Gettin' in Over My Head

[Irwin M. Fletcher]

To point #1 above - exactly. 1961-1967 - tons of hits, fun, appearances, Pet Sounds, harmonies, popularity, posterity, etc. Post 1967 - mediocrity at best, until they rediscovered BRIAN'S stuff ala Endless Summer and resurged in popularity playing the hits. You made my point.

To point# 2 above, I'm listening to the album with dreck like Got To Know The Woman, Tears In The Morning, Deidre...which, incidentally, Bruce said Brian contributed one word to for his co-writing credit. How anyone can even begin to compare that to Pet Sounds is beyond me.

Greatness isn't necessarily measured by hits or popularity. And considering since everything post 1967 is mediocrity, I suppose that includes the two albums and myriad tracks that Brian produced or co-produced when he quite clearly wasn't up to par with his pre-1967 days? I'm sorry man, but I really have to disagree with you. After 1967, Brian's involvement became too sparse and too inconsistent on the whole. The Brian's Back campaign yielded three albums and scores of unreleased material produced by Brian, and even then he wasn't producing work on par with his 1961-1967 days. After 1967, someone had to jump on the boat, and the rest of the band was obviously willing to. Dennis and Carl did so most eagerly, and with the finest results. And when Brian's contiributions were used, many times they were of varying vintage. Brian just didn't want to be a Beach Boy anymore. As far as I'm concerned, after 1967, the Beach Boys' creative control remained in the hands of Carl and Dennis for the most part.

As far as Deirdre goes, Brian contributed many words, of which Bruce used two. Hence the rather nice co-writing credit.

[Wirestone]

Ya'll can say what you want, but IMHO it is true, Brian was and is the BBs. Artie's point is getting lost in the whole post-67 discussion. Everything the band did after that time, with the scattered exception of some of Dennis' songs, paled in comparison with whatever bits Brian chose to contribute.

The rest of the BBs were a talented vocal group, with some ability as songwriters. BW was a genius, pure and simple.

[monkee knutz]

[

Sunflower has very little Brian involvement? 7 tracks co-written by Brian, Brian evident in all the backing vocals and in a lot of the production? What album are you listening to?

To point above, I'm listening to the album with dreck like Got To Know The Woman, Tears In The Morning, Deidre...which, incidentally, Bruce said Brian contributed one word to for his co-writing credit. How anyone can even begin to compare that to Pet Sounds is beyond me.

Say wha... 

Gettin' In- is yes, by far Bri's weakest album. Good production with real musicians (FINALLY!) & not synths. Some decent tunes- no real feeling behind them- kind of a going-through-the-motions kind of feel. It sounds flat and not alive. Not the best choice of tunes- few strong. Weak use of Paul McC repeating the same line. Why bother with Elton & Crapton? The prior LP's, Warner & Imagination have far better tunes- but shitty production. Better than Sunflower... no freakin' way!!

[Andrew G. Doe]

I ended up giving this one a 2.  While the album itself is nearly unlistenable, there ARE good songs on here.  They're hard to find underneath all the bad production and lack of band vocals, but they're there. 

It's better then LBWL.

No, it's not. LBWL is inoccuous and mostly enjoyable  fluff. GIOMH sucks like a turbocharged vacuum  in warp drive. I just listened to it, and now, I'm going to wash out my ears.

[Sir Rob]

My considered opinion -

it sucks, majorly.

Quite simply, the worst/least essential (delete where applicable) BB solo album ever released, and that includes not only LBWL but also Bruce's effort.

I just don't know how you arrive at this opinion.  It's not a great album but no way is it anywhere as near bad as you're making out.  I don't see how an album with a fair number of songs varying from OK to great could be.

[Matinee Idyll]

One song on the album varies to great - the title track.

One song on the album varies to OK - Soul Searchin'.

The rest, Mr. Doe is quite right.

[Sir Rob]

No, the songs you mentioned plus Desert Drive, Saturday Morning In The City (my favourite on the album) and The Waltz are all great.  HCWSBD - the 'hey everybody' chorus is wonderful - shame he had EJ singing the verses.  City Blues is good but ruined by EC's guitar.  Have to say I'm not overly keen on the Sweet Insanity tracks.  I hated 'A Friend Like You' when I first heard it but it's assumed a strange, though admittedly wimpish, charm since.  Fairy Tale I'm not that mad on.  You Touched Me is pleasantly OK.  Can't think of anything else for the moment.  As ever, I know this is all a matter of opinion but I just find it hard to see how any BW/BB fan could hate this album so intensely. 

