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Post by dustybooks on Dec 28, 2018 16:02:29 GMT -5
I find "Good Vibrations" impressive and I like/admire it, but it isn't one of my favorite Beach Boys singles, and doesn't mean a whole lot to me emotionally (aside from the way I routinely feel whenever Carl takes a lead).
I'm also a little more ambivalent than I probably should be about "California Girls" and the single version of "Help Me, Rhonda" (even though Summer Days is one of my favorite albums).
"Fun Fun Fun" and "Surfer Girl," though? Rock & roll perfection.
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Post by dustybooks on Dec 28, 2018 16:10:16 GMT -5
I like the BBs' version of "Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)". Maybe because I've never heard the original. Craig, I would never be so brazen as to tell you what to do or what to listen to, but the Shangri-Las' record is incredible. And incredibly weird. At least, if you have a taste for super-melodramatic girl group singles. I actually don't have a strong memory of the BBS' cover. I should queue that up later.
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Post by nach0king on Dec 28, 2018 16:36:53 GMT -5
Brian had more of a role in his bad behavior than many would feel comfortable admitting (i.e. it wasn't all big bad Murry's fault that Mike didn't get songwriting credits.) I tend to agree with this re: Mike & songwriting. I know that Murry was constantly pushing to consolidate things within the Wilson family as much as possible (look at how quickly he moved to formalize David's resignation), but it begs incredulity for me to believe that Brian (who loved hit pop records) knew nothing about his song publishing. I'm not saying it was all about the money for Brian. But ... young Brian Wilson was supremely competitive. It simply had to be a thrill (& a big stroke to his ego) for him to see big hits that solely credited him as the songwriter & producer. Good post and this is the kind of fair-minded view that I wish was more common. You are right not to downplay Murry's role, of course.
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Departed
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2018 12:33:05 GMT -5
Here's a few of my unpopular opinions, some of which I've stated before here and/or there.
But first I just want to state that I've never heard the term "hot takes" before. Guess I need to hang out with the young 'uns more.
Anyhoo…. I like Kokomo; it's a classic and it has taken its rightful place in rock history. But I've heard it so much over the years, I don't go out of my way to listen to it (much like Help Me Rhonda and a few others). It's a fine tune though. Even my rock-hating parents liked it.
Still Cruisin' is a very underrated song. I don't know about anyone else, but it stays with me for awhile after I listen to it. Shoulda been a bigger hit, and it's a shame that it gets left off of comps.
Friends is a great "theme album" flawed by a few goofball songs. Actually it's not so much the songs, but the vocals. Be Here in the Morning sounds great as an instrumental without the whiney falsetto lead and processed group vocals. When a Man Needs a Woman is kinda goofy with a few cringeworthy moments. I can also live without Anna Lee.
No amount of weed, alcohol, or other substances would ever convince me that the SMiLE songs on Smiley Smile are anywhere close to being as good as the original SMiLE versions.
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petsite
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Post by petsite on Dec 29, 2018 20:50:23 GMT -5
This is one that I might get burned for, but here goes. Dennis' later songs (after Holland) never really hit me as strong as it has others. I got a lot of crap from others back in the day when I said my fave track on POB was YOU AND I. People told me that is the most commercial track, why that one and not some of the more esoteric cuts. Years later, Brian said YOU AND I was his fave so I felt a little vindicated. BABY BLUE is killer. But LOVES SURROUNDS ME just lays there. I think Dennis was a hell of a producer, but his melodies after HOLLAND were fragments. And, at the risk of sounding like Dr. Love, the lack of hooks always bothered me. Hooks make the tune. Even SMILE had hooks. "You And I" is nice. Not sure about commercial though. "River Song" reads smash hit, "Rainbows" is quite radio friendly, accessible as well. River Song is also a great track. I always forget about that tune because I associate it more with The Beach Boys. Double Rock knocked the heck out of the backgrounds, but would have loved to have heard the guys do it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 2:13:54 GMT -5
No amount of weed, alcohol, or other substances would ever convince me that the SMiLE songs on Smiley Smile are anywhere close to being as good as the original SMiLE versions. For real. I don't mean to be antagonistic about it, but the "unpopular" opinion that Smiley Wind Chimes is better than SMiLE Wind Chimes has been so often repeated through the various forums that it seems to have become the majority ruling on the matter. Everyone's entitled to prefer what they want of course, but I just don't see it. I have no idea how anyone could prefer that admittedly interesting mess of a track to the SMiLE version's beautiful melody.
