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Smiley Smile Stuff => General On Topic Discussions => Topic started by: chewy on August 16, 2020, 04:55:33 PM



Title: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: chewy on August 16, 2020, 04:55:33 PM
To put in context- LIGHT ALBUM is probably my #1 most enjoyed Beach Boys album last few years......i LOVE the production of MIU but god help me I cant get into the album past Al's Peggy Sue.  I **WANT*** to like match point of our love, id love to have that be a classic beach boys 'yacht rock' cut--- but man i just dont know if im into it yet....


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: ♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇 on August 16, 2020, 05:10:27 PM
It’s funny but for years it was the complete opposite for me. It wasn’t until we briefly had a Sirius Beach Boys channel that I started to appreciate it more


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: startBBtoday on August 16, 2020, 05:14:19 PM
I really like Sweet Sunday Kinda Love, Pitter Patter and My Diane.

Match Point, Wontcha Come Out Tonight?, She's Got Rhythm, Come Go With Me, Winds of Change and Peggy Sue are all fine. Not songs I'd ever put on a playlist.

I might like Kona Coast and Belles of Paris more if I didn't associate them with Christmas from the Ultimate album.

Hey, Little Tomboy is a no thanks for me.

I prefer L.A. because I like the Carl and Dennis songs that are on there. Overall, though, there's one pretty good album worth of material out of both records.

I call this Beach Boys Tonight!

1. Good Timin'
2. Sweet Sunday
3. Pitter Patter
4. Wontcha Come out Tonight?
5. She's Got Rhythm
6. Match Point Of Our Love

7. My Diane
8. Full Saile
9. Angel Come Home
10. Love Surrounds Me
11. Goin' South
12. Baby Blue


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Awesoman on August 16, 2020, 09:24:00 PM
To put in context- LIGHT ALBUM is probably my #1 most enjoyed Beach Boys album last few years......i LOVE the production of MIU but god help me I cant get into the album past Al's Peggy Sue.  I **WANT*** to like match point of our love, id love to have that be a classic beach boys 'yacht rock' cut--- but man i just dont know if im into it yet....

That shouldn't be too surprising; it's not a great album.  There are some decent moments here and there but this is mostly a bland affair with dry, wheezy production. 

Light Album honestly isn't quite as bad as it's made out to be though.  There are some particularly nice moments from both Carl and Dennis. 


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Mr. Wilson Joliet on August 16, 2020, 11:34:22 PM
I quite like it, but I find it to be a very low-key album, with nothing really overly ambitious like on the surrounding albums. Just kind of a pleasant nothingness overall.

That being said, it's probably one of the more stranger albums they've made. For one, its contents consist of: 2 re-recorded 15 Big Ones era outtakes, 2 Love You era outtakes, 2 could-have-been Christmas songs (one of which is a quasi-remake of "Hawaii"), a Celebration instrumental with lyrics/vocals, and 5 more originals from Mike, Brian and/or Al. And yet it all hangs together quite well, unlike some of the other archive raiding from albums at this time (nothing like "Good Time" or "When Girls Get Together").

Then there's the background behind its creation. They're in Iowa, owing an album to Reprise, with the band having recently and temporarily broken up, meaning Carl and Dennis are mostly absent, and yet none of this tension can be found in the record. You also have Al at the forefront of production duties (could that explain its low-key nature?), Brian on autopilot but his voice bizarrely smoother and stronger than before (and would cease to be mere months afterwards), and the Mike-Brian songwriting collaboration resumed for the last time, at least for an entire album length.

