bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 3, 2020 21:43:36 GMT
The rules are:
1. Compare any Beach Boys album/song to any album/song by any other band/artist, based on any criteria. 2. You have to pick a winner. If you can't pick a winner, the rest of us will pick one for you. 3. When you're done with your comparison, the albums go back into the hat, to be used again (and again and again).
Compare albums/songs made the same year, debuts, finals, masterpieces, lemons, live, concepts, whatever.
I'll go first with a really basic one...
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys (1966) vs. A Night at the Opera - Queen (1975)
Both albums are considered to be each band’s masterpiece. They’re both flush with artistic and creative genius, and draw from multiple influences, and they are both marvels of studio production technique. Both are groundbreaking in terms of their quality, scale, vision and execution, and both have become massively influential.
Personally, I think that as a whole album, Pet Sounds is a bit stronger because it’s more cohesive overall, a very fulfilling listening experience with no weak spots. However, what A Night at the Opera lacks in overall cohesion, it makes up for with the sheer power, scale and drama of the songs and their production.
Hot take: Bohemian Rhapsody > any one song on Pet Sounds individually, but Pet Sounds as a whole is > than A Night at the Opera in its entirety.
Winner: Pet Sounds (by a goat hair)
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 3, 2020 23:58:11 GMT
Fun, but you've given almost too much freedom! I'm paralyzed with choices. I swear I'll give it some thought and post my little heart out.
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Post by kds on Jun 4, 2020 12:25:15 GMT
Wow, first of all, had you asked me at any time prior to.....probably 2014, I'd have said NATO without question. But, I'm giving the edge to Pet Sounds. If I had to use a tiebreaker, that vocal solo section in the middle of The Prophet Song. If an album had a bathroom break, that would be it.
OK, so here we go.
Holland v. Deep Purple's Burn
In the early 70s, both legendary bands decided to shake up their lineups. Bruce Johnston left the Beach Boys, and The Flame's Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin were added. Deep Purple replaced singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover with bassist / vocalist Glenn Hughes of Trapeze and an unknown young singer named David Coverdale.
It might seeming make more sense to put CATP against Burn because that was the first album with the new BB lineup, but I don't think that lineup fully gelled until Holland.
So, here we have two bands firing on all cylinders, with great contributions from the new members.
The opening tracks are classics for both bands. And, oddly enough, both are sung by members whose tenures would be short lived. Blondie sings SOS, and this would be his final BB album. Coverdale sings Burn, with assistance from Hughes, and both were out of the band after three albums. (Although other than when Joe Lynn Turner was briefly in the band, Purple never played songs from Burn again.)
Both albums are rock solid from start to finish for the most part. And despite having new members, both bands have plenty of classic signatures.
But, I'm giving the edge to the visiting team on this one. Deep Purple's Burn narrowly beats out Holland. Why? Because of Funky Pretty. While not a terrible song, it doesn't measure up with the other eight songs. There's no lull on Burn.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 4, 2020 13:15:50 GMT
Wow, first of all, had you asked me at any time prior to.....probably 2014, I'd have said NATO without question. But, I'm giving the edge to Pet Sounds. If I had to use a tiebreaker, that vocal solo section in the middle of The Prophet Song. If an album had a bathroom break, that would be it. OK, so here we go. Holland v. Deep Purple's Burn In the early 70s, both legendary bands decided to shake up their lineups. Bruce Johnston left the Beach Boys, and The Flame's Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin were added. Deep Purple replaced singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover with bassist / vocalist Glenn Hughes of Trapeze and an unknown young singer named David Coverdale. It might seeming make more sense to put CATP against Burn because that was the first album with the new BB lineup, but I don't think that lineup fully gelled until Holland. So, here we have two bands firing on all cylinders, with great contributions from the new members. The opening tracks are classics for both bands. And, oddly enough, both are sung by members whose tenures would be short lived. Blondie sings SOS, and this would be his final BB album. Coverdale sings Burn, with assistance from Hughes, and both were out of the band after three albums. (Although other than when Joe Lynn Turner was briefly in the band, Purple never played songs from Burn again.) Both albums are rock solid from start to finish for the most part. And despite having new members, both bands have plenty of classic signatures. But, I'm giving the edge to the visiting team on this one. Deep Purple's Burn narrowly beats out Holland. Why? Because of Funky Pretty. While not a terrible song, it doesn't measure up with the other eight songs. There's no lull on Burn. I actually LOVE the vocal section in The Prophet's Song, it's incredible. My bathroom break tends to occur during Sweet Lady. It's a decent song, and in fact might be an amazing song on any other album, but I think it pales in comparison to the rest of ANATO. Funny you should compare Holland to Burn! Burn was on my list of albums to listen to today, so I have it on as I type this I'll let you know what I think afterwards.
