"Sweet Insanity" mastertapes

[GoogaMooga]

Hi, everybody, I'm new here.

Brian has been quoted as saying that the mastertapes for "Sweet Insanity" have been stolen. Is that the tapes for the first version or the second version or both? And how does that affect the chance of "Sweet Insanity" being released in the future? Has Sire got back-up tapes?

[the captain]

I wouldn't take Brian's quotes very seriously. Ever.

[Bicyclerider]

If he says he's burned them, expect him to rerecord Sweet Insanity with his new band in 2037 and announce the "Sweet Insanity live" tour!

[Sheriff John Stone]

If he says he's burned them, expect him to rerecord Sweet Insanity with his new band in 2037 and announce the "Sweet Insanity live" tour!

If his wife thinks it's time...

[the captain]

And by the way, it would be better for everyone if he had burned them, or if they were stolen. I know some people around here like some of that sh*t, but...yuck. It's god-awful.

[PMcC]

...I hope the 1st mix was stolen, but I love the 2nd mix. They took a lot of those stupid harmonies out of it, and whittled it down to a very listenable piece of music. Good compositions and arraqngements on that one. Even though it was never released, I listen to it as a released piece of product, and I like it, ok, shoot me...I really like the 2nd mix. Fine songs..(take 'smart girls' out of it right away) ..It has a happy "Brian" feel to it...

[Glenn Greenberg]

And by the way, it would be better for everyone if he had burned them, or if they were stolen. I know some people around here like some of that merda, but...yuck. It's god-awful.

"The Spirit of Rock and Roll" is pretty good.

[GoogaMooga]

"The Spirit of Rock'n'Roll" is the best uptempo song in Brian's solo career - with or without Dylan.

[Third Coast]

Aside from "Spirit," there's plenty to salvage from SI and use toward a strong record. For instance, take "Brian" and completely rewrite the lyrics, making it about something else. Take the melody in the chorus (only) of "Smart Girls," etc. etc.

But do it carefully.

[the captain]

It's good we can all disagree, I guess. "Spirit" is an OK song, but those lyrics are annoying and bad even by BBs/BW standards. I hate those kinds of songs that are basically just RnR nostalgia trips. Shudder.

And as for the rest of the material, sure there are plenty of decent melody ideas, or little bits and pieces. But I am talking about the album as it stands: those tracks suck. Terribly. Cheesy 80s production, idiotic Landylyrics (worse than Brian lyrics) and so on. Sure, if Brian wanted to recycle a few bits and pieces and have them recorded with his current band--with people who can sing and play actual instruments instead of old synths and drum machines--it could turn out good.

[Bicyclerider]

Isn't that what he did with Gettin in Over my head?  Those songs from Sweet Insanity were my least favorite on the album.

[Smilin Ed H]

Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel is a great song that was mangled on both albums!

[the captain]

Isn't that what he did with Gettin in Over my head?  Those songs from Sweet Insanity were my least favorite on the album.

He did do some of that. And they were some of my least favorite, too (with the Paley tracks as my favorites there). But the fact that he happened to remake them badly doesn't exactly say their original, bad versions deserve release either. In my opinion, those songs aren't as good as most of his (which was my point in the first place). A good melody here or there, but overall just not good songs. You can re-record and release as many Rainbow Eyes or Make A Wish as you want...they still suck to these ears. If Brian is going to dig into his old songs (which, frankly, is almost all he's done for the past 15 years), I wish he'd finish up and release the other Paley songs.

[matt-zeus]

Agreed, he really should do 'Some Sweet Day'. 'Make a wish' is one of the worst songs ever, I think the remake is worse than the original.

[the captain]

Agreed, he really should do 'Some Sweet Day'.

See, now I'm in agreement with somebody! When Brian talks about a "rock 'n' roll" album, things like Some Sweet Day and My Marianne are the sort of thing I think he means, and I'd love an album like that. I really believe he and his band could make a kick-ass record along those lines. It isn't the kind of thing that would be either somewhat unnatural for him (a la all the crappy production and synth stuff he's done) or a forced, pressure-filled project to cause unnecessary stress. He could just write--or use, in those cases--some cool rock/pop songs.

I'd love it.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I agree that most of 'Make a Wish' is awefull. However, the bridge of the song is one of the greatest moments on the album. It reminds me of 'Sunshine' from Imaginations. Most of the song is sub par, but the tag is amazing!

[the captain]

I disagree that the bridge is good, and comparing it to Sunshine (or much of anything on Imagination, for that matter) doesn't do it any favors in my eyes.

[OrganicMachine]

Maybe I have really bad taste but I love most of Sweet Insanity and it is actually, overall, my favorite BW solo album (with the exception of Smile).  If the songs weren't overly-long, and "Smart Girls" was omitted it would be an almost perfect listening experience for me.  The production doesn't bother me at all, maybe because I was not around when these types of productions were cliche.  I find the production kind of odd and appealing, kind of like a combination of his more ambitious early productions and the "Love You" production.  The only production I have really disliked has been the one used on "Imagination", THAT to me sounds much cheesier than Sweet Insanity.

