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Smiley Smile Stuff => General On Topic Discussions => Topic started by: lostbeachboy on August 22, 2017, 11:05:43 AM



Title: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: lostbeachboy on August 22, 2017, 11:05:43 AM

Ethereal Masterpiece.

Underrated Gem.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: c-man on August 22, 2017, 11:16:40 AM
Second that - one of the most unique records of the rock era - a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.



Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: JK on August 22, 2017, 12:32:40 PM
I revisited it just two days ago. It sounded as heart-warming and as heartbreaking as ever.

And there are things happening on it that you aren't likely to find happening anywhere else.

As c-man said, it's one of a kind.

Bless you, Dennis.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Dove Nested Towers on August 22, 2017, 04:08:44 PM
Wonderful, wonderful album, happy anniversary POB. I wish it hadn't come down to a choice between Tug of Love and End of the Show, if they could have added ToL it would have been more magnificent.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: MatchPoint on August 22, 2017, 04:21:27 PM
Not as good as Looking Back with Love.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: MatchPoint on August 22, 2017, 04:27:18 PM
Just kidding. This album is so special.

I almost always play it start to finish and every time I do it feels like taking a road trip with a good friend.

It's also a blessing that the 30th Anniversary Edition sounds so solid. It's one of the few albums I don't occasionally try to replace with a higher quality version. Sonically perfect.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: rab2591 on August 22, 2017, 06:10:04 PM
I almost always play it start to finish and every time I do it feels like taking a road trip with a good friend.

That’s the most perfectly concise description of this album I’ve ever heard. It really is! This 40 year old album is absolutely timeless. Glad so many others dig it as much as I do.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Jay on August 22, 2017, 06:25:16 PM
Pacific Ocean Blue(and Bambu) is one of those rare albums that you don't just love, but you're proud to have in your collection.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Wata on August 22, 2017, 11:12:59 PM
I haven't get to 'get' this album.

I absolutely love some songs (River Song, Pacific Ocean Blues, Rainbows), and dig a few of the others (What's Wrong, You And I, Farewell My Friend), but as the whole I just can't get what's so astonishing about this entire album.

I don't think there's single bum track to be found on the album (maybe one possible exception), but the entire album is not among my BB favorites. Currently I enjoy 15 Big Ones tracks more than this album's tracks.

Someday I hope I come to appreciate the greatness of this album. Perhaps giving it a listen every day, just like I did with Pet Sounds when I had a hard time, would help me 'get' this album.  

Anyway, happy 40th birthday to Pacific Ocean Blue!


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Lonely Summer on August 23, 2017, 12:28:50 AM
I haven't get to 'get' this album.

I absolutely love some songs (River Song, Pacific Ocean Blues, Rainbows), and dig a few of the others (What's Wrong, You And I, Farewell My Friend), but as the whole I just can't get what's so astonishing about this entire album.

I don't think there's single bum track to be found on the album (maybe one possible exception), but the entire album is not among my BB favorites. Currently I enjoy 15 Big Ones tracks more than this album's tracks.

Someday I hope I come to appreciate the greatness of this album. Perhaps giving it a listen every day, just like I did with Pet Sounds when I had a hard time, would help me 'get' this album.  

Anyway, happy 40th birthday to Pacific Ocean Blue!
I have similar feelings about this album. I like it much more than what the group was doing at the time (15BO, Love You), but I don't hear a masterpiece.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Dove Nested Towers on August 23, 2017, 02:06:15 AM
Not as good as Looking Back with Love.

It's a close thing, but I give POB the nod by an RCH.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: TheWonderfulHarpsichord on August 23, 2017, 02:14:32 AM
One of my favorite albums. I'm glad it's getting recognition in recent years


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Pacific Ocean Blue on August 23, 2017, 02:25:30 AM
Ageless album


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Wata on August 23, 2017, 02:51:28 AM
Ageless album
Agreed.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: rab2591 on August 23, 2017, 03:12:34 AM
I haven't get to 'get' this album.

I absolutely love some songs (River Song, Pacific Ocean Blues, Rainbows), and dig a few of the others (What's Wrong, You And I, Farewell My Friend), but as the whole I just can't get what's so astonishing about this entire album.

I don't think there's single bum track to be found on the album (maybe one possible exception), but the entire album is not among my BB favorites. Currently I enjoy 15 Big Ones tracks more than this album's tracks.

Someday I hope I come to appreciate the greatness of this album. Perhaps giving it a listen every day, just like I did with Pet Sounds when I had a hard time, would help me 'get' this album.  

