The Smiley Smile Message Board

That's what I was just thinking. The neighbors may or may not agree.

It is. It's a bit of a sleeper. It took me a long time to enjoy it in full, as a sequence of sometimes achingly personal songs. Perhaps the music is not as daring as Brian could produce at his peak, but it's the whole of the experience. Beautifully understated, is perhaps a good description.

I haven't listened to the album for ages. Maybe i'll give it a spin today....
I'd say half the songs on it - Good kind of love, Forever my Surfer Girl, Live let live, Midnights another day, Oxygen to the brain (and also Message man) are among my favourite Brian songs that he's done in his solo career, the rest (the more 'rocking' tracks) I can take or leave - usually leave.

It's the way forward -  more concept style albums, a la BWPS & TLOS, please!

god, kill me now.

I love TLOS. My feelingis that after Brian is gone, this will become a beloved classic. Whenever people are arguing about BWPS and saying Brian is incapable of creating great music, I always want to point to TLOS. It may not be as good as Smile, but what album is?

I agree. :p

It's certainly better than Sweet Insanity.

I think it might be one of Brian's best solo albums. It's a VERY good album.

TLOS is among my all-time favorite albums. I absolutely love it.

I have to admit I really don't care for it all that much.  I've even now wiped it off my mp3 in a sacrifice for more space.  To me BW88 is still his best solo effort. "Imagination" might have took the crown if it were not for the Celine Dionesque production.  I have a feeling the Gershwin thing might light a fire under Brian's ass and produce something special.

Admittedly there's some filler and a couple mild cringeworthy moments (let's hear that Spanish rap again!) but I was surprised how consistently good it was.   When I play it as often as not I just let it run all the way through.

Don't need the DVD or LP versions, though.  Do check out the live version he recorded for NPR, they still have it up there.  Good performance, mixed by Mark Linett.

I really enjoyed TLOS. I think part of the weirdness for me personally, was that I wished that it had been recorded sooner after the live performance than what it turned out to be. Also, I wish for a harder rocking album in the future. But I enjoyed it head and shoulders above anything else in his solo career.

Very good album....

You know what I listened to last night and kind of liked? Sweet Insanity.  Just a year ago I was ready to nail that album to a cross and spit on it. Last night, it sounded good to me, almost like a slicker Love You with more serious lyrics.

Such as "my name is Brian and I'm the man, I write hit records with the palm of my hand"?!

Really, I'd have a hard time calling even the "serious" lyrics anything resembling serious. Landy...jesus.

Thank you Luther...

The first time I heard TLOS I was finishing up a tour...one of the worst tours of my life, I got sick and my brother died both right in the middle of it.  So maybe I was more receptive to it.  The first listen I was only somewhat impressed, but I noticed I got tears at the end.  My third listen, I was somewhere in Texas, and I noticed I was in tears at the end of the album every time.  Then I was like, "whoa, what is going on here?

I had formulated a whole essay about the album and I wish I'd sat down and written it then.  But I think it's inarguably the only overall cohesive statement Brian has made since 1967, not counting SMiLE.  I hate "Mexican Girl" but I think the album would be weaker without it, oddly enough.  It's how you know it's really Brian talking.  And there is a lot of really unexpected depth in the lyrics. I'm not just talking about the obvious songs.  To me the most astute lines on the album are on "Oxygen" and "Going Home":

Let's get the jump on it/before it's too late/friendly reminder/friendly reminder

and:

It's good to travel/but not for too long/so now I'm home/where I belong/and that's the key to every song

Why?  Because they go to the heart of the human condition in a way that I've almost never heard anyone do.  I know Scott wrote most of the lyrics (and he and I have talked about these lines a little), but they're very Brian, only articulated in a way that Brian rarely can do himself.  The "friendly reminder" line is very moving to me because it's a direct communication from the singer to the listener that he cares about them, but he also realizes that it's up to the listener whether they want to accept the love or not.   Without that line, it's just another dorky Brian exercise song, but with that lyric, it gets to a whole philosophy about what music is supposed to mean to peoples' lives that is uniquely Brian's.  To me, that line is the pivot point of the whole album.  The second line because -- well, you either get it or you don't.  But if you're a musician, what it says about life, a pop song, and how the two interconnect are oceans deep.

I hear THAT LUCKY OLD SUN this way:  you're up at 3 a.m. with your crazy old uncle, drinking and hanging out.  You're there because you love him, but you're also rolling your eyes a little as he tells his same old stories, farts and his mind wanders.  Then, unexpectedly, he puts his glass down, leans over, looks you straight in the eye and says, "now, there's some things I've never told you, that we need to talk about."

