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

[AndrewHickey]

Sooooo.....you would prefer a live album with Brian & company embarrassing themselves by singing off-key?

No. But they did 75 performances. For most songs on the CD that's seventy-five separate takes. Modern recording software allows you to create comp takes from multiple performances.
If from seventy-five performances of, say, Don't Back Down, it was impossible to find Mike hitting the right note at all, then this argument would hold water. But then, if they had performed Don't Back Down seventy-five times and never once hit the right note, then your in-laws would be absolutely right.

Do we not want our Beach Boys to sound as good as possible?

Yes, which is why we don't want them sounding like robots.

[Shady]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. "I get around" from the live CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oINWy9gg-3k

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Politics, religion.....and autotune!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

[acedecade75]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. "I get around" from the live CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oINWy9gg-3k

It sounds like Adrian Baker is back.

[Cabinessenceking]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. "I get around" from the live CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oINWy9gg-3k

It sounds like Adrian Baker is back.

[drbeachboy]

I don't have a problem with autotune if it fixes a bad note and from most of the songs that I listened too, it is indeed tolerable. The autotune on Do It Again is just awful, though. I don't know how many shows were recorded, but you would think that there was at least one show where it was performed well enough that they could have either not used it or used it sparingly. Instead, it sounds like it was used throughout the whole lead vocal. I agree with Bubba though, you can't have Brian and Mike singing off-key on a major release. I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

I don't care if the use autotune to fix notes but when they start making Mike sound like one of those autotune parodies then I think they may just have gone a little too far and are embarrassing the band

[John Manning]

I think that's what we're getting at. The engineers & producers went a little too overboard with the tuning (and doubling in BW's case). The vocals sound way too robotic to be deemed acceptable for a live CD release. There is a middle ground in which The BB's voices could have been tuned without the robotic artifacts. What we have here is lazy, amateurish tuning. Period.

…

"Polished" is not the word here. "Massacred" would be more fitting. IMnotsoHO.

Your phrase reminds me of this bit of reconstructive surgery:

[Nicko1234]

Your phrase reminds me of this bit of reconstructive surgery:

Am I really the only one who thinks she improved on the original??? 

[Rocker]

I agree with Bubba though, you can't have Brian and Mike singing off-key on a major release. I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

No one said that they should let off key performances go on the album!!
BTW they did that though with "Surfin' safari" as I mentioned earlier.
-» http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15471.msg370046.html#msg370046

maybe it will be pulled, fixed up and issued again making this autotunetastic one a collectors item

If only... If the album really is as much a desaster as it looks like right now I'd love to somehow get the responsible people to see and realize that I won't let them f*ck with my money.
Maybe someone could tell Al Jardine about this and he could spread the word in interviews...

Seeing that they used some performances that were used before (NPR, DVD...) and therefor already worked on plus as some people informed us they didn't even bother to give any details in the booklet, it really has the look of a "f!ck the fans, copy&paste, gimme the money"-job.

[Lowbacca]

Maybe someone could tell Al Jardine about this and he could spread the word in interviews...

That would be the meanest thing we could do. Dude stirs sh*t up in his interviews.

Seeing that they used some performances that were used before (NPR, DVD...) and therefor already worked on plus as some people informed us they didn't even bother to give any details in the booklet, it really has the look of a "f!ck the fans, copy&paste, gimme the money"-job.

Word.

[JohnMill]

I don't have a problem with autotune if it fixes a bad note and from most of the songs that I listened too, it is indeed tolerable. The autotune on Do It Again is just awful, though. I don't know how many shows were recorded, but you would think that there was at least one show where it was performed well enough that they could have either not used it or used it sparingly. Instead, it sounds like it was used throughout the whole lead vocal. I agree with Bubba though, you can't have Brian and Mike singing off-key on a major release. I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.  In another thread someone mentioned the autotuning on this release ruining The Beach Boys reputation.  Well The Beach Boys reputation is largely built on the fact that they can sing and harmonize like no other.  If they were to release a live double disc set from the C50 presenting how the band sounded exactly in concert, it is my belief it would do more damage to the band's reputation than any autotuning could ever do.  The majority of the people who buy this double disc will want to hear The Beach Boys sings their songs at the very least in line with how they remember them being sung in the sixties, not necessarily how they were sung in 2012.  I know that since a live album is supposed to present the band as they appeared "live in concert" that statement is a bit dubious but it is what it is and also in many ways what most of the buying public would demand.

