Guardian review

[The Heartical Don]

Definately. I do to.

I could of thought of that one to.

[the captain]

Definately. I do to.

I could of thought of that one to.

Accept you didn't. I am better then you.

[The Heartical Don]

Definately. I do to.

I could of thought of that one to.

Accept you didn't. I am better then you.

Yes. I am worser then you. Back on topic now...

[the captain]

Definately. I do to.

I could of thought of that one to.

Accept you didn't. I am better then you.

Yes. I am worser then you. Back on topic now...

OK fine. I hate when revues trash albums just because their not fans of the artist in question. (Actually I don't give a f***. I just really wanted to get the last typo-laugh.)

[Smilin Ed H]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-brian-wilson-brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin-disney-pearl-series-2068870.html

Independent review.

[Mike's Beard]

Definately. I do to.

I could of thought of that one to.

Accept you didn't. I am better then you.

Yes. I am worser then you. Back on topic now...

OK fine. I hate when revues trash albums just because their not fans of the artist in question. (Actually I don't give a foder. I just really wanted to get the last typo-laugh.)

You too our two much!   

[SurfRiderHawaii]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-brian-wilson-brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin-disney-pearl-series-2068870.html

Independent review.

Ouch 

[Smilin Ed H]

Observer review:

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin(Disney Pearl)
 
Ally Carnwath
The Observer
Sunday 5 September 2010

"Musical icon X covers canonical composer Y" is a familiar moneyspinner, but this record is different. Wilson and the Gershwin brothers make an interesting alliance – not just as monuments of popular song but as chroniclers of the American dream. And Wilson, who deals more in labours of love than conventional records these days, brings his usual sincerity and diligence. Gershwin nuts will be most interested in two obscurities – "The Like In I Love You" and "Nothing But Love" – but these are love songs not museum artefacts, and, as with all 13 tracks, Wilson draws out their freshness and life.

[The Heartical Don]

Observer review:

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin(Disney Pearl)
 
Ally Carnwath
The Observer
Sunday 5 September 2010

"Musical icon X covers canonical composer Y" is a familiar moneyspinner, but this record is different. Wilson and the Gershwin brothers make an interesting alliance – not just as monuments of popular song but as chroniclers of the American dream. And Wilson, who deals more in labours of love than conventional records these days, brings his usual sincerity and diligence. Gershwin nuts will be most interested in two obscurities – "The Like In I Love You" and "Nothing But Love" – but these are love songs not museum artefacts, and, as with all 13 tracks, Wilson draws out their freshness and life.

I am going to write a love letter to that Ally Carnwath person.

[summerinparadise.flac]

Boy if the Disney album isn't crazy Love You style, synth-farting, weird arrangement etc. these reviews could get ugly...

[the captain]

Boy if the Disney album isn't crazy Love You style, synth-farting, weird arrangement etc. these reviews could get ugly...

I don't think anyone doing an album of Disney tunes is going into the project expecting critical acclaim for it.

[buddhahat]

Boy if the Disney album isn't crazy Love You style, synth-farting, weird arrangement etc. these reviews could get ugly...

I don't think anyone doing an album of Disney tunes is going into the project expecting critical acclaim for it.

Yeah agreed I think they will be taking a risk with reviewers, and the reputation that BW has built up post the Pet Sounds tour (GIOMH notwithstanding). However although the odds are stacked against, I do believe that it's not a foregone conclusion that it will be bad, (honest!). It depends on:

1. Them picking the right covers to do, and there are some gems in the Disney catalogue I'm sure many would agree, and songs such as When You Wish Upon A Star are no less appropriate than Gershwin from a BB historical p.o.v.

2. They don't just try and repeat the Gershwin one by numbers, but actually try to respond to the quality within the Disney material, in an intelligent and creative way.

3. If you like BWRG. If you don't like BWRG I think there's probably not much hope that a set of Wilsonized Disney tunes will win you over. I do think the concept of Wilson covering Disney will alienate many reviewers before they've even listened to it, so I wonder if it's the most sensible choice the Wilson camp has made, But who says BW has to put out arty records? If he wants to make purely commercial decisions then so be it. Personally I look forward to it. My kids already sing along to BWRG so I'm quite psyched about the prospect of Wilson singing Disney! (God can't believe I'm admitting to this - must be getting old)

[the captain]

I'm not saying it can't be a good (or even great) record. There is, as you say, plenty of great material in the Disney catalogue. My point was simply that such a project is highly unlikely to be a critical favorite, no matter how good it ends up. I would hope that he approaches it entirely from a "what is fun? what might my kids like from me with this? what would I and the band enjoy doing?" perspective.

[shelter]

From what I've heard,  BWRG isn't my usual thing. I always have to ask whether it's as a 'fanboy' that i like Brian's records. Would I feel the same if it were someone else making them?

