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

[KDS]

Not to my ears, I thought it was the best song on the whole set (well maybe a tie with Warmth of the Sun). The guitar solo on Wild Honey was really good too. It sounds out of place on the covers disc because it sounds that good.

That's pretty cool.   

Speaking of guitar solos, I'm really not a fan of the song, but each time I've seen Mike and Bruce (and once David) do Pisces Brothers, Scott Totten played a really good guitar solo.  Is there anything like that on the album version? 

Yeah, not sure if it’s the same as what you’ve heard in concert, but it’s a tasteful solo during the middle eight.

Cool.   I'll definitely be interested to hear that.  For me the solo, in concert anyway, redeems the song.   Plus as a big fan of guitar based rock, there are relatively few moments in the BB universe for a nice solo. 

Not to get too off-topic, but what are your thoughts on Carl and the Passions? The main songs on there seem to be as rocking as those guys got (besides the amazing live at Knebworth album which feeds my ac/dc musical tastes).

"Lookin' at Tomorrow" from the 1983 tour is pretty hot; would love to have a soundboard of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv77kR-l5mc

Whoa, that sounds phenomenal and so unexpected considering how chill the original is.

@KDS, I totally agree with you. I think had they shortened some songs, ditched some others that it would’ve made a really powerful, but short, album. That guitar opening on a Mess Of Help is killer though, one of the coolest rock tunes I’ve heard.

I too prefer Holland, much more cohesive, and Steamboat is one of my favorites.

Yeah, I like the intro to You Need a Mess, but I think the song kinda meanders, and I'm not really a fan of that vocal style from Carl.  

[HeyJude]

Not to my ears, I thought it was the best song on the whole set (well maybe a tie with Warmth of the Sun). The guitar solo on Wild Honey was really good too. It sounds out of place on the covers disc because it sounds that good.

That's pretty cool.   

Speaking of guitar solos, I'm really not a fan of the song, but each time I've seen Mike and Bruce (and once David) do Pisces Brothers, Scott Totten played a really good guitar solo.  Is there anything like that on the album version? 

Yeah, not sure if it’s the same as what you’ve heard in concert, but it’s a tasteful solo during the middle eight.

Cool.   I'll definitely be interested to hear that.  For me the solo, in concert anyway, redeems the song.   Plus as a big fan of guitar based rock, there are relatively few moments in the BB universe for a nice solo. 

Not to get too off-topic, but what are your thoughts on Carl and the Passions? The main songs on there seem to be as rocking as those guys got (besides the amazing live at Knebworth album which feeds my ac/dc musical tastes).

"Lookin' at Tomorrow" from the 1983 tour is pretty hot; would love to have a soundboard of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv77kR-l5mc

Whoa, that sounds phenomenal and so unexpected considering how chill the original is.

@KDS, I totally agree with you. I think had they shortened some songs, ditched some others that it would’ve made a really powerful, but short, album. That guitar opening on a Mess Of Help is killer though, one of the coolest rock tunes I’ve heard.

I too prefer Holland, much more cohesive, and Steamboat is one of my favorites.

That "Lookin' at Tomorrow" performance is even more surprising considering the 1983 touring band wasn't exactly hard-rockin' or bluesy to begin with. I wish they would have done more 70s stuff with some nice organ work, because Mike Meros rarely got to show his chops.

For some reason, they were toying with a little hunk of the "Surf's Up" album during the 1983 tour, as "Disney Girls", "Lookin' at Tomorrow", and "Long Promised Road" all briefly dipped in and out of the setlist.

[NateRuvin]

After listening to Unleash The Love straight through, I actually enjoyed it a lot. Once you get past the autotune and shitty production, the music is really good. The first CD shows off some of Mike's alltime best solo songs, and who couldn't love the BBs classics? They don't compare to the originals, but they're fun to listen to. I LOVE Wild Honey with Cowsill. I expected to give this album a 2/10, but once I got past the production I'd give it maybe  a 6/10. Good stuff. Genius or groundbreaking? No. But fun? Sure.

[NateRuvin]

And I love Ram Raj!!!! The hook reminds me of something that would be on SMiLE!!!! 

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

Couple of questions if anyone knows....

1) Is that one of Mikes younger kids at the end of "Crescent Moon" ?

2) Whats with that "now its time to run out for some curry" line at the end of Ram Raj?

