The Smiley Smile Message Board

I have to say, this is an underrated period for Brian. First of all, his vocals here don't get enough attention. If you think Brian sounds great on the Disney album, then you'd have to think he sounds great here, too. And not just on "Get'cha Back". He sounds very relaxed and emotive when he sings on the album. It's funny, too, because just a few years later, he'd sound strained and stressed. This period is probably right before Landy got completely out of hand with the psychiatric medication.

Brian's songs aren't too bad. They're melodically pleasant, '50s retro songs with classic clean and sterile '80s production.  Brian throws out some cool harmony arrangements, like on "It's Just A Matter of Time", and even a fun bridge or two. Of course, it seems almost every song he wrote during this time period is about how lonely he is (seriously, an all Brian album in '85 would've had 8-10 songs about loneliness), and that gets kind of old... but we do get the wonderful "Male Ego". It's a classic attempt by Brian to womanize, a.k.a. a cheesy ode to hitting on women that it sounds like it belongs on Love You. Hey, he even tells the girl she smells nice!

And as a side note, how about that '80s stadium hair rock crooning by Bruce Johnston on "She Believes in Love Again"? How many girls' hearts do you think he melted with that song? BRUCE IS A MAN, MAN!

Can't forget the hair metal guitar soloing in Maybe I Don't Know!

Its lonely with Dr. Landy cutting you off from the world and controling your life. Wish Landy would have left in 1985 because Brian looked really healthy compared to the later years with Landy.

my personal opinion is that the songs themselves aren't bad but it's the horrible production that ruins them,they have potnential but are ruined by the way they sound,sounds too digital IMO...I know it must have cost a lot of money for the time but it still sounnds like crap..IMO

Actually I can't listen to that album. The Getcha Back/Male Ego single is enough for me. I hate that period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HSj-2shbqY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HSj-2shbqY)

imo

Brian's lead on "I'm So Lonely" is pretty dismal compared to his original "scatch" vocal (w/different lyrics) he was heard singing on that UK TV show (Ear Say, I think it was clalled).  That was REALLY good in comparison, it's a shame that it wasn't kept. 

Where I Belong pretty much dwarfs everything else on that record.

I must agree-I think that the album sounds very dated.  As crazy as it sounds, Beach Boys Records of the 60s sound far more modern and vital than an album from 1985.  The whole decision to use Steve Levine-famous for producing Culture Club was ridiculous to begin with.  It was clearly an attempt to be commercial and fit into what was happening in 1985 and that is what the BBs wanted in 85-a record that would sound contemporary-of its time-rather than for all time.  I think to some extent this is a problem with Carl's solo albums as well.  Instead of making a really amazing R&B record-which he clearly had in him to do-he was convinced by his advisors to try to make a contemporary record that might get on the charts and as a result only succeeded in making a generic, harmless album.  A shame really-because the opportunity was lost. 

I'm in the minority, but I actually like the production on most of the 85 album, minus "She Believes in Love Again" , "California Calling", "I'm So Lonely",  and (especially)"It's Just a Matter of Time". Personally I still think it's better production-wise than Still Cruisin and Summer in Paradise.

Being a fan, and after listening to it several times, the BB85 album ended up being enjoyable... But it would have never gotten to that stage had the artist be somebody else.

But to me that album is like the Four Seasons doing disco. There is something not right... These guys, whose music was era- and style-defining, were jumping on a bandwagon (a mediocre and circumstantial one) in which they did not belong. They forcefully adopted a musical current, inferior and banal, that emanated from the unequaled trend these guys ignited and pushed two decades before. In a way, this is a problem of all BB albums produced by outsiders.

I actually think "It's Just A Matter Of Time" comes off as one of the better songs on there.  Have to agree though that "Where I Belong" is by far and away the only truly stellar track.  "It's Gettin' Late", despite a few typical '80s production effects, ain't bad either. 

Carl's vocals to me are the best he'd done since the early 70s. I really don't like his vocals from Love You through LA(I think it was here where I said he sounded like Peter Cetera on 'ludes).  He sounded better on KTSA (minus Oh Darlin) but on BB85 he freakin' sang his ass off.

So would I be right if you're saying you really prefer the '80s production style? Because the songs you singled out, minus "She Believes in Love Again", all have less of the '80s sound the most of the rest of the album did.

Only  on that particular album. I certainly prefer Levine's production on this one to Melcher's on the following two albums.

I always have the dream that they will go back to those eighties albums and remove all the tacky reverb on the drums and on the other stuff. Imagine Brians solo album with an updated sound, imagine that album with a current production sound. It is very possible with todays technology to replace the dx-7 samples and drum samples with current sounding stuff. They should release the multitracks, imagine the fan mixes that could be done, drums updated with drumagog, synth piano replaced with real piano samples, even strings replaced with current string samples.

I'm a huge fan of eighties synth sounds in general but they didn't work particularly well for the Beach Boys. Personally I think that's because instead of attempting something edgy they were clearly opting for clean and harmless. There were no interesting textures or unorthodox sound choices. After Love You they got rid of that special quality of fusing incredibly pleasant melodies with eccentric and downright experimental sound work. To me, that's why so many of their later records are nice background music at best, even though the group still could sing very well and the songwriting showed occasional promise.