50th Anniversary live double CD up for pre-order on Amazon

[rab2591]

My thoughts at: http://beachboysopinion.blogspot.com

Nice review.

Agreed with your assessment on TWGMTR - although, even with the flown in vocals, that outro is incredible.

[drbeachboy]

Mike really only sounds bad on 2 songs; Do It Again and Surfin' USA. I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals. I'm sure Brian re-did all his vocals in the studio, as there is no way on earth that he sang all of those leads so perfectly.

[hypehat]

So I caved & bought it off iTunes.

Just about to finish listening to it.

I still suspect that they used some of Brian's lead from BWPS for H&V, which would be a move of Zappa-esque audacity. Some performances are nice. I barely hear any Beach Boys on Marcella besides Brian and a lot of the band.

Brian's vocals have the distinct flavour of Seltaeb's Smile mixes at points - like someone has taken the syllables he's singing and drastically rearranged them or layered them in harmony. But autotune is not omnipresent, I guess. Some leads don't have it. Reckon all of Brian's do, most of Mike's, Jeff has a lot (!!!), Al comes off best but he's still being treated more often that not.

Like, what's going with Mike's  voice in Surfin' USA? He sounds really distorted, like he did his part on skype or something.

Some of it also sounds so flat - the instrumental mixing is pretty fucking weak. It sure doesn't sound like all those people up there - like, only two guitars and one keyboard are audible at points.  

In short, Joe Thomas is still a swine.

[hypehat]

Also, dear god I hate Kokomo. Although why does he still sing about Montserrat? Isn't that still a volcanic wasteland?

[Cabinessenceking]

Mike really only sounds bad on 2 songs; Do It Again and Surfin' USA. I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals. I'm sure Brian re-did all his vocals in the studio, as there is no way on earth that he sang all of those leads so perfectly.

Guess you skipped Don't Back Down? On par with Summer Of Luhv

[SonicVolcano]

Listened to a few songs on Spotify. Definitely not the product I hoped for. Too sterile, lacks live feeling, too much Autotune, awful edits etc. A missed opportunity.

[drbeachboy]

Mike really only sounds bad on 2 songs; Do It Again and Surfin' USA. I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals. I'm sure Brian re-did all his vocals in the studio, as there is no way on earth that he sang all of those leads so perfectly.

Guess you skipped Don't Back Down? On par with Summer Of Luhv

I heard it. It doesn't sound nearly as bad as the two that I mentioned. Besides, all of Mike's vocals are a bit on the weak side, so it sounds weird on this song where the vocal is normally straight-forward and strong.

[drbeachboy]

Listened to a few songs on Spotify. Definitely not the product I hoped for. Too sterile, lacks live feeling, too much Autotune, awful edits etc. A missed opportunity.

You're right to a point. Though, it does sound better with the volume cranked up. I'm telling you, don't listen to it on Internet radio. The compression or whatever gets really f***ed-up when transmitted.

[Rocker]

I'm just listening to the Japan-show, Chiba. It seems to me that at least H&V and Isn't It Time come from these shows.

Here's an earlier post of mine, Rocker, with the Chiba, H&V MP3 sample -- which I'm not sure if folks saw. If anyone wants to listen and compare to the version on the new CD, in which I also linked to Mr. Moustachioto's sample...they're still there (the MP3 can be streamed). I also included the totally unrelated Mermaid clip as an example of a truly live, warts-and-all version.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15471.msg369954.html#msg369954

Thanks! Didn't see that or realize it was there. So much going on in this thread! 

[Lowbacca]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

[drbeachboy]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

I said, "not like on Mike's vocals", not that there was not any at all.

[Lowbacca]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

I said, "not like on Mike's vocals", not that there was not any at all.

I think Mike's autotune (or whatever it is) is only real bad on one or two tracks. Brian's is real bad on those two aforementioned tracks (I think), so that equalises it, to my ears.

[drbeachboy]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

I said, "not like on Mike's vocals", not that there was not any at all.

I think Mike's autotune (or whatever it is) is only real bad on one or two tracks. Brian's is real bad on those two aforementioned tracks (I think), so that equalises it, to my ears.

I thought Brian sounded fine on his vocals. I don't really like his normal/regular singing voice, so whatever they are doing to his vocals on Live, as well as TWGMTR, I like it. To me, it is the best that he has sounded since the early 70's.

[Lowbacca]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

I said, "not like on Mike's vocals", not that there was not any at all.

I think Mike's autotune (or whatever it is) is only real bad on one or two tracks. Brian's is real bad on those two aforementioned tracks (I think), so that equalises it, to my ears.

I thought Brian sounded fine on his vocals. I don't really like his normal/regular singing voice, so whatever they are doing to his vocals on Live, as well as TWGMTR, I like it. To me, it is the best that he has sounded since the early 70's.

When I saw them last year Brian had a couple of moments when he was really into a song and "sang from his heart" (to quote a certain someone). On these tunes he sounded even better and sweeter than his mid/late-70s self. And far superior to all that sweetened stuff. Believe me.

[drbeachboy]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

I said, "not like on Mike's vocals", not that there was not any at all.