And I get tears.  I think it's a brilliant album.  When I saw Scott Bennett after I heard the album, I literally did the bow down "we're not worthy" thing at his knees.  Think about how many people tried to make this kind of album with Brian, and didn't quite get there despite best intentions.  He deserves a ton of credit.

TLOS threw me for a major, major loop - I seriously didn't think Brian could achieve those heights again. Individually, some of the songs aren't anything special, but... put them in the sequence and it's a classic example of synergy at work.

And even if every other song was a steaming heap of horse pucky, it would be worth it for "Midnight..." alone. That may very well be the best thing Brian's done since, oh, 1970, 1971. Majestic in its desolation.

I love this album, I just heard it today in the car and it held up very well. Oddly enough I love "Mexican Girl" but can't stand "Oxygen" musically, lyrically it's all there. I can remember great joy first hearing "Midnight," but it didn't even compare to when the album was streamed online and I heard the recording of "Goin' Home." You know that's a real update of the Love You sound, gruff but rocking Brian lead, those infectious "ho, home, be du be du be du" back grounds, the synthesizers splashes, and the sudden BAM of accapella harmony on "at twenty five I turned out the light" reminds me of the BAM for the chorus on "Let Us Go on this Way."

I reall like the "at twenty five" line, some slam it but I think it's real cool. Andrew's right about the sequencing, really enhances the album. Just one more nitpick that "California Role" sounds much better on the boots and live DVD, the mix on the album is too dry.

The "at 25..." part is one of those lines I dislike. There are others, too. But part of what I meant to get across in this thread is that an album can have those moments and still be good. Really good. Instead of not hitting perfection being seen as a flaw, it would be nice if we could recognize that music starts from nothing and is built. If four, five, six, or seven songs on an album are cool--songs you'll listen to again--sh*t, that's an accomplishment! What did each of us do today that other people will want to revisit time and time again in the coming years? TLOS is not among the best albums of all time, or even of the decade (in my opinion). But it's still got a lot of really cool stuff that I want to listen to.

+1

I adore it, played the hell out of it for the first few months, haven't played it in a while though.

I save it for summer.

Lovely post adamghost.

Leave off Mexican Girl and Oxygen.  And the Spanish speaking Brian.   The rest I'll keep.   Morning Beat rocks.  And Midnight.  Love the line...when there's no mourning without u..........

I still listen to the album and it never sits long enough to gather dust.  But I plan to do a little deleting/editing.  Anybody ever think of substituting the longer version of Been Too Long?  Maybe Moving Something Good in place of  Oxygen ?

Oxygen might be the second- or third-best song on the album, imo.

Really?   I usually see your point Luther.......

Please, seriously, try to school me on on what I'm missing here.  Reminds me of Happy Days from imagination.  Which was enough.

I find Oxygen To The Brain annoying, in a Saturday Morning In The City kind of way if that makes any sense.

Except for Dennis' stuff I find most of the post 1974 work lacking, however TLOS is one album that I do like a lot. "At 25 I turned out the light" is a little off putting because it's too simplistic a view, but that's an exception.  OK I could also do without the narration and "Good Kind Of Love" but song for song it really holds up. I even like Mexican Girl.

I'm shocked. Oxygen to the brain is great, it's like candy and the lyrics seem more Brian than almost any of them. That one, Midnight's, Good Kind of Love and Live Let Live make that album for me. The rest of the stuff is good fun too, but those four songs rock the house for me.

Yeah Oxygen to the Brain is also one of my favourites. That seems quintessentially Brioan to me.

I haven't listened to the album in a while. Unfiorunately the tracks I dislike are all sequenced together (Good Kind of Love through to California Role) and it sort of meant I'd only ever listen to side 2. Still that side 2 is pretty impressive for a new Brian album. I must dig it out again and give it another try. I've often considered swapping some of the duff tracks for message man and the other good bonus cut ("when a man loses his woamn" - that one), then I reckon I'd have the makings of an album I could really get into.

I too enjoyed your post Adamghost - if TLOS can touch somebody so deeply it must have something special about it.

