LOS: The Last Great Brian Wilson Record

[pixletwin]

Mine

1) TLOS
2) BWRG
3) WIRWFC
4) BW 88
5) Imagination
6) GIOMH

[runnersdialzero]

Shouldn't we wait until the d00d croaks before we go proclaiming it to be his last great record?

[phirnis]

TLOS really has its moments, especially "Good Kind of Love", the title track and "Morning Beat". Not particularly fond of the overall concept.
Big fan of some of the bonus tracks, however, especially "I'm Into Something Good", which almost sounds like it came straight from the 15BO sessions.

My personal favourite from his solo catalogue is BW88, mostly because it's very ambitious and it has lots of that trademark BB-era brilliance to offer, despite some obvious flaws. There are elements of Love You (synth-heavy production, "Little Children", "Walkin' the Line"), Pet Sounds and Smile throughout and I love the way it holds together as an album experience despite not being a concept record, which is very cool I think. Also, the music doesn't sound like someone was desperately trying to recreate the classic Beach Boys sound circa 1965 - yet. It's a very good album in its own right.

BWRG is very pleasant to the ears and I love listening to it in the late evening hours. Particularly fond of "Nothing But Love", whereas I'm not the world's biggest fan of "The Like in I Love You".

[puni puni]

I just listened to BWRG for the first time and it's definitely a big improvement from TLoS. But... both of these albums sound sooo dated. I feel like I'm listening to some lame Disney album than a Brian Wilson record.

It would be a tragedy for BW88 to be his last great album of new material. All he really has to do is record something "edgy" to supersede it! Edgy is not doing another Disney album. Or yet another Americana one. But there's no way he has it in him... I would love to be surprised, though.

[Micha]

I must admit, I had not expected Brian ever again to make an album as good as TLOS turned out to be. It was a really nice surprise. "Midnight's another day" moves me as much as his best 1960s works. This thread prompted me to listen to BW88 again for the first time in a decade or so. Though I found Brian's vocal performance better than I remembered, the whole record still sounds cold to me. Maybe Brian should rerecord it with his band.

Today, I listened to the Paley sessions again and found the music as good as TLOS. If I imagine the BBs on all of those tracks' vocals it sounds even better. Why was it again those sessions weren't turned into an album?

[Ron]

Brian didn't produce BW88, did he?  I always chalked that up to the 'cold' sound of it, I agree it doesn't sound as warm as his other stuff.  It's got the same sterilized sound that the "sweet insanity!" stuff does.

[send me a picture and i'll tell you]

I think the Paley sessions are some of Brian's best stuff, period.  It's a prototype for Pleasure Island.  I mean, what rocks harder than Chain Reaction of Love?  That's a song that should be re-recorded by the Beach Boys, tear up the charts, and give Brian his last number one!

I love the 1988 album.  However, my visualization of the album has changed.  For years I imagined those metallic screamy block-chord backing vocals being naturally born of the Landy-ized, face-lifted coked-up Superman of a Brian.  EVERYTHING about that album was as tight as the head of a snare drum.  

Now I find out that a) something called a Fairlight was used to pitch-correct the vocals even way back then, and b) Brian's surgery took place after the album was recorded.  Amazing how that kinda makes the record sound much, much different now.  

[absinthe_boy]

Ah the Fairlight.....some artists in the 80's went as far as to boast "this album contains no Fairlight"

[shelter]

I love TLOS. Of every album that Brian ever had anything to do with, it's my 5th favorite, right after Pet Sounds, SMiLE, Sunflower and Friends.

[Myk Luhv]

Wait, Brian got plastic surgery at some point, ostensibly (as most else during this period) because of Landy's bullying? Damn...

[hypehat]

Ah the Fairlight.....some artists in the 80's went as far as to boast "this album contains no Fairlight"

and on the other side of the spectrum, Todd Rundgren recorded an album using nothing BUT the Fairlight!

[send me a picture and i'll tell you]

Wait, Brian got plastic surgery at some point, ostensibly (as most else during this period) because of Landy's bullying? Damn...

I've heard three versions of this:

1) Brian was scheduled for a facelift, but the surgery was canceled when he was on the table, because of the possible consequences of anesthesia with all the psych meds he was on.

2) According to the WIBN book, his "plastic surgeon" fixed up his cheekbone, where Murry slugged him as a kid.  No mention of a facelift.

3) Someone on this board mentioned a facelift, with a specific date in August-September 1988, IIRC.

I see a much tauter, younger-looking Brian in videos from 1989 than I do from anything prior to 1988-- for example, the 1986 Hawaii special.  At that point, he had many more folds around his eyes and more deep grooves in his cheeks, as opposed to later on.  The wrinkles were likely due to the extreme weight loss; I don't know if there's a possibility that wrinkles go away in time, if the skin is young enough to re-tighten... 

[c-man]

I love TLOS. Of every album that Brian ever had anything to do with, it's my 5th favorite, right after Pet Sounds, SMiLE, Sunflower and Friends.

Me too.