Just a strange set of circumstances behind such an innocuous sounding album.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Jay on August 17, 2020, 12:47:52 AM
MIU is my favorite post Holland Beach Boys album, period.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: phirnis on August 17, 2020, 12:54:00 AM
M.I.U. and Light Album are both pretty dull in my opinion, though L.A. is a nice listen from time to time and of course it has Good Timin', a late BW classic. M.I.U. sounds kind of OK but there's no creative spark whatsoever (except for My Diane, which is amazing) and the production is incredibly unimaginative.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: debonbon on August 17, 2020, 02:30:37 AM
Match Point Of Our Love Is hilariously terrible, honestly couldn’t believe my ears the first time I heard it.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Awesoman on August 17, 2020, 05:24:49 AM
On M.I.U. I'll admit I have a soft spot for the clunky opener "She's Got Rhythm", even with Brian's grating falsetto and cheeseball lyrics.  It honestly would have fit in well enough on the Love You album.  Al's cover of "Come Go With Me" is good enough considering the rest of the band never really showed up for the session.

L.A. probably would have faired better if they took off the dreadfully lengthy disco trainwreck and put on a few other songs there instead.  Again both Carl and Dennis come off particularly well here.  "Baby Blue" is a fine swan song for Dennis complete with a pretty lead vocal by Carl and a few nice harmonies.  "Angel Come Home" works thanks to Dennis' gruff lead vocal.  "Full Sail" isn't anything remarkable but is pleasant enough.  And of course there's the aforementioned "Good Timin'".  One of the group's best late 70's songs by a mile.  And this album may be one of the slickest-sounding albums they did production-wise during that period.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: chewy on August 20, 2020, 02:51:30 PM
ive come around on sweet sunday and pitter patter and peggy sue which i liked to begin with, but im lost with matchpoint still


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Jay on August 20, 2020, 05:14:59 PM
Matchpoint has dumb lyrics, but Brian's lead vocal is great, along with the overall song production.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: ♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇 on August 20, 2020, 08:22:41 PM
Hot take: I actually *like* the lyrics 😎


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Jim V. on August 21, 2020, 06:35:40 AM
Hot take: I actually *like* the lyrics 😎

Totally straight up though? Not with a hint of irony?


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Reverberation on October 04, 2020, 02:52:17 PM
Man, I am so utterly obsessed with MIU. Along with Love You, it is by far my favorite Beach Boys album after Holland. I may even love it more than The Beach Boys Love You, which is probably heresy to most here, but it's true. I know MIU's story is marred by troubles, but it really is a fantastic record. Do I think Adult Child, California Feelin', or even the 70s Beach Boys Christmas Album would have been better? Probably, but MIU is still good for what we got from them.

I really cannot fathom why so many fans prefer LA (Light Album) to MIU (this seems to be the popular consensus). I like a number of songs from LA, but it has some real stinkers on it. First of all, they chose the worst version of Brian's Shortenin' Bread. They should have gone with the infinitely superior version from Adult Child. I guess the the band did that a lot though. Just look at them deciding to nix Al's awesome original version of "Santa Anna Winds", from the California Feelin' boot, in lieu of the mediocre version that ended up on Keepin' the Summer Alive. Don't even get me started on LA's Here Comes the Night...

As far as LA, my favorite cuts are easily Al's Lady Lynda and Mike's Sumahama (I'm sure may would disagree with me on Sumahama, but I love it), followed by Angel Come Home, with Dennis' great vocal performance. I know many probably prefer Good Timin' and Full Sail. I like them both also, especially Good Timin', but not as much as some. Baby Blue is a great Dennis ballad too, as is Carl's Goin' South, with that sweet, smooth, angelic vocal. Still, both songs do not benefit from being sandwiched between the 11-minute disco bastardization of Here Comes the Night (sorry if there are any genuine fans of this version, though I've never met anyone that is) and the random Shortenin' Bread album closer with its lacking, mediocre production and meh electric guitar wailing.

Meanwhile, I love every song on MIU. The production is killer. It's one of the best produced and best sounding post-1973 Beach Boys albums besides Love You, in my opinion. The flow of the album, the tracklist, and the overall sound is much more consistent than Light Album as well.




Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Join The Human Race on October 04, 2020, 04:04:47 PM
Seeing this thread; I'll just go ahead and fire up the entire album on Spotify.

She's Got Rhythm - Ignoring the fact that Brian Wilson probably never went out disco dancing, I like this song. It's fluff but a lot of BB/Brian stuff is.