My thoughts exactly. So far there are three songs that I like a whole lot, 'The Like In I Love You', 'I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'' and 'I Got Rhythm', but the rest... I want to like it cause it's Brian Wilson, but at the same time I know I wouldn't even give it a chance if it would've been anyone else cause it's really not my usual cup of tea.

[buddhahat]

I'm not saying it can't be a good (or even great) record. There is, as you say, plenty of great material in the Disney catalogue. My point was simply that such a project is highly unlikely to be a critical favorite, no matter how good it ends up. I would hope that he approaches it entirely from a "what is fun? what might my kids like from me with this? what would I and the band enjoy doing?" perspective.

Yes definitely. Let's hope it functions on at least one level as a record for kids to enjoy, otherwise it won't stand a chance. Of course there's a big chance it won't happen at all knowing BW, although it sounds like he is obligated contractually to deliver something.

[The Heartical Don]

I'm not saying it can't be a good (or even great) record. There is, as you say, plenty of great material in the Disney catalogue. My point was simply that such a project is highly unlikely to be a critical favorite, no matter how good it ends up. I would hope that he approaches it entirely from a "what is fun? what might my kids like from me with this? what would I and the band enjoy doing?" perspective.

Yes definitely. Let's hope it functions on at least one level as a record for kids to enjoy, otherwise it won't stand a chance. Of course there's a big chance it won't happen at all knowing BW, although it sounds like he is obligated contractually to deliver something.

What about a coke-fuelled, 45 minute long, pounding version of 'Heigh Ho' (done in the way Tom Waits did it in that Hal Willner project)?

[Mike's Beard]

The words "Brian Wilson" and "contractually obligated" make for a very scary combination.

[The Heartical Don]

The words "Brian Wilson" and "contractually obligated" make for a very scary combination.

  as in: I Think We Have Been F*cked?

[brother john]

British snobbery at its worst. The writer smokes a pipe, loves his Chihuahua, and is a bachelor.

And that isn't snobbery? I'm British (well, English) and I don't smoke a pipe or have a chihuahua. It's just a review by one man. The UK is a broad church.

No one should take the Guardian review too seriously, the pretentiousness of the Guardian is incredible.

And this opinion is based on what? I assume you're from the UK, otherwise you wouldn't have an opinion. What do you read? Telegraph? Daily Mail?

Observer review:

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin(Disney Pearl)
 
Ally Carnwath
The Observer
Sunday 5 September 2010

"Musical icon X covers canonical composer Y" is a familiar moneyspinner, but this record is different. Wilson and the Gershwin brothers make an interesting alliance – not just as monuments of popular song but as chroniclers of the American dream. And Wilson, who deals more in labours of love than conventional records these days, brings his usual sincerity and diligence. Gershwin nuts will be most interested in two obscurities – "The Like In I Love You" and "Nothing But Love" – but these are love songs not museum artefacts, and, as with all 13 tracks, Wilson draws out their freshness and life.

I am going to write a love letter to that Ally Carnwath person.

A nicer review. You may be surprised to hear that the Observer is the Sunday edition of the Guardian, that most pretentious of newspapers.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-brian-wilson-brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin-disney-pearl-series-2068870.html

Independent review.

Ouch 

Thing is, in all honesty, most of these criticisms are fair. If someone else had released BWRG rather than our lovely Brian we'd probably hate it (or at least hate some of it). I think its not bad. Its not great, but its not bad. Pretty good for Brian Wilson. The thing is, we do tend to have what someone here described as a 'fan boy' appreciation of everything BW does, and we need to accept that other people (many of whom work as record reviewers) judge the millions of CDs they here on their own merits, and don't make allowances in the way we do. BWRG is not bad, but one one level I do accept the accusations of awfulness.

Head and tailing it with Rhapsody was a mistake as bother versions are wall of Brians and dire. TLIILY is a beautiful, nearly superb (if blandly mixed) piece of work which is genuinely almost great, and Nothing But Love is the first track by Brian Wilson for years, maybe decades, to contain any of the genuine joie de vivre of early Brian Wilson recordings.

Much of the rest of the album will sound strange to anyone who isn't familiar with Brian's singing 'style', which isn't even late Sinatra. The BG vocals are, as others have complained here, horribly MOR and EQd in such as way as to render them so bland and inoffensive as to be frankly offensive. Some of the arrangements are great, but to English ears the overall feel and sound of the album verges perilously close to pure trex. There is a rebellious and creative spirit to the British (English, Scots, Welsh and Irish) and stuff that's painless, smooth and wrinkle free tends to wash over us a bit.

I think the reviews cited here were a bit cruel, as the album is certainly better than they seem to be implying, but I don't believe for a minute there was an agenda to hate the album before listening. Everyone wants Brian Wilson to be great again, but we all find it hard to accept that it isn't going to happen.

No autotune. You heard it here.


P.S. Wirestone, once again a compelling voice of sanity.

Y'know, the album stands on its own.

It's a heartfelt, deeply considered work. It is not to everyone's taste. As I've posted many a place, there are certain aspects of this record -- cover versions, strings, crooning -- that will make many people cringe, fans and non-fans alike.