[rab2591]

After listening to Unleash The Love straight through, I actually enjoyed it a lot. Once you get past the autotune and shitty production, the music is really good. The first CD shows off some of Mike's alltime best solo songs, and who couldn't love the BBs classics? They don't compare to the originals, but they're fun to listen to. I LOVE Wild Honey with Cowsill. I expected to give this album a 2/10, but once I got past the production I'd give it maybe  a 6/10. Good stuff. Genius or groundbreaking? No. But fun? Sure.

I just can’t get into the remakes other than a few (which are really good). But I agree with you about Ram Raj, that was a really pleasant surprise. I would love for Mike to build on that sound if he plans on continuing recording.

[CenturyDeprived]

 Whats with that "now its time to run out for some curry" line at the end of Ram Raj?

I can't believe this is part of the song.

I literally cannot believe it. That it took several pages of this thread for anyone to post about it tells me that so few people even listened to the songs all the way through to notice this (including myself).  

The verse vocals on Ram Raj are at least okay and not decimated by robo Autotune. But the curry line??!

[rab2591]

 Whats with that "now its time to run out for some curry" line at the end of Ram Raj?

I can't believe this is part of the song.

I literally cannot believe it. That it took several pages of this thread for anyone to post about it tells me that so few people even listened to the songs all the way through to notice this (including myself).  

The verse vocals on Ram Raj are at least okay and not decimated by robo Autotune. But the curry line??!

Guilty. I did listen to most of the song all the way through on the originals album (skipped unleash the love because I had heard it before) but skipped some when they became monotonous. I skipped most of the covers halfway through though listened fully to the ones I liked.

That curry line throws me for a loop...I just don’t know what’s going on in this album anymore

[SMiLE Brian]

I am seriously questioning Mike’s writing credits on BBs songs....

[HeyJude]

Once you get past the autotune and shitty production, the music is really good.

I'm not sure this is exactly the type of review Mike was hoping for.

I do feel like it's too easy to just dogpile on this new album. But even the most effusively positive reviews of this thing around the internet have like 27 qualifiers.

"I expected the worst, so I'm pleasantly slightly surprised...."

"Apart from the awful autotune....."

"Other than the poor production...."

"The cover versions (e.g. HALF the album) are pointless, but....."

"Mike sounds awful, but the guest vocalists are good...."

[jiggy22]

lol @ HeyJude, your post just hit a bunch of points I just made in my little review!

Like a lot of other people on this forum, I had pretty low expectations for this album. Listening all the way through last night, however, I was certainly taken back by a few tracks actually. Auto-tune aside, disc one is certainly an improvement over the earlier 2007 Make Love Not War bootleg. If I had to rank the tracks, it'd go something like:

13. Only One Earth (WAY too preachy for me)
12. Getcha Back (Unnecessary)
11. Unleash the Love
10. Make Love Not War
9. All the Love in Paris
8. Pisces Brothers
7. Crescent Moon
6. Too Cruel ("Too cruel for these lonelEEEEEEY nights")
5. I Don't Want to Know
4. Cool Head, Warm Heart
3. Daybreak Over the Ocean
2. 10,000 Years Ago (This has always been a personal favorite of mine, though shouldn't Dennis have gotten a songwriting credit as well?)
1. Ram Raj (Mike's composition of the past 30 years or so)

Ranking the second disc would go something like:
8. Do it Again
7. California Girls
6. Help Me Rhonda, I Get Around
5. Kiss Me Baby, Wouldn't it Be Nice, Good Vibrations, Fun, Fun, Fun
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
4. Brian's Back
3. Darlin'
2. The Warmth of the Sun
1. Wild Honey

So overall, I'd have to give the first disc a solid 6/10. The autotune does NO favors for Mike, and, as discussed previously by other members, it's quite hypocritical for Mike to use it after his criticisms of Brian two years back. However, you can tell Mike certainly put a lot of heart into this new material, however much of a hypocrite he may or may not be. The second disc is another beast altogether. Aside from the top four, there's really nothing good to say at all, so I'll leave it at this: The second disc gets a big ole' 2/10 from me.

