The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate The M.I.U. Album, released September 1978.

(http://www.smileysmile.net/images/albums/miu.gif)

Hokay. I'm up for this.

Although I don't like the stories concerning the genesis and production of this album - Mike's (anybody's) TM connections always creep me out - it's surprisingly playable and enjoyable. And after 15BO, the vox are a treat. Three stars.

If it weren't for the '80s and beyond, I'd give this a 1. But since it turns out there was still a long way to go downward, I guess it has to rank somewhere in the 2s...

On the bright side, at least it is simple fun. Winds of Change, Peggy Sue and Come Go With Me are awful and don't deserve release (and I won't discuss Match Point... or Belles... because I haven't yet brought myself to believe they really exist), but the remainder is pleasant. On the other end of the spectrum, I actually quite enjoy Wontcha Come Out Tonight, Tomboy, She's Got Rhythm and Sweet Sunday. It isn't terribly cool to admit to my hipster friends, but so be it...

Fluff. Pure fluff. The beginning of the end for the group. Some tracks are enjoyable. Brian's in fine voice throughout. The lack of Carl and Dennis hurts.

Two wrords:
My Diane.
Hello?
Sunday, Come Out Tonight and Rhythm are great too. The rest is some of the worst crap the band ever recorded. I'd rather listen to Summer In Paradise than Matchpoint, Winds or Belles Of Paris. And the reductivist (in a BAD way) Come Go, Peggy Sue and Kona coast are just contemptible.

When I think of this album, the first thing that comes to mind is that awful forced falsetto that begins the album in Shes Got Rhythm.  He really does sound like mickey mouse with a cold.
Then I think of Hey little Tomboy, pitter patter, pitter patter,

and..and..I just don't want to talk about this any more.... :'(

My Diane and Pitter Patter should've been saved for LA - and possibly Winds of Change with better vocals (one mix is decidedly better).  The rest just may be the worst tracks recorded with BW's involvement.

Oh man, my third favorite 70's album. One song: Matchpoint Of Our Love




Still kind of wish Brian did that song on tour.  8)

I really wish I believed you were joking.

Me too.

Match Point Of Our Love live? Brian would slur the living hell out of it.

"Cos dis mus be the mach poeeent ov our luvvvvvvvvvvv!"

I gave this record a four. I think it's the 2nd best album they did in the 70s after Love You.

BWAHAHAHA!

(I know it's stating the obvious, but they only did 2 albums in the 70's after Love You, if you don't get why this is funny shame on you you're not a real beach boys fan and dont belong on this message board)

I think I was too nice to this album, I gave it a 3, but it was more like a 2.5.

I think he means Love You is the best BB album of the 70's, MIU is the second best in his opinion.  Then all other 70's albums follow.

Wow, first the less-than-glowing review of Pet Sounds and now this. You're on a roll, man. You have some guts, I like that. :D

Alright. It's agreed that this is not the best example of a BB's album.
I can't believe no one has ripped 'Pitter Patter' apart. The other day I listened to this song like 10 times in a row! For a later Beach Boys track, it's got their imprint/stamp all over it! Amazing song. Super fantastic harmonies. More upbeat than most of the songs in their catalog at this point. Songs about rain have a tendancy to be fun and playful in their lyrics anyway.
I'd have to put it high in my best of the 70's chart listing. Songs from Sunflower & Surfs Up prevent it from charting higher.
I love, love, love this song.

Oh, I'd love to, believe me.  ;D

If there was anyone whom I'd expect to dig... It'd be youz, muh'boyeeee!
Tear it up!

the worst beach boys album of alltime!

I put this album in the "guilty pleasure" category.  I do not like Belles of Paris but I don't hate it enough to skip it.  I just let it play, grin and bear it.  The rest of the album, I actually really like, and I do mean every song.  As much as I'm embarrassed to say this, I'm going to give this one a 4.  This certainly isn't their best 70s output, but it's not the worst.

The mid and late 70s were an interesting period for the Beach Boys in terms of quality.  15 Big Ones is definitely bargain basement, then Love You which is awesome IMO, then they slipped a bit with MIU, and then they came back with LA which is every bit as good as Love You IMO.

I don't put MIU in my Beach Boys top 10, but definitely in the top 15.

:o This might make you exempt from the KTSA party!  ;)

Monkee, is the fact that MIU and KTSA sound more like the traditional BB sound the reason why you like them more than the progressive LY and LA, regardless of songwriting quality?

ehhh.... perhaps. Not entirely, but it has something to do with it, for certain.
I like my BB's music to have some balls behind it. I think of them having energy & spirit. It might start with a good track and continue from there. I love stuff that's off kilter, progressive, different... whatever you wish to call it, but it needs to strike me as such and not sound uninspired, bland, sanitized, whatever. Which is where LA & LY fall for me. They sound like 2 albums that the guys were coasting and didn't have their foot on the excelerator. They need to sound like they were worked on and not just thrown together. On LY, they just sound exhausted as a group. Slow dirges that have no real life. Then along somes KTSA which sounds like a real effort and not something lifeless. I wish I could be in other peoples heads to hear what they're hearing, because I don't hear it. I wish I could explain it better than that, but that' where I'm at, I guess. As complete albums I don't really care for them- as 2 groupings of individual songs- they have their moments.
It's like trying to describe why so much of their mid to late 80's material blows so hard. Why does it? The songwriting seems to be good, but the means in which it's pulled off doesn't quite cut da mustid! Same for 15BO, LY, LA, & MIU (to a lesser degree). KTSA just sounds more solid to me. Do that help any?

Wow, this strikes me as funny. I agree that it's nice when there are balls, but to me, Love You has 10x the balls of any of the other albums of the latter half of the 70s or KTSA. It might not be balls executed to the proper pitch all the time or anything, but how could someone listen to the first three tracks or so of Love You and not hear the balls? Do I just like saying balls? Kind of. But really--that driving beat and energy of Honkin..., Mona, Roller Skatin Child...I'd take those any time for energy over what strikes me as generally smooth, watered down retro sounds on MIU or KTSA.

I like something or another off of anything Brian ever had a hand in, and I see strengths to all these albums (some far more than others...), but to me, that's not the argument to make at all.

I understand what you're saying Monkee, but to me, balls is making new sounds and writing cool, original songs, not necessarily retreading through older music that may have had more balls in an instrumental/vocal sense. That just seems safe and truly uninspired to me, no balls whatsoever.
Now DENNIS WILSON had balls. The progressiveness of POB and Bamboo, mixed with the eccentric weirdness of Brian's Love You period, plus a TOUCH of Carl's romantic style is where the BB's should have stayed in that period. Rewriting Hawaii in the 80's just don't cut the mustard.

Amen. Which also relates to my criticism on the BB85 thread, too, along with every other album from KTSA on (and a lot of the material from 15BO on, really).

You mean upbeat? I don't quite get the rewriting Hawaii/80's reference. Do you mean the 70's on Kona Coast/MIU? That's obvoius. Or do you think KTSA was recycling? I don't hear that at all. The only recycling I hear (not including their own jab at Kona Coast/Hawaii/70's) happened 5 years after KTSA with California Calling. Totally rad!

On the other hand, I full on agree about POB & surrounding Denny sessions!! That album is better than most of the BB LP's post 1971!! That album has some BIG OL'NARDS!! That's the inspiration I'm talkin' 'bout!!! There's no lying back on that release. No coasting. I hear coasting on a lot of the 70's stuff, but NOT POB. That thing has got 2 rock-hard danglers and a big old sack full o' jizz! The other albums don't have that. I appreciate Carl's voice, but it's not even used to affect on LY, more generously on LA. You might say that's where they should have been during that era cuz that's where history tells you they were... but think about what they could have done!! Retrospect aside, if I had been a Beach Boy I'd have stepped in and said, 'come on guys, we can do better than this.' It could have been much better than what it was. Might as well have been some lame middle-of-the-road LP and not the Beach Boys.
Maybe somewhere/somehow subconsiously, Denny thought that the BB's were losing focus and cuts his own LP to blow recent & forthcoming BB stuff out of the water. Just a thought.

I would say he did that VERY consciously, as he was at odds with the band over their artistic path since the Surf's Up album.
I would say that the LA album definitely is in the POB mode far more than other BB efforts, with two amazing Denny cuts robbed from Bamboo, and a great Carl song voiced by Denny. And Carl's songs on that LP are very cool, mellow in a good way, without any of the AOR/MOR kowtowing of his KTSA efforts. And Good Timin' is, as Denny said, "another Surfer Girl".

This might make FUM HIM THE MOURDOROUS BASTASRD seem replaceable. Maybe.

I'd slightly edit that to say "with less of the AOR/MOR kowtowing..."