Anyway, happy 40th birthday to Pacific Ocean Blue!

Here’s my take on it: it’s no Pet Sounds in that each song isn’t a masterpiece because of some amazing hooks and chorus’. But it is comparable to Pet Sounds in that each song conveys a real true emotion that you can feel down to your bones.

Musically it made no sense to me when I first heard this album. What the hell? There’s this beautiful song called ‘Time’ that is completely interrupted by a loud as hell brass section...it makes no sense and it throws me off. So many songs on this album are like this! But therein lies the brilliance for me: it is perfectly Dennis Wilson because he’s not trying to follow the norm of conventional music. Dennis turns music on its head with this album. That brass section in ‘Time’ sounds like its shattering glass because Dennis was a shattering glass kind of person.

But he was also a deeply loving individual. So when you listen to ‘Thoughts Of You’, you’re hearing a deep down real emotion that isn’t interrupted by the convential norms of pop music. There is no reoccurring chorus, no verse really. It’s Dennis Wilson sharing a feeling deep inside of him - and that’s what makes this album so awesome. Each instrument has a purpose, each background vocal, each line, each random moment that takes you off guard: it’s all meant to move you in a way you won’t understand at first.

He could’ve spent a couple years compiling solo songs that sounded like his brilliant ‘Slip On Through’. He was perfectly capable of writing radio-friendly songs. But he didn’t for this album. He made the ultimate rock n roll statement by walking away from anything that would make sense to the listener.

I’ll compare this album to the movie ‘The Tree of Life’ by Terrence Malick. At first I didn’t get the movie. It’s got random sections that just appear for seemingly no reason. It doesn’t follow the normal theme of Hollywood films (intro, buildup to climax, climax, happy ending) - it completely threw me off, yet I loved it because of its beauty. I realized the movie is like visual poetry, and with that outlook I finally understood the film. Same goes for POB: if you dive into it expecting something similar to every album you’ve heard you’ll be thrown off guard. But if you dive into it with zero expectations, with the perception that this is auditory poetry, you may just find that this is a true groundbreaking masterpiece. It’s the ultimate “f*** you” to the norm that music had become, and it’s a beautiful gift to those who would understand its meaning.

Sorry for rambling, but I hope that explanation helps you understand why so many love this album - or at least, this is my reasoning for loving this album. And I’m not saying you have to love this album, it mostly does depend on your own taste!


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Wata on August 23, 2017, 03:27:07 AM
I haven't get to 'get' this album.

I absolutely love some songs (River Song, Pacific Ocean Blues, Rainbows), and dig a few of the others (What's Wrong, You And I, Farewell My Friend), but as the whole I just can't get what's so astonishing about this entire album.

I don't think there's single bum track to be found on the album (maybe one possible exception), but the entire album is not among my BB favorites. Currently I enjoy 15 Big Ones tracks more than this album's tracks.

Someday I hope I come to appreciate the greatness of this album. Perhaps giving it a listen every day, just like I did with Pet Sounds when I had a hard time, would help me 'get' this album.  

Anyway, happy 40th birthday to Pacific Ocean Blue!

Here’s my take on it: it’s no Pet Sounds in that each song isn’t a masterpiece because of some amazing hooks and chorus’. But it is comparable to Pet Sounds in that each song conveys a real true emotion that you can feel down to your bones.

Musically it made no sense to me when I first heard this album. What the hell? There’s this beautiful song called ‘Time’ that is completely interrupted by a loud as hell brass section...it makes no sense and it throws me off. So many songs on this album are like this! But therein lies the brilliance for me: it is perfectly Dennis Wilson because he’s not trying to follow the norm of conventional music. Dennis turns music on its head with this album. That brass section in ‘Time’ sounds like its shattering glass because Dennis was a shattering glass kind of person.

But he was also a deeply loving individual. So when you listen to ‘Thoughts Of You’, you’re hearing a deep down real emotion that isn’t interrupted by the convential norms of pop music. There is no reoccurring chorus, no verse really. It’s Dennis Wilson sharing a feeling deep inside of him - and that’s what makes this album so awesome. Each instrument has a purpose, each background vocal, each line, each random moment that takes you off guard: it’s all meant to move you in a way you won’t understand at first.

He could’ve spent a couple years compiling solo songs that sounded like his brilliant ‘Slip On Through’. He was perfectly capable of writing radio-friendly songs. But he didn’t for this album. He made the ultimate rock n roll statement by walking away from anything that would make sense to the listener.