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Post by kds on Jun 4, 2020 13:30:50 GMT
Wow, first of all, had you asked me at any time prior to.....probably 2014, I'd have said NATO without question. But, I'm giving the edge to Pet Sounds. If I had to use a tiebreaker, that vocal solo section in the middle of The Prophet Song. If an album had a bathroom break, that would be it. OK, so here we go. Holland v. Deep Purple's Burn In the early 70s, both legendary bands decided to shake up their lineups. Bruce Johnston left the Beach Boys, and The Flame's Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin were added. Deep Purple replaced singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover with bassist / vocalist Glenn Hughes of Trapeze and an unknown young singer named David Coverdale. It might seeming make more sense to put CATP against Burn because that was the first album with the new BB lineup, but I don't think that lineup fully gelled until Holland. So, here we have two bands firing on all cylinders, with great contributions from the new members. The opening tracks are classics for both bands. And, oddly enough, both are sung by members whose tenures would be short lived. Blondie sings SOS, and this would be his final BB album. Coverdale sings Burn, with assistance from Hughes, and both were out of the band after three albums. (Although other than when Joe Lynn Turner was briefly in the band, Purple never played songs from Burn again.) Both albums are rock solid from start to finish for the most part. And despite having new members, both bands have plenty of classic signatures. But, I'm giving the edge to the visiting team on this one. Deep Purple's Burn narrowly beats out Holland. Why? Because of Funky Pretty. While not a terrible song, it doesn't measure up with the other eight songs. There's no lull on Burn. I actually LOVE the vocal section in The Prophet's Song, it's incredible. My bathroom break tends to occur during Sweet Lady. It's a decent song, and in fact might be an amazing song on any other album, but I think it pales in comparison to the rest of ANATO. Funny you should compare Holland to Burn! Burn was on my list of albums to listen to today, so I have it on as I type this I'll let you know what I think afterwards. Yeah, Sweet Lady's not exactly top tier, I'll agree with that. At least for 70s Queen.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 4, 2020 14:49:50 GMT
So Holland vs. Burn then...
Jeez, this is a brain-breaker… I love it!
I adore Holland, obviously, from start to finish, every last drop of it, including (especially) Funky Pretty. Deep Purple’s Burn is definitely comparably awesome. Holland has more variation I think, in terms of peaks and valleys (I don’t mean highs and lows, I mean more that it contains a mix of upbeat songs as well as ballads). It hits more of my “feels”. Burn rocks consistently all the way through, and never stops feeling good, there definitely isn’t a weak moment on it.
(Coincidentally, both albums have a “sail” song on them!)
AAAAGGGGHHHH!
What it’s going to come down to, is that Holland has Steamboat on it, and Burn doesn’t. So, Holland for me… I think. Wait. Yes. No. Maybe. Yes.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 4, 2020 14:57:56 GMT
The vocal section of "Prophet's Song" for me was once a highlight, when I was just getting into the things that went into production and arrangement. I loved sitting between two speakers or putting on headphones and enjoying the novelty of it. But as I learned more about these things over time, I began to hear it more as just that, a novelty. Too long, too. Frankly I feel similarly about Brian May's extended solos that make use of tape delays, e.g. "Brighton Rock."
Feels to me now more like they were asking themselves "what could we do?" rather than "what should we do?"
