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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2020 10:04:25 GMT
This week's album is Carl Wilson, Carl Wilson's first solo album.
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Post by kds on May 8, 2020 12:20:23 GMT
I don't think I've spent enough time with Carl Wilson's solo albums to really give a good review. For me, they both fall under that "pleasant, but not memorable" category. Good vocals, obviously, but the songs are somewhat blah to me.
I guess I'll go with a six because I think the quality is fairly consistent. Nothing really jumps out as special, and there's also nothing embarrassing either.
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Post by Kapitan on May 8, 2020 13:06:01 GMT
I gave it a four, which feels a little generous, to be honest. But it rates so highly because Carl's voice is Carl's voice. Still, the old saying about a voice so good you'd be willing to hear it sing the phone book? We typically don't mean that literally, and Carl Wilson is more or less singing a phone book here.
These songs are so, so dull. Yet they average more than four minutes apiece, as if to rub in that dullness. And the arrangements and production don't help. So it's some very good singing and ... a lot of disappointment.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 8, 2020 13:41:49 GMT
Kapitan basically wrote my review for me.
All of Brian's solo albums (except No Pier Pressure) have been disappointing, but Carl's first album has to be the MOST disappointing solo album. I remember the press leading up to Carl Wilson. In his interviews, Carl talked about stepping out/away from The Beach Boys and doing something different, which, of course, he didn't do. The album didn't really rock, and we know Carl could rock. There was no older/Spector influence like "I Can Hear Music". No R & B, no blues, no country-rock (maybe like "Livin' With A Heartache") and despite what he said - no Beach Boys-type songs like "Good Timin'" - which I was expecting. So, what was left? Well, I guess what we got, which was this soft pop-rock.
The album is boring. Side 2 was hard to sit through. I remember when it came out. I tried to like it but I gave up after a few listens. I can't remember the last time I listened to it. Yes, Carl sings great; he was peaking as a vocalist around that time. And, the album contains my favorite and maybe the best song of Carl's solo career in "Heaven". Unfortunately, that one song wasn't enough to carry the album.
Just eight songs? That's all he could up with? I was also perplexed by the song, "The Grammy". I thought it was odd that Carl chose that...institution... to take a shot at. I mean, of all things to protest or write a song about. Forty years later I'm still disappointed and surprised at how underwhelming Carl Wilson is. Another missed opportunity and in many ways a waste of time (by choosing to leave the Beach Boys, albeit temporarily). Fortunately the next one, Youngblood would be a big improvement. But this one? A 3 based mostly on Carl's outstanding vocals and "Heaven".
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Post by lonelysummer on May 9, 2020 0:19:20 GMT
I'm always the minority voice on these Beach Boys boards when it comes to Carl's solo material. I love it. That might be partly because these albums came out just as I was becoming a Beach Boys freak. Yeah, I knew the hits; I had Endless Summer and one of those cheapo Pickwick albums. Actually, those Pickwick albums had some great material on them, but the pressings were generally very poor. Anyway, I had checked out David Leaf's book from the public library. That got me interested in the later material, so I grabbed a copy of the 1975 comp Good Vibrations - Best of the Beach Boys. From that point on, I was hooked. So Carl's album came out at the right time. I heard a couple of the songs on the radio and I liked them. Bought the album and immediately loved it. No, it didn't sound like the Beach Boys - that was the point. I liked the groove the rhythm section had on these songs, of course Carl sings great, thought it was good songwriting, too. I had been checking the later BB's albums out from the library, and it seemed like they always had a few clunkers. This album held for me, from start to finish. The one complain I could have is that the songs all sound very mellow here - I have a couple cd's from his first solo tour, and there's a lot more energy in the live versions. I don't know that hearing the live cuts would change anyone's mind about the songs themselves, though. Some might say this album is underproduced. I think that was a deliberate choice. Oh well. I'm not going to try to convert the non believers here.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 9, 2020 1:41:34 GMT
The one complain I could have is that the songs all sound very mellow here - I have a couple cd's from his first solo tour, and there's a lot more energy in the live versions. I don't know that hearing the live cuts would change anyone's mind about the songs themselves, though. Some might say this album is underproduced. I think that was a deliberate choice. Oh well. I'm not going to try to convert the non believers here. The production was disappointing, too, because the producer was James William Guercio. We know about his work with Chicago not too many years prior, and he certainly was familiar with Carl, having toured with the Beach Boys. Guercio's tenure with the Beach Boys was perplexing. Guercio is also listed as a producer on L.A. (Light Album) and that's a pretty boring album, too. He was instrumental in getting Dennis to record/release Pacific Ocean Blue, but other than that...
A quick look at the ratings for Carl Wilson shows five ratings and they're all different. It's disappointing to have just five ratings.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 9, 2020 2:12:15 GMT
These American Bandstand videos are interesting because the vocals are live:
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by bellbottoms on May 9, 2020 16:54:21 GMT
4. Nothing particularly bad about it, but nothing particularly special or interesting either. Which is unfortunate, considering Carl's gifts.