[Sam_BFC]

You can't have it both ways. You'd bitch if the disc was an off-key embarrassment. You bitch if they fix it. You can't win with Beach Boys fans. And now you're gonna scare away potential sales and send a message to management that there is no audience for products of this nature and they will think twice before investing money into such pursuits in the future. Bravo.

Bubba - I just can't agree with that black and white take on things.

Previous 'live' releases have been heavily edited in a more tasteful manner in the past, such as the BWPS DVD performance.

I feel I should clarify what I mean by pitch correction, and why, to me there is little difference between this, and TWGMTR. I think what you are hearing and disliking is the T-Pain, (or Cher if you're a certain age) effect. This is pitch straightening. This is where all vibrato and "humanness" for want of a better word is removed. Then there is standard pitch correction, where all notes are pushed to the correct pitch and some or all of the vibrato and note leaning is left intact.

The C50 clips are full of both. TWGMTR has less pitch straightening, (it is there though) but every note has been corrected. To me, I hear no difference in the "horribleness" (excuse my technical terminology) of both techniques.

A lot of people were horrible to me last year though, just beacuse I dared to say I didn't like TWGMTR. Surely you just see how I smacked my head in disbelief when I see the same people who layed into me, now bitching on about autotune?

Stephen, you acknowledge the quite significant difference between 'pitch straightening' and 'standard' correction but do not like either technique.  However, I think the difference is that the rest of us would be far more forgiving of the C50 album if it had less of the former and more of the latter.

[Shady]

I don't have a problem with autotune if it fixes a bad note and from most of the songs that I listened too, it is indeed tolerable. The autotune on Do It Again is just awful, though. I don't know how many shows were recorded, but you would think that there was at least one show where it was performed well enough that they could have either not used it or used it sparingly. Instead, it sounds like it was used throughout the whole lead vocal. I agree with Bubba though, you can't have Brian and Mike singing off-key on a major release. I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

He had many great leads over the course of the tour. I know, I followed it pretty heavily.

If the CD was intended to be a compilation of songs over the tour then it would have been pretty easy to get enough great Brian leads that only require a little touch up here and there.

[Theydon Bois]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

[drbeachboy]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

I listened to the first 16 songs and only one of those was terrible. Out of those 16 there have been numerous complaints here that the songs are worse than I think they are.

[Theydon Bois]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

I listened to the first 16 songs and only one of those was terrible. Out of those 16 there have been numerous complaints here that the songs are worse than I think they are.

Well, I did say "some of", and of course individual mileages are going to vary.  Personally speaking, heavy-handed pitch correction is one of my pet hates, and so it's possibly going to stick out to me more than others, just like when my mother notices the tiniest hint of coconut flavour in a dessert.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

I listened to the first 16 songs and only one of those was terrible. Out of those 16 there have been numerous complaints here that the songs are worse than I think they are.

Which song - was it DBD?

[JohnMill]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

Again and this is just my opinion this is another one of those debates that falls in line with the age old argument of diehards vs. masses.

I remember last year when The Beatles released "Magical Mystery Tour" on DVD/Blu-Ray, you should've seen how hard that release got ripped by the diehards for all sorts of reasons that only the diehards would notice.  At some point I believe, it's beyond fair to bring up the point that perhaps it's us and those like us who have too high expectations for any products put out by our heroes.  What I mean by that is the general public is going to have no issue with this "C50 Live" release and while many of us will say that is due to the old adage of "ignorance being bliss" at some point personally I do get tired of allowing sonic nuances disrupt, disturb or ruin the experience of listening to one of my favorite bands.  When we are getting to the point of reasonable people saying things like "I'm going to buy this CD and then throw it in the garbage", I think we have stepped over the line of demarcation as far as matters like this go.

