"A World of Peace Must Come"

[GoogaMooga]

What do you think? Be honest now, it's not very good, is it? Brian's invovement is minimal, and how often do you want to listen to a poetry reading. I'm going to trade it in, should get a fair amount for it in trade.

[Smilin Ed H]

Earnest but much of it is painful to listen to.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Just like Jasper Dailey...

[Magic Transistor Radio]

It's very artsy. I don't listen to it often, but I have a lot of respect for it in the vein of Mt Vernon and Fairway.

[Alan Smith]

What do you think? Be honest now, it's not very good, is it? Brian's invovement is minimal, and how often do you want to listen to a poetry reading. I'm going to trade it in, should get a fair amount for it in trade.

It's getting reissued for RSD this weekend, not sure if that will temporarily negatively impact the trade price

[punkinhead]

Aren't they re-releasing this album soon?

http://m.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2014/04/09/how-did-this-unknown-poet-end-up-making-an-album-with-brian-wilson

[GoogaMooga]

It's very artsy. I don't listen to it often, but I have a lot of respect for it in the vein of Mt Vernon and Fairway.

I get that you can respect it, but that's not the same as ENJOYING it. I wish the cd reissue of Holland would have been a two disc affair, with Mt Vernon and Fairway on a separate disc, like the original LP release. That way I wouldn't have to reach for the stop button. In both cases, A World of Peace Must Come, and Mt Vernon and Fairway, they are something that can be interesting to listen to once or twice, but no way do they stand repeated listening like the proper songs. Not for me, at any rate.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

It's very artsy. I don't listen to it often, but I have a lot of respect for it in the vein of Mt Vernon and Fairway.

I get that you can respect it, but that's not the same as ENJOYING it. I wish the cd reissue of Holland would have been a two disc affair, with Mt Vernon and Fairway on a separate disc, like the original LP release. That way I wouldn't have to reach for the stop button. In both cases, A World of Peace Must Come, and Mt Vernon and Fairway, they are something that can be interesting to listen to once or twice, but no way do they stand repeated listening like the proper songs. Not for me, at any rate.

It's very artsy. I don't listen to it often, but I have a lot of respect for it in the vein of Mt Vernon and Fairway.

I get that you can respect it, but that's not the same as ENJOYING it. I wish the cd reissue of Holland would have been a two disc affair, with Mt Vernon and Fairway on a separate disc, like the original LP release. That way I wouldn't have to reach for the stop button. In both cases, A World of Peace Must Come, and Mt Vernon and Fairway, they are something that can be interesting to listen to once or twice, but no way do they stand repeated listening like the proper songs. Not for me, at any rate.

Well, no, I have to be in the mood. Like any extremely experimental thing, also Revolution 9, but when I am in the mood, these kinds of trips are very rewarding to me.

[phirnis]

Love Brian's singing on "Lonely Man"!

[runnersdialzero]

Just like Jasper Dailey...

Be nice.

[Julia]

Im going to post this here since there isn't an official review thread for it.

I thought it was pretty terrible. I've heard poetry reading albums before, like The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds and spoken word tracks in albums, such as the group's own Mt Vernon and Fairway, where there is interesting "vibe music" or sound effects played to put you in the mood. Otherwise, why listen to a poetry reading at all, why not just read it aloud yourself? It's not even like Stephen Kalinich has a particularly nice voice either. I was so excited to hear Brian produced this and was wondering what he'd be capable of outside the usual pop music box--turns out the answer is "nothing." I'm not an audio engineer so I can't tell--was Stephen's voice at least double-tracked or echo'd, reverberated? If not even that, then what did Brian actually do? It might as well have been anyone "producing" this album.

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

It's eh....not good.

[FreakySmiley]

At risk of sounding like a contrarian, I love 'A World of Peace Must Come' and listen to it regularly (if not often). It has a myriad of fascinating qualities and moods that resonate with this listener. Between the homespun nature of the recordings to the conviction of Kalinich's recitations; complaints about any vocalist's particular voice usually elicit eye-rolls from me -- it's all personal preference. People love Bob Dylan's voice, people love Brian's voice in any number of wildly different eras -- it all comes down to personal taste whether or not you think a singer/speaker has a good or bad voice. To my ears, his voice suits his poems and songs perfectly. There is a genuine rawness to his voice and a passion that wells up quite often throughout his readings, perhaps most notably on the track "America, I Know You". I also thoroughly enjoy this album's version of "Be Still" certainly not because I think it's better than the BBs 'Friends' version, but simply for the alternative feeling. Tracing the extent of Brian's involvement (vocally, instrumentally and as producer) track-to-track is fun for me, as with Marilyn & (particularly) Diane's participation. There's no shortage of incredibly cool things to dig into across this record for the interested listener who isn't necessarily trying to rank things or establish where an album, song, or piece of spoken-word poetry sits in some entirely subjective rubric they want to pass off as some kind of objective truth.

Stephen J. Kalinich is a wonderfully kind and passionate soul, who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Get Together Foundation July 3, 2025. He is an American treasure!