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

[leggo of my ego]

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.

And all this time I thought they were singing about Kokomo Indiana, right here in my own home state.

Just damn, that ruins my whole day! 

[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.

And all this time I thought they were singing about Kokomo Indiana, right here in my own home state.

Just damn, that ruins my whole day! 

Funny, until I learned all the words back in 1988, I thought it was Kokomo, IN. Being it was the only Kokomo that I ever knew.

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

Kokomo, Indiana sucks.

[dellydel]

Man you guys are harsh!!

I consider myself a hardcore fan, but I guess I'm not since most of this live album sounds pretty good to me.  

Mike doesn't sound too strong, but then again, he hasn't sounded too strong lately, so that was expected.

The only thing that's been making me groan so far are Jeff's falsetto parts.  They made me actually wince during "Hawaii", but in the other songs they're merely meh, and not entirely offensive.  But man, why is it that his falsetto just... doesn't... quite.... work?  (altho it sounds pretty good and Brian-like on Getcha Back and I Get Around)

I don't have a single issue with autotune anywhere.  I listen to lots of "modern" music so I guess I'm used to it, but I really can't even pick it up (ok, maybe when Brian sings "the magic of that summer in loOooOOove").  I don't think anyone here sounds like a robot.  Not even half man half machine all Jardine.  

As for sounding dead, sterile, free of energy... I dunno, I've been tapping my foot for a good hour now.

As for it not sounding live, I dunno, it sure sounds sloppy enough to be live  

Other thoughts....

-Bruce sounds surprisingly good on Disney Girls.  
-Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnn.....
-The audience seems to be eating up Mike's jokes.  
-What does Mike say after the "electricity" line in California Saga?  "It's nice to have..."?
-Brian sounds good on All This is That
 
Anyhoo, just wanted to chime in, because participating is good!

cheers!

[bonnevillemariner]

I'm with you, dellydel.  My biggest beef so far is the instrumentation.  I didn't see any of the C50 shows, nor have I heard any recordings of them (aside from the tracks on the Isn't It Time EP).  From the postings here, I assumed the instrumentation would be deeper, more lush.  Not so, it seems-- unless the evil conspirators that screwed up all the vocals are messing with that too!

I dug the little outtro to TWGMTR and was hoping for more unique endings/riffs/medleys.  So far I'm disappointed on that front.  But in general, even just over Spotify, I think this sounds pretty good.

About Jeff, I've always thought he sounds more Wilson-esque on his own material than he does on BB material. 

[AndrewHickey]

After listening to this a few times...
It's not *quite* as bad as it seems. The autotune is *much* more noticeable on MP3 versions or Spotify than on the physical CD (I've done A-B comparisons between Spotify and the CD on the same computer). That's not to say it's not noticeable, but something about the compression makes the autotune stand out more.
And there are some great little moments -- Bruce *really* getting into the vocals on the tag of Surfin' Safari, for instance.

I think the worst thing -- worse than the autotune -- is the way the audience get mixed up and down seemingly at random. It's like they let a toddler play with the faders. You'll have what sounds like a studio recording, and then suddenly out of nowhere 20,000 people will roar for three seconds, then go silent again. That's not what real audiences sound like.

(Still, at least the audience aren't autotuned. We should thank heaven for small mercies.)

[Wirestone]

I'm with you, dellydel.  My biggest beef so far is the instrumentation.  I didn't see any of the C50 shows, nor have I heard any recordings of them (aside from the tracks on the Isn't It Time EP).  From the postings here, I assumed the instrumentation would be deeper, more lush.  Not so, it seems-- unless the evil conspirators that screwed up all the vocals are messing with that too!

It was deeper and more lush.

Sigh.

[AndrewHickey]

I'm with you, dellydel.  My biggest beef so far is the instrumentation.  I didn't see any of the C50 shows, nor have I heard any recordings of them (aside from the tracks on the Isn't It Time EP).  From the postings here, I assumed the instrumentation would be deeper, more lush.  Not so, it seems-- unless the evil conspirators that screwed up all the vocals are messing with that too!