Come Go With Me - I've always found this cover bland. I usually skip it, but it's not a song I'll turn off if it were to come on.

Hey Little Tomboy - If this song wasn't so weird, I think, musically, it could have been a single. It has the sounds of a Brian Wilson pop song. All the guys' voices (maybe not Al?), the percussion, banging piano, an organ that sounds almost like a guitar. That's what Brian was doing in the 60s. This, Roller Skating Child and I Wanna Pick You Up; I figured Dennis or Mike would have been like Brian, these lyrics are weird, but the track is great. I am surprised Mike didn't try to fix up the lyrics to this one; Hey Little Rhonda. But the vocals on this song are great; especially Brian's, and the outro is terrific.  Fix the lyrics to this and release it as a single, but alas.

Kona Coast - A fluff/retro piece but Al's voice on this one saves this for me. It's not in my Top 100 BB songs, but like most of this album, it's relatively harmless.

Peggy Sue - Like the other Al cover song, I feel this one is bland. M.I.U. is reminding the fans that they are the band who made 15 Big Ones, not just Love You, you're gonna get 50s cover songs!

Wontcha Come Out Tonight - The intro vocals always have seemed off and for many years, I failed to get past it and recognize how great Brian's voice sounds. Even Mike is good on this one. A little retro sounding, but Brian likes that stuff, too, and it seems like it was a fun little write with him and Mike.

Sweet Sunday Kinda Love - A fantastic Carl song and helps makes this seem like a real group album. This is a great composition of Brian/Mike and this should have been a single. It's Our Sweet Love grown up.

Belles of Paris - Mike seems like he had a fun time writing this one though I don't know if needed to be a play on words, but oh well. Mike should used this voice more in the late 70s instead of his Almost Summer nasal.

Pitter Patter - I usually skip this one but listening to it, it's okay.

My Diane - A Brian Wilson masterpiece with one of the best vocals from Dennis. And I like the string/additional background vocals.  This is up there with The Night Was So Young and I'll Bet He's Nice. Definitely in my Top 100 BB songs.

Match Point of Our Love - Most controversially, but I would probably include this one in my Top 100. I know Brian says he doesn't even recall making the M.I.U. Album and that statement can be used to write off the entire album. Another song that kind of been a single, call it just Match Point. It's another Mike/Brian composition with a catchy melody and a terrific vocal from Brian. Plus those lyrics: No one ever held me the way you did/No one could ever love me the way you did/How could love slip away from me?

Winds of Change - It's a good song, regardless of it not being a BB song. Al and Ron deserve credit for coming up with this album under the circumstances it was made. It's not a masterpiece, but when compared to Summer In Paradise, it's a solid album of mostly simple songs. And some of them sound really well.




Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Join The Human Race on October 04, 2020, 04:11:55 PM
And to an addendum about L.A., take off Here Comes the Night and put on just about any other song, and it would have been a strong album. I mean, duh. Some of the background vocals (Good Timin' and Lady Lynda) sound like classic BB; almost as if Brian is there. Bruce deserve credit for that as I assume it's his voice filling in the parts where Brian would have been.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Reverberation on October 04, 2020, 08:00:57 PM
I also had to listen to it again after seeing the thread.


She's Got Rhythm:
This one's awesome. I know some don't care for it, but man is it a rocking tune. I LOVE Brian's falsetto vocal, it's just so intense and energetic. I love the feeling and upbeat mood of this. Brian's melody and voice on this is fantastic. I like Mike's part as well that breaks up Brian's falsetto wailing, but when Brian comes in to kick off the chorus again, man it's amazing. Can listen to this one all day, honestly.


Come Go With Me:
Another great one - a great Beach Boys take on the song. Al's voice sounds wonderful on this and the production is brilliant. Just a great, classic song, and quite catchy.