I’ll compare this album to the movie ‘The Tree of Life’ by Terrence Malick. At first I didn’t get the movie. It’s got random sections that just appear for seemingly no reason. It doesn’t follow the normal theme of Hollywood films (intro, buildup to climax, climax, happy ending) - it completely threw me off, yet I loved it because of its beauty. I realized the movie is like visual poetry, and with that outlook I finally understood the film. Same goes for POB: if you dive into it expecting something similar to every album you’ve heard you’ll be thrown off guard. But if you dive into it with zero expectations, with the perception that this is auditory poetry, you may just find that this is a true groundbreaking masterpiece. It’s the ultimate “f*** you” to the norm that music had become, and it’s a beautiful gift to those who would understand its meaning.

Sorry for rambling, but I hope that explanation helps you understand why so many love this album - or at least, this is my reasoning for loving this album. And I’m not saying you have to love this album, it mostly does depend on your own taste!
Thanks for your review. I'll sure try it.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Scaroline No on August 23, 2017, 06:23:50 AM
I totally agree with what's been said above about being proud to have this in one's collection. It's one of my favourite albums to put on the turntable.

Something about Dennis' songs is just so ethereal. Not just on POB, all of them. I always get this feeling he's still with us somehow.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Michael Edward Osbourne on August 23, 2017, 06:33:27 AM
My copy of POB is autographed by Dennis. It originally belonged to a DJ named Tom Doyle. Dennis wrote on the album cover "To Tom Doyle, Get Well, Dennis Wilson 9/26/77". Next to my Beatles Butcher Cover copy of Yesterday And Today it is a most cherished piece and is displayed in a glass frame.

I love POB and all of its moodiness. From the opening piano riff representing the flow of the river to the mournful farewell which ends the LP, it's a perfect album in my opinion.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: MatchPoint on August 23, 2017, 08:01:18 AM
My copy of POB is autographed by Dennis. It originally belonged to a DJ named Tom Doyle. Dennis wrote on the album cover "To Tom Doyle, Get Well, Dennis Wilson 9/26/77". Next to my Beatles Butcher Cover copy of Yesterday And Today it is a most cherished piece and is displayed in a glass frame.

I love POB and all of its moodiness. From the opening piano riff representing the flow of the river to the mournful farewell which ends the LP, it's a perfect album in my opinion.

Snap a picture man, that sounds awesome!


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Michael Edward Osbourne on August 23, 2017, 12:42:06 PM
My copy of POB is autographed by Dennis. It originally belonged to a DJ named Tom Doyle. Dennis wrote on the album cover "To Tom Doyle, Get Well, Dennis Wilson 9/26/77". Next to my Beatles Butcher Cover copy of Yesterday And Today it is a most cherished piece and is displayed in a glass frame.

I love POB and all of its moodiness. From the opening piano riff representing the flow of the river to the mournful farewell which ends the LP, it's a perfect album in my opinion.

Snap a picture man, that sounds awesome!



Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: MatchPoint on August 25, 2017, 02:12:43 AM
My copy of POB is autographed by Dennis. It originally belonged to a DJ named Tom Doyle. Dennis wrote on the album cover "To Tom Doyle, Get Well, Dennis Wilson 9/26/77". Next to my Beatles Butcher Cover copy of Yesterday And Today it is a most cherished piece and is displayed in a glass frame.

I love POB and all of its moodiness. From the opening piano riff representing the flow of the river to the mournful farewell which ends the LP, it's a perfect album in my opinion.

Snap a picture man, that sounds awesome!



That's so neat. I bet you were stoked when the 30th Anniversary edition came out.


Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: Wata on September 06, 2017, 07:03:15 AM
Thanks to its 40th anniversary and positive comments of everyone here, I seem to have really 'got' how great this album is.

It's not as catchy as most of Dennis's Beach Boys songs, but it has the same vibe- sincerity, passion and beauty of the sound.

Now I've even started to appreciate Bambu. The Pacific Ocean Blue album is now up there with albums like Today!, Love You, Friends and BW88.



Title: Re: Pacific Ocean Blue at 40
Post by: thorgil on September 06, 2017, 09:26:36 AM
The songs Dennis wrote for the Boys are genius, so is Pacific Ocean Blue, and maybe I like Bambu even more (though it may be the "unfinished masterpiece" effect). The Deluxe Edition with the reconstructed Bambu was one of the most unexpected and thrilling musical surprises in my life.
However, POB sounds exactly as new and fresh now as 40 years ago. Really ageless. :thewilsons