[Tony S]

The one thing I will give him credit for on the new stuff...at least the songs and the arrangements sound like he's trying to be somewhat contemporary.....and I don't think I heard a lot of his typical Beach Boys song names within the lyrics of the new stuff. As far as the old songs....OMG....Rhonda is the absolute worst cover version I have ever heard of that classic. Al Jardine must be laughing hysterically! Second CD totally useless and uncalled for IMHO.

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

The one thing I will give him credit for on the new stuff...at least the songs and the arrangements sound like he's trying to be somewhat contemporary.....and I don't think I heard a lot of his typical Beach Boys song names within the lyrics of the new stuff. As far as the old songs....OMG....Rhonda is the absolute worst cover version I have ever heard of that classic. Al Jardine must be laughing hysterically! Second CD totally useless and uncalled for IMHO.

That's true. Really not a fan of that bland soul pop sound he has gone for on 3 or 4 songs but at least he is not cramming old song titles into lyrics.

[Gabo]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/unleash-the-love-mw0003118014

As of yet, the only published review of Unleash the Love.

[HeyJude]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/unleash-the-love-mw0003118014

As of yet, the only published review of Unleash the Love.

I'm surprised such a relatively scathing review still resulted in even 2 1/2 out of five stars.

[Gabo]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/unleash-the-love-mw0003118014

As of yet, the only published review of Unleash the Love.

I'm surprised such a relatively scathing review still resulted in even 2 1/2 out of five stars.

They gave Looking Back with Love out of 4, so it seems like they're certainly grading it on a curve. 

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

Re: Autotune...I know this has been done to death at this stage but is it not the case that the effect used is more a product of pop music today?

Obviously Mike is 76 and can't hit a lot of notes anymore so it helps but I would imagine the producer is happy to work with it in the confines of how a lot of popular acts sound today.

Listen to any reality tv show and the way people sing now is actually imitating software effects as that has become what is expected in popular music.

So in asking how does the producer of Unleash the Love let this out? cos most people don't care or notice. Just my opinion.

[rab2591]

On a Kanye West album it sounds great. On a Julia Michael’s album it sounds great.

When you’re 76 years old and your guy at the booth doesn’t know how to use autotune it sounds dreadfully bad. I mean it sounds horrendous when autotune is applied to Brian in copious amounts. I guess a producers job is to listen to the music and steer it in the right direction. It shouldn’t matter what is hip these days, what should matter is how it sounds when it’s being heard on the monitor.

And if Mike wants autotune, totally fine! Paul McCartney has it on his Live in New York album and it sounds tasteful and great. But also keep in mind the rest of your mix has to match that effect...So when plastic/stale instrumentals are the backdrop for Mike attempting to sound hip it is going to fail hard. And it did. So in my opinion the producer did a real awful job and Mike shouldn’t have released this as it is...especially when there are moments of actual beauty on this record.

That’s another thing, if the producer wanted the whole album to sound modern, then why only apply autotune in copious amounts to some of the tracks? I agree with you that that’s probably why the autotune was done. But I feel like the producer was completely lazy, like this record was more of an annoyance than a real project. I mean, none of this sounds cohesive. Wild Honey is a grand slam, as is Warmth of the Sun, and they sound so out of place on here because they sound nothing like the rest of the garbage on the second disc. I think it’s a producers main job to make sure a record sounds cohesive, and none of this does. I’m mostly referring to the second disc. The first disc, minus the autotune, was a pleasant surprise for me.

But anywho, I’m just thinking out loud.

[CenturyDeprived]

On a Kanye West album it sounds great. On a Julia Michael’s album it sounds great.

When you’re 76 years old and your guy at the booth doesn’t know how to use autotune it sounds dreadfully bad. I mean it sounds horrendous when autotune is applied to Brian in copious amounts. I guess a producers job is to listen to the music and steer it in the right direction. It shouldn’t matter what is hip these days, what should matter is how it sounds when it’s being heard on the monitor.

And if Mike wants autotune, totally fine! Paul McCartney has it on his Live in New York album and it sounds tasteful and great. But also keep in mind the rest of your mix has to match that effect...So when plastic/stale instrumentals are the backdrop for Mike attempting to sound hip it is going to fail hard. And it did. So in my opinion the producer did a real awful job and Mike shouldn’t have released this as it is...especially when there are moments of actual beauty on this record.