Hey Little Tomboy:
I know this one is perhaps the most controversial song the Beach Boys have ever written/recorded, but MAN do I love it. I think a lot of the criticisms are a little overblown, to be honest. I don't think the Beach Boys were at all aware of any pedophilic undertones, instead writing from the perspective of a young guy interested in a young girl who is a little less feminine than other girls. Perhaps its subject hasn't aged so well, but the song itself is still incredible and one of my favorite Beach Boys songs of all time. The melody is super hummable, the short little snare intro before Mike's verse, the sleigh bells, the backing vocal harmonies... no one will every convince me that this song is bad or shouldn't be liked.

I love the little tag-out team effort with each Beach Boy doing their own individual verse, each different and unique but great in its own way. Brian's gruff vocal on his verse in particular, I just love for some reason. The way his voice goes into a little vocal fry when he goes into the bass register and the vocal fry. He sings with such enthusiasm and emotion. Then Carl's awesome soaring vocal on "They're doin' it all over the world" and that rockin' yet sweet, smooth vocal on "Time to turn into a girl", plus the massive chorus of BB vocal harmonies on the "Hey little, hey little, hey little tomboy." I will admit the more menacing "Hey little" chant that precedes Carls' "I'm gonna make you a girl" cry, is a bit creepy but it sounds so cool.. I used to think I preferred the Adult/Child mix, but the MIU might be better overall, plus the prolonged chant with the Beach Boys' spoken parts about putting lipstick on her and shaving her legs is just too much.


Kona Coast:
I adore this one also. I'm not sure how much if it is just from the double recognition I have of its version on MIU and it as Melekalikimaka on the Merry Christmas From The Beach Boys bootleg. The little piano intro and what sounds like slide guitar from a lap steel, the harmonies, Mike's vocal, the falsetto from Brian(?), the interweaving vocals and background chants from the other members over top of one another, Al's vocal lines, that ending coda. Another classic Beach Boys song.


Peggy Sue:
I used to not like this one so much but then I heard a version of the aforementioned (still unreleased) 1978 Merry Christmas From The Beach Boys album with Christmas Time is Here Again and I fell in love. It's an absolute tragedy that I cannot find this song anywhere at all online now. Not on YouTube, not in any downloadable form anymore, I'm crushed honestly, as I loved that song. Wish I still had the copy of Merry Christmas from the BB with it included on it... In any case, the MIU Peggy Sue is still nice, it's just no Christmas Time is Here Again, which I remember had a much more energetic and even kinda wild vocal from Al and was just such a comparatively rocking version, despite being a Christmas song.

I like Buddy Holly's original quite a bit more, being a Texan myself and a Buddy Holly fan. Holly's version just had this lo-fi sound, that ultra-primitive, garage-y sounding (or even punk) guitar and the drumming. Buddy's vocal is looser and wilder too. Then that kinda almost free-form full-on manic guitar strumming. The Beach Boys' version is just too tame in comparison. I feel this way about most BB covers like their version of Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill on 15 Big Ones, for example. Would love to find Christmas Time is Here Again again...


Wontcha Come Out Tonight?:
This one's pretty nice too. I like the intro with Mike Love's trademark soft mellow bass vocal and Brian's manic falsetto whining (I mean that in a good way) vocal. But the "Little girl won't ya come out tonight, they're playing our song" line is just perfect.

Brian's more baritone, smooth vocal is scary good. His pitch, tone, and vocal delivery are perfect, despite this being from an era where many say his voice was "shot", "destroyed", "forever ruined by cigarettes and drugs", or things to that effect. I actually like the later 70s Brian vocals and believe it was mostly an intentional stylistic choice by Brian after listening to Randy Newman (especially Sail Away in the early 70s) and wanting more of that gruff, "manlier", looser vocal style, which I think fits his music from that era much more. It's still nice seeing smoother Brian vocals on MIU, though.

Mike's part is really great too, and the background vocals/harmonies when Brian comes in a second time. The song is simple, but the melody catchy and the mood/tone is nice and mellow, though kinda upbeat. And another excellent ending coda with those separate contrapuntal vocal melodies stacked and weaving through one another that is so characteristic of Beach Boys songs.