Buy the CD, don't buy the CD but always keep in mind that 99% of the material released onto the open market by a band such as The Beach Boys isn't intended for folks like you or I.  It's intended for the masses who probably aren't going to even notice the autotuning because most of them don't know what autotuning is to begin with.   

[rab2591]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

Again and this is just my opinion this is another one of those debates that falls in line with the age old argument of diehards vs. masses.

I remember last year when The Beatles released "Magical Mystery Tour" on DVD/Blu-Ray, you should've seen how hard that release got ripped by the diehards for all sorts of reasons that only the diehards would notice.  At some point I believe, it's beyond fair to bring up the point that perhaps it's us and those like us who have too high expectations for any products put out by our heroes.  What I mean by that is the general public is going to have no issue with this "C50 Live" release and while many of us will say that is due to the old adage of "ignorance being bliss" at some point personally I do get tired of allowing sonic nuances disrupt, disturb or ruin the experience of listening to one of my favorite bands.  When we are getting to the point of reasonable people saying things like "I'm going to buy this CD and then throw it in the garbage", I think we have stepped over the line of demarcation as far as matters like this go.

Buy the CD, don't buy the CD but always keep in mind that 99% of the material released onto the open market by a band such as The Beach Boys isn't intended for folks like you or I.  It's intended for the masses who probably aren't going to even notice the autotuning because most of them don't know what autotuning is to begin with.   

You don't need to know what autotune is to realize that Brian sounds like Megatron joined a choir on that Heroes and Villains track. If the sample tracks are any indication of what the vocals sound like on this album, almost guaranteed I'd be hard pressed to find any casual fan who wouldn't notice the obvious voice manipulations.

That being said, I'm really hoping for the best because I was really looking forward to this release.

[KittyKat]

Having listened to the samples, it sounds terrible.  I don't think casual fans of the band or people wanting to hear them for the first time will like it, either. It butchers the original spirit of the songs. Mike Love and Brian Wilson sound like Ke$ha, it's not just "a little autotune."

I have less respect for Brian Wilson for choosing a complete, talentless, tasteless hack like Joe Thomas to oversee the reunion. Melinda Wilson got it totally right in suing Joe to get rid of him many years ago. Too bad Brian has less good taste than his wife. For all the complaints people have about the bad taste and instincts of Mike Love, now it looks like the shoe is on Brian's foot, as well. He really should have more respect for his own songs and even his own singing voice, even if it is a little rougher than it used to be.

[Gertie J.]

I love Brian and personally can put up with flubs, singing flat and short breathy delivery singing leads, but you cannot have that stuff on a major release.

THIS

I would expand to include not only Brian Wilson but the rest of the band.  Look these guys are seventy years old and are trying to replicate extremely complex arrangements onstage.  Hearing the flubs live in concert is one thing but on a major release sold to the masses is quite another.

But very few people in this thread are wishing for a warts and all, flatness and flubs release.  Most of us accept that a bit of post-production is par for the course and probably necessary.  This wasn't, however, a straight choice between "warts and all" and "Live In Concert: 50th Anniversary".  There were other solutions, and one of those was "Fix it up, but do it well".  They haven't done that, and (some of) the results are frankly embarrassing.

I listened to the first 16 songs and only one of those was terrible. Out of those 16 there have been numerous complaints here that the songs are worse than I think they are.

Which song - was it DBD?

DIA.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I have less respect for Brian Wilson for choosing a complete, talentless, tasteless hack like Joe Thomas to oversee the reunion. Melinda Wilson got it totally right in suing Joe to get rid of him many years ago. Too bad Brian has less good taste than his wife. For all the complaints people have about the bad taste and instincts of Mike Love, now it looks like the shoe is on Brian's foot, as well. He really should have more respect for his own songs and even his own singing voice, even if it is a little rougher than it used to be.

Or more respect for his fans. After hearing the final mix, Brian should've demanded that it be fixed and done right.

[acedecade75]

 Who actualy was responsible for bringing back the incompetent Joe Thomas?  Was is really Brian's idea?  Everything Joe Thomas touches seems to turn to garbage.