I think that's a deliberate decision. I think a couple of the guitars have been taken out of the mix altogether, and a couple of the keyboards as well. The unaltered recordings have a far thicker instrumental backing.

[AndrewHickey]

My feeling is that about 80 percent of the record is acceptable to good. But the 20 percent or so that is bad is so very bad, so very very very bad, that it can warp the perception of the overall product.

Basically anything with Al on the lead is great, and much of Mike's material comes out well. WDFFIL is good too. Brian's leads, much of Jeff's stuff and a couple of Mike leads blow.

WDFFIL Intro is canned (always has been) , exactly the same vocal intro (??)as the Mike & Bruce show - Sorry got to be said 

It's not, at least on the CD. You can hear Brian bellowing away in the left channel. Might have mostly been canned, but that's a live Brian vocal...

[SurfRiderHawaii]

This mix is a PR disaster. Time to run out the MIC boxed set tracklist and distract our attention!

[Shady]

I really wish I could listen to a CD where The Beach Boys sound like robots and enjoy it, I really do.

[AndrewHickey]

I think a lot of Nelson's percussion has been mixed down or out, as well...

[runnersdialzero]

Jeff sounds like he's dead inside. Looks dead inside when you look at his face on the Smile live DVD, too. It's like yeah he's hitting the notes (sometimes), but it's like Gosh Darn, man. All the warmth and life and love in Brian's voice (and the group's voices, for that matter) on the original recordings isn't present in the slightest in his performances. Even his used-to-be spirited "I'M ORDERIN' FRIED CHICKEN AND DANCIN' AND HAVIN' A GREAT TIME YOU GUYS WANT SOME FRIED CHICKEN I'M BUYIN'" vocal on the chorus of "I Get Around" on older performances is completely gone, as much as it bugged me.

The one person who really got screwed the most on here (sans maybe Brian) is John Cowsill. The dude was fucking incredible on the tour and you mostly can't tell by listening to this.

[Nicko1234]

I think the worst thing -- worse than the autotune -- is the way the audience get mixed up and down seemingly at random. It's like they let a toddler play with the faders. You'll have what sounds like a studio recording, and then suddenly out of nowhere 20,000 people will roar for three seconds, then go silent again. That's not what real audiences sound like.

Agreed. It's actually amusingly bad. The opening to Disney Girls for example. the audience cheer like crazy for a few seconds (for an album track?) before falling completely silent. Bizarre.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

The one person who really got screwed the most on here (sans maybe Brian) is John Cowsill. The dude was fucking incredible on the tour and you mostly can't tell by listening to this.

Yeah!, being a drummer, I was looking forward to that pounding powerhouse. Nothing of the sort.

[AndrewHickey]

The one person who really got screwed the most on here (sans maybe Brian) is John Cowsill. The dude was fucking incredible on the tour and you mostly can't tell by listening to this.

Can't agree with you about Foskett, but I definitely agree about this. Partly it's because, as I said, Nelson's part is mixed down or out, and so the drums sound empty, but also Joe Thomas has no idea at all what drums should sound like.

[bonnevillemariner]

I'm with you, dellydel.  My biggest beef so far is the instrumentation.  I didn't see any of the C50 shows, nor have I heard any recordings of them (aside from the tracks on the Isn't It Time EP).  From the postings here, I assumed the instrumentation would be deeper, more lush.  Not so, it seems-- unless the evil conspirators that screwed up all the vocals are messing with that too!

I think that's a deliberate decision. I think a couple of the guitars have been taken out of the mix altogether, and a couple of the keyboards as well. The unaltered recordings have a far thicker instrumental backing.

Even the live tracks on the Isn't It Time EP have far thicker instrumental backing.

[Wirestone]

Nelson posted on FB awhile back about the album, and said something along the lines of "I don't know if you'll be able to hear me in this, but ..."

I wonder if the band had some advance warning.