And that's okay. I've struggled with the album myself -- not its quality, which is really about the best Brian has ever done as a solo artist, but more with the fact that I know these songs well. Very well. And that's not quite as exciting as a new album of BW-written (or lightly frosted) tunes. He also excises all the lead-in verses from the songs (there's a great verse to "Someone to Watch Over Me," for example). But these criticisms are very personal -- they wouldn't make the album any better or worse for the general public.

Brian is not a fashionable guy. He is (still) a unique musician, with great depths of talent. And he's made a record that -- for once -- I can believe without reservation that he cares about and loves. For me, that's enough.

[The Heartical Don]

Dear Brother John -

with all due respect: you are more earnest than I am. I didn't make to want a case about the quality of UK newspapers (hey, the Sun rules), nor about any semi-objective assessment of BWRG. I'm lucky the platter is around, and that Brian is still with us. What non-fans think is their own thing. Most reviews are boring anyway, by-the-numbers-hackwork.

This board gives me good information, great subjective insights, and an enormous amount of warm insider humour. That is why it is my favourite board on the web.

[brother john]

Wasn't meaning to get at you HD - no offence taken and I hope none given. Its hard being English in England at the moment. Or maybe that's just my paranoia...

And you're probably right about the hack work. I guess a lot of reviewers just get to review what's thrown at them, and are all probably about fifteen anyway and into Gaga and MIA.

[The Shift]

I'm English and I have smoked a pipe, if it helps. But I've never chewed a wahwah.

[buddhahat]

But I've never chewed a wahwah.

Aye chiwawa!

Thing is, in all honesty, most of these criticisms are fair. If someone else had released BWRG rather than our lovely Brian we'd probably hate it (or at least hate some of it). I think its not bad. Its not great, but its not bad. Pretty good for Brian Wilson. The thing is, we do tend to have what someone here described as a 'fan boy' appreciation of everything BW does, and we need to accept that other people (many of whom work as record reviewers) judge the millions of CDs they here on their own merits, and don't make allowances in the way we do. BWRG is not bad, but one one level I do accept the accusations of awfulness.

Head and tailing it with Rhapsody was a mistake as bother versions are wall of Brians and dire. TLIILY is a beautiful, nearly superb (if blandly mixed) piece of work which is genuinely almost great, and Nothing But Love is the first track by Brian Wilson for years, maybe decades, to contain any of the genuine joie de vivre of early Brian Wilson recordings.

Much of the rest of the album will sound strange to anyone who isn't familiar with Brian's singing 'style', which isn't even late Sinatra. The BG vocals are, as others have complained here, horribly MOR and EQd in such as way as to render them so bland and inoffensive as to be frankly offensive. Some of the arrangements are great, but to English ears the overall feel and sound of the album verges perilously close to pure trex. There is a rebellious and creative spirit to the British (English, Scots, Welsh and Irish) and stuff that's painless, smooth and wrinkle free tends to wash over us a bit.

I think the reviews cited here were a bit cruel, as the album is certainly better than they seem to be implying, but I don't believe for a minute there was an agenda to hate the album before listening. Everyone wants Brian Wilson to be great again, but we all find it hard to accept that it isn't going to happen.

No autotune. You heard it here.

Good sense from Brother John. I love BWRG, but it holds the dubious honour of being the first album that has made me seriously question my own music taste, (aside from the ELO phase I went through at college, oh and liking Trans by Neil Young). I find it impossible to be objective about it and have resigned myself to the fact that I just love the music of Brian Wilson. I don't like everything he puts out these days, so I can't have succumbed wholly to the fanboy mentality (not that that would be a bad thing), but I'm halfway there. What I do know is that he can still write 'em when he chooses and as hard evidence I would cite the following tracks: Christmassey, Oxygen To The Brain, Midnight's Another Day, Message Man, Nothing But Love. However I would not dream of playing these to my friends as they would laugh in my face. As such I don't expect good reviews from The Guardian, but secretly, deep down, the following knowledge brings me great comfort and warmth: Brian Wilson is still a genius.

[Paulos]

Brother John, I am English and I do not read newspapers as there is something rotten about each and every one of them.

[The Shift]

Good sense from Brother John. I love BWRG, but it holds the dubious honour of being the first album that has made me seriously question my own music taste... and have resigned myself to the fact that I just love the music of Brian Wilson. I don't like everything he puts out these days ...  I do know that he can still write 'em when he chooses and as hard evidence I would cite the following tracks: Christmassey, Oxygen To The Brain, Midnight's Another Day, Message Man, Nothing But Love. ...  secretly, deep down, the following knowledge brings me great comfort and warmth: Brian Wilson is still a genius.

I can fully align myself with that. I've been playing BWRG to death this last week or two and love some musical moments through and through, but not the concept in its entirety. What I love about the album is that it's BW, and that it's another window into his condition.   The music might not be to my taste, but the view through that window is fantastic.