That’s another thing, if the producer wanted the whole album to sound modern, then why only apply autotune in copious amounts to some of the tracks? I agree with you that that’s probably why the autotune was done. But I feel like the producer was completely lazy, like this record was more of an annoyance than a real project. I mean, none of this sounds cohesive. Wild Honey is a grand slam, as is Warmth of the Sun, and they sound so out of place on here because they sound nothing like the rest of the garbage on the second disc. I think it’s a producers main job to make sure a record sounds cohesive, and none of this does. I’m mostly referring to the second disc. The first disc, minus the autotune, was a pleasant surprise for me.

But anywho, I’m just thinking out loud.

I honestly wonder how much time Mike spent in the studio on vocals on some of these songs. Yes, songs like Cool Head sound good, that's probably because it was recorded a decade + ago, when Mike's voice was in better shape, and didn't try to sing out of his range.

The cover songs with AWFUL Autotune sound like Mike took one or two takes and then left. Mike always made no secret that he hated spending too much time in the studio, after all.

[SMiLE Brian]

Unleash the autotune!

Least he didn't do BTTYS on the album....

[Pretty Funky]

Considering the target market is us, the use of AT was always going to be a sore point. With Mikes criticism of Brian using it, he deserves to be mocked.

Sorry, but there are tracks on this, just as there are those on the C50 live album I just can’t finish.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

 A fine review from Allmusic indeed! Hope to read more like this.

[SMiLE Brian]

Billy C. could have mixed a better album on his playstation 2!

[guitarfool2002]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/unleash-the-love-mw0003118014

As of yet, the only published review of Unleash the Love.

>>>>>>AllMusic Review by Mark Deming  [-]

In some bands, somebody has to be the tough guy who gets stuff done, even if other folks don't like it. While Mike Love was the frontman and frequent lead vocalist in the Beach Boys from the beginning, the group's creative soul belonged to Brian Wilson, their main songwriter, producer, arranger, and harmony enthusiast. As brilliant as Wilson was (and still is), someone needed to be the guy who cracked the whip and saw to it that they delivered a saleable product, both on-stage and in the studio, and that was where Love excelled. Consequently, there is a wide divide of opinions about Mike Love; casual fans see him as the cheery guy who delivers a well-oiled entertainment machine that plays the sheds every summer, while those who revere the Beach Boys' more ambitious work, such as Pet Sounds and Smile, revile Love as the guy who lacked an understanding of Brian's vision and turned the band into a hollow oldies act. Love is also something of an enigma musically, having released only one solo album (1981's Looking Back with Love) in a career that's spanned six decades. He's doubled his solo output with the arrival of 2017's Unleash the Love, a two-disc set that features a batch of new tunes along with remakes of venerable Beach Boys hits. If this album gives us a clearer picture of Love's own musical world view, it's one troublingly lacking in depth. Most of disc one is devoted to bland pop numbers that sound numbingly formulaic in both concept and execution ("All the Love in Paris" is built around a sax solo from Dave Koz that makes Kenny G sound like Albert Ayler), and his numbers about environmentalism and world peace boast all the sincerity of a TV public service announcement. Disc two features new recordings of old Beach Boys hits (most of which feature lyrics by Love and music by Wilson), and while the songs are much better, the arrangements sound like the work of a Beach Boys tribute band struggling to work up the enthusiasm to play the fourth set of the night. At his best, Love's voice had a tendency to sound nasal, but on these recordings (released when he was 76 years old), his instrument sounds brittle and his range has narrowed enough that he hands the lead vocals over to others on two tracks. One wonders who the intended market is for a version of "Do It Again" that features no one named Wilson but does include Mark McGrath. And the presence of a new recording of "Brian's Back," Love's '70s tribute to a guy he has since chosen not to work with, is nothing short of confounding. Lackluster as music and downright puzzling as a cultural artifact, Unleash the Love confirms that whatever you think of Mike Love's 21st century edition of the Beach Boys, he's better off doing that than trying to make music by himself.<<<<<<


Here I was ready to call out Mr. Deming's portrayal of Mike as the guy who "cracked the whip" both on stage and in the studio...because the only thing Mike cracked on stage or in studio was corny jokes alternating with sh*t-eating grins while two brothers named "Wilson" respectively saw to the studio business and the live band issues when the band was at its peak musically.

But...I like Mr. Deming's review. It's a little harsh at times but on point just the same. I share some of his opinions verbatim.

[jeffh]

I really like Darlin with AJR