Post Holland, I like the live album, some of 15 Big Ones, Love You, a little of MIU, half of LA, all of POB, most of BW88, BWPS and about half of TLOS - I'm not over fond of Mexican Girl, California Role and Goin' Home

 I too love "Oxygen to the Brain". Musically, it's very Brian. The soft intro with bells is something he has been into for a few albums now, from "Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight" to "Happy Days" to "Rainbow Eyes". Parts of the verses have this bouncy, rollicking Randy Newman feel that seems new to this album (also heard on "California Role" and perhaps another song or two) and recalls Brian's fascination with Sail Away. Those descending bass lines during the chorus are trademark Brian Wilson, reminding me of "Here Today" and "City Blues" in particular. I like the harmonies on the "to live..." part, one of the more daring harmonies Brian has done in years. By daring, I mean a less obvious part to add harmonically, something which he does a few times on TLOS. The lyrics, of course, are very Brian. We all know he loves singing about exercise and weight problems. I liken this song to Brian Wilson does Polyphonic Spree.

I don't know what schooling I could give: it's really just one of the songs that "does it" for me. (Whereas "Southern California," for example--one that a lot of people love--I find cloying, false and forced in its in-your-face warm fuzzies.) This one, musically, just nails it for me. I love the childish/military-march bounce of it. I love the background voices, especially the nice counterpoint descending ooh when he sings "ok let's take it slow." It's both interesting and fun. I'll take that over sickly sweet every time.

Southern California is very moving to me, I also can't explain it too well but when the bridge came in yesterday I got a full chill up my spine.

Agreed 100% about Oxygen to the Brain! I always  loved the synths and found them a welcome callback to Love You. Also, has anyone noticed the backing vocals behind the line "A reason to live, to live, to live" are apparently sampled? They sound like they are being played back through a cheesy 1980s Synclavier style sampler.

Yeah I like Oxygen to the Brain also. If I had to rank the songs (sans narratives and Can't Wait too Long) I'd go:
Midnight's Another Day
Oxygen to the Brain
Live let Live
Southern California
Forever She'll be my Surfer Girl
Morning Beat
Going Home (I like it but not as much as others)
Good Kind of Love
That Lucky Old Sun
California Role
Mexican Girl

I really like it until it goes 'whoawhoawhoa it's magic....'  ::)

Is it just me, or would this album have been ten times better had Van Dyke done the "narratives"? Don't get me wrong, I still love the album. When it first came out, I thought it was better than SMiLE. *ducks away from the rocks being thrown*

Where does 'Pleasure Island' fit into all of this?

I see TLOS as the narrative of what's going through the mind of an older man as he's taking a long way by himself through LA on a hot, sunny day. He observes what's happening around him, he's reminiscing about his past and every now and then his mind wanders off to something entirely different like some cute girl, exercising, or what not. And after a while, he starts humming this tune that he wrote 40 years ago and that somehow just popped into his head. That's really what TLOS sounds like to me: silly, happy and melancholic thoughts on a beautiful, sunny day.

I wouldn't leave any of the songs of. Every song on the album is supposed to be there.

I like the upbeat, sunny vibe.  Great, great fun summer album!!!!!  I've already formed sweet summertime memories to this -- cranking it in my garage while washing my car -- motorin' around town on a cool summer morning with the windows down.  Ahhhhhhh....."oxygen, oxygen right to my braaaain!"   :spin

I may be at odds with everyone here, but I like the more upbeat tracks more than the reflective somber ones....I like them too, of course -- but I kinda think the happy/bouncy tracks are "more Brian" today.  Perhaps I feel that way because I saw Scott say "the album was a little too happy" or something like that, so He and Brian (more HE than Brian??) wrote, I think, Midnight?

I found that comment to be some more typical futzing with Brian's vision..."It's brilliant Brian...but..."   >:(  No biggie, but I can't imagine saying anything but...YEAH Brian!  YEEEEAAAAH...Let's record that shiiiet!!

Either way...the album's fun, bright and performed really solidly.  I can totally hear the Denny, Carl, Mike and Al singing on this!!

Brian's vocals on TLOS are as good as I've heard them in over 20 years. As good as Love and Mercy from IWMFTT. The weakness in BWPS and most of his solo work imo is his vocal.

If the result is something like "Midnight's Another Day", then I don't think there is any problem in "futzing" with Brian's vision! As it is, Scott recommended slowing down a composition Brian had come up with which resulted in "Midnight..." (Scott also added the intro piano motif). Also, reportedly Brian came up with "Southern California" quite late in the game which is why the unfinished version ended up being in the live premiere. I accept that "Southern California" is sentimental, but I think it's on the good side of that fence, much like what Van Dyke was doing on ORANGE CRATE ART. "Oxygen To The Brain" is really the kind of stuff most of us seem to want from Brian; that artsy multi-part composition with sunny orchestrated sing-a-long sections mixed with the odd discordant moments. Nobody but Brian would do something like it in that fashion. Friends unfamiliar with the track who saw the live show pointed to this song as a highlight in that it seemed instantly hummable and yet mysterious at the same time (inviting further exploration).