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Post by lonelysummer on May 9, 2020 19:42:52 GMT
The one complain I could have is that the songs all sound very mellow here - I have a couple cd's from his first solo tour, and there's a lot more energy in the live versions. I don't know that hearing the live cuts would change anyone's mind about the songs themselves, though. Some might say this album is underproduced. I think that was a deliberate choice. Oh well. I'm not going to try to convert the non believers here. The production was disappointing, too, because the producer was James William Guercio. We know about his work with Chicago not too many years prior, and he certainly was familiar with Carl, having toured with the Beach Boys. Guercio's tenure with the Beach Boys was perplexing. Guercio is also listed as a producer on L.A. (Light Album) and that's a pretty boring album, too. He was instrumental in getting Dennis to record/release Pacific Ocean Blue, but other than that...
A quick look at the ratings for Carl Wilson shows five ratings and they're all different. It's disappointing to have just five ratings.
I think LA was the best album they had done since Holland. The only stinker on it is the 10 minute disco track. That had no business being on the album - that's a 12 inch single. The 4 minute 45 version would have sufficed.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 9, 2020 19:58:10 GMT
The production was disappointing, too, because the producer was James William Guercio. We know about his work with Chicago not too many years prior, and he certainly was familiar with Carl, having toured with the Beach Boys. Guercio's tenure with the Beach Boys was perplexing. Guercio is also listed as a producer on L.A. (Light Album) and that's a pretty boring album, too. He was instrumental in getting Dennis to record/release Pacific Ocean Blue, but other than that...
A quick look at the ratings for Carl Wilson shows five ratings and they're all different. It's disappointing to have just five ratings.
I think LA was the best album they had done since Holland. The only stinker on it is the 10 minute disco track. That had no business being on the album - that's a 12 inch single. The 4 minute 45 version would have sufficed. I could never really warm to L.A. (Light Album) because Brian isn't on it and Mike barely is. I do agree with you on "Here Comes The Night", even though I'm a bigger fan of the song than most. But, speaking of "the only stinker"..."Shortenin' Bread", especially THAT version?
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Post by kds on May 10, 2020 0:29:41 GMT
The production was disappointing, too, because the producer was James William Guercio. We know about his work with Chicago not too many years prior, and he certainly was familiar with Carl, having toured with the Beach Boys. Guercio's tenure with the Beach Boys was perplexing. Guercio is also listed as a producer on L.A. (Light Album) and that's a pretty boring album, too. He was instrumental in getting Dennis to record/release Pacific Ocean Blue, but other than that...
A quick look at the ratings for Carl Wilson shows five ratings and they're all different. It's disappointing to have just five ratings.
I think LA was the best album they had done since Holland. The only stinker on it is the 10 minute disco track. That had no business being on the album - that's a 12 inch single. The 4 minute 45 version would have sufficed. I agree. Other than the disco disaster, I think its a very enjoyable album.
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Post by lonelysummer on May 11, 2020 5:15:38 GMT
I think LA was the best album they had done since Holland. The only stinker on it is the 10 minute disco track. That had no business being on the album - that's a 12 inch single. The 4 minute 45 version would have sufficed. I could never really warm to L.A. (Light Album) because Brian isn't on it and Mike barely is. I do agree with you on "Here Comes The Night", even though I'm a bigger fan of the song than most. But, speaking of "the only stinker"..."Shortenin' Bread", especially THAT version? Shortenin' Bread goes by pretty quickly, but I don't like it as much as Too Much Sugar.
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Post by Kapitan on May 11, 2020 12:48:09 GMT
I hear Carl Wilson as a very inferior successor to Light Album, which I already wasn't an especially big fan of. It--the Wilson solo album--tries to add some "rock" to the "yacht rock" sound, but doesn't really succeed, and meanwhile the songs aren't as strong on the whole.
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Post by kds on May 11, 2020 12:54:43 GMT
I hear Carl Wilson as a very inferior successor to Light Album, which I already wasn't an especially big fan of. It--the Wilson solo album--tries to add some "rock" to the "yacht rock" sound, but doesn't really succeed, and meanwhile the songs aren't as strong on the whole. I think a similar mistake was made on the KTSA album, by trying to infuse some rock and roll, which would up sounding flat. I might be in the minority, but I think The Beach Boys could've done pretty well adopting yacht rock for a little bit.
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Post by Kapitan on May 11, 2020 13:01:38 GMT
I might be in the minority, but I think The Beach Boys could've done pretty well adopting yacht rock for a little bit. I think you're right that it could've--should've--been something to help them maintain some success. Radio-friendly, an emphasis on pristine studio work, not too aggressive but with just enough rock to convince those aging listeners that they weren't quite dead yet, it seems like the natural place for them to live.
But they dipped in a toe or two and abandoned ship.
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