Mike Love - Unleash the Love - Due November 17 - w/ 2nd Disc of BB Remakes

[HeyJude]

Based on Mike's notes, it appears "All the Love in Paris" is a co-write with Paul Fauerso.

As for the song, like a number of songs before it, it kind of rips on "Don't Worry Baby/Belles of Paris", and so on. Sounds pretty bland musically, and the autotune being cranked to 11 doesn't help either. Far more egregious autotune than even the most extreme examples from TWGMTR.

Without hearing the rest of the song, I'm thinking maybe a sound sample from one of the verses instead of the repetitive chorus might have made the song sound less tedious.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Unleash The Hypocrisy 

[HeyJude]

A new interview/article with Mike discussing the album:

https://www.southbendtribune.com/entertainment/inthebend/music/mike-love-has-a-cool-head-warm-heart-on-new/article_7a2ad772-197a-584c-a293-3a98a559be09.html

The writer of the article tries to position Mike's album as a response to the current presidential administration, which is laughable considering Mike's own stated views on that subject. You can see in the interview that even when the writer is trying his hardest to paint Mike in a sympathetic light in this regard, Mike tries to walk back any specific implication that his songs are meant as an indictment on the current specific administration.

Also amusingly disappointing (if such a thing is possible), but not surprising, is Mike's attitude when asked about archival releases. Long story short, he clearly doesn't care much about them. He's willing to patronize fans if they're into it, but he clearly is more interested in touring.

[SMiLE Brian]

Unleash the OSD!

[wilsonart1]

Is time for Ben Vaugh Quintet to re-release Ben"s Prayer..A/K/A Kill .......Love?   Sure it's still on utube.

[Debbie KL]

Enjoying the humor...not quite up to listening to the audio clips...but, it sounds like it's what I'd expect.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Is time for Ben Vaugh Quintet to re-release Ben"s Prayer..A/K/A Kill .......Love?   Sure it's still on utube.

Just listened to it once again with great pleasure. Thanks for the reminder, WA! C'mon, Deb, listen and enjoy Vaughn's ode to the toad. 

[guitarfool2002]

A new interview/article with Mike discussing the album:

https://www.southbendtribune.com/entertainment/inthebend/music/mike-love-has-a-cool-head-warm-heart-on-new/article_7a2ad772-197a-584c-a293-3a98a559be09.html

Quote:

The Beach Boys’ frontman and standard-bearer has fond recollections of recording “Wild Honey,” most of which was done in a studio the band installed in Brian Wilson’s house.

“It was at Brian’s, the studio we put in Brian’s home because he was going through some ups and downs, mentally and emotionally,” Love says, “and it was more or less necessary to create a studio environment in his home so that he wouldn’t be subject to all the things going on around The Beach Boys at the time.”

Revisionist bullshit.

[Mr. Wilson]

BULLSHIT i agree.. ML always has to bring up BW ups + downs.. No matter how he words it its negative.. for a guy that meditates and is involved with spiritual matters  ML is more  depressed  than BW ever was.. ML re writes the legacy like a politican..

[Pretty Funky]

To be fair, although I don’t have a copy of the Endless Harmony DVD handy, didn’t both Carl and Al say something similar? Happy to be corrected.


Edit. Not a happy period.

http://www.laweekly.com/music/brian-wilsons-secret-bedroom-tapes-4392791

[Lonely Summer]

Wait, so the picture was complete, yet an additional album of cover versions is also a missing piece of the puzzle? Even though Mike has already released multiple albums of re-recorded BB songs?

Geez people, this isn't rocket science. It all but the most unique of circumstances, re-recording cover versions of your own stuff is generally less well-regarded because it lacks creativity and seems like a cash grab. Even the good ones that sound spot-on like Jeff Lynne's ELO re-recordings from a few years ago, an album that I love, I'll also admit was a total crash grab and devoid of any creativity.

Any artist bundling an entire disc of re-recorded greatest hits with their first album of new material in 36 years is going to come across as a case of not having faith in their *new* stuff, and/or going for a cash grab, and/or not being able to find a label that would put their new stuff out on its own.

So does that mean that any artist touring mostly on the strength of their old material does not have faith in their new material? I mean, isn't that what we all praise Brian for, doing the old songs live year after year, instead of playing NPP and TLOS songs?

[Zargo]

Is that Bruce on the "Do it again" snippet? Hard to tell, sounds a bit like him.

[HeyJude]

Wait, so the picture was complete, yet an additional album of cover versions is also a missing piece of the puzzle? Even though Mike has already released multiple albums of re-recorded BB songs?

Geez people, this isn't rocket science. It all but the most unique of circumstances, re-recording cover versions of your own stuff is generally less well-regarded because it lacks creativity and seems like a cash grab. Even the good ones that sound spot-on like Jeff Lynne's ELO re-recordings from a few years ago, an album that I love, I'll also admit was a total crash grab and devoid of any creativity.