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Post by lonesurf on Dec 30, 2018 9:09:58 GMT -5
Here's a few of my unpopular opinions, some of which I've stated before here and/or there. But first I just want to state that I've never heard the term "hot takes" before. Guess I need to hang out with the young 'uns more. Anyhoo…. I like Kokomo; it's a classic and it has taken its rightful place in rock history. But I've heard it so much over the years, I don't go out of my way to listen to it (much like Help Me Rhonda and a few others). It's a fine tune though. Even my rock-hating parents liked it. Still Cruisin' is a very underrated song. I don't know about anyone else, but it stays with me for awhile after I listen to it. Shoulda been a bigger hit, and it's a shame that it gets left off of comps. Friends is a great "theme album" flawed by a few goofball songs. Actually it's not so much the songs, but the vocals. Be Here in the Morning sounds great as an instrumental without the whiney falsetto lead and processed group vocals. When a Man Needs a Woman is kinda goofy with a few cringeworthy moments. I can also live without Anna Lee. No amount of weed, alcohol, or other substances would ever convince me that the SMiLE songs on Smiley Smile are anywhere close to being as good as the original SMiLE versions. ----------------------- Yep, yep, yep & yep.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 14:32:41 GMT -5
No amount of weed, alcohol, or other substances would ever convince me that the SMiLE songs on Smiley Smile are anywhere close to being as good as the original SMiLE versions. For real. I don't mean to be antagonistic about it, but the "unpopular" opinion that Smiley Wind Chimes is better than SMiLE Wind Chimes has been so often repeated through the various forums that it seems to have become the majority ruling on the matter. Everyone's entitled to prefer what they want of course, but I just don't see it. I have no idea how anyone could prefer that admittedly interesting mess of a track to the SMiLE version's beautiful melody. Exactly!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 15:57:59 GMT -5
I like all Dennis Wilson-related songs. I think he is easily the second best composer in The Beach Boys. But, with the exception of a song or two, I find the Bambu material to be a step below all of Dennis' other work.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 17:17:37 GMT -5
I like all Dennis Wilson-related songs. I think he is easily the second best composer in The Beach Boys. But, with the exception of a song or two, I find the Bambu material to be a step below all of Dennis' other work. Agree. I’m a huge Dennis fan, but after listening to Bambu a couple of times and trying to imagine what Dennis was going for with those songs, I gave up.
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Post by dustybooks on Dec 30, 2018 20:11:22 GMT -5
For real. I don't mean to be antagonistic about it, but the "unpopular" opinion that Smiley Wind Chimes is better than SMiLE Wind Chimes has been so often repeated through the various forums that it seems to have become the majority ruling on the matter. Everyone's entitled to prefer what they want of course, but I just don't see it. I have no idea how anyone could prefer that admittedly interesting mess of a track to the SMiLE version's beautiful melody. Exactly! "Wind Chimes" is my favorite Smile track but I can honestly say I love both versions pretty much equally. The specific weirdness of the SS recording is very much to my taste.
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Post by Beach Boys Fan on Dec 30, 2018 20:28:38 GMT -5
"Wind Chimes" is my favorite Smile track but I can honestly say I love both versions pretty much equally. The specific weirdness of the SS recording is very much to my taste. Smiley Smile's "Wind Chimes" is beautiful, creepy, cool, mad, imaginative, fun. Nice to see you like it. Pity it's not too popular fan favorite.
