The Beach Boys, THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO

[Big Al]

No, I'd still love it. I continue to enjoy this album far more than I ever imagined.

But if you tell this to anyone on the FacePage, there's gonna be trouble!

EDITED to add that it's just the one song, JBJ isn't on any of the other songs. Now if he'd contributed to EVERY song on the album and I was still having this reaction of unconditional (not Mike) love, then that would be reason for worry. Especially where my FacePage rep is concerned.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Big Al

[Dave James]

I haven't listened to anything but samples of TWGMTR on iTunes, but those struck me as if the guys were trying a little too hard to recapture their youth. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it seems to me that no matter what they do post Pet Sounds and maybe Holland, they'll always be prisoners of the California culture they so completely and conclusively captured in the 60's. I've always thought they should have made like the Beatles and tossed in the towel early, leaving in their wake a legacy of tunes that are unquestionable classics...the soundtrack to the lives of those like me who grew up with their music. As P.T. Barnum once said, "Always leave 'em wanting more." In the case of the Beach Boys, at least IMO, they sort of left 'em wanting less.

[Matthew]

I haven't listened to anything but samples of TWGMTR on iTunes, but those struck me as if the guys were trying a little too hard to recapture their youth. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it seems to me that no matter what they do post Pet Sounds and maybe Holland, they'll always be prisoners of the California culture they so completely and conclusively captured in the 60's. I've always thought they should have made like the Beatles and tossed in the towel early, leaving in their wake a legacy of tunes that are unquestionable classics...the soundtrack to the lives of those like me who grew up with their music. As P.T. Barnum once said, "Always leave 'em wanting more." In the case of the Beach Boys, at least IMO, they sort of left 'em wanting less.

I'm not sure about the "prisoners of the California culture" thing. It seems to me that a lot of what the Beach Boys were about from Smiley Smile -- L.A., was breaking away from the California culture in their music, granted they might not have succeeded, but it was a hard fought struggle none-the-less, with some glorious results.

[JSngry]

Brian is about Transcendental Middle Class White Suburban Spiritual Soul. I don't know what the rest of those guys have been about. Carl had a clue (at least), but the rest of them...I don't know if they ever really got past the White Suburban Middle Class part.

But...it's ok.

[Matthew]

Finally able to get my first listen to the album this afternoon. It's pleasant enough, and it's nice that the Boys' are still able to put out a nice album. There is a "classic" feel to a lot of the music, with typical Wilson touches throughout. I did not like "Summer's Gone" which I felt was too derivative, I was expecting a dog to bark at the very end, it just seemed like all of Wilson's signature sounds (I almost said pet sounds) were in it.

[JSngry]

Ah, but the lyrics...

[MomsMobley]

Ah but there's a VERY important difference between "likes" and "respects"; too many people conflate dislike of Mike into dismissing his real achievement, as vocalist, band member, cheerleader. MIU is also a gloriously weird episode in a corporate history full of them. He's also just one dude-- can't blame him 1966-67 alone; And who's to say his "issues" aren't skewing his "best" judgement as much as the Wilsons effected theirs? I'd rather "MIU" than BW's horrific Gershwin and Disney albums too btw.

That's not to let Mike off the hook but he was there, he was HERE--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfDFee-GgU8

Dennis balls deep was lucid, it was the drugs that sank him.

Yeah, there's always the money possibility, but unless Brian's broke, I don't think he'd do it just for that. Too much baggage to carry, so I'm going to assume that there's been some kind of closure at last, noting that closure doesn't = warm-fuzzzies, just that you're finally able to let it go and not eat you up any more.

I mean, Love (who nobody I respect likes, much less loves) is already 71, Brian turns 70 in a few days...they ain't got that much time left, ya' know? Not just professionally, but to simply be alive. Time to start making things as right as they can be, before there's no time left at all.

Edited June 11, 2012 by MomsMobley

[Matthew]

Speaking of Dennis Wilson, is the story really true that Stan Love & Rocky Pamplin, kicked down Dennis’ door and beat the living crap out of him, messing up his larnyx and ruining his voice. I had always read it was drugs, smoking, etc. that killed his voice.

[Matthew]

I should add, that I know these two goofballs did break in and give a beat-down on DW, in fact Stan Love was convicted of that and put on six month probation (reason enough not to like Kevin Love), but that it damaged DL's vocal cords is I'm wondering about. Stan Love is an interesting case, he comes off as a nice guy, but his behavior around the Beach Boys leads me to believe he's kind of a scruffy character -- has the Mike Love ahole gene in him. I actually remember watching SL playing for the Lakers, gosh, I'm old.

[JSngry]

I've been using this as my nap music the last few weeks, and I gotta say, it works great! The first two cuts are gorgeously calming, so when the album begins to drift off into perfect-but-empty sound over substance, hey, no problem, I'm sleeping right through it. Then the last few things start getting more meaningful, and that's what I've been waking up into. By the time it's all over, I feel rested, refreshed, and ready to tackle the rest of afternoon.

[medjuck]

You can download it for $1.99 from Amazon today.

[Big Al]

Well, the more I listen to this, the more I love it. It gives me the same feeling that FRIENDS does. Maybe it's all forced and all the "we're back together" vibes are bogus, but then again so was FRIENDS. For that matter, wasn't that the point of most BB records anyway: to convey a feeling, even if that feeling wasn't felt by its creators?

And those last three songs.... :wub:

[Matthew]

Mike Love just can't help being Mike Love. You have to admire that level of jerkitude after awhile, it takes true commitment.

[felser]

Mike Love just can't help being Mike Love. You have to admire that level of jerkitude after awhile, it takes true commitment.

Wow. Well worth reading the link. Yeah, who does that Wilson guy think he is anyways, still riding on the coattails of musical genius Mike Love 50 years later.