Any artist bundling an entire disc of re-recorded greatest hits with their first album of new material in 36 years is going to come across as a case of not having faith in their *new* stuff, and/or going for a cash grab, and/or not being able to find a label that would put their new stuff out on its own.

So does that mean that any artist touring mostly on the strength of their old material does not have faith in their new material? I mean, isn't that what we all praise Brian for, doing the old songs live year after year, instead of playing NPP and TLOS songs?

You're conflating a concert tour with a "new album." Very different things. People like McCartney (or even Ringo Starr) continue to produce new albums of new material. Brian's albums aren't packaged with a full disc of re-recorded Beach Boys hits. McCartney doesn't do this either. A re-recording here and there happens (and Brian was rightly, in my opinion, criticized for wasting space on "Imagination" with two BB re-recordings), but an entire album full of BB re-recordings tacked on to a new album is going to be ripe for criticism, and it isn't *at all* the same as how these artists program their setlists.

Though, it's ironic you mentioned TLOS, because Brian actually did perform *the entire* TLOS album on the corresponding TLOS tour.

I'm not sure why people try to lump Brian in with Mike on this "riding on past glories" thing. Any artist from that era with *that many* hits is going to focus on that material when they tour. But not only has Brian aired a ton more *new* solo material in concert than Mike, he has put out many, many more albums of new material. Meanwhile, Mike put out re-recordings and then, when he finally got around to doing a new album of new material, still bundled it with yet *more* re-recordings.

Mike bundling his new album with a full album of remakes tells me:

1. He and/or his label don't have a ton of faith in his "new" material to let it stand on its own.

2. He and/or his label are going for a cash grab by capitalizing on the hits.

3. He and/or his label are happy to subtly conflate "Mike Love" and "The Beach Boys" by prominently featuring the BB name (and possibly the logo on a shrinkwrap sticker) in promotions for the album, mixing solo and BB songs on the CD set, promoting Mike's "Beach Boys" tour in promotional blurbs for his new solo album, and in turn promoting his solo album via "Beach Boys" concerts.

4. Mike's label possibly needed a CD of BB classics to be sold on putting out a Mike Love solo album.

5. Mike himself, even in the moment he puts out a solo album of new material, still hones in on those same old BB hits that are his bread and butter. He doesn't appear to be interested in being taken more seriously as a "solo" artist.

[HeyJude]

Is that Bruce on the "Do it again" snippet? Hard to tell, sounds a bit like him.

I don't know for sure if Bruce is on any of the tracks, but in general I think it's fascinating that Bruce seems to rarely participate in Mike's solo recordings, further emphasizing their weird Johnny Carson/Ed McMahon relationship of touring together constantly and otherwise rarely seeming interested in having anything to do with each other.

[NateRuvin]

Based on what I've heard, these songs aren't bad. They aren't great, but they aren't bad. They are however, unlistenable.

The heavy autotune just sucks the life out of these songs, which would be enjoyable otherwise.

[HeyJude]

Based on what I've heard, these songs aren't bad. They aren't great, but they aren't bad. They are however, unlistenable.

The heavy autotune just sucks the life out of these songs, which would be enjoyable otherwise.

From everything I've heard so far, those circa 2004 recordings breathe a lot more and sound far less grating on the ears.

I think, from a production standpoint, maybe Mike should have stuck with Paul Fauerso instead of going to Michael Lloyd. Lloyd has introduced sonic muck and uber-autotune into the mix (literally).

[SMiLE Brian]

Unleash the Muck!

But seriously, well reasoned points from Jude on this solo album.

[NateRuvin]

I'm 99% sure I can hear Bruce on the "Dit, dit, did-i-dit" part of Do It Again.

[HeyJude]

I'm 99% sure I can hear Bruce on the "Dit, dit, did-i-dit" part of Do It Again.

Can't say for sure, and I really just don't want to listen to the song again to find out. But in general, Bruce in the past has not participated in many of Mike's solo sessions, which on the surface seems quite odd (but once you know their deal, isn't surprising). I don't hear him much if at all on the 2004 recordings (which seem to be a lot of Christian Love and Adrian Baker). Similarly, the "Salutes NASCAR" album also sounds mostly like Mike and Adrian Baker.

Some photos of Mike's sessions over the last few years have been posted online, and they usually tend to show Stamos and Foskett (and perhaps Totten?), but I've never seen Bruce.

Again, no indication how much he's on this stuff. But I don't think Bruce is joined at the hip in the studio with Mike the way he is on tour.

[HeyJude]

Listened to the "Getcha Back" clip. There isn't a lot of lead vocal in the excerpt, but Mike's voice still sounds horribly robotic.

This is making even Mike's leads on the C50 live album sound like a warm analog natural recording in comparison.

Is Mike's voice really in *that* bad a shape that Michael Lloyd had to crank the autotune? I would tend to think not. It's really, really distracting.

I'm starting to wonder if Mike actually held onto "Melinda's secret autotune device" and decided to use it on everything.

