Brian's vocal improvement between BW88 and In The Key of Disney

[Ron]

The best part is when he puts the grit in there and goes "Joooooaaannhahhhh he lived in a WHALE!.... oh JOOOOaaaaaannnaahhhhh he lived in a WHALE!"

Love that part.  Never thought Brian was down with the blues like that.

[Paul J B]

Don't really hear slurring when he sings, (speaking is another thing...see TSS webisodes) but the shouting has been an annoyance for years. It has popped up in large and small bits and seems to show up a lot less when he is OK with what he's singing/recording at the time. From 15 big ones to '88 most of his singing has that shouting quality. Starting with Imagination he seems to do it a lot less. BWRG has very little of it, but when he sang a track from BWRG live on Jay Leno the whole thing was shouty. Again, I doubt he wanted to be there just like I doubt he wanted to sit there with Landy and record '88.

Also explains why every time I saw him live he sang better AFTER the intermission than before. I don't think it was a case of warming up his vocals but more a case of ...Hey the shows half over and I can start to relax now.....

[phirnis]

...
*About the self referential b.s., I gotta say it's finally hit me that the sh*t about "turning off the light at 25" or whatever, and "hardly ever washing my face", blah blah blah, it seemed to be alluding to "the Brian Wilson story" which I think is lame, and I don't think Brian would have done otherwise. I think it's almost as lame as Mike still putting the words "fun fun fun" and "good vibrations" in Beach Boys songs from the '90s. It's cheesy and not clever. It's lame. And whoops, sorry for derailing, I just realized this is about vocals, not lyrics, hahah.

Couldn't agree more, in fact I can't sit through TLOS in its entirety without being heavily annoyed by the "self-referential b.s.", which is too bad as I really enjoy most of the music on that album.
Even stuff like "Midnight's Another Day", which has earned its fair share of praise... that song I think would have deserved an identity of its own instead of being "the 'Til I Die-like song about BW feeling lowly". "Good Kind of Love", on the other hand, feels much more natural. It's a quirky little love song and it works very well without having to rely on the autobiographical approach.

[Billgoodman]

Not saying you're wrong, but how is this different to the autobiographical lines on PS?

[phirnis]

Not saying you're wrong, but how is this different to the autobiographical lines on PS?

That's an interesting question that I find really hard to answer somehow, although it does make a huge difference for me whether I'm listening to "Going Home" or "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times". To a certain extent they're both autobiographical (or at least we're supposed to believe they are) and in both cases the lyrics were handled by someone other than Brian, so it's hard to put my finger on what it is that makes these two songs so different.

[runnersdialzero]

There's a difference between autobiographical and self-referential. No need to hate on "Midnight's Another Day" for a reputation fans gave it, as it's merely autobiographical in the way that Mr.Goodman stated that Pet Sounds is.

[runnersdialzero]

I'm also gonna add that Brian has had two or maybe even more "shouty" voices over the last couple of decades. Some sound great, others, ehhh. All's I means by that is I don't see the need to hate on the "shouty" vocals outright.

[phirnis]

Yes, the shouty voice really has its moments. I'm probably in a minority here but I absolutely love the overall vocal delivery on "I'm Broke" for example.

[Amanda Hart]

Not saying you're wrong, but how is this different to the autobiographical lines on PS?

For me there is a huge difference is the two. Pet Sounds is legitimately emotional and expressive. Tony Asher did a great job working with Brian, putting Brian's feelings into beautiful lyrics that fit the mood of the music Brian was describing to him. Many of the songs on TLOS however, have no connection to real emotion. It was just some turd* writing lyrics for the baby boomer crowd based on the legend of BW. I like TLOS, but some of those lyrics make it hard to swallow.

*I have never met Scott Bennett so I have no idea if he is a turd as a person, but I have heard his lyrics, including work with other artists and his solo stuff, and he is a lyrical turd.

[Wirestone]

Many of the songs on TLOS however, have no connection to real emotion

Insanity.

It was just some turd* writing lyrics for the baby boomer crowd based on the legend of BW.

You realize that Brian wrote many of the lyrics on the record, right?