[37!ws]

Oh, heck, I might as well do my Brian solo ranking...that is, credited to Brian apart from the Beach Boys, most favorite to least favorite:

1) Smile -- I will forever defend my stance that Brian's finished version blows away the unfinished gloomy fragments from the Beach Boys era, using vocals from unwilling participants and a producer who was obviously unsure about what to do with the music. Dare I say it, I sometimes think BWPS may even top Pet Sounds.

(tied for 2) That Lucky Old Sun -- a logical follow-up to Smile, IMHO. One of two kinds of music Brian should do more of: suites/modular tunes/etc. Some of it is a bit hokey, like "Mexican Girl," but most of the album is pure gold. Indeed, step outside on a sunny Friday morning while listening to "Morning Beat" with a good pair of headphones just as the "Mau-mamayama-glory hallelujah" vocals kick in...freakin' amazing! And "Midnight's Another Day" -- wow....I didn't know Brian had another "'Til I Die" in him!

(tied for 2) Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin -- The other kind of music Brian should be doing nowadays: the croony type stuff. Can't get enough "Summertime" (especially live -- he absolutely NAILS that one!), "I Loves You, Porgy," and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Amazing arrangements. Can do without that "Little Deuce Coupe"-esque "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and the last track, though.

4) Live At The Roxy Theater -- great live set. Especially love the "Let's Go Away For Awhile" / "Pet Sounds" medley.

5) What I Really Want For Christmas -- Kinda weird. I don't care for Gettin' In Over My Head, but I think of this as the Christmas version of that album, but much more enjoyable and pleasant.

6) Brian Wilson -- despite the 80s-ness, amazing songs that shows that if you're a genius, you'll always have it (if you want it)

7) I Just Wasn't Made For These Times -- nice semi-unplugged remakes, albeit a short album.

VIII) Orange Crate Art -- Brian's voice is kind of harsh on this...and "Me And My Hobo Heart" makes me cringe.

9) Pet Sounds Live -- a very stale production. The DVD is much better.

10) Imagination -- too twinkly for my tastes, but I do dig "South American" and "She Says That She Needs Me"

11) Getting In Over My Head -- somehow overproduced and underproduced at the same time. Many of the SONGS are great -- "Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel," "Rainbow Eyes," "Make A Wish" (although the lyrics are kind of cheesy), "City Blues," "Soul Searchin'"; just presented very badly. Makes me wish that this would have been recorded in a more sane way, with some of the songs not as long as they are, maybe include "Water Builds Up," and get rid of that dreadful "The Waltz," which I dearly hope is a major put-on by Brian and Van Dyke.

[ghost]

Oh, heck, I might as well do my Brian solo ranking...that is, credited to Brian apart from the Beach Boys, most favorite to least favorite:

1) Smile -- I will forever defend my stance that Brian's finished version blows away the unfinished gloomy fragments from the Beach Boys era, using vocals from unwilling participants and a producer who was obviously unsure about what to do with the music. Dare I say it, I sometimes think BWPS may even top Pet Sounds.

Madness. So you like Darian's work better than Brian's, eh?

And "Midnight's Another Day" -- wow....I didn't know Brian had another "'Til I Die" in him!

Midnight's Another Day is not in the same universe as Till I Die for me. It's got Scott's words instead of Brian's timeless ones [which VDP praised highly for Brian to have written] and the music isn't nearly as interesting. In fact, I find it kind of boring.

(tied for 2) Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin -- The other kind of music Brian should be doing nowadays: the croony type stuff. Can't get enough "Summertime" (especially live -- he absolutely NAILS that one!), "I Loves You, Porgy," and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Amazing arrangements. Can do without that "Little Deuce Coupe"-esque "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and the last track, though.

Here I agree with you friend. For this, I spare thy life. I've actually been groovin' on this album quite a bit recently. It's very comforting. You know what it is, it's done well, you can dig it. It's cool for where Brian's at now and his age and where he's at with his age [Brian seems to enjoy aging, he's often closing his eyes and meditating in public places like most spiritual people]. It's not 1988 quirky Brian Wilson genius but it really does have a distinctive BW-feel despite the suspicious involvement of Mertens et al in the 'fleshing out' of Brian's primal ideas.

[absinthe_boy]

I've always said that the problem with GIOMH is not what it is....but what it isn't.

It's not a coherent album like Pet Sounds. It's a collection of mostly pretty good pop style songs. The problem is that Brian clearly lost interest, therefore some of the vocals are sloppy (even slurred) and the production isn't up to BW standards.

But take a few of the better songs from GIOMH in isolation and they're good to groove to on a nice day.

[37!ws]

Oh, heck, I might as well do my Brian solo ranking...that is, credited to Brian apart from the Beach Boys, most favorite to least favorite:

1) Smile -- I will forever defend my stance that Brian's finished version blows away the unfinished gloomy fragments from the Beach Boys era, using vocals from unwilling participants and a producer who was obviously unsure about what to do with the music. Dare I say it, I sometimes think BWPS may even top Pet Sounds.

Madness. So you like Darian's work better than Brian's, eh?

No. I like Darian's work better than Paley's, Landy's, Scott B's, VDP's, Don Was', Joe Thomas's, and whoever's albums were the live albums and GIOMH.

There. I said it. "You need a mess of help to stand alone."