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I've been listening to the album constantly and there are 3 tracks i don't really like

Beaches in mind, daybreak over the ocean and bill and sue. The rest of the tracks are great (im even starting to enjoy the cheesy lyrics in SV)

That said i think this album would be ALOT better if one of the 3 tracks were substituted for Don't fight the sea!!

Anyone agree??

I can dig this. I think Al let his songs out too early and blew his chances of getting anything on the album.

But it's cool, I still enjoy both separately.

I agree.

1. The album could use a little more life.
2. I think Al should've been represented with a self-penned song.
3. I don't think it would've hurt the album lengthwise to include a 13th song.
4. It would've gotten Carl's voice on the album (but I have a feeling "they" didn't want that)
5. I love the song!

But.....it would've been slightly strange to take the song off of an album that was just released. However - and no disrespect to Al - I don't know how many people actually heard it. Maybe they could've used an alternate take. God knows Al probably has several of them.

My thoughts exactly. For all these reasons, and also because I feel the new album doesn't have enough Al lead vocals, it would have been great to include "Don't Fight the Sea".

But production-wise it would have sounded even more out of place on the album than "Daybreak"...  :-\

Above I posted in another TWGMTR thread here.

After another poster commented on how well Tidepool Interlude matches Strange World I think I'm going to do a TWGMTR/Postcard edit album!

Interesting. Awesome song.  I caught Al and his band last fall in Newport, RI, and wow, it is just incredible done live with all the sound effects.  That would be great in the tour setlist, especially if they could slide Carl's section in.  Al's album is really neat.  Even just to get the downloadable version.  It shows really incredible effort and attention to every detail.
And the last song, And I Always Will. Another absolute gem.  ;)

Yeah.  I'm not so keen on the same three that you mention, although Mike's track is growing on me.  If they would have re-recorded the backing track for Don't Fight The Sea (to fit the same production style as the rest of the album), it could have replaced one of those others, and I would have been fine with that.  I think this album could have used an Al cut.  But hey, we've got 'em all, we can do as we wish with making our own comps.

I wouldn't replace any songs. But, I agree, if Joe...er, Brian could've tweaked the production of "Don't Fight The Sea", I could see it fitting nicely between "The Private Life Of Bill And Sue" and "Daybreak". Just a thought...

People have commented on how the album kind of sags in the middle, "Don't Fight The Sea" really would have helped that, I agree.  A little bit of teeth, right where the album needs it.  I'm not a huge fan of the song, but it does Rock. 

Slot in "Waves of Love" between "Shelter" and "Daybreak" and it sounds great.

Yep. Absolutely. Wasn't that considered for the album at one time? I thought I read something...

Maybe if Mike hadn't used "Cool Head" on the Hallmark disc they could have used it here. I really like the song.

If they do a follow up maybe they can revive "She's Still A Mystery" and bring Carl back that way.

I

Everyone assumed it would be on the album up until the day they unveiled the official tracklist.

I know this isn't possible, but some of the Wilson/Paley era songs would have been cool. I'm thinking new backing tracks and new vocals.

"My Mary Anne" would be soooo cool as a BB track - picture Mike doing the opening bass vocals. Although Melinda doesn't like it when Brian sings about other girls nowadays (this peeves me a bit).

"You're Still A Mystery" obviously would have been a cool canidate - and also "It's Not Easy Being Me" could have worked in the context of the suite.

I don't know, these songs are so great that they would make the rest of the album...kinda suck.

So, if things can be patched up with Joe Thomas via a phonecall about Australian toilets, what are the odds for Andy Paley?

Aye, but the album has already used it up its official quota of songs with the word "vibrations" in. Suspect that's the real reason WoL was nixxed.

No.

No. Don't Fight The Sea is crap. Saved by good performances, but not worthy.


Then again, some things that made the album were also not worthy.... but still better than Don't Fight The Sea.

It's already been released. 

I was hoping for one new song each by Al, Bruce and David.
That formula worked well on Sunflower.

Only if they changed the lyrics to "Don't bite my wee" or "Don't fight the pee" which is what I usually sing as I am a five year old trapped in the body of 26 year old. help me get me out of here he has a third nipple and its inside of his mouthgrjeahj8yu55555

I think Don't Fight The Sea is great and also think it would make a better addition to this new album than some of the tracks in the middle. I've swapped the tracks between Isn't It Time and Strange World for California Feeling, Looking Down The coast and Don't Fight The Sea and it's a vast improvement for me, feeling much more like a Beach Boys album (albeit a super short one, like Friends). I've even taken the trouble to fade the sound effects in/out on the Al tracks where necessary so they blend better into the line-up, but I'm somewhat OCD like that.