[JoeP]

It's a good album. Not everything Brian does has to be magical or brilliant.  Brian is allowed to make, simply, an album that is fun.. with some average songs, some good, and likely with a few weaker ones.  Most of the songs on this one though, are pretty decent.  I love Brian with Clapton and Elton.  The Mccartney one is ok, the Waltz is great.

[Evenreven]

I like Soul Searchin', the title track, Saturday morning and Desert Drive. And the first three were better on the Paley sessions.

2 1/2

[Sir Rob]

I like Soul Searchin', the title track, Saturday morning and Desert Drive. And the first three were better on the Paley sessions.

2 1/2

I agree with that about the Paley sessions.  There was a very good album in there.

[RobtheNobleSurfer]

You're WAY in the minority of one with that opinion here, but good luck, my friend!

Ten years ago, Artie's view was in the vast majority.

[RobtheNobleSurfer]

I ended up giving this one a 2.  While the album itself is nearly unlistenable, there ARE good songs on here.  They're hard to find underneath all the bad production and lack of band vocals, but they're there. 

It's better then LBWL.

No, it's not. LBWL is inoccuous and mostly enjoyable  fluff. GIOMH sucks like a turbocharged vacuum  in warp drive. I just listened to it, and now, I'm going to wash out my ears.

Andrew, why are you going out of your way to trash this record? You've so far said how much "this sucks", but you didn't back up your arguments. Or are you saving that for the next edition of your book?

And I happen to think that LBWL is a festering piece of horseshit.

[Irwin M. Fletcher]

Andrew, why are you going out of your way to trash this record? You've so far said how much "this sucks", but you didn't back up your arguments. Or are you saving that for the next edition of your book?

And I happen to think that LBWL is a festering piece of horsemerda.

Maybe he just likes LBWL better than GIOMH. Is that so hard to wrap yourself around? I like LBWL better than GIOMH, and I can back up my argument. LBWL moves me, GIOMH doesn't.

[RobtheNobleSurfer]

[
Maybe he just likes LBWL better than GIOMH. Is that so hard to wrap yourself around?


Yes, I do. I've heard LBWL and have tried to like it, but I don't. Mike by himself is not a good thing. He doesn't and never did have the talent to sustain a reord without considerable help (from Brian back in their heyday and ,later on, Carl).


 I like LBWL better than GIOMH, and I can back up my argument. LBWL moves me, GIOMH doesn't.

Wonderful! I'd like Andrew to do the same in grester detail, because I truly am baffled as to why anyone would say that GIOMH could be considered the worst BB solo record and the worst record Brian made ever When that honor SHOULD  go to Imagination.

[Irwin M. Fletcher]

Wonderful! I'd like Andrew to do the same in grester detail, because I truly am baffled as to why anyone would say that GIOMH could be considered the worst BB solo record and the worst record Brian made ever When that honor SHOULD  go to Imagination.

Andrew isn't just whistling Dixie by saying that. I had high hopes for GIOMH too. He had high hopes, I'm sure. Brian didn't just "not deliver", he totally failed at his attempt. He made the biggest joke album release of 2004, an album that never should have been released. I gave it a 3 because I'm really forgiving and like a few tunes on there, but I'll listen to LBWL over GIOMH any day of the week.

As far as Imagination is concerned, yeah, that's not much better, but Brian was actually saddled with some halfway decent material on there. I don't think he'll ever reach the height he reached on the self-titled album.

[Luther]

I'm not speaking for Andrew, but I believe his previous statements have said that the reason he dislikes it so much is the obvious lack of care Brian gave his vocals. I think I recall Andrew also saying that Brian didn't have much or any say in what was included as far as the material, but I may be remembering incorrectly there.

As for me, I agree that Brian's vocals are horribly shoddy through most of GIOMH and he should've used his backing band to do backgrounds throughout the disc instead of just on one track, but I prefer its material and instrumental production by far over Imagination, so I agree that it beats that late 90s clunker.

[RobtheNobleSurfer]

Wonderful! I'd like Andrew to do the same in grester detail, because I truly am baffled as to why anyone would say that GIOMH could be considered the worst BB solo record and the worst record Brian made ever When that honor SHOULD  go to Imagination.

Andrew isn't just whistling Dixie by saying that. I had high hopes for GIOMH too. He had high hopes, I'm sure. Brian didn't just "not deliver", he totally failed at his attempt. He made the biggest joke album release of 2004, an album that never should have been released. I gave it a 3 because I'm really forgiving and like a few tunes on there, but I'll listen to LBWL over GIOMH any day of the week.

And again, I can't really fathom how anyone could call it the biggest joke release of 2004. I'm not saying it's great and I'm not even saying it's good. But the worst?

