
As you can see, my favorites are in line with fan consensus.
1. Summer's Gone 2. Pacific Coast Highway 3. From There To Back Again 4. Think About The Days 5. That's Why God Made The Radio 6. Isn't It Time
7. Strange World 8. The Private Life Of Bill And Sue 9. Spring Vacation
10. Daybreak Over The Ocean 11. Shelter 12. Beaches In Mind
My opinion of this album hasn't changed much since I first heard it. It's an impressive album. It feels good to listen to. I think it surpasses nearly every solo album (except POB, BW88, and TLOS) and even a few Beach Boys albums that were recorded decades earlier. That is no small feat!
Song-wise, as the years pass, I'm noticing that I'm enjoying "The Private Life Of Bill And Sue" and "Spring Vacation" more and enjoying "Daybreak Over The Ocean" less. Otherwise, my opinions are unchanged. Speaking of "Spring Vacation", it was pointed out on SSMB recently how bizarre the bridge of "Spring Vacation" is. The lead vocal is partially indecipherable. Details like that really disappoint me. How hard could that have been to fix? It may just have been a mixing error and yet it makes its way to official release. That's poor quality control. I dig that section too, so that makes it even worse for me.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge that I agree with those who are critical of the prominence of Jeff Foskett, vocally, on the album. SJS questioned why Brian couldn't have sung more of Jeff's parts, well, what about Bruce? Brian is already all over the album. Or what about a combination of two or three of them? That's been my position since first listen. Why not blend Bruce with Jeff to give it a little more of a Beach Boys sound? In my opinion, "Shelter" suffered the most. I can definitely hear a Jeff/Bruce blend on the "I'll give you shelter from the storm..." section. Of course, if Brian or Bruce nailed the vocal, then no need to blend it with Jeff. To clarify, by "blend" I simply mean sing in unison.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 13, 2019 17:47:08 GMT
I like Shelter a LOT more than you do! It’s among my top 4 for sure on the album.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 13, 2019 19:54:16 GMT
B.E., I keep copying your ideas. Let's rank the songs!
01 Summer's Gone 02 Pacific Coast Highway 03 From There To Back Again 04 Spring Vacation
05 Strange World 06 That's Why God Made The Radio 07 Isn't It Time 08 Think About The Days 09 Shelter
10 Daybreak Over The Ocean 11 The Private Life Of Bill And Sue 12 Beaches In Mind
I agree with you, B.E., on "Daybreak Over The Ocean". It's luster has faded. I find myself just waiting for the ending with the impressive harmonies. The song is about a minute too long. "Think About The Days" has fallen in my rankings a bit, too.
I would gladly sacrifice "Beaches In Mind" for "Waves Of Love" on one condition - the lyrics are re-written.
Also, did you notice that you could flip-flop "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone" - on the album - and it would still work.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 13, 2019 20:14:58 GMT
B.E., I keep copying your ideas. Let's rank the songs!
It's always fun when people join in! I agree with you, B.E., on "Daybreak Over The Ocean". It's luster has faded. I find myself just waiting for the ending with the impressive harmonies. The song is about a minute too long.
I completely agree with your reasoning. Also, for me, the Backstreet Boys-sounding backing vocals have really started to irritate me (e.g. the "over the ocean" and "love and devotion" echoing of Mike's lead). Also, did you notice that you could flip-flop "Pacific Coast High" and "Summer's Gone" and it would still work. No, I haven't noticed. I'll try it.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 13, 2019 20:24:02 GMT
My ratings tend to be a little different from others’ on this album. I should be clear that I really don’t hate even the last songs on my ratings. Some of them do strike me as entirely unnecessary and/or unremarkable, or there are bits and pieces within them that I dislike, but there are none that I simply abhor. Say, on a 0-10 scale, no song would get below a 3.5 or so. 1. From There to Back Again 2. Pacific Coast Highway 3. Shelter 4. Isn’t It Time 5. Strange World 6. Private Life of Bill and Sue 7. Summer’s Gone 8. That’s Why God Made the Radio 9. Spring Vacation 10. Think About the Days 11. (tie) Beaches in Mind 11. (tie) Daybreak Over the Ocean
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 13, 2019 20:30:28 GMT
My ratings tend to be a little different from others’ on this album. I should be clear that I really don’t hate even the last songs on my ratings. Some of them do strike me as entirely unnecessary and/or unremarkable, or there are bits and pieces within them that I dislike, but there are none that I simply abhor. Say, on a 0-10 scale, no song would get below a 3.5 or so. 7. Summer’s Gone I've noticed in past posts, and now, that you're a little hard on "Summer's Gone". What is it about the song that doesn't grab you? I think it's a perfect combination of Joe Thomas production/latter day Brian Wilson vocals. I really like everything about the song, from the sound effects, to the lyrics, the melody, and especially Brian's lead vocal. I am a little curious, though, how much of the song Brian actually wrote. In a way I don't really want to know.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 13, 2019 20:45:49 GMT
My biggest complaint with Summer’s Gone is that it goes nowhere musically; it just bobs up and down on the waves. It’s pretty, there’s no argument there. But it’s all arrangement atop no song. I don’t like to question people’s motivations, but sometimes I wonder whether people like the idea of this song more than the song itself. Because it’s just not much of a song. Granted, Brian has done other songs that don’t go anywhere: Guess You Had to Be There repeats its same few chords over and over for the duration. They never change. There is no other section. But at least it’s upbeat and brief. Summer’s Gone is melancholy, has no drive, and lasts a brief eternity.