I think Mike's autotune (or whatever it is) is only real bad on one or two tracks. Brian's is real bad on those two aforementioned tracks (I think), so that equalises it, to my ears.

I thought Brian sounded fine on his vocals. I don't really like his normal/regular singing voice, so whatever they are doing to his vocals on Live, as well as TWGMTR, I like it. To me, it is the best that he has sounded since the early 70's.

When I saw them last year Brian had a couple of moments when he was really into a song and "sang from his heart" (to quote a certain someone). On these tunes he sounded even better and sweeter than his mid/late-70s self. And far superior to all that sweetened stuff. Believe me.

While all that sounds very nice and positive and all that, at 70 years old or even when he was 35 years old, Brian isn't/hasn't even been close to how he sounded in the 1960s. I will say that I admire the hell out of him for going out there and for the most part giving it his all the past few years.

[KittyKat]

Also, dear god I hate Kokomo. Although why does he still sing about Montserrat? Isn't that still a volcanic wasteland?

For that matter, Port-Au-Prince is in Haiti. Uh, hello, Mike?

[drbeachboy]

Are you people for real? It's a freakin' 25 year old song lyric. Should Brian never sing "Tidal Wave" in Surf's Up just because there have been a few over the past 7 years? The song is fantasy, not reality. Kokomo is not even a real place. No wonder people lose their tempers sometimes when reading this board.

[KittyKat]

Are you people for real? It's a freakin' 25 year old song lyric. Should Brian never sing "Tidal Wave" in Surf's Up just because there have been a few over the past 7 years? The song is fantasy, not reality. Kokomo is not even a real place. No wonder people lose their tempers sometimes when reading this board.

Port Au Prince is also mentioned in Van Dyke Parks' "Come to the Sunshine." Maybe Van Dyke and Mike do have something in common.

[hypehat]

Are you people for real? It's a freakin' 25 year old song lyric. Should Brian never sing "Tidal Wave" in Surf's Up just because there have been a few over the past 7 years? The song is fantasy, not reality. Kokomo is not even a real place. No wonder people lose their tempers sometimes when reading this board.

I was kidding!

My other favourite thing about it is the way they inexplicably end it on the JAMAICA, which makes it sound like the old joke;

"I took my wife on holiday to the Carribean last week"
"Jamaica?"
"No, she wanted to go."

Arf arf 

[drbeachboy]

Are you people for real? It's a freakin' 25 year old song lyric. Should Brian never sing "Tidal Wave" in Surf's Up just because there have been a few over the past 7 years? The song is fantasy, not reality. Kokomo is not even a real place. No wonder people lose their tempers sometimes when reading this board.

I was kidding!

My other favourite thing about it is the way they inexplicably end it on the JAMAICA, which makes it sound like the old joke;

"I took my wife on holiday to the Carribean last week"
"Jamaica?"
"No, she wanted to go."

Arf arf 

Yep, or the old "Did Jamaica call to your Mama, lately?

[Rocker]

I think Brian sounds fine on all of his leads. I don't hear autotune on his vocals like I hear it on Mike's vocals.

"Sail On, Sailor"?? "Heroes and Villains"??

 

I said, "not like on Mike's vocals", not that there was not any at all.

I think Mike's autotune (or whatever it is) is only real bad on one or two tracks. Brian's is real bad on those two aforementioned tracks (I think), so that equalises it, to my ears.

I thought Brian sounded fine on his vocals. I don't really like his normal/regular singing voice, so whatever they are doing to his vocals on Live, as well as TWGMTR, I like it. To me, it is the best that he has sounded since the early 70's.

When I saw them last year Brian had a couple of moments when he was really into a song and "sang from his heart" (to quote a certain someone). On these tunes he sounded even better and sweeter than his mid/late-70s self. And far superior to all that sweetened stuff. Believe me.

I remember a moment in Berlin when he all of a sudden (at least to me) came up with a great and emotional line during "Disney girls (1957)". There were more moments like that but that one kinda sticks out in my memory. plus from where I was sitting I had a perfect view on his keyboard and I was surprised at how much he played

[Nicko1234]

As well as the problems with the vocals, another big issue for me is how puny the band sounds due to the production.

For example, I gave Al's Live in Las Vegas CD a rare listen a couple of weeks ago and to listen to the 2 versions of Help Me Rhonda on that this and this is startling. Far more energy and life on that CD and it all sounds live.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Bruce's 'Come on getcha back now''s ibn the getcha Back chorus can't be live.

Also, why does the track split for Wendy start at the first drum roll with the wierd intro at the end of TLGIOK

[drbeachboy]

Bruce's 'Come on getcha back now''s ibn the getcha Back chorus can't be live.

Also, why does the track split for Wendy start at the first drum roll with the wierd intro at the end of TLGIOK

I mentioned that in the other thread. I'm assuming that it is a plain ol' mess up.

[runnersdialzero]

I like how the autotune on Jeff's voice in the verse of "Heroes" actually makes him sing some totally f***ed up harmony that creates real dissonance. It's not Jeff doing a poor job, the pitch correction is heavy on his voice there. The bad just gets worse and worse, I sincerely hate to say, and there's a lot of it.