You're absolutely right. A LITTLE AOR/MOR is fine with me.

Well at least some of my observations are recognized!   ;D
I do hear the POB/LA similarities... Denny worked his ass of to make that LP work well in his favor. Too damn bad it didn't make a splash. Shame.

I just hear MIU and I only think -- contract obligation.  At least 85 had them trying somewhat.  MIU is BB By Numbers without the whole band and with bland songs.

Of course, I think that there was only one BAD true BB album (I don't count Stars and Stripes as one).  Summer In Paradise should be banned forever.

Keepin' the Summer Alive is far worse than Summer in Paradise.

No way, man. Not even close.

If it only had Goin' On and nothing else, it would be a hundred times better.

Pacific Ocean Blue is so fucking awesome. Moonshine and Time are two of my favorite songs. With all this great material Denny was coming up with how could the Beach Boys not jump on it? It would've been great is the POB and Bamboo material had been Beach Boys albums. I wonder what would of happened if the Beach Boys had released POB as their comeback album instead of 15 Big Ones. I know they were done during different years but just go with this fantasy. And when are they going to re-release POB already?!?!?!?

I keep liking this one more and more. Not the bomb most consider it. In fact, I'd take it over Surf's Up or So Tough or KTSA anyday. Brian's voice is a bit better. Belles Of Paris, Pitter Patter, Wontcha Come Out, She's Got Rhthym, Tomboy, Diane....all good stuff. Winds of Change is a bit lame, though. Overall a fun record. I like it. Yeah, I said it. I gave it a 3. I almost said 4, but figured I'd get run out of town. 

I hate Matchpoint though.......

MIU is almost a self-parody.

A couple really good songs: Sweet Sunday and My Diane

A couple guilty pleasures: Kona Coast, She's Got Rhythm

A couple decent songs: Winds of Change, Come Go With Me (which actually charted top 20)

and the rest:  ehhhhh...

this record, along with "love you", sound great with a root beer and potato chips.

Post this one under the category of "guilty pleasures", but the fact remains that I dust off my MIU/ LA 2-fer more frequently than I do So Tough/ Holland or 15BO/ Love You (or for that matter KTSA/ BB85).  Now I'm not saying MIU is a better album than Love You.  I just tend to play it more for some reason. 

Let's do it again, kids!


She's Got Rhythm - Fun, in the most basic sense.  I like this better as an opener than "Let Us Go On This Way" or "Rock 'n' Roll Music".  Great to dance to.

Come Go With Me - In the words of Fred Sanford, "nurse!!!"   Boy these Al Jardine oldies can really be pinpointed as the exact moment the Beach Boys jumped the shark for good.  Noxious.

Hey Little Tomboy - I'm more than a little embarrassed to admit I love this song.  It's just such a pure Brian Wilson moment.  Killer melody, great harmonies, creepy and sinister come-ons from the guys to an unnamed, underage hottie.  fodaing brilliant.  People would worship this song if it had come out on Love You instead of MIU.

Kona Coast - What the hell was the point of this?  We can't come up with any new ideas, so lets just pillage one of Brian's old songs.  Actually I think this was one of the recycled Christmas songs, and probably should've stayed that way.  Worst lyric: "Welcome to the island mecca.  You'll learn to talk like a local, I'll betcha."  God help us all.

Peggy Sue - As if one awful oldie cover from Al Jardine wasn't enough, he now defiles Buddy Holly's corpse in a most vile and unfunky manner.  I can't talk any more about it.

Won'tcha Come Out Tonight - Pretty much defines the term "hidden gem in the Beach Boys catalog".  The vocal tag at the end is particularly amazing.  This is the type of music I would have loved to have seen the band focus on at the expense of the oldies and "new oldies".  The amazing thing about this track is that they make sounding great seem so effortless.  I mean, this is just a throwaway, right?

Sweet Sunday Kind of Love - Hey, it's Carl!  Carl sounds drunk or high.  I would probably be too if I was stuck in Iowa, cutting an album in the middle of winter.   About the tune-- this is another disturbing example of a "new oldie", where a band member or members (heh) would attempt to create a new tune that sounds like either vintage Beach Boys, Chuck Barry or Spector (the latter in this case).  And while I uniformly dislike all of these sorts of songs, this is probably amongst the better ones they did.   

Bells of Paris - Another re-write of an abandoned Christmas track ("Bells of Christmas") this one is actually quite beautiful, featuring great harmonies and a suitably understated lead from Mike.  Nice/ inoffensive.

Pitter Patter - Why do people hate MIU so much?  Ditch the oldies and "Kona Coast" and it's a pretty damn good album.  One thing to keep in mind is that despite the fact that most of this album was recorded in chilly Iowa, at their best the harmony vocals really emanate sunny love vibes everywhere, and nowhere is that more apparent then the magnificent fade to "Pitter Patter".

My Diane - Easily the highlight of the album.  This is actually a "New Album" outtake, featuring Dennis for the only time on this record.  In my "Surf's Up" review, I called "Til I Die" the last masterpiece Brian Wilson ever wrote, but upon hearing "My Diane" again, I will have to relinquish my previous claim and award that title to this song instead.  CONTROVERSIAL OPINION AHEAD:  I like this song better than anything on Love You.

Match Point of Our Love -  Say what you will about the lyrics and their stupid tennis metaphors, this song kicks all kinds of ass.  Reasons to like "Match Point": best Brian Wilson lead vocal, post-'71; great chord changes; amazing bridge section where Brian lays it all out on the line-- "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?"-- Is he singing to Marilyn or Diane here?  Either way, JESUS!  That's powerful stuff, and something that gets overlooked by nearly everyone who hears this song.

Winds of Change - Another song that gets hated on that I don't have much of a problem with.  Actually I think this is lovely.  Corny, sure, but nice... just like the album in hails from.  Like many other songs on this record, the highlight is the vocals on the fade; "won't last forever..."  It certainly wouldn't, but this moment encapsulates everything great about America's band.


3.5 stars; rounded up to 4.

I'm 100% with you on these two, Jason! I'm glad you had the guts to stand up for 'em. Can't say it much better than you did. The MIU album get hammered unjustifiably too often.

Amen, Brutha.  I save my bile for KTSA instead!

AMEN. I love BW's vocals on this. However, I gotta disagree about WOC. To me, Al sounds like Kermit the Frog on that one.

I actually thought this was a little better until i listened to it yesterday. Il give it a generous 2. Sweet sunday kinda of love, My diane (ok song, certainly not as good as some people make out), hey liitle tomboy (great song pity bout the lyrics), woncha come out tonight is kinda fun if stupid . The rest are very poor especially kona coast (one of the worst bb songs i have ever heard, pair it with "california calling" for a double a side release" :o), pitter patter , matchpoint and winds of change. Dont think il listen to this one for another year or so..

Okay, recently I'm beginning to think MIU is fucking genius.  I know I should feel like Surf's Up and Holland are much better albums, but frankly I listen to MIU a lot more.  If you look at the years 1976-77, the band did a lot of good stuff then!!  Love You, POB, Adult Child, Bamboo and yes MIU.  Once they got over the hump of those initial 15 Big Ones sessions, they found the groove and stuck with it; at least for a little bit.  The dead end was a little album called Keeping the Summer Alive.  But the years 1978 and '79 were very interesting ones for the Beach Boys... and also critical years when it came to their future. 

Uh-oh, paging Doctor Landy...

you go, jason. sheeyat. i've liked this album since it came out. most bb newbies or pseudohipsters fail to see this has the *LAST* vintage sounding brian vocal on it. matchpoint. so what if the lyrics suk. all coldplay lyrics suk, as does weezer.  :afro

my diane is awesome. ever figure out the chord changes? like something off pet sounds. kona coast is a lot of fun. hey little tomboy is naive brianwilsonland. he's not a child molester. deal with it. things scare him...if yer an online addict, you'd scare him, too! hey, let's be hip and smug and diss miu! whateva.

dude, I think MIU rocks as well...it's one of those things that grows on ya. i love every song on it that everyone hates...Kona Coast is fun...littletomboy has always been a fav...matchpoint is one of my favs...bells of paris is good

Mostly merda.  2.

My wife and I were listening to this the other day. We went through this thing where each night we'd listen to a BB album all the way through, and review each track together. Did that from SS all the way through SIP.

My feelings about it? Same as hers pretty much.  Exact quote:

Me:"What's so funny?"
Dana: " Well...sweetie...This album is pure crap, but it's GOOD crap, if that makes any sense".

Yeah, it did. File under- guilty pleasure.

You know what? This gives me an idea! We'll run through the albums again, and I'll put up comments on each song from both of us in the respective thread. Could be fun...