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Post by kds on Aug 13, 2019 21:12:09 GMT
That's Why God Made The Radio narrowly escaped another Beach Boys' re-recording. "Do It Again" surfaced on the a Japanese edition, and there were rumors that Bruce was floating the idea of a remake of "She Believes In Love Again".
It's also interesting that no oldies made the album. How many BB albums (or BB solo albums) can you say that about? I think I would've welcomed an oldie, a rock and roll oldie featuring a Mike Love lead vocal and David Marks on guitar.
And speaking of That's Why God Made The Radio as the album title...terrible, like several prior terrible album titles from the group. I'm glad they resisted the urge to use re-recorded past material, use dig out an unused Carl or Dennis vocal to keep the album in the here and now.
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Post by kds on Aug 13, 2019 21:21:07 GMT
1. From There to Back Again 2. Pacific Coast Highway 3. Summer's Gone 4. Strange World 5. Think About the Days
6. Isn't It Time 7. Beaches in Mind 8. TWGMTR
9. Daybreak 10. Shelter 11. Bill & Sue 12. Spring Vacation
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Post by kds on Aug 13, 2019 21:25:30 GMT
My biggest complaint with Summer’s Gone is that it goes nowhere musically; it just bobs up and down on the waves. It’s pretty, there’s no argument there. But it’s all arrangement atop no song. I don’t like to question people’s motivations, but sometimes I wonder whether people like the idea of this song more than the song itself. Because it’s just not much of a song. Granted, Brian has done other songs that don’t go anywhere: Guess You Had to Be There repeats its same few chords over and over for the duration. They never change. There is no other section. But at least it’s upbeat and brief. Summer’s Gone is melancholy, has no drive, and lasts a brief eternity. I think the bobbing up and down like the waves is what I like about it. To me, the song perfectly captures that melancholic feeling of summer ending. When I hear it, I instantly think of looking at the water at a suddenly far less crowded beach town. There's a chill in the air as the sun sets far sooner.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 13, 2019 21:31:19 GMT
That's Why God Made The Radio narrowly escaped another Beach Boys' re-recording. "Do It Again" surfaced on the a Japanese edition, and there were rumors that Bruce was floating the idea of a remake of "She Believes In Love Again".
It's also interesting that no oldies made the album. How many BB albums (or BB solo albums) can you say that about? I think I would've welcomed an oldie, a rock and roll oldie featuring a Mike Love lead vocal and David Marks on guitar.
And speaking of That's Why God Made The Radio as the album title...terrible, like several prior terrible album titles from the group. I'm glad they resisted the urge to use re-recorded past material, use dig out an unused Carl or Dennis vocal to keep the album in the here and now. I went back-and-forth on the use of old Carl and Dennis material. I guess in the end I was against it. I did like the fact that this was a new Beach Boys' lineup, a new 2012 album, and uses of Carl and/or Dennis might've detracted from that, at least a little bit. I did like the prospect of "Don't Fight The Sea" with Carl's vocal on that, and I still wish Al could've contributed that song (even though it was released a few years earlier on his solo album). A part of me wanted a Dennis song because I like almost everything he ever did! Again, I think the people calling the shots probably thought that this particular project wasn't quite right for bringing old Carl and Dennis things out of mothballs. The group did touching tributes in concerts which would suffice.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 13, 2019 21:45:38 GMT
One minor detail that I love about "Summer's Gone" is Mike's trailing vocals - "I should stay" and "yesterday". I think it's a great example of what the other Beach Boys' voices can bring to what would otherwise be a Brian Wilson solo song.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 13, 2019 21:53:55 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 13, 2019 21:59:34 GMT
One minor detail that I love about "Summer's Gone" is Mike's trailing vocals - "I should stay" and "yesterday". I think it's a great example of what the other Beach Boys' voices can bring to what would otherwise be a Brian Wilson solo song. I agree with that. In fact, I like a lot of its arrangement. I just with there were more to work with.
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