Sweet Sunday Kinda Love:
This one is not only my favorite song on the album, it's one of my favorite Carl vocals ever and one of my favorite Beach Boys songs period. Man, Carl's angelic voice is so perfect here. The little piano playing the chords and that root-fifth jumping bassline (kind of like Heroes and Villains), plus all the instruments in the arrangement including a subtle organ in the background. All backing this excellent melody and deeply emotional, sensitive vocal performance by Carl, with lots of little subtleties in his inflection and the little just barely strained vocal at times adding to his emotive delivery. All there when repeated, but enhanced by the harmonies by the band, filling out the sound.

The contrasting middle section is quite nice too, with the descending melody by Carl backed by the Beach Boys' massive choir of harmonies creating a full sound, and being almost reminiscent of a James Bond type soundtrack for just a moment there. When the verses return, the backing vocals seem to get more and more prominent until the ending. And woah is that climactic ending the highlight. Carl's little wordless vocal improvisations, the Brian-centric call-and-response backing vocal line with "Sweet sunday love." I like the effect of mixing Carl's voice a little lower in the mix, but it's especially hard to hear the unique lyrics in the vocal lines at the end.

Carl's ending sounds like "What a love to you, it's so heavenly, sweet sunday love", "There's no better way, we can spend the day, sweet sunday LOVE" (the way he goes for the lower interval there on the love syllable... so good), "What a lucky guy, snuggle up to my, sweet sunday love", with some others thrown in and ending with a continuous vocal humming and little slide up to that higher note in the fade out. An immaculate song and recording. Perhaps Carl's sweetest song.


Belles of Paris:
Another contender for my favorite song on the album, top 5 or even top 3 for sure. Its Christmas version, Bells of Christmas is okay, but the song works so much better as Belles of Paris on MIU. The little choral backing harmonies that start it off and Brian's angelic stacked harmonized falsetto vocal lines are great. It think where the song really shines though, is with Mike's baritone vocal during the verses. That quick, yet soft and relaxed delivery of these stream-of-consciousness lyrics where Mike's just describing the sights he observes, it's sublime.

And the little climbing backing harmony that ascends and descends (I'm not sure who does it but I think Carl and/or Al). The bells and strings that end are gorgeous. Just a perfectly produced song. The vocals and instruments are recorded and mixed extremely well, it all sounds so great.


Pitter Patter:
This one's a good song too. I never cared for this one all that much at first either, but it's grown on me. Mike's vocal line in the intro, basically an Eb minor arpeggio, a little dark and ominous fitting the lyric and the coming of rain or a storm. Even the instruments kind of sound evocative of thunder, although I don't think any thunder or rain effect is played. Then Mike's vocal fluctates between little optimistic major and minor melodies that mirror the lyrical lines. It all builds up until Al comes it and it takes a brighter outlook, musically and lyrically. Kinda cool. Plus the little background vocal bits "pitter patter, pitter patter." Al continues his vocal over that same major-minor thing.


My Diane:
A classic Beach Boys ballad. One of Brian's greatest songs and Dennis' greatest vocals. Much has been said about this song already but it's deserving of all the praise it gets. Those thumpting, rhthymic chords the mix of instruments creating that mournful yet also kinda almost optimistic and even triumphant sound. It really gets good when Dennis belts out the "Everything is old nothing is new" line with Brian mirroring it with his falsetto line. Then the "Memories haunt me night and day" line, followed by the BB harmony vocals building up, rising, with these spectacular harp glissandos.

I love the ending part of the song the second time it builds up and Brian comes in with his high falsetto vocal "I love you, Diane / I miss you, Diane" over an E6 chord.  And Dennis' wailing at the end repeating until the fade out. A beautiful and haunting song. Kind of weird for Brian to name it after his sister-in-law, given how he used to be so in love with her and the infidelity around that time, I believe. Not to mention, I think he and Marilyn were having marital problems at the time. If Caroline, No, affected her as much as she's stated, I can only imagine what My Diane must have done. In my opinion, this is the last great Beach Boys ballad from the era where all the Wilsons were still alive.


