The Smiley Smile Message Board

they were extremely unimpressed especially since my dad was a huge fan of pet sounds/smile :((i guess he expected to hear that type of sound coming from their new record).I told them it's not 1966/67 it's 2012..he told me that they should do what the rolling stones should do and hang it up ...this saddens me :/..now i'm worried what the new album is going to sound like..

Can't please everyone, Chuck. ^_^

It's time to move out. haha

LOL for real. 

You'll eventually realize as you get older NewGuy that your parents have no clue what they're doing, just like you don't, and nobody else does either, lol.  I used to think my parents knew everything until I turned about 30 or so and realized that I was still as clueless as they must have been when I was a kid! 

this bugged me so much :( especially since my dad admitted brian is a music genius!

Yeah? A lot of us think Brian is a music genius here but aren't into the song. I've quickly come to terms with it for what it is, but I don't see the point in being bummed out if someone can't get into this song. It's not as if you presented them with Brian's absolute best work and they responded by saying they were disappointed to have birthed you or something.

now all of newguy's posts make sense.

anyway, what were you expecting?  This is the exact sort of song you should have expected when you found out paley wrote it.  why don't you go back and tell your dad that Wilson didn't write, but arranged/produced and probably did the tag (since that sounds so brian). 

Andy Paley wrote it?

My mom liked it but she hated Love You. Go figure  :lol

The Rolling Stones aren't "hanging it up."


It's a shame you're so easily impressionable.  Stick to your guns and life will be a lot easier.

i meant Joe Thomas, weird i even made a mental note to not say paley.  wait, it was thomas right? and peterik?  whatever, point is, musically this is exactly what i think we all expected.  But at the same time, i ended up enjoying it more than i thought i would.  

i guess i took it to heart for some reason :/..at first i didnt like it that much but it's growing and growing on me :)..
i'm excited yet nervous for the album :] ..:O

thanks lol :)
yes i might have to say that i don't want to ruin brian's credentials lol..

Where are the original Beach Boys on the vocal blend of the song, besides being able to hear Brian and Bruce?  I don't hear Al or Mike on it at all.  I can see old school Beach Boy fans being a little put off by it for that alone.  

They are all over the song. Al is clearly audible in the "in my car" and "like a prayer" lines. Mike is all over the tag.

There's a lot of willful ignorance happening on the board now.

I don't know about "willful ignorance". I still cannot hear Mike anywhere on this song, and I've really looked.

What did your parents think of That Lucky Old Sun?

i never showed them that album lol..i just played today/pet sounds/smile sessions for them

I wish you all could've seen my mom's face when she saw Smile in 04 with me knowing not what to expect. Especially the workshop sequence  :lol

maybe you don't know what he sounds like anymore??

i played it for my girlfriend.  she liked it, but said "it wasn't what i expected, i expected something like caroline no, did brian write it?"  i told her nope, not really.  she added it's still better than anything on the radio

Quick, one of you'ns fetch me the cocaine snorting JPEG I posted the other day.

hey she listens casually.  She just meant stylistically, and she's never really heard much past Love You cause i don't play later stuff in the car.  caroline no is just her favorite.  I think what she meant was, she didn't expect something so early 60s, cause she's heard that brian doesn't write like that anymore

my girlfriend likes today more than pet sounds :O

    pregnancy acne is getting more and more sever
    e

I played it for my girl last night and she reckoned it's sh*t. My three year old Sierra's not that bothered either. Jack, born in January, gave a lovely smile while it was playing but then let rip a hunderous fart, so it was probably just wind.

Took me a while - and several dozen listens - to pick out individual voices but this is dominated by several factors:

1. Brian's voice is easily the most dominant.
2. Seems to me that a lot of "work" has been done on some of the other voices.
3. There's so much echo & reverb on the choral and individual voices that any real distinctiveness is buried. Every now and then one of the guys' voices is pushed up a little so that each gets a showcase but that's it.
4. There's a few unidentifiable voices in there (Foskett? Scotty? Others?) which I could live without.
5. I'm no audio engineer and don't have the necessary ear, but I suspect auto tune had been applied with a decorator's brush to much of the block harmony vocals.

But Y'know, so what! It's reunion schmaltz, it's syrupy and sweet and it says "we're back!". Love that line "He waved his hand gave us rock and roll..."

Listening in bed this morning with the headphones on so as not to waken The Dissenter, I detected a vocal part I hadn't heard before. Deep, not really in tune, rumbly and not in time either but repetitive; no discernible auto tune either. Had to listen real hard... to work out The Dissenter was snoring.

if you truly don't hear Alan, then you should book an audiologists appointment without delay.

Y'know it has to pick out some of the voices, not because of the lack of individuality but because they're somewhat drowned in an ocean of faux echo and effect.

I hope Bruce might tell us a bit more about the mixing process over on the Yellow board but I suspect he might not.

Suspect Postcard From California might be the last honest unadulterated blast of Beach Boy vocals we're ever going to get. And I don't think all those are exactly raw.

Good to see you're pulling yourself together, Dude, keep your chin up - as an American teenager you are legally required to rebel against anything your Dad says or does.  He's doing his job in the ongoing struggle between parents and offspring; you need to do yours.

James Dean and Fonzie are spinning in their graves....