When it comes to grading Beach Boys albums, I'm like the easiest teacher you ever had in school.  I give them all at least an A -- from Surfin' Safari through Light Album (I've just ordered KTSA/'85 and I'm waiting for it to come in).  I give quite a few A-pluses too -- Pet Sounds (A++), Sunflower, Summer Days, Smiley Smile, Carl & the Passions, Surf's Up, All Summer Long, Surfer Girl, Love You.  M.I.U. is definitely an A in my book.


SHE'S GOT RHYTHM -- Just a fantastic track, very fun and catchy.  This should have been a single.  Not that it would have been a hit, but it's about 50 times better than all the Bee Gees' hits from that same period -- and Brian's falsetto, even in 1978, was so much better than Barry Gibb's.

COME GO WITH ME -- Al was starting his trend toward MOR shlock, but hadn't crossed the line yet.  This is a good cover, with solid Beach Boys harmonies.  Amazing historical note: my first Beach Boys purchase was the greatest hits comp "Made in USA" in 1987.  "Come Go with Me" and "Rock and Roll Music" are the ONLY Beach Boys songs from the Seventies included on that compilation.  No wonder I had no idea until many years later that they actually made incredible music in that decade.

HEY LITTLE TOMBOY -- Love the sleigh bells.  Extremely catchy, unique melody.  The lyrics are a little weird, but I take them as tongue in cheek.  Just a fun song.  Love Brian's low vocal on verse #2.  This is as good as the best stuff on Love You.

KONA COAST -- This may be the best Mike/Al piece of songwriting -- they had a great template to work from (Brian's "Hawaii").  The production is maybe a little soul-less, but how can you like the Beach Boys and not like this song?  I love the middle eight (the part Al sings).  Brian's falsetto sounds great.

PEGGY SUE -- Probably the weakest song on the album.  I'm not that big a fan of the original.  Certainly listenable, though.

WONTCHA COME OUT TONIGHT -- A sweet, mellow song.  It's great to hear Brian's voice sounding so good.

SWEET SUNDAY -- The album really takes off on side two.  This is an outstanding song.  Beautiful, Spector-esque.  Classic Brian songwriting in how the energy grows through the bridge and into the last verse.  Carl sounds very sweet on this one -- love his ad-libbing on the fade.

BELLES OF PARIS -- Classic Mike Love lyrics.  They're kind of silly but also clever.  The group's voices sound as good as they ever did.  An excellent piece of songwriting and production -- love the church bells.

PITTER PATTER -- Great, original song -- cool chord changes.  Love Mike and Al's harmonizing ("a rain-swept plain").  Pretty funky.  A good Jardine vocal -- I love the man's voice.

MY DIANE -- This is where the album heads into that very special territory only Brian Wilson has ever charted.  A beautiful, heart-wrenching song.  Chord changes and melody are a combination of very simple and traditional and totally off the wall.  Denny was the absolute right choice to sing this -- his voice is utterly authentic.  Love the sweet, sweet strings in the second verse.  Love the wah-wah guitar.  My favorite song to scream along with in the car. 

MATCH POINT OF OUR LOVE -- The lyrics are arguably silly, but they're also clever.  The melody is phenomenal, and Brian's voice is so sweet -- the best it ever sounded after Sunflower.  The bridge is another trip into Brian Wilson land -- "no one ever held me the way you did" -- so simple, so much hurt in it.  Love the drumming.  This is another one I scream along with in the car.

WINDS OF CHANGE -- This one is really growing on me.  It veers dangerously close to schlock territory but fortunately never quite gets there.

This album is a heavy dose of Brian and Al (certainly Al's biggest turn on any BB album).  I happen to love Jardine, and everyone here loves Brian, so why doesn't M.I.U. get more respect?  If you listen without prejudice, I think you'll really enjoy M.I.U.  And if you don't, then why bother being a Beach Boys fanatic?

Right freakin' on!  Let the rock critics bash this record.  They hate it because they've been told to hate it.  The notion that MIU sucks is a myth that is self-perpetuating.  Hell, most people who hate it probably never gave it more than a cursory listen, and simply thought that because it isn't ambitious like Surf's Up or Holland that it wasn't "serious music" and therefore deserved to be mocked.  Completely overlooked is the fact that this is some serious ear candy... Nothing groundbreaking; but the vocals are amazing, the arrangements are righteous and there are parts of the record that are just absolutely gorgeous.

No, I'm a big BB fanatic, listened to the album many, many times. Still hate it.

Yes but you are in the minority, Ian.


I feel the same way about KTSA, for what it's worth.

Mostly merda.  2.
This is very nearly an album's worth of 'Sumahama'.  I would sooner staple my nut-sack to the wall than listen to this album in its entirety.

I agree!

Your avatar rules.

Jason -- I just wanted to say this is a fantastic review.  I really like what you said here -- especially about "My Diane" and the bridge to "Match Point."  You are absolutely on target.  Cheers, man.

Thanks, brother.  It's nice to see there's other fans of MIU out there.  Maybe we should start a support group or something?  :3d

i'd support that, uuhhh, support group...
i was actually just talkin about MIU with a friend today...i was describing how everyone loves the beach boys fun in the sun stuff...but not late 70s stuff like tennis matches & tomboys....though I love this album! i even thought about purchasing a whole case of 8tracks for 15 dollars just for the one copy of MIU on 8track.

Definitely count me in the "support group" too.

I just listened to MIU again today.  It's a great album from start to finish.  But the one-two knockout punch of "My Diane" and "Matchpoint" is nearly unparalleled on any BB album.  I'd put it right up there with other incredible back-to-back tracks like "California Girls" and "Let Him Run Wild," "Slip on Through" and "This Whole World," "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and "I Wanna Pick You Up."

Forgot to add "When Girls Get Together" and "Santa Ana Winds" as another phenomenal one-two Beach Boys punch!

Have you heard the original version of "Santa Ana Winds"?  Slays the released one, IMO.

No, I haven't heard the unreleased version.  I have read several folks on this board say that it's better than the KTSA version.  If so, the unreleased version must be pretty incredible! 

I'm very unknowledgeable about Beach Boys bootlegs -- the only one I have is "Pacific Ocean Blue," which I stumbled across online two years ago.  Thank God, because I really love that album (although one track is missing on my version -- "You and I").

A lot of folks on this board seem to prefer earlier versions over released versions of various songs.  The only cases where I am knowledgeable enough to make that claim is on "Time to Get Alone" -- I really like the Hawthorne, CA version better than the one on 20/20 -- and "Breakaway" -- I also prefer the Hawthorne version.   But it seems to be a common thread among Beach Boys fans.

The unreleased versions are usually less polished.. they have more realness, you know?

And POB isn't a bootleg, it's just out-of-print.

By the way, I have subsequently heard the early, unreleased version of Santa Ana Winds.  While it is undeniably rougher and harder-rocking, I don't agree that it is better.  I think the gentler, more polished released version fits the country-folk nature of the song better.

Since when does Analogdemon post on two different names?

 :p

one of my favourite beach boys albums

kona coast, come go with me, hey little tomboy, my diane, she's got rhythm etc. 

i like it  :)

I'll up you one, dawg...my diane match point & winds of change!!!!
             lkike the nigt was so..ill bet hes nice..lets put our hearts,...
             a day in the life...til i die...surfs up.

I just added this CD to my collection yeterday (the two-fer with L.A).  I wasn't expecting much the way it has been generally panned.  I threw it in the tray of my computer while I was surfing last night and was very pleasantly surprised.   I liked it! 

I'm looking forward to giving it a more critical listen through headphones soon.

yey, we won another one over

I've alwya loved MIU, its ace, I heard it after LA and KTSA which I really don't like, and was expecting more of the same. IMO it is the last great BB album, its got a lot of Brian on there and avoids Bruce Johnstons horrendous production like on LA and KTSA which ironed out all of the idiosyncracies of the BB that I love.

i kinda liked the lp when it first came out. i think al pulled off a good production job no one else did in the late 70's. he does have brian singing much better than the previous 2 lps, even the high parts that were missing before. i cringh at some of the lyrics but then i always did at most of mike's 70's words when he was trying to write like it was ten years previous. i even like peggy sue, at least the bass rocked more than a lost of the previous bass lines in a lot of the 70 lp's. but i can NOT stand pitter patter, big piece of sh*t to me back then and now still. but to each their own. i am not out to convert anyone but i kinda like the lp, and a lot more than the 15 big ones sh*t. even like the alternate winds of change. i even remembering it being reviewed under 3 titles, cal. feeling, then winds of change then miu. one even called it the best of the brian redux era for his vocals. i agree but others are free to cast stones at it.