Matchpoint Of Our Love:
This was one I never liked a whole lot at first too, but it's really grown on me a lot. I used to read people's opinions of it being quite favorable, often noting Brian's smooth vocal. It's definitely super laid back and a nice sounding vocal take from Brian. Probably the most calm and relaxed vocal he's done as far as I can think of right now.

The tempo, the rhythm, the slightly syncopated and super mellow instrumentation and atmosphere to the track, it's really nice. The melody and harmonies with the strings and Brian's vocal on the "No one ever held me the way you did / No one could ever love me the way you did", is great. The chimes before the verse comes back is an awesome effect, and that whole sound with Brian's vocal during the verses is kinda psychedelic.


Winds of Change:
An incredible closer and awesome ballad, that just sounds so grandiose and epic, both in sound and its message. Al and Mike are in top form here, as well as the rest of the BB (at least Brian I can hear) in the background. The beautiful piano intro and the swell of strings, followed by Al's soft vocal. I love the way the ending vocal phrase from one line is stacked over top and flows directly into the next, coming in immediately over top, it's a great effect.

All the numerous, vastly different vocal melodies are lovely and those background vocals (especially the double-tracked little part that sounds like Mike). I love the trading off with Mike's part a lot, where it builds up. Mike sings his part with such a sensitivity and with such care with his tone (not at all nasally like he can be sometimes). I think the lyrics are nice at parts too, if a little too corny at times (Cosmic ocean flows into my heart...). I've come to appreciate this one more over the years as well, with my initial impressions of it not being all the great, but it's a fantastic song


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: startBBtoday on October 04, 2020, 08:24:51 PM
I wish they had cranked the guitar on Pitter Patter. That would have made a pretty cool rocker. Bring up the guitars a little more, and it would have fit on Holland or CATP.

Also, I think Sweet Sunday Kinda Love is probably the most underrated Beach Boys song.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: ♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇 on October 05, 2020, 12:06:41 AM
Hot take: I actually *like* the lyrics 😎

Totally straight up though? Not with a hint of irony?


Ahh....thought I’d responded already 😂

Yup...straight up no bull, for the same reasons Reverberation stated


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: DonnyL on October 05, 2020, 11:38:00 AM
While I rarely listen to it these days, I do think MIU is a pretty good record. I think of it like a Beach Boys version of the non-disco ABBA/Bee Gees late '70s kind of semi-Yacht Rock sound. Very pleasant and breezy.

I too don't get the "Light Album is better than MIU" angle either. MIU and Love You are more similar than MIU and LA in my opinion. Love You is pure BW; MIU seems to come from the same starting point, but the production is super cleaned up and Mike and Al got way more involved. Either way, Brian is all over MIU but really not present on LA. And MIU has a lot of those kind of catchy BW songs that he can knock out in his sleep.

That said, "My Diane" is really the only GREAT song on there. I really do like "Wontcha Come Out Tonight", "Matchpoint", and yeh ... "Hey Little Tomboy" is a really good melody and track. But it's dragged down with some of the Al Jardine-lead tracks - the '50s covers are boring, and "Winds of Change" is super lame and sounds nothing like the BB. "Belles of Paris" is not good either. Much of the record like "Pitter Patter" is catchy but veers into the area of Celebration ... that second Celebration record from 1978 is actually very similar to MIU. In fact, I wish the Beach Boys included "Go and Get That Girl" on MIU, because that's a classic, and would have given another much-needed Carl vocal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu-D9A1zQhU

A couple things would have brought MIU into an area that made it a more appropriate follow-up to Love You without losing the kind of MIU/Yacht Rock vibe: lost the super high-gloss production, and maybe a track list like this:

1 She's Got Rhythm
2 Come Go With Me
3 Hey Little Tomboy
4 Kona Coast
5 Sea Cruise
6 Wontcha Come Out Tonight

7 Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
8 How's About A Little Bit of Your Sweet Lovin'
9 Pitter Patter
10 Go And Get That Girl
11 My Diane
12 Matchpoint of Our Love


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Reverberation on October 05, 2020, 04:38:17 PM
In fact, I wish the Beach Boys included "Go and Get That Girl" on MIU, because that's a classic, and would have given another much-needed Carl vocal

YES, I love that song! Another outtake from the Christmas incarnation of MIU, I think. That and California Feeling (which is my favorite Beach Boys unreleased "album"/bootleg) are just so good. As much as I love Adult/Child, I just love the California Feeling material so much more for some reason.

