Brian says Beach Boys reunion album sounds "mellow".

[Aegir]

no, the joke was there is so much more evidence that you are a troll. I don't mind Belles of Paris. Bells of Christmas is better, though.

[Newguy562]

no, the joke was there is so much more evidence that you are a troll. I don't mind Belles of Paris. Bells of Christmas is better, though.

bro stop taking shots already this is dead.

[Aegir]

then why are you responding? BRO

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Exactly, so why should Live Aid be an example of anything?

Well, I used Live Aid as an example because, yes, Jeff is still among the living, and because back then he was a Beach Boys sideman and now he's a Brian sideman, so he's obviously only more capable of providing good Brian support now as opposed to some guy who played some backup guitar for a few months and quit or was sacked. It's not rocket science.

Did Jeff Foskett play on 5 Beach Boys albums dating around the time period this reunion is in commemoration of? Lol.

What difference does it make, BRO?

BTW, I'd rather have Dave there than Jeff, if that's what you're hinting at. But it's not our decision, is it?

[pixletwin]

no, the joke was there is so much more evidence that you are a troll. I don't mind Belles of Paris. Bells of Christmas is better, though.

Totally agree. The Christmas versions of all those songs are better than their MIU counterparts.

[SMiLE Brian]

no, the joke was there is so much more evidence that you are a troll. I don't mind Belles of Paris. Bells of Christmas is better, though.

Totally agree. The Christmas versions of all those songs are better than their MIU counterparts.

Santa's got an airplane on the other hand...

[joshferrell]

Looks like we got a Bro-Down going down here..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JUeDQbR-ts

[runnersdialzero]

Have y'all heard the story of the (aptly-named) poster named ghost?

I feel extremely sorry for those who think newguy and ghost post similarly.

The only way they're one in the same is if ghost deliberately created a troll account.

[hypehat]

Well said, bro

[Mike's Beard]

If they're looking for material, they could do worse than take a crack at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_zWdaBW0Zc&feature=related.
Proof that Mike can still deliver. Suck out the adult contemporary elements and give it a proper Brian Wilson production and I think it could be a winner.... er, bro.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

So why isn't Brian producing this?

Politics?

[Andrew G. Doe]

So why isn't Brian producing this?

Politics?

Who says Brian isn't producing ?

[Rocker]

So why isn't Brian producing this?

Politics?

Who says Brian isn't producing ?

Exactly. It's certainly a co-production.

[Roger Ryan]

So why isn't Brian producing this?

Politics?

Who says Brian isn't producing ?

Exactly. It's certainly a co-production.

...and I suspect that Mike will be given an "executive producer" credit as well.

[HeyJude]

With this recent Joe Thomas talk, I actually took out the “Nashville Sounds” and “Imagination” DVD documentaries and watched them again for the first time in ages. I didn’t have a specific aim, but I wondered if it would help me understand why Brian and/or the group would want to work with this guy again.

I don’t have any definitive answers obviously, but it was interesting to revisit this stuff. I did come away with the same feeling I always had about Joe Thomas, that he seems like a really nice guy and I’m not surprised his personality was/is soothing for Brian to work with, and conducive to wrangling a “reunited” Beach Boys in a non-aggressive, non-domineering way. I think it’s just his music sensibilities that clash with things related to Brian and the BB’s.

The “Nashville Sounds” documentary was, as I said years ago, much more enjoyable than the album itself. It did once again make me sad that *this* was the last thing they worked on as a group with Carl. The material is really cringe-worthy with a few exceptions. I came away kind of wishing or hoping that they would just pull out all of the great BB backing vocals from this album, re-record the backing tracks, and have any of the BB’s add lead vocals. Not as a new album, but at least a better way to salvage their last recorded stuff. What I can’t say for sure is how much Thomas was a part of the embarrassing aspect of “Stars and Stripes.” Obviously, it’s all inherently country-sounding. I guess it’s just even more cloying with the AC/MOR “modern” country sound.