<< LOVES "Pitter Patter"   :3d

Been listening to MIU lately, and a couple of the songs have some of the best lead vocals by Al, Mike, and Brian in the entire 70's. Listen to 'em...

"Peggy Sue" -  Yes, the song is a cover, and the arrangement isn't the liveliest, but Al nailed the vocal; he sounds so clear and young; he had fun with it.

"Wontcha Come Out Tonight" - The lyrics are juvenile and the arrangement is simple, but Mike sounds great. He's not nasal at all, he's smooth. And his bass vocal at the end (Why don't cha come out tonight) is excellent.

"Matchpoint Of Our Love" - This is simply Brian's best lead vocal of the post 1974 years; clear, relaxed, and "normal". I really thought he was coming back. How can people love "Been Doin' Nothin'" and not even like this song? The lyrics aren't that bad...

15 Big Ones had 15 songs, Love You had 14, and MIU dipped to only 12.  There were two songs just sitting, "Good Timin'" and "Our Team", that could've improved MIU by a whole grade. This is my alternate MIU:

Side A
1. She's Got Rhythm
2. Peggy Sue
3. Wontcha Come Out Tonight
4. My Diane
5. Come Go With Me
6. Hey Little Tomboy
7. Sweet Sunday Kinda Love

Side B

8. Good Timin"
9. Kona Coast
10. Belles Of Paris
11. Pitter Patter
12. Matchpoint Of Our Love
13. Winds Of Change
14. Our Team

What a piece of merda. Not just normal merda, this is soul less merda. Evil.

The same goes for L.A. and Beach Boys 85.

Keepin The Summer Alive is a definite improvement. At least L.A. has Good Timin on it.

You think "My Diane" is soulless?

Are you crazy?!! Thats the worst BB album of all (Apart from SIP) :P

If there's anything good to be saud for this album, it's because of My Diane and a couple of other songs - and Jardine's production papering over the cracks.  Oh yeah, and I like the pictures on the front and back...

We'll have to agree to differ on Matchpoint.  "Matchpoint... Matchpoint... Matchpoint..."  Crap.

I listened to this and LA again today,as I try to do every few months, just in case I was wrong.

I wasn't. There's a lot of sh*t on this album. It continues in the trend from 15BO (aside from LY) of being worse than anything prior, but better than anything after.

What? KTSA is great! Objective it's better then all post Love You albums. For me personal it's one of my favourite.

I actually think LA is better than MIU by virtue of the fact it's got four decent songs (Angel..., Good Timin', Love Surrounds Me and Baby Blue) and one or two passable ones; MIU has three (My Diane, Pitter Patter and Winds of Change) and a couple of passable songs in the retro grrove.  On the other hand, LA does have Here Comes the Night, which weighs heavily (and considerably, when you take the track time into account) against it.  I actually prefer the production on MIU to that on KTSA, an album with a few passable tracks rather than good ones.  For me, the best tracks, Santa Ana Winds and Goin' On, are ruined by the syrupy production.

Utter Bollocks! (I like 'My Diane' though..)

You like the song Dennis sings? How shocking and utterly unlike you.

Thanks, I have got great taste I know! Having read some of your opinions of some of the BBs albums however I'm afraid I can't return the compliment..

Just fucking with you, man. Relax.

Just curious, but why is it this site censors the words 'f***' and 'sh*t', but not the much more ruder word 'c***'? Anyway, I was joking too.. But for the record, yeh from about 1968 onwards Dennis was the only BB who was a guarantee of a quality track. Before that it was Brian (who incidentally wrote 'My Diane', Dennis just sang it). And isn't My Diane quite obviously the best track on MIU by far? I mean, name a better one...?

As for the swearing, I'm not sure. I've often wondered, myself.

I don't really like MIU at all, including My Diane. But I guess it's up there as the best of that bad album. There are people who like demos of it more than the eventual release, but I'm just not a fan of the song in general. Impassioned vocal, but not necessarily all that good.

I know we've had the post-68 discussion before, you and me, and I don't agree with you. I think Dennis obviously did some really good work in those years. But I don't believe he topped Brian's (increasingly limited) output for almost another decade, when Brian resorted almost wholly to throwback nostalgia music (as is found on MIU, for that matter).

To save me typing it again, please read the post I've just submitted on the 'Good Vibrations Boxset' as way of a reply. Cheers

I read it, and I recalled your opinions from some similar previous posts. Like I said, we don't agree. Anyway, we've both got music we want to listen to.

Look at that, you can get away with writing 'fanny batter' as well.

I'd have no idea what it means if I did, though... Fanny batter? Gotta be a UK thing.

This "fanny batter" tangent would be better served in the Love You thread, me thinks. ;)  :lol

Clever lad that I am, the meaning of the aforementioned has come to me. Yes, I'm very smart...

It's a UK thing. Look up 'Roger's Profanisarus' on the 'Viz' magazine website. It's an alternate rude dictionary i.e. 'two asprins on an ironing board' (meaning small boobs) or 'taking Captain Picard to warp speed' (meaning.. oh, i'm sure you can guess...) Anyway, enough of such vulgarity. I also have a secret liking of 'Pitter Patter', but for the love of God please don't repeat this to anyone..!! It's that twangy guitar sound that kicks in over the fade.. Does anyone else have an obviously appalling BB track that they actually really like?

Oh, and on the subject of MIU, considering how bad most of what went on the album was, why on earth did they choose not to include the actually catchy and quite good 'Our Team'?

Well I thought I should give my thoughts on what surprisingly the first Beach Boys album I heard upon purchase (I had PS on CD already).  I know this thread hasn't been replied to in a long time, but this does seem like the official review place so I think it's okay.

M.I.U is not an  al bum I have a problem listening to.  The idea that the Beach Boys did much better than this doesn't mean much cosidering the peaks they achieved.  This is pleasant enough with the biggest concerns being the production for me.  There are notable highlights and considerable lowlights.  I figured I'd rate each track...

She's Got Rhythm - 4/5
Come Go With Me - 3.5/5
Hey Little Tomboy - 4/5
Kona Coast - 3.5/5
Peggy Sue - 2.5/5
Wontcha Come Out Tonight - 4/5
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love - 3/5
Belles of Paris - 2/5
Pitter Patter - 3.5/5
My Diane - 4.5/5
Match Point Of Our Love - 4/5
Winds of Change - 2.5/5

Overall it averages out to a 3.

It is indeed the right place to post about this--these threads never die.

But your scores actually averages out to a 3.4666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666etc.

That is, unless some songs count for more than others.

If anyone gives a fig, here's how I rate it.

She's Got Rhythm - 3.5/5
Come Go With Me - 3/5
Hey Little Tomboy - 4/5
Kona Coast - 3/5
Peggy Sue - 4/5
Wontcha Come Out Tonight - 4/5
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love - 3.5/5
Belles of Paris - 3.5/5
Pitter Patter - 4/5
My Diane - 4.5/5
Match Point Of Our Love - 4/5
Winds of Change - 4/5

Overall Score: 3.75

Sounds about right... One really outstanding song, a lot of good ones, a few mediocre and none too terrible.  Hey, what can I say?  I likes me some MIU!  :P

I really like this Album, Nice to have playing while i'm surfin the web

She's Got Rhythm - 4/5
Come Go With Me - 4.5/5
Hey Little Tomboy - 2.5/5
Kona Coast - 2/5
Peggy Sue - 1.5/5
Wontcha Come Out Tonight - 3.5/5
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love - 1.5/5
Belles of Paris - .5/5
Pitter Patter - 3/5
My Diane - 4.5/5
Match Point Of Our Love - 4/5
Winds of Change - 2.5/5


I guess that's what 3.25?

Haha yeah I used the calculator and I figure I'd round down because it's below 3.5. ;)  That decimal place is about where I'd put it but I can't vote in the poll like that.  I guess I should do its twofer cousin, L.A. next.

She's Got Rhythm, Come Go With Me, and Sweet Sunday are all OK, but the rest of this album is sub-par.

Scratch that, been listening to MIU a bit more lately, I'm going to add Peggy Sue, My Diane, and (say what you will, but I like this song) Winds of Change to the list of tolerable songs from MIU.

2. Good as an easy listening album, not a BB album:

Best to worst:
She's Got Rhythm
Hey Little Tomboy
Come go With Me
Matchpoint of our Love
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
Kona Coast
My Diane
Wontcha Come Out Tonight?
Belles of Paris
Pitter Patter
Winds of Change
Peggy Sue

Loved it when Peter Ames Carlin described "Belles of Paris" as Mike Love sounding just as sophisticated as Pepe le Pew.