I think we have to accept that virtually everything Brian has done since 1967 has been the result of collaboration (and much of what came before as well); TLOS is a triumph of collaboration with an engaged Brian actively participating.

The great majority of Brian's vocals on this album were flown in from the original demos.  ;D

TLOS took awhile to grow on me, but now it's easily my 2nd favorite BW album after BWPS. I love that they included "Can't Wait Too Long". That's probably the most beautiful 30 seconds of harmony I've ever heard, and I prefer it even to the Beach Boys version.

I recently saw the DVD as well and loved watching Brian at work in the studio. There's the scene where he bursts through the door and barely says anything but the band understands he needs to give them a new harmony line and they work it out. To me, that's as close as it gets to having 1966 Brian back and in control.

Meh, still his vocals, aren't they? Brian's best moments these days seem to be a matter of "catch it while you can". I don't see much of a problem with taking vocals from other places.

As for "Midnight's Another Day" - yeah, Scott gave it a new spin, but I'm sure if Brian didn't prefer the new arrangement it would have been axed in favor of the more upbeat take on it. No problem with related people "futzing" with what Brian originally comes up with - remember, "Good Vibrations" would have lacked the bass vocal hook and cello without the help of Mike and Carl making suggestions, and I think those are very important elements in the chorus.

Andrew, was Brian's original idea and arrangement for "Midnight's Another Day" put to tape anywhere, even as something informal? Have you heard it?

When the demos were being heard, especially Midnight's Another Day, a lot of people at the time were saying that Brian should just keep his vocals on that as he was unlikely to top them.

Which he did.

I don't see the problem with flying in his vocals, when you're dealing with a singer as inconsistent as he is, and I'm sure that he knows his present-day limits better than anyone.


WEll, not SURE. But you'd think.

Well, I saw a TV movie about the Beach Boys and I think it went something like this: Brian got so stoned one night that he literally forgot how to make a pop song and, unfortunately, the rest of the Boys were out on tour, so he couldn't be helped. Still, Brian had to do something, so he just kept recording 30 second bits of music. While this ruse worked for awhile, pretty soon the record company was getting skeptical about Brian's ability to finish a song. Luckily, the Boys came back in town around that time and Brian called Mike and begged him to help him to finish a song. Mike came over to Brian's house and found him smoking a joint and trying desperately to figure out the proper way to assemble a peanut butter sandwich. Mike took Brian by the hand and told him that a pop song goes "verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus" and then settled down to listen to what Brian had been working on. Mike thought it was weird, a little too esoteric and mystical, but he added a killer bass hook on the chorus and wrote some fine boy-girl lyrics. With the song salvaged, he sent Brian on his way and the result was "Good Vibrations". If you listen closely to the song, you can tell that Brian still couldn't really remember how to make a pop song. It starts out with the "verse, chorus" format, but then Brian gets lost during the bridge and he never really recovers. Luckily, the listening public didn't really notice and the song was a hit, as millions of kids across the country imitated Mike singing "I'm pickin' up good vibrations!" in the chorus in their bedrooms at night when they were supposed to be sleeping.

The end.

Gawd, I really, really, really have to see this scene. Which movie was it from, again?

Or maybe he's just at his best when he's relaxed. I suppose that when you're at a friend's house recording a demo you're much more at ease than when you're in a big recording studio recording the real thing.

That's true, too. Lots of bands get their better performances on demos when you're not sweating the details so much.

See, that's what I love about TLOS. It's why Brian sounds so into the material. They caught him in a good mood, and used that and built around it. Kinda like Syd Barrett, only polished. I've been saying since day one that this is the way Brian should do his albums...God, I love this album! And hell, the outtakes are very good also.

I think the key to TLOS's goodness is . . . Brian finally wrote new music.  I believe this is largely the first solo album where he's not simply re-performing or re-interrupting 1980s or 1970s material.  That's my take on it.  It's so fresh.  A fresh perspective, on looking back and sometimes on old themes, but a fresh perspective still.

He's in an amazingly sound and secure place, somewhat similar to those first few sessions in 1964/5 when he quite the road -- which led to Today! and all the great stuff.  The music has that clarity to it.  It sounds together...not forced or belabored.

