The Smiley Smile Message Board

Thanks to Mr. John Etherington on the blue:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00cqf23

Drag forward to exactly 1 hour 50 minutes.

Meh. The demo had a subtle and enriching dynamic. This... doesn't.

It sounds similar to the demo, I haven't A-B'd it to the other one but I think some of the 'sounds' of it are different, ie; more natural. I wouldn't be surprised if parts of the demo were used in it as obviously that is very easy to do these days.
I'm not sure of it being the first single?
Maconie and Radcliffe think the song is amazing but think the vocal is a bit dodgy - but that's part and parcel of being a Brian fan!

What does that even mean?

I think it sounds fantastic

The swell in the background vocals during "all these people, make me feel so alooooone" was much more powerful in the demo.

Still, this is a great song, easily among the best Brian's done since Til I Die.

I'm going to withhold further comment until I can hear the full album.

When the demo was posted on the blueboard, Brian (or whoever) got on the board, and we all made comments. I said, "Keep the demo-- don't re-record," and Brian (or whoever) said, "Well, maybe I will."

But it doesn't matter. If we hadn't heard the demo, we'd probably be raving about this.

Spot on Amy. I think this version is great. String are subtle and complementary. I know what Andrew means but I wonder whether ta lot of what he's missing in this version is in part at least down to familiarity.

Let this be a lesson to all who listen to unofficial releases!  :lol

What I can't understand is why it wasn't edited in the same way as the version that was put up on the BW site a while back -  ie, a single edit. If Radcliffe and Marconie are right and this is to be the single, it should have a single edit.

It means the demo had a subtle ebb and flow, which the new version lacks. The piano is also mixed way too high. Overall the mix is very flat.

Even.  ;D

but its on a streaming audio site!! too flat!! come on!  ;D

Brian's lead sounds good. The song remains strong.

As for the rest -- I think I'll wait for it in context.


...


(Bet ya'll never thought you'd want the wall of Brians back)

to me, his vocal in some places actually sounds like it came from the same person as the 60s brian.. you can hear that pureness of voice.  I think he actually uses falsetto here as opposed to most of his other solo records where they have him yell the high parts and just back it off in the mix to make it sound effortless.  hats off, bri   :)

This makes me sad. Now TLOS will be forever marred with "Yes, it's an excellent album... but the demos were  better, at least for MAD." In the BB/BW world, we have too much information, and sometimes it wrecks things. I'm going to try to forget the demo for now.

I like it, although I too will be witholding further comment until I hear the album in full.

What I like about this new version is how the "Swept away" & "In a brainstorm" echos are buried in the mix. I've listened a couple of times, find it quite enjoyable so far, but have to wait for an unstreamed source to give a proper review. But I have no problems compared to the demo.

Personally, I'm most familiar with an audience recording from the RFH premiere. I like that arrangement very much, but perhaps it was just a house mix that wasn't even supposed so sound like that. Anyway, the lead and backing vocals are very prominent on it and also Paul Mertens' clarinet, the strings are quiet in the background. That gave such a special effect. How that Smile-esque clarinet corresponds with the BV & strings - have to admit, I miss that a bit on the final version. Also Brian's emotinal "made me feel so al-o-o-o-one" from that particular performance, not on the demo BTW.
Now, I've heard 3 different arrangements - demo, live, album - and all of them have their moments. Great song!

I like it, but there are some parts where the vocal on the demo was better, esp.  towards the end.

Is this seriously the final mix? My only beef with this song (not really caring about the different mixes) is that they dont use that intro riff more, I remember when I first heard it my first thought 'g*ddamn this is gonna be good' but then I was a bit disappointed with the rest of the song. Ofcourse, after tons of listens it grew on me, but still its a shame they couldnt use it somewhere in the middle...

MAD?  Is this a TLOS album track?


must. resist.



 :jedi

Aw, I think this is beautiful. Way better than the demo. The vocal's more heartfelt, the backup vox are more controlled, subtle, and supportive, and I like the strings. Dynamically it's less extreme than the demo, but that's more appropriate to the song. It breathes in and out emotionally in an almost magically organic, moving way.
I'm verklempt.

I dunno...  hate to say this, but it strikes me as kinda cheesy -- those cymbal flourishes -- reminds me of a ballad in a Disney cartoon.  :-[

It does sound flat with a mashed mix.  But what are we hearing?  A highly compressed MP3 tune streamed (and compressed a 2nd time) for an internet radio broadcast? Is it 8 bit mono? Those sound pretty crappy!  I just downloaded McCartney's 'Here Today' from iTunes and it sounded horrible.

Artists put out very low quality MP3's these days when streaming entire songs for promo purposes.  Otherwise, people would use programs like 'WireTap" and get the songs for free. 

I expect 'MAD' on CD to sound much, much better.

I'm glad someone noted that: it's what I was thinking exactly. That said, I'm sure the final version will be compressed and as loud as possible because that's how albums are these days. You can complain, but it's just life. As for the whole demo v. final product thing, you don't even need to listen to either to know that's going to be the eventual conclusion around these parts. It goes with the territory.

Does it matter if you think the demo is better? Just listen to the demo, then!

Or with home computing technology the way it is today, replace the album track with the demo on the official CD when you burn a copy for yourself.