Really?  I thought that particular statement was borderline idiotic, as was his general overall assessment of the album, but what can you do?  :-\

My Diane is very good.
She's Got Rhythm, Woncha Come Out Tonight and Winds Of Change (purely for the end, which I like) are good.
Peggy Sue, Kona Coast, Come Go With Me and Pitter Patter are tolerable to okay.
Everything else is awful. Worst song of the album? Split between Belles and Sweet Sunday.

Sweet Sunday is one of my favorites from MIU, just because its the only song on that whole album that Carl sings lead on.

My Diane is probably my favorite song on the album as it has the most emotional depth IMO. There are other songs I enjoy on this album, but overall it is light fare

You know how some albums take a while to grow on you? At first they seem like nothing special, then gradually you are hooked into them? Well, the exact opposite happened to me on 15 Big Ones. At first I thought it was, well, not brilliant, but OK, and now, a few months down the road, I can only listen to about six of the songs on it.

It's for that reason I'm refraining from voting on MIU and LA until they sink in a bit, as I've only heard them once(though I'd heard some of the songs off LA before.)

At first listen, I kind of like MIU.
 I love the sound of it--I think it's the best-sounding Beach Boys album post Holland.  It's slick, yet organic, like the great Wilson productions of the past, but without the genius.
The songs are pleasant and likeable as well, my least favorites being the covers.  Like I said, I might revise my opinion, but for now I quite like it. I'll give it a three. Nothing blows me away, but it's nice, pleasant,  the songwriting could be better.

They take a lot of flak for the retro vibe of the album, but I don't mind it. I guess because it's one facetof the album, and not the whole deal(as I imagine KTSA--which I haven't heard--to be.)

 Of course, I prefer their earlier, forward-looking stuff, but I can deal with a few backward looking nostalgic songs.

 I like My Diane and Pitter Patter, the rest is listenable. I think it's better than 15 BO, for sure. But I'm not officially voting for a week or so. Oh, screw it, I'll just vote a three and change it later. The covers are pretty good, but pointless.

 Frickin' hate the cover, though.

M.I.U. has 8 Brian Wilson originals on it. I'm not saying that is a guarantee of greatness, but these came out of the same period that spawned Love You, New Album and Adult/Child. The difference here is that the songs are pretty slicked up, and one has to admit, without the quirk, they sound sort of uninspired. But I really like "Sweet Sunday Kind of Love." The Dennis vocal on "My Diane" is bluesy, but almost painful to listen to.

Hate to admit it, but I like "Wind of Change" and the LP cover myself. They both evoke the end of that mustard-coloured Five Summer Stores Era in Los Angeles. An epitaph-to-hippy-surf. There was an '80s Japanese Beach Boys fanzine where this guy drew a comic-strip of the Beach Boys members acting out the lyrics to "Winds of Change." It's insane, because I think they guy who drew it was totally sincere.

"And then Al Jardine came in and built a sand castle, and Mike Love blew in the winds of change and knocked the castle down." You can only imagine where it goes from there...

Don't write off the two covers, "Come Go With Me" and "Peggy Sue". I think they're well produced, one was a hit single, and, they both possess some of the best Al Jardine lead vocals of his career.

I don't completely write them off, they are enjoyable for what they are: competent and definitely well sung; better than many of the covers on 15BO. But they seem kind of pointless, I guess, and there's nothing really special about them. I agree the vocals are great, though. It's an enjoyable latter-day BB album, but it is fairly light in substance--but I like it.

The photo is cool. The design sucks. Maybe it made sense in 78--there is something very seventies about it, but not, IMO in a good way. I'm no graphic designer--I'm no anything, really...but anyway...I know what things I don't like look like, and that cover is one of the things I don't. But if it is expressing something to you that I don't get...well, that's interesting. From my view point it's expressing seventies shag carpet and wood-like wallpaper.

I'm changing my vote to two. A lot of the songs wear thin quickly.

It does not plunge to the depths of 15BO, but neither does it reach the heights of 15BO, either. (Not that those are very high.) Seven BOs and seven MIUs make a decent light pop album.

I just thought it was kind of funny the way he described it and I can most definitely see where he's coming from in terms of his overall evaluation of the M.I.U. Album. That said, the album might be lightweight and quite possibly among the "weakest" BB releases up to that point, but when I only recently put it in my player for the first time in months, I just couldn't escape its charms. Unlike stuff like KTSA, M.I.U. still feels like classic Beach Boys to me (at least occasionally), although some of its key elements might strike me as downright bland (and I used to virtually hate it when I first bought the M.I.U./L.A. twofer). While it clearly wasn't the best possible record they could've released after Love You, it's still an enjoyable listen from time to time.

I really like this album. It doesn't have much substance, but I really like it. And it really feels like a Beach Boys album. This sounds like the band that did Pet Sounds more than Holland does. She's Got Rhythm has a great falsetto vocal from Brian on it. Come Go With Me is better than the original. I've never had a problem with Hey Little Tomboy. I like the sleighbells on this version, too. Even though Kona Coast is a huge ripoff of Hawaii, that only makes it better. Peggy Sue has its moments. Wontcha Come Out Tonight is a legitimately really good song. Sweet Sunday Kinda Love has a good vocal from Carl. Belles of Paris is awkward. Pitter Patter is the Mike/Al partnership at its finest. My Diane is really heartfelt and I love the way Dennis sings it. Match Point of Our Love really sounds like "Pet Sounds 12 years later" to me. Winds of Change is nice, especially the fadeout.

This is a mainly positive, relaxing album. 4/5

What I find interesting about M.I.U is that its one of those few Beach Boys albums that I immediately enjoyed. I remember hearing Pet Sounds for the first time and did not like it at all, but through time it has become one of my favourite albums. M.I.U. in terms of production is great but in terms of lyrics there are hits and misses. I actually admire the way they have taken harmonies from earlier songs and spliced them with new recordings, call it unoriginal, I call it nostalgic in a way. With 'Kona Coast' the melodies and the old harmony from the song 'Hawaii' go together REALLY well in my opinion. It definately beats 'Keepin The Summer Alive'. I laughed when my mom said "Gee, the 80's sure weren't good to them were they?" This was after she borrowed the album to listen to it.

I took a break from this for a while and was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  Outside of My Diane I don't think any one song would classify as excellent to me, but it did feel fairly cohesive.  Doesn't stack up against their finer work but on its merits I guess I quite like it.

Take out Rhythm and Belles of Paris, and replace them with Lookin' Down The Coast, and Country Pie, and you've got a solid three star album. Add Everybody Wants To Live, and you've got a cult classic. Tomboy is still somewhat creepy, but Brian and Carl save it. Thank God they took out the "shave your legs" lyric. Anyway, as it stands the album is a somewhat doubious two and a half stars.

I may have already mentioned this, but I love Kona Coast and Winds of Change!!

I said it before, and I'll say it again.....for me, this is the last Beach Boys "sounding" LP they ever did. Everything (LP-wise) after, is stale. For me, they lack any spark or life . This album is full of recognizable Beach Boys harmonies and has melodies that don't seem forced. I find this the last album I get any joy out of.

Regards,
Cal aka "Beatle Bob"
:)

No. That song is amazing.

Take out everything besides My Diane, and you've got a decent B-side.  If they'd added 11 more like that, MIU could have been a decent album!

a couple months ago, i would've given this record a 1 or a 2. in relistening now, i'd give it around a 3.5. must be a sign that i'm starting to become a helpless little fanboy... :P

This album is interesting. I think "Pitter Patter" could've been a late 70s Brian Wilson classic with the clearer production. On the final mix, all you you can really hear clearly instrumentally is the drums and bass. It actually seems like some cool stuff is going on with the guitars and keyboards, but I'll be damned if I can hear it. The whole album needed better production, honestly. The "Hey Little Tomboy" Adult Child demo, for example, sounds a lot better to me than this version even if it's rougher around the edges and creepier.  At the same time, a lot of the songs sound like Mike Love compositions where he had Brian rearrange the chords and maybe change the rhythm. Not that great, really, but inoffensive with some catchy moments.

I totally agree with you.  Pitter Patter, and the album in general, has so much potential in places that it just never realizes, and it is because of the production.  The demo of Hey Little Tomboy is much better, as is the demo of My Diane.  I love My Diane and I don't think I would like it as much if I only had ever heard the album version

The first half of Pitter Patter is great. I couldn't believe it... until Al's verse came up.... oh dear

There's an alternate mix of Pitter Patter that circulates from an acetate copy, which is basically night and day compared to the album version. Lots of clarity in the instrumentation.

To each their own. Personally, I hate it.  :lol Brian's screetchy and loud "falsetto" hurts the ears.

Does that version by chance have thunder and rain sound effects? The version on the Our Team video does, but not the album. I could never figure that out.