Listening with headphones, you can actually hear which vocals came from the demos and which were newly-recorded. This is most apparent on "Southern California" which features the demo lead on the first and third verse (I think) and a new vocal for the second verse and bridge. To me, I think Brian achieves a purer tone on the newly-recorded parts (he's a little scratchy on the demo vocal). I'm sure Brian figured if it was already recorded and sounded good, why bother doing it again. I think he actually improved on his performance, however, when he finished the lead vocals in a proper studio.

One of the great points about TLOS is that Brian basically told his people (if the 2005 phone calls are anything to go by) he wanted 2006 off from touring. To a certain extent, he got the better part of it off. And what did he do during his break? Probably rested for a few months and then went right into a collaboration with Bacharach and then the Bennett/Wilson stuff. A good rest pays off.

When you compare it to his pre-SMiLE albums, it certainly is a great leap forward. He actually sounds more in control, and certainly more at peace with himself, than ever.

I only hope he continues this streak with his next projects. At the very least, the reception to BWPS seems to have been a major confidence boost.

I think Scott Bennett sang the demo for SoCal though.

I would be interested to know exactly which vocals were newly cut at the Capitol Studios.  I think the title track must be one.

Magic. I really want to see this.

Right, I do remember hearing that Scott was on the demo (haven't heard it). But for the live show, didn't "Southern California" just use the first and third verse plus chorus? That's what tipped me off when listening to the full studio version: the second verse and bridge have a purer, cleaner lead vocal than the first and third verse. This suggests that the first and third verses were recorded earlier (assuming that the song was finished in the studio by adding the second verse and bridge).

Bad news - your assumption is incorrect: the demo with Scotty singing is all there was. It was the last song added to the album. All the BW vocals are 'new'.

Very well - I stand by my statement, however, that the second verse and bridge have cleaner vocals. Maybe the first and third verses were recorded in the morning and Brian came back after lunch in slightly better voice to tackle the rest of the vocal  ;D

I have to say that, except for a few spots (MAD one of them), Brian's vocals really make TLOS.  This is the only solo album of his where I see his vocals as a net plus.  There's just something about them that suits the "been there, lived that" vibe of the songs.  A different singer wouldn't have added that much weary power to the vocals. 

I think this album stands as Brians best work of his solo career since 1988.  It is, all in all, a joy to listen to, time and again.

...is a good remark. The comparison is odd, but it's what I like about Johnny Cash' last works. Sure, he sang covers in 'American Recordings', but he 'owns' the material, in a way that I can't imagine another interpretation of it being even more personal and convincing.

Somehow, when I heard this album, I thought 'instant classic'


When I heard the demos, I thought this is Brian's 2nd best solo project after BWPS

Its a great album, but it isn't a joy to listen to. The production is awful and grates on my ears very badly.

The CD is very compressed, vinyl is better but still not easy on the ear.

The music and the actual recording are both great. The production sucks. Whatever the record cover says, Brian Wilson wasn't at the controls when the final master was cut.

No argument here... but mastering has nothing to do with producing. Brian produced TLOS, with Scotty's help. Bob Ludwig mastered it and, it's commonly agreed, mastered it very badly.

Could you explain NPR to me? Or maybe let us have a link?

Thanks alot,

BJ

Not sure if you mean explain _what_ NPR is, or explain what the NPR live recordings consist of. NPR is National Public Radio in the U.S.--partly government supported but mostly listener supported radio.
If you go to npr.org and put Brian's name into the search box, you get this:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14999155

The Smile live is indeed terrific. The documentary section follows the David Leaf-style story ("His fellow Beach Boys didn't want to sing it") but is worth a listen anyway. Darian's in it, as are Brian and Melinda. And the band sounds great in concert.  There's also other terrific stuff on that page, including TLOS live.

 Could you explain NPR to me? Or maybe let us have a link?

Thanks alot,

BJ
[/quote]

Here is the NPR link (National Public Radio's concert series) to TLOS live in Dec. 2008:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98042111

On the mastering issue, I recall Andrew or a fellow pond-crosser telling us the European CD master was terribly brickwalled and shrill, the US mastering was OK.  I don't think the US master is that bad,  though I agree it could "breathe" a bit more.  

Thanks Amy B and Dr Tim.

I'm English, so the letters NPR mean nothing to me, but thanks for explaining!

The gig sounds great. Whoever did the mixing etc. on this did a great job (as well as the band of course...)