The Beach Boys' Seasons in the Sun is something that should have been released at some point too. Carl's kind of textured, almost frail at times, vocal is just too good. In some ways I like it more than Terry Jacks' solo version. Just the way Carl sings it and does that quick jump at around the 3rd verse where Carl immediately ends the "...though your lover was my friend" line and seamlessly jumps into "Adieu, Francois, it's hard to die..." - my favorite part of the song.

Al's Looking Down the Coast is very good too and warranted a release. It's reminiscent of some of the California Saga stuff from Holland. That one and Santa Anna Winds are a highlight.

I wish Brian finished I'm Begging You Please. it showed a lot of promise and even in its unfinished demo form it is very enjoyable. Marilyn Rovell is a very good Love You or Adult Child style song and would have fit perfectly on either. Stevie is also really incredible. I even like Lazy Lizzie, although its lyrics and subject matter are probably more egregious than Hey Little Tomboy.

Sherry She Needs Me is one of my favorites from these unreleased recordings and one of my favorite Beach Boys songs ever. She Says That She Needs Me from Imagination, while a nice track, doesn't hold a candle to it. I do like the 60s instrumental track, b/g vocals, and ending tag from Sandy, though. The song is just so good. I love that muted staccato bass line plunking along, coupled with Brian's mid-late 70s era voice giving that emotional vocal.

By far the biggest tragedy of that material is the the deeply spiritual ballad, California Feelin'. It's one of the greatest tracks Brian ever wrote, unfortunately never making it onto any studio album of theirs over the years, hidden away. Steve Kalinich described it as "White Gospel" or something similar, I think. It's true, it's just so soulful. Such an incredibly beautiful and moving song, no matter the version. A touching tribute to California that really displays the best parts of Brian's sensitive nature and feelings. The demo is especially sweet, with that very free, improvisational style with Brian's playing and singing. I like the version with Carl too and those celestial vocals by Bruce in the chorus. Those epic sounding, low piano bass notes that descend/ascend intermittently throughout, it's just so ethereal.

What Jack Rieley said about them "blowing it" consistently throughout the years is one of the truest statements about the band I've ever read. They had this massive catalog of GREAT songs that went unreleased (much of it STILL officially unreleased to this day), while they put out the comparitively mediocre material we actually got from them instead.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Wrightfan on October 06, 2020, 12:48:06 PM
It's a great easy listening album to me. No masterpiece but a great de-stresser.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Awesoman on October 06, 2020, 01:28:03 PM
While we're revisiting some of the band's more average efforts, I'd throw out there that KTSA isn't *that* bad of an album.  The title track is quite nice, as is "Goin' On".  "Livin' With A Heartache" is passable, "Some Of Your Love" and "Sunshine" are goofy and harmless fun, and "Endless Harmony" (despite it's brow-beating schmaltz) at least has a nice harmony tag to close the song and the album.  Granted that none of these album mentioned are particularly noteworthy but there are still some good songs to be had on each of them. 