"Let the wind blow..." 

Fonzie's still alive!

:) yes you are right and trust me i am!
haaaaaaaa :O

Burn your house down to teach your parents a lesson.  >:D

In fairness, the song is more of a 'grower' so it's not so strange they were underwhelmed at first listen. So was I but I quite like it now. Its good your parents like Pet Sounds though. I think the Beach Boys have such a distinctive sound if you can't 'convert' someone after playing 4 or 5 songs, then there's little chance of changing the person's mind. Although I do remember when I first got into them, I was on a bit of a mission to convince everyone I knew how good they were. Have calmed down a bit now thank God.

My wife's not too impressed with the new song either.

I think I see what it is.

We're nerds.

It's not nearly as bad as 95 percent of their studio work between Dennis and Carl's death. It's not a classic either. It's kind of like MIU where it's nice harmonically, the melody is decent, but the production is WAY too slick. Joe Thomas has no soul in his technique. Still I'll take an MIU type sound over Steve Levine and Terry Melcher's Beach Boys work anyday. At least it feels like the group is trying.

 As far as the album I feel that anyone who expects anything like their 1961-72 sessions is going to be let down big time. Can anyone sing as well at seventy as they did in their twenties and thirties?  Still if you can take it for what it is, an attempt to end things on a less embarrassing note than Summer In Paradice or Stars and Stripes, I am sure there will be some nice moments.

.....say it ain't so?!

That last part is probably true.....TWGMTR *is* better than 99% of the guff on the radio at the moment. It's nice, I don't think it is great but it is nice and I really hope it gets some significant airplay.

I can agree with that.
By the way what is Absinthe? Is is some sort of drink?

Aye, and nasty stuff too.  ;D

Absinthe was banned in much of Europe and the USA for most of the 20th century. It is a very strong spirit made with a wormwood extract, beloved of artist types in turn of the century France...think of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and that crowd. It has been alleged to cause hallucinations and even dementia with excessive consumption. Absinthe tends to have a strong aniseed taste - think Ouzo and multiply by 2 or 3. Typically the alcohol content is 60-75% by volume (roughly 120-150 proof).

I drink about a bottle a year and am well known for bringing absinthe to parties...hence my moniker. I am also something of a bohemian at heart, if not in my lifestyle.

I can drink two bottles and run a mile, go on, let him get his absinthe out!

(Sorry, Withnail moment)

Agreed. I like the song itself, but the production actually kills it for me. It feels empty. The song has similarities to the songs on Today! (for example), but that album had so much energy -- not just in the vocals, but the music itself. Crisp, warm, alive. TWGMTR sounds like a cheap karaoke mix to me. I know that times and technologies have changed, but TLOS had a much better feel to it.

Yes, exactly.  Al is sort of on there, I finally picked him out on headphones because my laptop speakers aren't the best, but it's not too strong.  His vocals on this don't sound as good as he's capable of sounding.  Al's voice has changed the least out of all the guys in real life.  It's processed like heck on this recording.  Although now the song is reminding me of "The Theme to Midnight Cowboy" (the "That's why God made" parts).

Newguy, the only important thing is if you like TWGMTR and if your parents and girlfriend don't like it that's there loss, don't put too much importance in what other people think (including me). Also, please change your user name to something more appropriate as you are not really new anymore!

With deepest respect, NG, your parents can just stuff it!

Best regards tho'.

 :hat

My girlfriend was expecting something more like "Ding Dang". She wanted to know where the real Brian Wilson stuff is. So we got a burger and did our own version.

The best post I have read on this subject so far.

Thank you!
 I suppose all I can add is that I'm not knocking it too much by comparing it MIU. To me that is the easiest post 1973 Beach Boys LP to play. Not Art with a capitol A but only the  "Belles Of Paris" makes me cringe.

Maybe Joe Thomas gets along with them all, maybe their taste is rather generic, but man I would have liked to see the old "Produced By the Beach Boys" credit. I'm just going to enjoy it for what is and hope nothing is exceedingly in bad taste. If I want classic Beach Boys it only means grabbing it off the shelf. Again the important thing is that they do seem to be ending their story with class, instead of letting it disolve pathetically with all of them at odds.

We haven't seen any final production credits yet.

Joe Thomas is not confirmed as a producer or co-producer.

The only official word we've had on the subject is from Capitol Records, saying that Brian produced the album.

This post almost single handedly  improved my experience of the tune. Give Jack a hi-five for me...

As usual, John M. has it spot on!

Brilliant!

I am impressed you would play something for your parents. :)    That is refreshing.   

I daren't play something for my folks these days. They live 35 miles away and I don't have a stereo loud enough.

When I was a kid my parents heard my music whether they liked it or not. I didn't give a sh*t either way. They played their music whether I liked it or not. They liked Big Band, while me and my siblings like Rock & Roll. Different generations, different musical tastes. Though dear ol' Dad loved Ballad of Ol' Betsy; his own car's name. ;)

I wasn't aware of that. With all the threads I must have misconstrued it.

However I'm still a skeptic about Thomas being involved on any level though. I just haven't been pleased with the work he had done with Brian or the others in the past.

Still all I hope for is something that is pleasent and unlike the eighties and nineties catalog. TWGMTR fits that so if the rest of the LP is as good I will be cool.