[gfac22]

Even his used-to-be spirited "I'M ORDERIN' FRIED CHICKEN AND DANCIN' AND HAVIN' A GREAT TIME YOU GUYS WANT SOME FRIED CHICKEN I'M BUYIN'" vocal on the chorus of "I Get Around" on older performances is completely gone, as much as it bugged me.

That just may be the greatest description of anything I've ever read.

[Mikie]

This mix is a PR disaster. Time to run out the MIC boxed set tracklist and distract our attention!

Time to get the Fan Mixers on this board to scramble up all the best C50 tracks and make their own compilation for us. It'll probably come out better than this new formal release.

[AndrewHickey]

Nelson posted on FB awhile back about the album, and said something along the lines of "I don't know if you'll be able to hear me in this, but ..."

I wonder if the band had some advance warning.

Funniest bit for me is when Mike does a big introductory thing about Al playing the banjo, we hear Al tuning the banjo in the background, and then the song starts and the banjo's either mixed out or so low in the mix it's inaudible.

We should just call that a deliberate call-back to their very first live album...

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Nelson posted on FB awhile back about the album, and said something along the lines of "I don't know if you'll be able to hear me in this, but ..."

I wonder if the band had some advance warning.

Funniest bit for me is when Mike does a big introductory thing about Al playing the banjo, we hear Al tuning the banjo in the background, and then the song starts and the banjo's either mixed out or so low in the mix it's inaudible.

We should just call that a deliberate call-back to their very first live album...

Which bit of Concert are we referring to?

[AndrewHickey]

Nelson posted on FB awhile back about the album, and said something along the lines of "I don't know if you'll be able to hear me in this, but ..."

I wonder if the band had some advance warning.

Funniest bit for me is when Mike does a big introductory thing about Al playing the banjo, we hear Al tuning the banjo in the background, and then the song starts and the banjo's either mixed out or so low in the mix it's inaudible.

We should just call that a deliberate call-back to their very first live album...

Which bit of Concert are we referring to?

"And now we're going to show you how the Beach Boys make a record..."

[GhostyTMRS]

I picked this up today. I dutifully buy all Beach Boys releases so even the negative reviews here wouldn't have deterred me.

The auto-tune is most noticeable on Mike's vocals early on. Well...it's more than noticeable actually. It distracts from the performance.

I'm okay with the audience SFX. I find the dubbed in audience on the Al Jardine Family and Friends CD much more annoying (it's like they took a 30 second recording of an audience going bananas and just looped it throughout the entire disc).

The song selection is good and once you get past the first few Robo-Loves it's fine. Brian's vocals don't sound nearly as effected as Mike's. Maybe because Brian sings smoother whereas Mike sort of punches those lyrics out. It's a tough album to review because it's really not the Beach Boys, but rather the backing band doing 90% of the work with the Beach Boys more or less as guest vocalists (in altered form occasionally). How it compares to previous live albums is a tough call, since those other albums are more legit band performances (even Knebworth 80).  

What's missing is the fun and thrill of it all, but that's always the problem with live albums. Sometimes the actual experience forgives a multitude of sins. If Capitol had been interested in fan service they would've included Brian yelling out "Stop throwing the beach balls!" on the CD and I, for one, would've loved that.

On one hand I can see why Joe Thomas (or whoever) made the call to auto-tune some of the vocals.  Years ago when I worked in retail I used to pump Brian's "Pet Sounds Live" and "Roxy" CD's through the loudspeaker. Customers would always come up to the counter and complain. They'd say "Who's that guy murdering all those Beach Boys songs? He sounds like a dying animal". To my ears Brian was delivering strong vocal performances but I'm a hardcore fan not John Q. Public. This live album is being marketed to those kind of people, not us. It'll probably sell like gangbusters at Wal-Mart and John Q. Public will be entirely satisfied.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

At both shows I attended, Mike (not surprisingly) took a little while to warm up. The early part of the first set was kinda iffy when it came to Love's vocals, but they noticeably improved after the first dozen or so songs. I suspect this is why the auto tuning early in the live CD is more heavy handed at the start.