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Post by Kapitan on Jan 3, 2023 18:02:13 GMT
I will go first and name two that come to mind, but in different ways.
LA (Light Album): I first bought and heard this as part of the twofer series on CD, probably somewhere around 2002 or so. I know I wasn't in a hurry to get the late 70s (or 80s) albums because of my mindset at the time: little or no Brian, no thanks. And perhaps oddly, I rated LA as significantly worse than MIU largely because it lacked Brian almost entirely. What I heard in LA was a set of bad songs produced in a slick, muzak kind of style.
But over the years, I've come to rate the others' contributions more generously. I still don't think the songs are top notch. And I still don't tend to be a yacht rock kind of guy, so the sound still doesn't really hit home. But where I once heard those songs as a series of strikeouts, now I hear mostly doubles and singles. Nothing wrong with that.
Summer Days (And Summer Nights): I was so averse to pre-Pet Sounds material that even this didn't really do much for me at first, when I bought the twofer (a little earlier than the above-referenced one...probably late 90s). Frankly I was only interested in it to see the development that became that pinnacle of Pet Sounds/Smile.
While my idea of the pinnacle remains the same, this one no longer really takes a backseat to much of anything else except those very few, rarefied-air albums. It's really Brian at the height of his pop-single powers in terms of arrangements and productions. Sure, it could have been improved--mostly by including a couple more songs to this 26-minute album--but it's truly great.
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Post by kds on Jan 3, 2023 20:35:45 GMT
For the better?
Probably Beach Boys 1985. It's still not an album that I listen to on a regular basis, but as a summertime 80s pop album, I think it works fine.
When I first heard the album back in 2013 or 2014, I pretty much dismissed it entirely with the exception of Getcha Back. But, it's grown on me over the years, as has my appreciation (probably more based in nostalgia) for the 80s pop sound in general.
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Post by carllove on Jan 4, 2023 1:42:28 GMT
Well I hated Smiley Smile for several years, because I was used to hearing the versions of “Wind Chimes”; “Wonderful” and “Vegetables” on the GV Boxset, as the Boxset was my second ever Beach Boys album purchase. I had Disc 2 in my car CD player for over 5 years. When I first heard Smiley Smile on Apple Music - I thought “What the heck is this? It sucks”.
I would listen to Smiley Smile only when polls and such came up. I tolerated it. Then I wanted to work on gathering all of The Beach Boys 1980’s green label reissue LP’s, so I purchased Smiley Smile. I decided I should listen to it so I could review my purchase. It sounded so nice on vinyl. Lo Fi sounds much better on vinyl. It feels more intimate than a digital version. I ended up purchasing two other versions that Giggen’s recommended on You Tube - and now I listen to Smiley Smile quite regularly. Only on my turntables though.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 4, 2023 2:55:49 GMT
Well I hated Smiley Smile for several years, because I was used to hearing the versions of “Wind Chimes”; “Wonderful” and “Vegetables” on the GV Boxset, as the Boxset was my second ever Beach Boys album purchase. I had Disc 2 in my car CD player for over 5 years. When I first heard Smiley Smile on Apple Music - I thought “What the heck is this? It sucks”. I would listen to Smiley Smile only when polls and such came up. I tolerated it. Then I wanted to work on gathering all of The Beach Boys 1980’s green label reissue LP’s, so I purchased Smiley Smile. I decided I should listen to it so I could review my purchase. It sounded so nice on vinyl. Lo Fi sounds much better on vinyl. It feels more intimate than a digital version. I ended up purchasing two other versions that Giggen’s recommended on You Tube - and now I listen to Smiley Smile quite regularly. Only on my turntables though. Giggens! Great channel! He needs to do a room tour someday, because all I see him is a room full of vinyl, memorabilia, etc.
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Post by jk on Jan 4, 2023 10:03:03 GMT
I think Friends fits the bill. I used to find it wishy-washy, sort of a nothingness with a slab of weirdness tacked onto the end. It was one of Stephen Desper's study videos (can't find it right now) that changed my mind, not least about the cacophonous "Transcendental Meditation", whose brass sounded out of this world in SWD's mix. And David Beard in a revealing discussion with Ghosty presents a plausible argument for its inclusion as album closer (here at 21:26–24:17): So these days it's just the maudlin lyrics of "When A Man Needs A Woman" I could do without.
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Post by carllove on Jan 4, 2023 12:01:57 GMT
So these days it's just the maudlin lyrics of "When A Man Needs A Woman" I could do without. When I listen to that album enough times in a row, I start singing “When a man needs a women, they make things, like you my son…” I always think of my step son and his little boy when I hear that song. The song used to make me cringe - but now it makes me smile. It’s just sort of fun.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 4, 2023 12:35:01 GMT
I think those lyrics are pretty dopey, but they don't bother me. I know I've said it many times, but I prefer dopey Beach Boys lyrics to most of their attempts at serious ones. I'll take 100 "When a Man Needs a Womans" over a single "It's About Time."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 4, 2023 13:10:01 GMT
I've been giving this thread a lot of thought, and I'm having a hard time coming up with albums where my thoughts or opinions have changed significantly. Maybe because I've been a serious fan for almost 50 years - and have listened to the band's music consistently over that span - my ratings, rankings, or opinions have gradually changed, both up and down, and I might not have even realized it. It's not only been because of just basic listening, but magazine articles, interviews, polls, and message board discussions have definitely contributed to changes in attitudes. Yes, in the end it's how do I feel when I hear the music, but outside influences (education?) have a way of creeping in. At the very least it increases your awareness of a lot of things.