For “Imagination”, again, Joe Thomas seems really kind and nurturing to Brian. But this is where the “sound” becomes more of an issue. It’s never really fully clear how much of the AC sound is due to Thomas versus Brian’s preference. I’d like to be positive about it all and say that, in 2011, maybe Brian wants a more organic, “rock” sound, and we won’t get something that sounds like “Sade.” Maybe Thomas was bringing his own AC style to Brian in 1998 because Brian wanted that. At the same time, we got a re-used Thomas backing track on “Gettin’ in Over My Head”, and a lot of us laughed when we heard it and thought it sounded like Joe Thomas, and then it turned out it literally was an “Imagination” outtake backing track.

At the same time, Thomas has never produced an “original” BB track or album, meaning a non-remake that is not a BW solo track. Maybe Mike’s sensibilities and styles will help dictate that the tracks sound a bit less Kenny G-ish.

Another interesting thing to ponder is, what exactly is Brian cutting right now? Did he write any or all “new” material, or is he re-using more old material? It could well be a mixture of the two. I’m just thinking back to how Thomas helped turn a very 60’s “classic era” sounding song like “Sherry She Needs Me” into a slick mess with “She Says That She Needs Me.”

Does anybody know what the other members of Brian’s band, especially Foskett, have said about Thomas and “Imagination?” I would wonder as well if Foskett could help Brian and help this new project from veering away from something relatively Brian/BB-sounding. Could he tell Brian “Hey Brian, this is starting to sound like elevator music?”

I can only hope that Thomas is on board presently more as a sort of “lead engineer”, handling the overseeing and mechanics of recording more than molding the sound of it. He may well have a personality that fits keeping all the BB’s together. I just hope the music they make is worth keeping them together to finish it.

[lance]

One thing to remember: this album will almost certainly be much much better than Summer In Paradise. Im not a huge Imagination fan though I certainly  dont hate it, but it is far, far above the deepest depths that the Beach Boys have plunged.

[hypehat]

yeah, exactly. I mean, Surfin' USA sucks! 

[Iron Horse-Apples]

So why isn't Brian producing this?

Politics?

Who says Brian isn't producing ?

Exactly. It's certainly a co-production.

Oh good! 

Must have misread some stuff, thanks guys.

[Newguy562]

Have y'all heard the story of the (aptly-named) poster named ghost?

I feel extremely sorry for those who think newguy and ghost post similarly.

The only way they're one in the same is if ghost deliberately created a troll account.

who the fudge is ghost? lol

[Andrew G. Doe]

Maybe Thomas was bringing his own AC style to Brian in 1998 because Brian wanted that.

Someone wanted that, but their first name wasn't "Brian".

[Pretty Funky]

Production values aside, is Thomas the most qualified to deal with egos?

Maybe that's the real reason he is there.

[hypehat]

Understandable in that respect - after all, he's the only guy who isn't a fully functioning Brian Wilson who got all them in the studio in a relatively good mood in the last twenty years.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Is Mark the engineer?

[Mikie]

When I think of Joe Thomas, I think about that part of the "Nashville Sounds" video where he says to Brian at the mixing console, "You want to put on your producer glasses"?  That was funny.  So then Brian puts on his sun shades.  

Yeah, I'm surprised Joe's back in the fold after what Melinda did to him. And he was a wrestler once, right?  So yeah, he can deal with the egos.  

I remember the word on Thomas; production results for the "Imagination" album was that the album sounded too plastic. Too sterile. Let's hope that isn't the case this time.......

[Wirestone]

I think what's interesting is how Brian originally created some much less produced work in his collaboration with Joe.

There's the Let Him Run Wild demo, which is a classic wall-of-Brian keys and vocals production. There's the leaked Your Imagination track, which has a much grittier approach, along with a prominent organ part played by Brian.

And then you have the tracks inside the final Imagination album itself that have a much quirkier approach. Take Sunshine, which (until the coda) is pretty much a Brian-produced track. Or Happy Days, which is as close to a "Love You" instrumental style as Brian has managed since the 70s (crazy sax soloing excepted).

I listen to tracks like those (and even the touches buried in some of the slicker tracks -- the horn arrangement in Dream Angel, for instance) and wonder if Joe and Brian might not have created an album much more like BW88 if they hadn't pursued the AC commercial hit goal.