Al's version of Calfifornia Feelin is incredible. Also, with this playlist, the intro of Strange World comes in exactly where the Tidepool Interlude would be so it feels  totally natural  as both bits of music are remarkably similar as others have noted.

hmm, I'll have to see how the tracklisting feels with:

Spring Vacation
Shelter
Waves of Love
Daybreak
Don't Fight the Sea
Strange World

As the middle songs

*edit*... tried it, much better.  Still feels like it needs something more that rocks in the middle there, but this one doesn't drag nearly as much and doesn't feel like it turns into a Brian solo album.  Instead we have a Brian/Foskett song, Al/Carl, Mike song, then a group song with Al on lead before Brian's suite

I ditched Beaches in Mind and replaced it with Waves of Love as the eighth track on the album for my iPod. Waves of Love segues nicely very into Strange World.

If "Don't fight the sea" had been included instead of the three songs you mentioned, we'd be bitching that

A. the album would be too short

B. they did not have enough originals to fill an album


Not every song has to be equally enjoyed by everybody, and it's ok.

I've NEVER understood the hype about this song. It does sound like crap. It's dark, Al's version sounded one-dimensional - even with all those vocals. As much as I hate Beaches in Mind I prefer that to be on the album over Don't Fight The Sea.

Also, I don't get the hate for The Private Life of Bill and Sue - It's quirky - yet beautiful....it's a fun tune!

At first I was disappointed that "Don't Fight the Sea" wasn't going to be on the album, but then I realized that this made room for another new song rather than have something we already own and it made a good incentive for fans to buy Al's album as well.  I have bought Al's album again just for the other song with BBs on it.  I don't get the argument that the album "sags" anywhere, as I feel that "Beaches in Mind", Spring Vacation, Bill & Sue etc are so very catchy that those are the tunes that I've been humming all day after just the first listen!  I think the album has best been described as similar to the Today album where one side is upbeat and catchy and the other is more emotional and balladie.  All in all way better than I ever expected!

Dwayne

I put this on my IPOD with the thought of playing around with a placement for it on the album, so it was tacked on the back of the playlist (I like the song, sorry!).  Anyway, it's weird to hear it come in, with the waves, after "Summer's Gone."  Really weird, but kind of cool, I dunno.

Loop de Loop would give it more punch.

I'd take it over Beaches, Vacation and Daybreak, but it's already out and belongs on Al's album.

I agree with you and hypehat. I don't understand how putting a mediocre song like 'Dont Fight the Sea' could make the album any better.

I'm glad they didn't put Don't Fight the Sea on, not because I don't like the song, but because it wouldn't fit at all. most of Don't Fight the Sea was recorded in the 80s and some of the lead is sung by a man who is now deceased.

I don't think Daybreak should've been put on the album, either, but at least that was recorded only a few years ago and produced in a way similar to most of the other songs on the album.

Don't Fight the Sea isn't a good song, imo. It sounds like something from the 80's. Listening to it I have a hard time notn shutting out images of the 80's BB strutting around like they do in the California Dreaming video. I am glad it isn't on the album.

This must be the first time in the history of the band that anyone has accused Al of releasing his songs too early!

Given that part of the new album's charm is that it sounds of one piece (despite the slightly different production of Mike's track), "Don't Fight The Sea" (or any other resurrected track that wasn't completely reworked) would sound as awkward as "Good Time" on LOVE YOU or "When Girls Get Together" on KTSA.

Wow, spooky. I had almost replied to this thread yesterday with almost those same exact words and using the same examples. I would also mention "Games Two Can Play" and "H.E.L.P.," and how uncomfortably they sit amongst the gruff, croony stuff that surrounds them on Adult Child. There are a few cuts on Al's recent album that I personally think sound fine in the context of TWGMTR ("San Simeon" being a personal favorite), but in principle I really appreciate when an album has the cohesion of being recorded as a whole.

The album is fine the way that it is.

I agree with OP

They should've thrown Crocodile Rock in there too, then we would've had a real ALBUM!






 :hat

While I'm basically in the camp of leaving the album the way it is, I can't help but play the game of combining it with Al's album.

I just placed "And I Always Will" between "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone", and I can't believe how well it fits.

This album is brand new and I want to experience over and over again exactly the way it has been presented to us.

That said... because it's so easy to do... here's my running order combining both albums:

Think About the Days
California Feeling
That's Why God Made the Radio
Drivin'
Isn't It Time
San Simeon
Spring Vacation
Waves of Love
Daybreak Over the Ocean
Don't Fight the Sea
Looking Down the Coast
There and Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
And I Always Will
Summer's Gone

For those willing to play the game, try the order out. I think it really works. Brian's vocals on Drivin' really help its inclusion here.  This order almost perfectly alternates between the two albums, but the sound effects sort of marry Don't Fight the Sea and Looking Down the Coast  together.

The main reason I don't include Shelter or Beaches in Mind is that those songs seem to really miss Carl. I can so easily hear where he should be on those songs that it bothers me to listen to them without him.

For comparison's sake, and for proper perspective, here's my running order combining Still Cruisin' and Summer In Paradise:

Still Cruisin'
Still Surfin'
Kokomo
Island Fever
Lahaina Alhoa
Wipe Out
Summer of Love
In My Car
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Island Girl
Somewhere Near Japan
Summer In Paradise


Sorry, didn't mean to soil this thread with the names of those songs!