I'll have a few examples later today, but I already know they're going to be Surfin' Safari, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, 20/20, and The Beach Boys 1985.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 5, 2023 3:05:34 GMT
My opinions on Brian's latter day solo albums have changed slightly; I just find that I like them a lot less than when they came out. These days, I give more praise to the early BB albums than I used to. I think Surfin' USA is a great album. I love the guitar instrumentals.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 5, 2023 18:11:36 GMT
Surfin' Safari was one of the first Beach Boys' albums I ever purchased. It wasn't the original pressing which was long out of print. It was one of those Pickwick releases. A couple songs were missing and a couple Surfin' U.S.A. tracks were substituted. Very strange release. Anyway, I read about the Surfin' Safari album. I bought into the "garage band" aspect which was accurate. Carl and David were literally learning how to play together in the Wilson's garage. Some articles/reviews even described the album as "punk". I don't know about that...maybe a little in places. Other articles described Surfin' Safari as influential, one of the earlier recordings of surf music. Not entirely, but I didn't know better.
So, I embraced Surfin' Safari. I played it a lot. As I mentioned it was one of my first BB purchases (I eventually bought the entire released version). I tried to embrace that early sound, and to some extent I appreciated it. I liked electric guitars, and was very much into hard rock at that time. I liked the songs "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfin'", too; I thought they were pretty good. And, finally, I thought it was cool or interesting to hear very young Beach Boys' voices.
I don't know...through the years I found myself not liking the album as much and rarely revisited it. Too much sameness on the album. You could almost take a sample of Dennis's drumming and use it on every song. At that time (1961-62), I would think Brian Wilson was at or near his peak of digging The Four Freshmen's sound and vocal arrangements. Yet, other than the background vocals (which also all sound very similar), you don't hear much Four Freshmen influence. Not even one ballad. Why not? And, finally, the lyrics or subject matter of the songs is just so goofy. Songs about little Indians, cuckoo clocks, chugging root beer, women's clothing, and flipping a coin. We now know that Brian and Mike were, um, "out there" at times, but come on. Now, I admit that I'm not really a lyric guy, and many (most?) times the words won't make or break the song for me, but these Surfin' Safari songs are just plain childish and odd. Where was Nick Venet or somebody else from Capitol? Dare I say Murry Wilson?
One last thing. All of the Beach Boys have mentioned Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, and some of the doo-wop groups and R & B artists as early influences. I don't hear very much of any of those influences on Surfin' Safari. Was Brian really hand-tied? Could he not record the music that was really in his head and heart? This is one strange album. It is sometimes recognized in Best Debut Album polls, and it is sometimes compared to The Beatles' Please Please Me. No. Not even close.
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Post by jk on Jan 5, 2023 21:33:50 GMT
My opinions on Brian's latter day solo albums have changed slightly; I just find that I like them a lot less than when they came out. These days, I give more praise to the early BB albums than I used to. I think Surfin' USA is a great album. I love the guitar instrumentals. This! Funnily, some strange part of me that perhaps should have been cut away at birth hears it as a nocturnal album. Why on earth would that be? Okay, I listened to the radio a lot at night in those days but the only track I heard at the time was the title track and I recall first hearing that in blazing sunshine!
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 6, 2023 3:01:37 GMT
My opinions on Brian's latter day solo albums have changed slightly; I just find that I like them a lot less than when they came out. These days, I give more praise to the early BB albums than I used to. I think Surfin' USA is a great album. I love the guitar instrumentals. This! Funnily, some strange part of me that perhaps should have been cut away at birth hears it as a nocturnal album. Why on earth would that be? Okay, I listened to the radio a lot at night in those days but the only track I heard at the time was the title track and I recall first hearing that in blazing sunshine! Music can have some very personal memories that mean NOTHING to other people.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 6, 2023 13:21:59 GMT
Anyway, I read about the Surfin' Safari album. I bought into the "garage band" aspect which was accurate. Carl and David were literally learning how to play together in the Wilson's garage. Some articles/reviews even described the album as "punk". I don't know about that...maybe a little in places. That kind of retroactive "the [so-and-sos] were the first [subgenre]" talk can annoy me. For example, in this case, punk has always been understood as a stripping down of bloated, pretentious aspects of rock music, going back to rock's roots (but with an added dose of aggressiveness). So, almost by definition, of course early, simple rock music is a sort of proto-punk. It's like saying Mozart or Paganini was one of the first neoclassical metal musicians, just because those metal musicians were quite obviously using Mozart and Paganini as influences. Or that Muddy Waters was an early British blue musician. Punk's influences go back to the beginning of rock and roll. But punk itself is a '70s invention, because you have to have something to go back to (and something to strip away) to have it be punk. Otherwise it's just original rock and roll.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 6, 2023 16:44:31 GMT
OK, it having been a few days, let's push along (but feel free to comment further on that previous question or on anyone's posts if you think of anything else).
What Beach Boys (or related, e.g. solo) album(s) have you changed your mind about through the years for the worse? Perhaps you've grown tired of something from too much listening, perhaps other fans have influenced you somehow, perhaps your tastes just changed over time. Let's hear what doesn't live up to your previous determination.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 6, 2023 17:27:45 GMT
OK, it having been a few days, let's push along (but feel free to comment further on that previous question or on anyone's posts if you think of anything else). What Beach Boys (or related, e.g. solo) album(s) have you changed your mind about through the years for the worse? Perhaps you've grown tired of something from too much listening, perhaps other fans have influenced you somehow, perhaps your tastes just changed over time. Let's hear what doesn't live up to your previous determination. My apologies. I did not read the previous topic question thoroughly enough and didn't realize that we were to post about albums that we changed our minds about for the better - thus my post about Surfin' Safari as an album which went... for the worse. But I can now choose another one which, unfortunately, went for the worse, too.
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