Also noticing that in both of the samples released so far, the backing vocals surprisingly have that anonymous "Looking Back with Love" sound. Super anonymous-sounding vocalists. Yes, I can hear Foskett on the high part on "Getcha Back", but for better and worse, so far it doesn't sound like a stack of Fosketts. Rather, it sounds like the backing vocals on LBWL, or the non-BB layers on the disco remake of "Here Comes the Night."

[Matt H]

In the snippet it shows the Love You album cover.  I thought that was odd.

[guitarfool2002]

A new interview/article with Mike discussing the album:

https://www.southbendtribune.com/entertainment/inthebend/music/mike-love-has-a-cool-head-warm-heart-on-new/article_7a2ad772-197a-584c-a293-3a98a559be09.html

Quote:

The Beach Boys’ frontman and standard-bearer has fond recollections of recording “Wild Honey,” most of which was done in a studio the band installed in Brian Wilson’s house.

“It was at Brian’s, the studio we put in Brian’s home because he was going through some ups and downs, mentally and emotionally,” Love says, “and it was more or less necessary to create a studio environment in his home so that he wouldn’t be subject to all the things going on around The Beach Boys at the time.”

Revisionist bullshit.

To be fair, although I don’t have a copy of the Endless Harmony DVD handy, didn’t both Carl and Al say something similar? Happy to be corrected.


Edit. Not a happy period.

http://www.laweekly.com/music/brian-wilsons-secret-bedroom-tapes-4392791

I stand by my description "revisionist bullshit" about Mike's comment. The "bedroom tapes" period is after 1967, after Wild Honey and even after Friends. Chidester's article isn't relevant to what Mike is commenting on.

There are numerous comments on the record and published dating back to Summer 1967 how and why the home studio was put into Brian's then-new house.

Briefly: The common thread in many of them is that Brian since early '67 was having a harder time booking the studios he wanted to book. Another common thread I've seen from at least two people directly involved was that Nick Grillo had the idea to get the studio to Brian so Brian wouldn't have to go to the studio. David Anderle said Brian was frustrated because he couldn't book the studios when he was hot to record, and was also having problems regarding the engineers.

Derek Taylor wrote nearly the same sentiments in July '67, Brian would want to book time and record when the inspiration struck, even on a whim with no notice, and he couldn't book the rooms he wanted.

Taylor also wrote in July '67:  "In one inspired decision, (Nick) Grillo and the Beach Boys were able to a. Make use of Brian Wilson's new house, b. restructure the attitude and atmosphere at recording sessions and c. remove the problem of availability of commercial studios. They built their own 8-track studio in the Spanish house."

Al Jardine - July 2000 interview - backed up that Grillo was behind the idea, but also mentioned a financial reason: "I'm trying to figure out how we went from United-Western and Columbia to Brian's living room. I'll have to ask [Steve] Desper, our engineer about that. It must have been a conception of his and Nick Grillo, our manager at the time. There must have been something related to costs. It was certainly costing an arm and a leg to record at these studios."

I cannot copy and paste (nor can I remember offhand) other quotes from those involved, but I do know the most prevailing "reason" was that Brian was frustrated by the lack of availability of his favorite studio rooms and was unable to book them when he wanted to record. So if it was Grillo, and I don't see any reasons given that it wasn't his idea as he was the manager at that time, they solved the availability issue and also got an engineer pretty much "on call" in the person of Jim Lockert who would be available specifically for the band and Brian when they wanted to record.

I did hear that Chuck Britz was offered that gig to be the band's on-call engineer but declined and instead personally recommended Jim Lockert who took the job. Lockert ended up doing Smiley Smile, traveled to Hawaii for the live recordings, and did Wild Honey. The "home studio" was not fully operational until the Friends album which is why Brian cut a lot of sessions at Wally Heider's then-new studio facilities at Selma and Cahuenga (prior to that Wally had mostly done gear rentals and remote/live recordings for his business, including Monterey Pop. The brick-and-mortar studio was new when Brian started cutting there, in fact Brian and the BB's were among Wally's first big clients at that facility).

So again - Mike proscribing the move to the home studio specific to Wild Honey to Brian's mental and emotional issues is revisionist bullshit.

[Pretty Funky]

Thanks for the clarification GF.

That whole period for Brian and the band must have been pretty f***ed up. While not to mock Brian or the way he worked, the concept of studios being available 24/7 on his whim sounds great in theory but surely unlikely in a business sense. Not to mention the band wanting to come down, again on a whim.

I’ll cut Mike a bit of slack here still. The question asked of him was specifically related to WH sure, but that whole period and the music recorded when and where is possibly a bit blurred.

[NateRuvin]

Say what you will about Mike's voice, but look at any youtube clip of him performing in 2017, and you will know that his voice is still strong for his age and DOESN'T need that much autotune!

[guitarfool2002]

Say what you will about Mike's voice, but look at any youtube clip of him performing in 2017, and you will know that his voice is still strong for his age and DOESN'T need that much autotune!

I've seen as many clips to disagree with that opinion - if not more - than I have to agree with it. But I'll leave it at that. It's subjective.