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Post by kds on Jun 4, 2020 15:07:17 GMT
The vocal section of "Prophet's Song" for me was once a highlight, when I was just getting into the things that went into production and arrangement. I loved sitting between two speakers or putting on headphones and enjoying the novelty of it. But as I learned more about these things over time, I began to hear it more as just that, a novelty. Too long, too. Frankly I feel similarly about Brian May's extended solos that make use of tape delays, e.g. "Brighton Rock."
Feels to me now more like they were asking themselves "what could we do?" rather than "what should we do?"
That's pretty much how I feel about Prophet's Song, and that vocal section seemed very unnecessary when those techniques were put to much better use later on the album. It seemed even more unnecessary when Freddie did it live. Other than the vocal section, Prophet's Song is one of my favorite Queen songs.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 4, 2020 21:57:58 GMT
I do not own A Night At The Opera and only know two songs from the album, so that's an easy one, not that any album had much of a chance against Pet Sounds.
I also do not own Burn. I wish I did, because Holland can be had. I find it slightly overrated. I'll abstain on this one.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 4, 2020 22:07:37 GMT
I do not own A Night At The Opera and only know two songs from the album, so that's an easy one, not that any album had much of a chance against Pet Sounds. Oh my gosh... I am thinking about driving out to your neck of the woods with a copy to force it upon you. It is truly a remarkable album. Very, very good, and not just for the songs you know (which I'm guessing are "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "You're My Best Friend"?).
I was thinking about this, and I do give the edge to Pet Sounds by a significant, but not huge, margin. That said, A Night At the Opera is one of my 5-10 favorite albums of all time. It's truly great. I think the biggest difference for me might be that Pet Sounds is a glorious achievement of writing, arranging, and singing, while aNatO (my own unique abbreviation/capitalization!) is, as we were saying about "Prophet's Song," in some parts more an impressive achievement of recording and producing. But there are several brilliant and several really good songs beneath those productions, and the performances are impressive throughout.
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Post by kds on Jun 5, 2020 12:30:51 GMT
I was actually thinking about this last night, and I'm sorry to say this, but I think just any album match up I could think of would favor the visiting team, but because The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds aside, are just not really an album band. But, there is one that favors the Boys before I move on to some of the song matchups I'm considering.
Summer in Paradise vs Metallica - St. Anger (2003)
Each album is pretty much universally considered to be on the very bottom of each legendary American band's canon. Most were recording in tough times. SIP is the lone Beach Boys release to not include Brian Wilson, and Al Jardine briefly quit the band during the time it was recorded. St. Anger was recorded just after the departure of longtime Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and after singer / guitarist James Hetfield's stint in rehab. Both albums are hampered with absolutely dreadful production. And both albums have essentially been left for dead by their creators. Other than an additional appearance of the title track at M&B shows, SIP is ignored. The album art was the only one left out of the C50 program, and it's the only studio album not represented on the MiC box. Metallica almost never play anything from St. Anger, and even on that tour, only two songs cracked the set.
In this case, The Beach Boys are the easy winner. Other than a couple of decent riffs (Some Kind of Monster in particular), none of the songs on St. Anger are any good. There are no guitar solos to speak of, the songs are long and plodding without the musicality that Metallica are known for, and the album itself is a test in endurance.
Summer in Paradise, on the other hand, still has those BB harmonies and some great vocals from Carl Wilson. And, while there's not particularly great, it contains about a half dozen light summer pop songs, most notably Island Fever, Slow Summer Dancing, Lahaina Aloha, and the title track.
Did I create this match up as an excuse to heap some praise on a much hated Beach Boys album? Maybe.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 5, 2020 13:32:50 GMT
Did I create this match up as an excuse to heap some praise on a much hated Beach Boys album? Maybe. I support this message! Interesting you tend to think that other than Pet Sounds, all of the other matches are going to go to the visiting team. I actually wondered if the opposite might happen, this being a Beach Boys fan forum and all. So far the home team has gotten all my decisions. But that's about to change.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 5, 2020 13:37:20 GMT
The Beach Boys Party vs. Pin Ups - David Bowie (1973)
A tale of two cover albums.