Well as always I must state that I like every pre 1976 group album better then any from 1976 or after. There are some better songs on 15 Big Ones, Love You, and LA but some cringeworthy ones as well. This is an album I can play all the way through and not get too distresed. Belles Of Paris may be the only one I'm really hesitant to play. I know some hate this record but I always felt it was ok due to the voices being on pitch and the harmonies sounding pretty full. Again this isn''t close to anything they did from 1961-74 but it's hardly one for the trash bin.

No way! I love most of this album. Some is god awful but it definitely has more in common with the early albums which also have a few filler tracks. It's just a simple, fun, summer album - but pretty great.
Highlights for me are

She's Got Rhythm
Hey Little Tomboy
Wontcha Come Out Tonight
Sweet Sunday
Pitter Patter (i love the chorus and the call and response harmonies)
My Diane
Matchpoint...

I've had this on the 2-fer since 2001 and after the first time of listening to it I would always skip it for LA (except for "My Diane"). I tried it again about a month ago and lasted through the entire cd. It sounds a little bit better to me now but once "Good Timing" comes on I quickly forget about the album before it. I will say I was surprised to finally realize that Bri sang "Matchpoint Of Your Love" because his voice sounds pre-'76. I do not like his vocal on "She's Got Rhythm" at all but the song is kind of catchy. Too much Mike & Al here. Nothing personal against them but I'm more of a Wilson brothers kind of guy. And after listening to Love You which is just so nakedly beautiful this is kind of a let down. Too "sweet". But then so is LA but in a much more sophisticated way. Feel free to berate me on this if your opinion differs. :beer I'll be drinking my beer.

By the way, I gave it a 2. Mostly forgettable but not as offensive as 15 Big Ones or BB '85 or Summer In Paradise or Looking Back With Love or etc. I don't terribly mind it playing in the background but it doesn't "move" me if you know what I mean. And "My Diane" really is a heart-breakingly great song with a cool Denny vocal.

The alternate version of "Wind of change"is ten times better than the original one.
With the little vocal intro added and no vocal interjection(by Alan I guess)during the "won't last forever"ending tag.
It's works  better than the final one.I fell it pretty sensitive for a song without Brian, Dennis or Carl contributions.
And sad concerning the " future"of the band at the time.Just listen  it! :)

Oh boy. A 2. Come Go with Me is good. My Diane and Wontcha Come Out Tonight are okay and I do like listening to them. I actually don't mind Matchpoint of Our Love (ducks). The concept of the lyrics is ridiculous, but the vocals and beat are pretty good. The rest? Ugh, a really low point here.

Finally found my copy of this after missing it for a year or so. Surprisingly not bad!

Some lyrics are dire, but Brian has so much of a hand in things, and sounds so decent, that it's hard to write it off. It's actually a continuation of 15BO and LY in a way -- covers, back to high school originals, Brian and Mike vocals.

Hey Guys,
             I've been reading this board for quite some time and have kept pretty quiet. As a musician and composer myself (www.justin-taylor.ca), I realize how hard it is to please everyone and to make that perfect piece of music everytime.
I've been listening to MIU alot the past week or so after not listening to it seriously in about 10 years. I remember when I first got this album, the unwillingness of Brian was apparent in just reading the album credits before playing it (I originally bought a used LP back in the early 90s). Despite Al running the show here along with Mike, we get more of Al Jardine's singing than ever on this album and thats not necessarily a bad thing. I myself am a huge fan of Al's voice.

People have commented how this album has rough production. If you look at the credits, the instruments seem to be handled mostly by Brian and Al with some individual contributions from the BB touring band, so it is very much a "band" album vs. LA and KTSA which were mostly performed by session men. We're missing Carl on here though (Sweet Sunday i'm not too keen on and it seems like something he was forced to sing). Dennis gets the great "My Diane". I actually like "Matchpoint" and "Winds of Change". "Kona Coast" is slightly embarrasing, but the ending is nice. "Peggy Sue" is solid. "Why Doncha Come out Tonight" shouldve had the backgrounds rerecorded. Speaking of the vocals on this album it seems someone (Al? Ron Altbach?) has convinced Brian to sing in a smoother tone comparable to his 60's work on this album. Brian stated around '76 or so that some of his vocals on the 60's recordings embarrased him and that was why the sound in his voice changed around this period but on MIU he sounds great (except for Rhythm).


Overall, not as bad as what some fans make this out to be and lets face it, without albums like this one, collecting Beach Boys recordings wouldn't be as fun!

Hmm... To be honest, I don't mind this album nearly as much as most. Sure, the Beach Boys sold out. Sure, they're doing surf rock again. Sure, Brian was pretty much forced to write these songs. But, after taking a few serious listens, it doesn't sound as bad to me as most say it is. Well, at least on the first side. The second side is some of the worst music the Boys ever put down. At least, it would've been if the 80s and 90s never happened... This record is pretty much saved by the vocals, though. The melodies and the general production are horrid, though. Wish Carl and Dennis had some songs on this hunk of plastic, though... Maybe it would've etched out shitte like "Belles of Paris" and "Winds of Change"

She's Got Rhythm: Cute lil' falsetto by Brian. Nothing nearing his early voice, but it's still a fun song. Cheesy as hell, yes, but I somehow like this a bit more than I should... Vocal hooks, maybe? The melody is pretty damn catchy, too. 8/10

Come Go With Me: Insanely catchy, to be honest. Awesome vocal hooks, nice harmonies. Quite a catchy melody, too, if not particularly memorable. 9/10

Hey, Little Tomboy: I prefer the Adult/Child version by far, for the melody, but this one isn't too bad on its own right. 7/10

Kona Coast: A horrible rip off of Hawaii, to be sure, but it's got some nice falsetto by Brian, anyway. Prefer the original by a couple hundred times, though. Mainly cause Brian hadn't gone though 1975 yet. 7/10

Peggy Sue: A cover of Peggy Sue. Nothing more to say. It's not as bad as people claim, yes. But it's nothing special, either. Peggy Sue is still great, and the Beach Boys do, do it justice. 7/10

Wontcha Come Out Tonight: I hate the intro with a passion, but this song is saved, again, by the vocals and the harmonies. The harmonies sound a bit... weak on this song, though. Brian sounds quite a bit clearer on this album than Love You, for some reason. Quit smoking, perhaps? 7/10

Sweet Sunday: Here is where the problems start. Apparently, the Boys had thought it would've been a good idea to group all the ballads on the second side. By this point, however, I don't they could've made a good ballad to save their lives. Sweet Sunday is... okay, I guess. The harmonies sound buried in the mix, but at least you're treated to a nice Carl vocal. 5/10

Belles of Paris: Horrible, horrible song. The lyrics, which have NEVER been the Beach Boys strongest suit, are completely horrible. Mike singin' about romance in Paris in a completely toneless voice. Even the harmonies sound weak and whiny.

Pitter Patter: Huh. Apparently they decided to put a rocker among the sea of generic ballads. Nice, interesting harmonies, imitating rain, make this fairly decent. Even good, a little. 7/10

My Diane: This gets my vote for the best song on the album. About Diane Rovell, apparently. Maybe Brian wasn't so happy with Marilyn? A bad time in the marriage, perhaps? If memory serves, then they did divorce not too long ago. The lyrics also aren't trite, mainly because of the inspiration. 10/10

Match Point of Our Love: It's decent, yes. Coming after "My Diane" though, this sounds like dreck to my ears. The only redeeming quality is the resounding level of the vocals. Brian apparently had a good day, the day he laid down the vocals. 6/10

Winds of Change: This sounds like an awful, awful parody of the old halcyon days. Complete with a banal strings arrangement. The lyrics are bloody terrible, too. I deleted this and Belles of Paris off my listing, and you should too. 1/10

I suppose this is the real moniker that the Beach Boys were finally losing it, though. Finally, the musical transition unveiled in 15 Big Ones has finally broken though. Damn that Mike Love and all. The only saving grace is that Brian Wilson is still Brian Wilson, and his flair for melodies and harmonies shows through even on the worst. Sure, they would sink to worse depths. But, at least the genius of the band wasn't involved in those. A 3, and a fairly strong 3. Not strong enough to even make me consider giving it a 4, though. I think the real problems are the fact that people are judging it by the standards of Love You. I enjoyed it fine, with no expectations in, though.

Also, this is my first post on this here forums. Funny that it was a review of MIU, too.

Two people found MIU to be their inspiration to post their first posts? Love it. I note that the first never posted again these past four months or so. Hope it's not an omen for you, Curtis.

Nah, don't worry about that. I might be variable in my posting, but I'll be as active as I can be. Right now my only struggle is finding the right avatar to use.  :lol

Well welcome to the board. And remember when you see me posting things that make you think I'm an a-hole, I was nice and said hello in the beginning!  ;)

got up the courage to listen to this whole album all the way through right now!