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Post by filledeplage on Dec 30, 2018 20:39:41 GMT -5
For real. I don't mean to be antagonistic about it, but the "unpopular" opinion that Smiley Wind Chimes is better than SMiLE Wind Chimes has been so often repeated through the various forums that it seems to have become the majority ruling on the matter. Everyone's entitled to prefer what they want of course, but I just don't see it. I have no idea how anyone could prefer that admittedly interesting mess of a track to the SMiLE version's beautiful melody. Exactly! Ahh...well...it was about 37 years between Smiley and Brian's SMiLE live. Had the full tracks had been released in a timely fashion rather than the epic mythical life it took on of it's own, there might be some who might say that the hot 1967 mess was second to the newer - albeit, old 1966-7 version. It was a weird release, but it was ours through high school, college and grad school. And who would put that green weirdness on to get a mental vision of real life wind chimes? A lot of us did. It just stuck in your head after all that time, even with it's oddness and Brian talking through it. I did enjoy Brian's performances of Smile at that time - but I would like anything he did, anyway. It is hard to abandon something you got ingrained in your head for nearly 4 decades as your life proceeded. It was so long in terms time waiting, that an op-ed by Verilyn Klinkenborg felt that it falls short of the earlier version. I can't link it because I am not a subscriber and probably exceeded my monthly quota. At any rate it was an interesting op-ed. It is called "A Better Masterpiece" and was published on 9/24/2004 in the NY Times. I thought it was pretty interesting that this lady took the time to counter the prevailing reviews of the newer version. Old greenie was still a sonic treasure. And, she waited 37 years, too.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 21:08:34 GMT -5
"Wind Chimes" is my favorite Smile track but I can honestly say I love both versions pretty much equally. The specific weirdness of the SS recording is very much to my taste. For the record, I like the SS version too...but I think it pales in comparison to the original melody. That SMiLE Wind Chimes/Can't Wait Too Long instrumental is one of the best thing Brian ever wrote as far as I'm concerned.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 21:47:11 GMT -5
Another Unpopular Opinion: I dig SMiLE/SS versions of Wind Chimes, but Can't Wait Too Long is even better. The riff sounds crisper in that one.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 21:51:20 GMT -5
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Post by lonesurf on Dec 30, 2018 21:55:55 GMT -5
Re: Smiley Smile, the 2012 stereo mix did open the album up a bit for me. That being said, I still prefer the Smile versions of the songs.
For me, Smiley Smile tries to hedge on the unabashed innocence of the songs. For instance, the insertion of the druggy do wop into Wonderful seems (to me) to be a misguided attempt to wink at a coveted "hip" audience that was never ever going to be The Beach Boys' loyal fan base.
It was as if they were ashamed of the pure beauty of something like Wonderful.
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swonk
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Post by swonk on Dec 30, 2018 22:57:38 GMT -5
My unpopular opinion is that the song Wild Honey is booooring and one of the worser tracks on the album (save the organ solo, that part is pretty great)
Also another HOT TAKE is that Shut Down Vol. 2 is a pretty good album, it suffers from some filler but all the original songs on there and Why Do Fools Fall In Love more than make up for it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 23:35:53 GMT -5
Again...exactly! I've made my own 6 minute edit of CWTL, utilizing every vocal part interspersed with all the instrumental parts arranged in somewhat of a logical format. Still wouldn't be fit for commercial release, but I enjoy listening to it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 23:59:34 GMT -5
sockit, any chance of sharing it, perhaps through Dropbox or something?
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Post by bryand on Dec 31, 2018 17:54:13 GMT -5
Not so much Beach Boys exclusive but people place way too much influence on lossless. Just enjoy the music!
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Post by Paul JB on Dec 31, 2018 18:03:29 GMT -5
I can’t remember half the songs of NPP. Here's a Hot Take - I think No Pier Pressure is Brian's best solo album! You are not alone Sherrif. '88 and TLOS may have stronger songs overall, but NPP sounds the most like a BB's album than anything Brian did solo. And face it, his solo albums were always trying to sound like BB's albums. Brian never sang all the leads on any BB album and the use of younger lesser known singers to take lead was great IMO instead of trodding out Parks, McCartney, etc. Kacey Musgraves is really good and just won an album of the year award for Golden Hour. NPP was the only solo release that I enjoyed playing again and again and didn't tire of it. It wasn't the same old Pet Sounds treatment of mostly covers he had been cranking out and the least sounding like a stack of Brian's.
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Post by Autotune on Dec 31, 2018 19:10:55 GMT -5
Hot take: some of Foskett’s solo output is better than some of what BW was putting out at the time.
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Post by lonesurf on Dec 31, 2018 22:28:56 GMT -5
Hot take: some of Foskett’s solo output is better than some of what BW was putting out at the time. I'm a big fan of both Cool & Gone and 12×12. Great harmonic pop with excellent production. The new one with Jeff Larson is also a great listen.
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Post by kds on Jan 1, 2019 0:58:14 GMT -5
My unpopular opinion is that the song Wild Honey is booooring and one of the worser tracks on the album (save the organ solo, that part is pretty great) Also another HOT TAKE is that Shut Down Vol. 2 is a pretty good album, it suffers from some filler but all the original songs on there and Why Do Fools Fall In Love more than make up for it. Agreed on SDV2. Sure, it has one of those dreadful talk tracks, but its the most entertaining of the three. And, while not as consistent as Surfer Girl or All Summer Long, its got some really high highs.
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