As for me, I'm on the fence and will weigh in with my final verdict once I hear the album in it's entirety with a higher bit rate than crappy streaming RealAudio compressed to lossy MP3.  I like what I'm hearing so far though, I will say that much    8)

As regards to the vocal, I think Brians voice suffers when the key is too low. Even though his voice is obviously different to what it was, I think his natural register is still relatively high and probably higher than what this song starts off in and I think he would sing smoother if it was raised a couple of notches.
Of course later on in the song there is a higher bit (not falsetto but that's what its meant ot be) which means they probably lowered the key to accomodate that. I'm just being theoretical but if this is a reworked 80s Brian rocker (I think 'Wondering what you're up to now?'), I reckon it might have been in a higher key originally as Brian was still singing very high register stuff in the 80s, and when he pulled it out the bag for TLOS they altered it for his voice now.
Anyway, listening to the demo and the new version i'm pretty sure its the same vocal take.
I'm sure I will be corrected if otherwise.....!

[Round of applause to both of you]
The mix isn't very good online, but I hope I'm not a Brianista by saying that the song is so great that I've loved every version: the demo, the live boots and this version. And I'm sick of the "demo is better than the original" argument.

My first thought was "eh, I think the demo might be better" but as I listened more...I think I like this version better.

Seems darker then the demo. Since this a dark song, I like it.

"Wonderin' What You're Up to Now" is "California Role." MAD is new (as far as I know), but Scott did say it started off as a rock tune.

On second listen -- the studio version is growing on me.

It's hard to say my opinion, since there is so many options to this (demo, live recording.) I do think the strings in it are very pretty and it is great to hear the band mixed in. I was kind of missing the big crescendo in the "makes me feels so alone" part as well. I think the song is mixed a bit too low for my liking, but when I get my vinyl copy I hope it will be a difference. It is a drop dead beautiful song though.

[koff] er, no, it's not. Close... but not. :)

I'm not sure what to make of it -

great song, vocals and strings and everything else is fine, but I agree with AGD (ang GoofyJeff) that the "spine-tingling" build up in "all these people, etc doesn't seem to be there like before - and I thought that was the highlight of the song.

I'm hoping it might be the radio/download effect.

Of course I immediately tried a mashup of both versions, but they don't even have the same tempo. Completely rerecorded I would say. Wouldn't even call both BW vocals close. The demo has some additional BV sadly missing from final take and in this case I prefer Brian's self-sung BV to the band, but only for a couple of inches.
And of course complaining fans can still listen to the demo. But they just want the best for Brian and the outside world to experience the exactly same overwhelming magic they were confronted with the first time around. That's the point, it's the fan's desire to show the world how great Brian is. But don't worry, the final take will do on the same level me thinks.

Ah yes, that's what I meant....!

finally heard it..... on one listen of very iffy quality mp3, I'm not sure...Brian's voice sounds smooth, but very low..
the demo had a certain quality to it that is missing here, but it ( the demo) had issues... this version fixes those issues ( instruments, some of Brians backing vox) but seems to have other issues... back vox blending for one.... but again, the quality of the recording I heard doesn't do justice.... so like so many others... I wait

 ^-^ IMHO ^-^

Ok, I've heard it now.  Pretty good in my opinion, especially considering I was listening to a horrible real player file.  I have two thoughts:

1. The slurred Brian voice of the last several years seems to be diminshed, which is a good thing.
2. Is it just me or was anyone else hoping for some Pet Sounds/Hal Blaine drums in the final mix?

And a third thought - I believe someone, someday will have a hit with this song, though I don't think it will be Brian with this version.

Err... that IS the final mix.  :-\

What are these guys even talking about at the end of the show? Are british radio hosts always that hectic? :)

Though I probably even agree with AGD to a certain degree about the rather dynamic sound of the demo version, MAD still strikes me as a very powerful and touching song, no matter which version. Come on, last time we were talking about How Can We Still Be Dancin'.

that is a very good point!

Andrew, I realize this is the final mix, which is why I asked, "Is it just me or ***WAS*** anyone else hoping for some Pet Sounds/Hal Blaine drums in the final mix?"  It was my realization that this, the final mix, does not have any Pet Sounds/Hal Blaine drums that made me ask the question whether or not anyone else was hoping it would.

Apologies - I misread "was" as "is".

I'm sure the differences between the final version and the demo will make a lot more sense in the context of the finished album itself.

I'm glad they like the song and production, but being disappointed that Brian's lead doesn't sound "angelic" and "perfect" like it would have if he was 24 again is silly.

This is the very first time I've heard this song, and I must say it's an excellent one all the way around!  Someone earlier made somewhat of a comparison to "Til I Die " and I would have to agree.  Yes, the vocals have a few quirks, but much fewer than I have heard in some other songs. 

Now I am going to go and NOT listen to any of the other versions because from the sound of this discussion, that could complicate my appreciation of the official version.  :P

...our guys have spent years trying to copy your guys from the 60s and 70s and now you criticise them for not being 'normal'!

I think this is great, a fully realised version. The vocal to me sounds a lot more controlled than on BWPS or GIOMH, so it's odd that Radcliffe & Maconie think the vocal is wobbly.

The radio stream seems to be gone.