1. She's Got Rhythm
Alright, I'm actually surprised at how good this is. You know, it's not great or anything, but it's far from the worst thing the band ever did. I actually don't really care for Brian's vocal. Over the years people have always really scratched their heads at Brian's use of different vocalists, Jasper Daily, Marilyn Rovell, Jack Rieley, Fred Vail. Fans act like these vocalists are really questionable, and some have pointed out that Jack Rieley on A Day In The Life of a Tree was proof of Brian's contempt for the project. This just isn't the case for me, I think Brian appreciated certain qualities in all these vocalists. Same is true with his "new voice" on Love You. Brian has always talked about how he was self conscious of his falsetto, and I think a big reason he got up the interest to record again during this era was that his voice was finally closer to how he actually wanted it to sound. So yeah, Brian's falsetto is great, but I'm not one of those fans that think his more matured voice was "sad" or anyway a representation of how far he'd fallen, so I'm not going to go out of my way to praise his "improved" vocals on this album. C+

2. Come Go With Me
Boring. The guys should have saved this stuff for 15 Big Ones honestly. You can't fault the song, only the band's production which is cheese all the way. C-

3. Hey Little Tomboy
Hmmm...this is one of those songs I'm torn on. This would have worked on Love You, but it just feels weird here. It's really a lesser song with bad lyrics, bad concept, and mediocre writing. C-

4. Kona Coast
Ugh. F

5. Peggy Sue.
This starts off very Spectorish. I dunno why the band felt they needed to dip into all these covers all the time. Were they so low on ideas? This song feels really processed to me. Very artificial. Not really a fan. D-

6. Come Out To Tonight
Oh this thing starts out pretty horribly right off the bat. This song is so boring I really just have nothing to say about it. D

7. Sweet Sunday Kind Of Love
Sounds like something off of River Deep Mountain High. There's no bite here at all. MIU is way more a 50s nostalgia type album than I guess I originally thought, which really knocks it down a few pegs in my book. This song just, well, just isn't good or bad enough to really even talk about. D

8. Belles of Paris
Sucks. F-

9. Pitter Patter
Alright, this isn't so miserable. The chorus feels a little phoned in, the melody on the verses is actually pretty nice I think. The mixing feels really suffocating, I'm having a hard time telling what instruments are on this track but it sounds like there are some cool keyboards and guitars going on in the mix. C-

10. My Diane
This could use better production, it feels kind of flat. But it's not an awful song but it's far from great. C

11. Matchpoint
What is this? The Beach Boys do smooth jazz? D

12. Winds Of Change
For all this song's delusions of grandeur it has an awful melody. It's really plodding and monotonous, and just doesn't go anywhere. Hate the two-bit string arrangements. Totally phony. D-

This album just doesn't have any stand out tracks that I would really want to go back and listen to again and again. There isn't a strong track in the bunch. The production sucks, the mixing sucks, there's nothing original going on here at all. That all comes out to a D average. If I was the band's teacher I'd tell them they need to apply themselves.

They could have probably turned in a much better album:

Santa Ana Winds
Still I Dream Of It
Everybody Wants to Live
Looking Down The Coast
California Feeling
Winter Symphony
+ all the material from Bambuu

It feels like the band had a lot of great material floating around during this period that could have made a better album than MIU, LA, or KTSA. Lots of fans point to these albums as being decent, or being the last times the band put in a good effort, and I've heard each of them defended. But I just don't see any merit to any of them, they're wastes of talent and time for everyone involved. They represent the aimless ramblings of a leaderless, directionless band that had mostly lost interest in working together. They are commercial obligations, turds farted out in order to satisfy a record contract. The band had no idea what it wanted to do, so it just second and third and fourth guessed itself and created these sterilized deodorized lifeless albums in hopes that they might be so inoffensive that they slip under the radar. I think the original Santa Ana Winds is Al's best song and is would be worthy of the quality we got to hear on Holland. Between 78-80 I get the sense the boys could have turned in a breeze laid back country tinged album of quality material, but they didn't. They blew it. Real shame.

Just remember that the band was splintered during this time. There was very little input from Carl and virtually none from Dennis, save My Diane. Come Go With Me was a Top 20 hit in the early 80's when it was released off of Ten Years Of Harmony. Peggy Sue was a minor hit in 78. I think it had a terrific refrain, but it could have had an edgier arrangement. Both of these tunes were started in the 15 Big Ones era. Remakes of 50's & 60's music was prevalent during this time period. It seemed most major acts were releasing them from 1974 onward. Also, the band had signed a deal with CBS, so I think they probably tried to save many of their better tunes for the next project. Lastly, the Boys' tried handing this in as a Christmas album, which after being rejected was programmed to what was released. Under better circumstances, this could have been a much better album had all the members participated fully.

1, because "my diane" is a 5 and the rest of the tracks are 0s. just listen to the very first note on this album. how could they have possibly listened to that and thought it was fit for release? just soul-crushing and exploitative of brian.

"my diane," on the other hand, is just stunning and also depressing as hell, for different reasons. for BW at this point in his life to just nakedly write, record, and release to the general public such an aching love song about his wife's sister... jesus. you're not fooling anyone having dennis take the vocal, man. the plodding tempo, just slightly wallpaper-y melody, plaintive lyrics, and the context of the song betray a completely broken human being. one of the most singularly emotional recordings i've ever heard.

I really enjoy the production value of this album, it's the most clean since Holland and makes me think this aspect of producing shoulda been used for KTSA, I think it woulda helped it out. But I do feel this is a lost opportunity for Al, in which he had some really good songs with other collaborators and with Al at the helm, he shoulda produced and released that work on here....material like Santa Ana Winds, Looking down the Coast, and the early cut of Lady Lynda; besides all that, I think Our Team shoulda been included, it shows the guys actually having a good time. Almost Summer, California Feeling, She's just Out to Get Ya, How's about a Little Bit of Your Sweet Lovin', and Country Pie would also help the album, in my opinion.

1. She's Got Rhythm 7/10
2. Come Go With Me 7.5/10
3. Hey Little Tomboy 6.5/10
4. Kona Coast 4.5/10
5. Peggy Sue 5.5/10
6. Wontcha' Come Out Tonight 7/10
7. Sweet Sunday Kind Of Love 5.5/10
8. Belles Of Paris 1/10
9. Pitter Patter 8/10
10. My Diane 10/10
11. Matchpiont Of Our Love 6.5/10
12. Winds Of Change 3/10

Album Rating: 6/10

Not the worst album they ever made, but close. Very poor indeed. I'm slightly baffled by some of the enthusiasm expressed here for what is such an atrocious record but each to their own I suppose... There's a few highlights (She's got Rhythm is ok-ish, My Diane is a good, solid track) but mostly it's just appalling. LA was a big, big improvement and doesn't deserve to be stuck on a two-fer with MIU.

I agree about L.A being a whole lot better. I, personally, feel like in heaven when the boring beyond belief  'Winds Of Change' ends and I hear Carl's amazing voice kicking in with 'Good Timin' '. It's just the best breath of fresh air a Beach Boys fan can get.

A few good songs, namely 'She's Got Rhythm' and 'My Diane' and a couple of decent tunes : 'Sweet Sunday Kinda Love' and 'Hey, Little Tomboy' surrounded by boring, uninspired and dissapointing efforts. A 2.6 rounded up to 3.

Also, I prefer the Adult Child material by far. 'Life Is For The Living', 'It's Over Now', 'Everybody Wants To Live' and 'Still I Dream Of It' are definitely better than almost anything from M.I.U. .

Especially 'Everybody Wants To Live', I can't believe how much potential that song has. Just imagine all guys joining Brian for the chorus. It could've been absolutely magical...

I don't really understand why people hate this so much.
Not that it's the greatest thing they ever did...but the majority of the tracks are solid. (In fact, don't tell anyone, but I prefer it to most of the other 70s albums!)

Favorites
She's Got Rhythm
Hey Little Tomboy
Kona Coast
Wontcha Come Out Tonight
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
Matchpoint of Our Love

Anyone heard the Adult Child version of Hey Little Tomboy? 'Ok, now shave your legs for the first time'. Oh. My. God.

How is it not a single member thought to say 'Er... hang on, isn't this massively inappropriate, even for 1978??'

I can just imagine Brian and Dennis grinning like two very hairy Cheshire cats throughout the writing/recording process.  ;D I think all their songs about little girls are kinda cool (and there are a few). Sue me. Peggy Sue me.

Sweet Sunday Love is great!

I think Matchpoint of our Love is also genuinely great now and this disturbs me a little bit.