So in my opinion it is a great album, and I think it is strong enough to warrant release.  I dunno...  It would be sad if Brian were ashamed of that album because people told him it was bad, because I think it captures alot of his idiosyncrasies and his song-writing style at the time.  The lyrics aren't really that good, but I didn't become a Brian Wilson fan because of lyrics, and really are they any more embarrassing than "Be True To Your School"?  I'd like to see a real release so I could have a cleaner sounding version than my mp3s, but overall it is not that important.

And I'm talking about the second version, I have never actually heard the first version (can anyone upload it to rapidshare or megaupload?).  I've never heard the songs that were taken off the second version, and this is actually the first I have heard about there being a different vocal mix.  I wonder who would steal the master-tapes to S.I.  Bootleggers? The version I have doesn’t sound like it came from master tapes.  Probably more likely Brian is lying haha.

The comment about Brian re-recording the album in 40 years and touring it was very funny.

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

hmmm i think overall sweet insanity is an ok album. favourite tracks would be "water builds up" and "thank you" . notable mentions for "concert tonite", "someone to love",and "i do".

make a wish and hotter are poor, dunno why brian rerecorded spirt of RnR as its ok at best - should have given dylan more lines. rainbow eyes sounds great on the caroline now tribute album, the sweet insanity version sounds better than the GIOMH version which is kinda unlistenable.

id like to see more paley stuff too. market place, its not easy being me, mary anne, chain reaction.

pity this stuff did not make it on to GIOMH or maybe its good they didn't

[Meade]

I like Sweet Insanity. Once you strip out some of the dead weight songs like "Smart Girls" and such, it's not nearly as bad as I was expecting. In fact, I find it more listenable and original than Imagination. The production is cheesy, and Landy-lyrics abound... but Brian's production (post Beach Boys but pre-Wondermints) has always been a bit cheesy, and he rarely writes his own lyrics anyways. Sweet Insanity really exposed me to a different side of Brian that didn't even come out on his first solo album, nor any of his sparse but wacky projects from the 70's (the goofy and sublime "Love You" and "Adult Child"), in that Brian sounds rather condescending for the first time, but come on, he sings his heart out all over the Sweet Insanity songs, and it's criminal that some of them haven't seen release (Concert Tonight/Someone to Love, Love Ya, Thank You (Brian)). Some of them have an 80's Springsteen quality to them which is odd for Brian, but he pulls it off.

Here's the album I strewn together that works for me:

Concert Tonight/ Someone to Love,
Don't Let Her Know
Thank You
I Do
Rainbow Eyes
Love Ya
Make a Wish
Being With the One You Love
He Couldn't Get His Poor Body to Move
Water Builds Up
In My Car

Although I think "Spirit of Rock and Roll" is a decent track, I find it to be pretty pointless. "Country Feeling" and "Daddy's Little Girl" are really corny in my opinion, although they're decent. There was an instrumental that I haven't heard, but that doesn't bother me based on what I've read about it. "Smart Girls" should be forgotten about.

All that being said, I understand why it was rejected, but I honestly think it had more to do with the situation than with the music itself, per se. The record companies have let Brian get away with FAR more embarrassing stuff (save for "Smart Girls").

[the captain]

At least Smart Girls is funny. The rest of that is just sh*t.

[rogerlancelot]

I must be the only guy on here who thinks "Rainbow Eyes" from GIOMH is incredible. That was the main song of my summer of 2004. Never got into the lyrics but loved the chord changes / arrangement / etc. and was really missing my wife and son that summer (I tried moving to Vegas unsuccessfully but that's another story). As a matter of fact I still have a soft spot for the whole GIOMH cd but I never got into Sweet Insanity. Don't like the production one bit.

[MBE]

I really dislike the Sweet Insanity era all the recordings Brian did from 89-91 are really badly sung and horribly produced. A good melody is found here or there but only Darien's cover of Do You Have Any Regrets does much for me.

[adamghost]

I think the best songs are great:  "Don't Let Her Know," "Regrets"...um...let me think.  "Water Builds Up" is pretty cool.  I always thought "Smart Girls" was really funny but with each passing year I think so less and less.  "Brian" is just horrible.  Ah, never mind.  It's not that good.  But the best 2-3 songs are about the best he's done overall as a solo guy, up 'til TLOS.

[b00ts]

I think the best songs are great:  "Don't Let Her Know," "Regrets"...um...let me think.  "Water Builds Up" is pretty cool.  I always thought "Smart Girls" was really funny but with each passing year I think so less and less.  "Brian" is just horrible.  Ah, never mind.  It's not that good.  But the best 2-3 songs are about the best he's done overall as a solo guy, up 'til TLOS.

As Brian Wilson fans, I sometimes wonder if the surfeit of unreleased material and Brian's quirky nature cause us to look at projects like "Sweet Insanity" in a nostalgic manner, whilst eschewing albums like Imagination and GIOMH.

I agree with whomever it was who stated that Imagination has the worst production of any BW solo album. I would put Sweet Insanity in second place, with GIOMH coming in at number three. 

So which are the best 2-3 songs on Sweet Insanity? "Concert Tonight" is really cool...