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Jay on October 06, 2020, 03:13:07 PM
While we're revisiting some of the band's more average efforts, I'd throw out there that KTSA isn't *that* bad of an album.  The title track is quite nice, as is "Goin' On".  "Livin' With A Heartache" is passable, "Some Of Your Love" and "Sunshine" are goofy and harmless fun, and "Endless Harmony" (despite it's brow-beating schmaltz) at least has a nice harmony tag to close the song and the album.  Granted that none of these album mentioned are particularly noteworthy but there are still some good songs to be had on each of them.  
I've become quite a big fan of the KTSA album lately. It's major issue is the terrible production. It's so "clean" and sterile that it sucks all the life out of great rockers like the title track and Some of Your Love. The material itself is quite good. The title track, Livin' With A Heartache, and Goin' On are all very good to great songs. Some of Your Love and Sunshine have the potential to be really good, but the production kind of stifles it. When Girls Get Together can get lost. ;D I would have either kept it as an instrumental, or just left it off altogether. I would have added Goin' To The Beach and gotten rid of School Days. One of Dennis's Bambu songs really could have made it as good as MIU, probably even better.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Lonely Summer on October 06, 2020, 06:22:26 PM
Livin' With a Heartache and Goin' On are the two that I can never get enough of. Keepin' The Summer Alive is a good track, but it doesn't rock nearly as much on vinyl as it did when they played it live. It really is the production that sinks that album. That's the biggest problem I have with that album and MIU - the production.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Zargo on October 06, 2020, 09:58:09 PM
Great to read such positive remarks about MIU!
I feel slightly guilty that "Sweet Sunday" is probably my very favourite Carl lead, as apparently he wasn't overwhelmed with the song himself.


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Reverberation on October 07, 2020, 04:55:27 PM
I agree that Keepin' the Summer Alive (the album) is not too bad, but it's not quite in the same league as MIU, LA, Love You, or even 15 Big Ones for me. There's definitely something too clean about the production--it's too glossy/over-produced sounding for sure. For some reason the 70s albums have a warmer, organic/analog type of sound and vintage production style that I prefer. The KTSA tracks everyone notes such as Oh Darlin' and Goin' On are great, but I also really like Livin' With a Heartache, When Girls Get Together, Endless Harmony, and the title track, which is a nice little rocker. As far as 80s albums go, I enjoy the 1985 album a whole lot. It's gotta be be my fav 80s BB album, and it's much better than KTSA, imo. I also like parts of Still Cruisin', though I wish the album art on the cover was a lot better. Besides Kokomo, my fav on that one is easily Somewhere Near Japan, though I like Brian's In My Car a good deal too.

In the 90s, I'm really not a fan of SiP and think it's the worst BB record, but production and most songs aside, even it has a few redeeming features. Stars and Stripes is one I really like. The Willie Nelson Warmth of the Sun is the highlight. Best 90s BB album obviously, but I would have LOVED to have heard the Don Was 90s BB album. The tracks on Made In California like You're Still a Mystery and Soul Searchin' are incredible, plus whatever material would have made it on there from Brian's solo work (The Paley Sessions, etc.). I know he was supposed to collaborate with the High Llamas too, after hearing their double LP, Hawaii. But I think Mike Love f-ed that up by calling one of them a queer when they got off the plane, or something like that. Brian's solo stuff from the 90s, the Sweet Insanity stuff, the stuff with Andy Paley, it's so much better than what the BB actually put out. I guess it's a little like the BB in the 70s and Dennis' solo music.

That's Why God Made the Radio is an incredible album and the best record they've put out since the 70s. I think I recall hearing that some of it was written in the 90s, however. When reading Mike's book, I was really surprised to hear him allege that TWGMTR was almost entirely written/produced by Brian alone. Not sure the truth of that but it's a good record in any case. It would be cool to hear Brian's original intention for Summer's Gone and all of that. I'm also waiting for that "Rock n' Roll record"...


Title: Re: Not sold on MIU yet....
Post by: Awesoman on October 08, 2020, 05:23:31 AM
Livin' With a Heartache and Goin' On are the two that I can never get enough of. Keepin' The Summer Alive is a good track, but it doesn't rock nearly as much on vinyl as it did when they played it live. It really is the production that sinks that album. That's the biggest problem I have with that album and MIU - the production.

Fair enough.  I do think it's pretty swell that they recruited Joe Walsh to handle the guitar solo on the title track though.  As far as the production goes, I really don't detect that big a difference with it compared to the other albums they were putting out during that period.  I suppose it's  a little dry.  It wouldn't be until the self-titled 1985 album when you would hear a dramatic shift in sound.