The reasons for the recording of both albums is a kind of a stop-gap. The Beach Boys were expected to continue releasing albums while Pet Sounds was in progress. Bowie was looking for a bit of a reset in response to shedding his Ziggy Stardust persona before moving on to Diamond Dogs.
What I like equally about both:
The moods. Party is fun, laid back and cheerful. Pin Ups rocks out, and even kind of has the vibe of a guy performing his favourite songs in front of his bedroom mirror. Both albums sound like their creators were having a good time making them.
What Party has over Pin Ups:
The vocals. While they might be loose and raw, this was the Beach Boys at their peak. Goofy notes might abound, but it’s hard to find too much fault with them in the context of the album’s house party theme. Bowie’s vocals, on the other hand, are an exaggerated put on. Now, I don’t think that necessarily means they’re bad. Again, in the context of the album, Bowie’s goal was to “glam up” some of his favourite songs from the 60s, so he sung the songs accordingly. Still, the Beach Boys vocals are just better, much easier on the ears.
What Pin Ups has over Party:
The track listing. Bowie chose some fantastic songs, some of which I was already familiar with, and others that I wasn’t. I’ve always found the Beach Boys’ decision to cover so many Beatles songs on the Party album to be a missed opportunity. Yes, cover the Beatles, absolutely. But three times? I would have loved to see a bit more variety. (I love the Party sessions for that reason - Satisfaction, Ruby Baby, One Kiss Led to Another, and Smokey Joe’s Café are a blast!). Now Bowie did double up on The Who, doing both I Can’t Explain and Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. But the variety of the other songs on Pin Ups definitely beats the variety of songs on Party.
The execution. So here’s the thing. Critics have called Pin Ups sloppy, and I don’t disagree. The Beach Boys Party was deliberately sloppy, so both albums are kind of on equal footing that way. Party hangs together well because it sounds self-contained. Pin Ups hangs together well because of Bowie’s deliberately glam interpretation of the songs.
Both albums have intent in their execution even if the intent is a bit of an excuse for the execution. But Pin Ups gets the edge because one thing I really dig is interesting or unique interpretations of songs, rather than faithful covers. A faithful cover can be a beautiful thing, but since they so rarely top the original versions, it’s fun to hear songs done with a different twist. And Bowie definitely did that with Pin Ups.
So, I’m choosing Pin Ups as the winner, due to the song choices and the unique interpretations of them.
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Post by kds on Jun 5, 2020 13:39:04 GMT
Did I create this match up as an excuse to heap some praise on a much hated Beach Boys album? Maybe. I support this message! Interesting you tend to think that other than Pet Sounds, all of the other matches are going to go to the visiting team. I actually wondered if the opposite might happen, this being a Beach Boys fan forum and all. So far the home team has gotten all my decisions. But that's about to change. I do believe that some matchups would be more likely to go to The Beach Boys on a BB fan forum. But, most of the match ups I had in my head would favor the visiting team. That's why I'm leaning towards song match ups.
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Post by B.E. on Jun 7, 2020 18:57:44 GMT
I've never heard Deep Purple's Burn, Metallica's St. Anger, or Bowie's Pin Ups, so on those I'll abstain. But, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading the comparisons/similarities nonetheless.
As for Pet Sounds vs Queen's A Night At The Opera. Well, that's an easy one for me - Pet Sounds. Thanks to our Queen thread, I finally dug deeper into their discography, and while I found ANATO to be very impressive, I'm not sure it even makes my Queen top 5. "Bohemian Rhapsody" towers over everything, though "You're My Best Friend" is still a classic in its own right. Those are my two favorites, and weren't new to me. "The Prophet's Song", "Seaside Rendezvous", and "'39" are next on my list. Really, the only songs that I dislike are "God Save The Queen" and "I'm In Love With My Car". I agree with much of the comments made thus far about ANATO, particularly that it lacks the cohesion of Pet Sounds and that the songwriting isn't as consistently great.
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