As far as Imagination is concerned, yeah, that's not much better, but Brian was actually saddled with some halfway decent material on there. I don't think he'll ever reach the height he reached on the self-titled album.

Let's go to Imagination. The only really good songs are the title track, the Sherry She Needs me remake, Lay Down, Burden, Cry and Happy Days.  If I had to compile a list of the best songs from Sweet Insanity and the Paley tapes, it would look an awful lot like the track list of GIOMH. So, on a song by song basis, that alone, for me makes GIOMH better than Imagination.  The fact that Joe Thomas ruined Imagination with that overly slick , homogenous production makes it inferior to GIOMH - say what you will about the 2004, at least it SOUNDS like a Brian Wilson record. Imagination sounds like Brian guesting on a Kenny Loggins record!  GIOMH sounds like it was made in a vacuum, completely devoid of the current trends and fashions. Records from the early 1960's sounds a lot closer to GIOMH than they do Imagination. Imagination sounds like it's trying hard to reach the Celine Dion crowd with a little bit of the hot country audience.  Imagination panders, GIOMH doesn't.

The faults that everyone finds with GIOMH - the sloppy lead vocals and even sloppier background vocals are noted. I agree, the band should have done them and Brian should hvae done better leads. It would have improved it somewhat.  But even so, the worst Brian record? Not by a longshot!

[Matinee Idyll]

But Rob... the songs on GIOMH are terrible disregarding the performances.  The title track, Soul Searchin' being the two exceptions.

[Luther]

But Rob... the songs on GIOMH are terrible disregarding the performances.  The title track, Soul Searchin' being the two exceptions.

I can't agree with that. I dislike several of the songs--I'm not a fan of Make a Wish at all, and I think Fairy Tale is pretty annoying. A Friend Like You, likewise.

But I think the bulk of the rest of the album features better songs, start to finish (although I may be forgetting a clunker or two, as I don't have the album near me and haven't listened in a few weeks at least), than either of the previous studio solo albums. To me (and I think to many others), the biggest problem is really just Brian's vocals, as well as his perceived (actual?) lack of involvement in the decision-making behind the album.

I think the songs you named as good are good. But so, too, do I think Desert Drive is good--not groundbreaking, not excitingly experimental...good. City blues is one that I like. The lead-off track is a decent song. I even like You've Touched Me, with its fun little vocal outro.

The overwhelming issue for me is just the vocals. Brian's leads were mediocre and his backgrounds were often bad. Sometimes out of tune, almost always out of time, rough starts and finishes, no enunciations. Weak. The instrumental tracks were good, and finally produced so that the album sounded like it had actual, natural instruments instead of a Casio and a reverb unit. There is no way in hell I would take songs like Sunshine (although I like the coda) or Night Time or Let it Shine over these songs.

[Wirestone]

As near as I can tell, the only thing Brian has said he was out of the loop of on the album was the final sequencing. That's seldom the artist's perogative anyway.

If you just listen to the damn album, it's obvious that it;s a Brian Wilson production through and through. I have never understood and will never understand why an album featuring classic (and yes, I said classic) Brian songs like DLHKSAA, the title track and Rainbow Eyes was trashed by so many people.

Brian's vocals are not perfect. It's true. They're certainly more on point, and better phrased, than OCA though.

I think people judged GIOMH based totally on criteria separate from the album as it exists. First, Smile had been debuted mere months before. The tapes were out, and people were psyched. They totally expected something beyond brilliant from Brian. Instead, they got a group of older tunes with some warbly vocals.

Second, Imagination had grown in estimation since '98. Lord knows I was in the minority in defending that album when it came out, but I think many people expected Brian to sound like that on GIOMH. They expected s brilliant, flawless voal performance, buffed and shined. Brian does not deliver that. He sounds far more like the Brian of OCA or the rougher Paley sessions tracks.

Third, a group on internet tastemakers (and I include AGD in this) took it upon themselves to loudly trash this album at every opportunity. It became difficult for people who genuinely dug the album to say anything in its defense without being trashed as deaf, fanboys, or what have you. I don't know why they turned on Brian, but I suspect the overall easygoing vibe and relaxed, 50-ish nature of GIOMH annoyed them. It's an older man's album, no doubt about that. There's nothing cool or hip about it -- certainly not the AC guest stars (who, let's face it, would have been far more at home in the Imagination sound world) or the somewhat wonky Mertens string arrangements.

But you see, I never liked Brian because he was cool. I liked him because I liked his songs and I liked his kind of weird latter-day voice. GIOMH delivers both.