[runnersdialzero]

Many of the songs on TLOS however, have no connection to real emotion.

(insert Captain Picard faceplam picture here)

[Myk Luhv]

I don't understand how people can think Brian -- of all people -- would be incapable of writing gauche, if not downright awful, lyrics at times. Do we really need to bring out examples?

[Ron]

NO

NO WE DO NOT

[18thofMay]

Not saying you're wrong, but how is this different to the autobiographical lines on PS?

For me there is a huge difference is the two. Pet Sounds is legitimately emotional and expressive. Tony Asher did a great job working with Brian, putting Brian's feelings into beautiful lyrics that fit the mood of the music Brian was describing to him. Many of the songs on TLOS however, have no connection to real emotion. It was just some turd* writing lyrics for the baby boomer crowd based on the legend of BW. I like TLOS, but some of those lyrics make it hard to swallow.

*I have never met Scott Bennett so I have no idea if he is a turd as a person, but I have heard his lyrics, including work with other artists and his solo stuff, and he is a lyrical turd.

That is THE 12th most ridiculous post in this boards history*




*whilst I have been a member

[Slow In Brain]

Freddie Mercury refused to fix his teeth because that would have affected the sound of his voice...Brian seems to have more teeth now... so what I'm trying to say is that must be the way his vocals have improved these past few years

[phirnis]

Freddie Mercury refused to fix his teeth because that would have affected the sound of his voice...Brian seems to have more teeth now... so what I'm trying to say is that must be the way his vocals have improved these past few years

Are there examples of singers whose voice changed considerably after they had their teeth fixed? Quite an interesting topic I think!

[Alex]

I`m probably in the minority here, but I think I prefer Brian`s shouty vocals...especially on 15BO and LY.

[Mike's Beard]

Not saying you're wrong, but how is this different to the autobiographical lines on PS?

For me there is a huge difference is the two. Pet Sounds is legitimately emotional and expressive. Tony Asher did a great job working with Brian, putting Brian's feelings into beautiful lyrics that fit the mood of the music Brian was describing to him. Many of the songs on TLOS however, have no connection to real emotion. It was just some turd* writing lyrics for the baby boomer crowd based on the legend of BW. I like TLOS, but some of those lyrics make it hard to swallow.

*I have never met Scott Bennett so I have no idea if he is a turd as a person, but I have heard his lyrics, including work with other artists and his solo stuff, and he is a lyrical turd.

That is THE 12th most ridiculous post in this boards history*




*whilst I have been a member

What were the other 11?

[Amanda Hart]

Ok, I'll take my lumps for my ridiculous post. If you guys do feel a connection to the TLOS lyrics, that's great. I just don't. They leave me totally cold.

I'm obviously aware of Brian's hand in the lyrics too, so Scott isn't totally to blame for their lameness, but no matter who wrote them, they still don't really do anything for me.

[adamghost]

Speaking as a fan of music and also as a guy who has a small home studio and records harmony vocals all the time...I f*ckING HATE AUTOTUNE.  It is yet another in a series of technological advances that is 95% unnecessary and only serves to train singers to sing badly and to value the wrong things, and that is used in idiotic ways because "everybody does it".  And to further alienate audiences from what should be, by rights, "their" music by removing any sense of humanity to it.

You can still put four singers around a mic and get a great blend.  With ProTools editing it's easier than it ever was, and faster.  I do it all the time.  The only reason to use Autotune is if people can't sing, or if you want everything to be double perfect.  It removes creativity in dealing with difficult recording problems and encourages people to be lazy.

I hate autotune.

Rant over.

[ArchStanton]

Freddie Mercury refused to fix his teeth because that would have affected the sound of his voice...Brian seems to have more teeth now... so what I'm trying to say is that must be the way his vocals have improved these past few years

Are there examples of singers whose voice changed considerably after they had their teeth fixed? Quite an interesting topic I think!

This will go over a lot of people's heads here, but the rapper Nas fixed his chipped front tooth and a lot of people said he never sounded the same.  I think it had more to do with his voice simply maturing (he was still a teen when he first began recording), but that was the talk and he even referenced it in a song.