I listened to this on vinyl again, all the way through, and (don't hurt me, please), I find this a solid album. There's some cheese, yeah, but I enjoy this a lot more than Holland or Carl/Passions, or hell, Surf's Up. Of course, Surf's Up's highs (title track, Til I Die) are much higher, but in terms of a unified, pleasant listen, I would choose this.

I quite like this album....prolly more than one should. I just like the slick production that never shows up anywhere else in the catalog....it's no Love You and it's no L.A....it's coulda been a happy medium type of thing. It's an album that doesn't sound like it's had any left overs from other albums...all the songs sound like they're from one era.

it does though, doesn§t it_ come go with me and peggy sue are from 15 Big Ones, MY Diane and Hey Little School girl were recorded late 76. But soundwise, they dont really stick out, if that is what you mean.

exactly

I've avoided this album for a long time now, but finally caved and listened to it without any expectations a few weeks ago.
It might be blasphemy, but I think that "She's Got Rhythm" (yes, I LOVE the forced falsetto on it), "Wontcha Come Out Tonight?", "Pitter Patter", and "My Diane" are on par with any of their better tracks that were actually written in the 70s. Smile outtakes excluded.

I've always enjoyed MIU and think that (production aside) most of the B.Wilson tracks here would fit perfectly on Love You.

The two covers, Belles of Paris and Winds of Change I can take or leave whilst Pitter Patter I love!

I'd give it a solid 3 out of 5.  As a 'start to finish' listening experience I would put it on par maybe with L.A, above 15BO (too many covers for me) and below Love You.

Nice to read some M.I.U love in this thread though :)

Agreed, it's an album I enjoy and it's not very often you hear much positivity about it.

listened to it right now, it's a true 2. If one looks at it with reason that is. all you fanatics giving it a 4 and stuff is quite hilarious.

Why the f*** am I enjoying some of the stuff from this album so much today?

After 2 years since reading in Carlin's book how BAD this album is, I finally broke down and bought the album tonight.

I don't see what's so atrocious about it. I actually thoroughly enjoy it!

She's Got Rhythm is a fantastic opener to the album. The coda for Kona Coast is a nice throwback, and they pull it off well. The chorus of Belles of Paris is really catchy, Pitter Patter is great!

MY DIANE. Had I known there was a song this good on this album I'd've bought it 2 years ago. So good.

You can tell a lot of work went into this album - the vocals are polished, every backing track is fantastic. I'm glad I bought this!

Agree with you on everything besides Belles of Paris. that song's one of my least favorite Beach Boys songs. and I'm a Mike Love apologist!

On first listen, back in '01, I was also suprised and perplexed as to why MIU had such a bad rap, and I felt the experience was very enjoyable.

However, this enjoyment deteriorated rapidly, nay, evaporated the very next time I played it and it's rare for me to seek out anything other than My Diane  from this little baffler.

@Aegir: Mike's lead is terrible, but I love this backing track and chorus!

@Alholio71: Perhaps it will lose it's luster, but after my 3rd listening I'm still enjoying this album. Obviously not Pet Sounds material, but it has a charm to it!

Good for you, Rab! :rock  I hope it never loses it's sheen for ya

I've liked this album since the first time I heard it. I don't listen to it often, but I don't think it's an album that fades over time if you like most of what's on it.

I love MIU. "She's Got Rhythm" is an awesome opener, love that first note. Both covers kick ass: "Come Go With Me" was one of my favorite songs in my early fan days, and "Peggy Sue" is a great production. "Wontcha Come Out Tonight" is one of my favorite Beach Boys songs in all around. I skip "Belles of Paris" but I still think it's a nice track and nice vocals, just not much of a melody there. "Winds of Change" is a wistful tune, I think it's a good closer.

Oh, and "Hey Little Tomboy" is a f***ing good song. I've seen people say that not only is it tasteless, but it's not a good song. I don't get that - I think it's a really cool melody, and the chord changes are undeniably clever.

I'm not even convinced that MIU is worse than LA (Light Album). Now, I love LA Album, but not a single track on MIU bores me as much as "Going South" and "Baby Blue" do. The disco "Here Comes the Night" is fun but too long and mostly useless, and the LA version of "Shortenin' Bread" is total fucking dogshit compared to the Adult Child one.

Overall, not quite as consistent as Love You, and not as good as a release along the lines of Adult Child would've been, but I could easily give it 4 stars.

Oh no, now I discovered 'MIU'...my life continues to change, my BBs obsession is driving friends away, work colleagues to look weird at me and my girlfriend to get mad whenever I put 'Matchpoint' on replay mode.

Thank you very much Smiley board  :-[

 :lol
Dude, get a match, strike the point, and set fire to whatever medium you're using to play that horror - it's your only option

Been reading the last issue of Pet Sounds Newsletter by David Leaf...he wrote a great review for MIU, he really thought it was better than 15 Big Ones and Love you.

Kinda odd

Where do I find a M.I.U CD?

On amazon, for example?  ;)

For £32.72?! No no, No no, I don't have that kind of money.
I mean where can I find it for a reasonable  price?

 

If the CD has become something of a collector's item you won't find it much cheaper anywhere online (maybe ebay with some luck). I'd ransack every record store I can find if I were you, bargains do turn up at those.  :)

Ok. Thanks for the help mr Lowbacca.  :)

I noticed the M.I.U./L.A. two-fer has been out of print for probably a year or so now, so your best bet would probably be to check ebay every so often.  One is bound to turn up at a reasonable price sooner or later.  Amazon sellers tend to jack the price up on just about anything that goes OOP as soon as they see it's no longer available new.

Who knows, maybe they'll release a 4-disc deluxe box set of the M.I.U. sessions sometime.

Or not.

I've always loved MIU.  It's kind of watered down (perhaps heavily watered down at times) sure, but it's quite consistent - from a production standpoint.  For whatever reason, I enjoy it's blandness.  There's nice toe-taping, sing along melodies and harmonies with a nice tight production, good drums, and just enough oddness -- an album only the Beach Boys could make.  It's not as demanding as Love You, nor as "sketchy" as 15 Big Ones, far more upbeat than L.A., much more consistent and unified than Keepin' The Summer Alive and its much, much more sonically pleasing and Beach Boys-y than Beach Boys '85.

And it's not all bland tofu.  It does have some real stand out moments for me -- My Diane holds my attention for every blessed nanosecond.  Match Point is like a wonderful sonic sedative, and the opener is a blast.  The quote from Hawaii is pleasant and kind of interesting that a band would quote itself.  I just love the idea of loafing around Hawaii -- "it's been my secret passion to try it!"  And "Listen to the raaaain" is nice... a nice tropical mid-afternoon rain.  And Al's Wind of Change manages to rise above it's cheese to become kind of touching... "Won't last forever..."

Opens great, closes very nicely... with some wonderful moments along the way.  I enjoy it for what it is.  Even more so, since it's so despised.  But it's one of my all-time personal (perhaps guilty) favorites, and gets played A TON.

I find this album fascinating. I find it hard to describe/rate, but I can try, can't I?

1. "Pitter Patter": My favorite song on the album.
2. "Hey Little Tomboy": The best original song on the album. It would have been interesting to see what people thought of it had they left the spoken bits in       
3. "Peggy Sue": A very good cover. I can see why they chose that for the single.
4. "Winds of Change": A great album closer. Surprised that none of the Boys were involved with the writing.


5. "Come Go With Me": A decent enough cover. It could use a bit ore energy though IMO.
6. "Match Point of Our Love": Such a cheesy song, but enjoyable nonetheless. Brian sounds great on it.
7. "Kona Coast": An interesting song. I enjoy listening to it after i hear "Kona Christmas", then laughing at all the trite word changes.
8. "Sweet Sunday Kinda Love": Carl's showcase on the album. Another song that lacks energy.

9. "My Diane": A greatly produced/sung song, but it just never seems to grab me like it seems it should. Great Dennis lead though.
10. "Wontcha Come Out  Tonight": Another good Brian lead, but the song is just strange to me. I don't know what it's trying to accomplish. It sounds like they were poking fun at 50's style songs in the chorus, but then it sounds like a relatively serious attempt at a song (vocal-wise at least) during the verses. It's just confusing.
11. "She's Got Rhythm" : Brian's falsetto is positively cringe educing. If i could take one song off this album, it would either be this, or...

12. "Belles of Paris": Obviously trying to achieve a certain "Michelle" quality, but the song ultimately falls flat. I'll try to listen to it, but i can never make it past the first verse. It's just too much to handle.


Overall, I think that Al, Ron and Brian did the best they could with the album considering the situation. I would have enjoyed a few more contributions from Carl and Dennis, but you can't have everything I suppose. However, the group hadn't sounded this good vocal-wise since "Sunflower", Brian especially. Sure, i enjoy listening to it more than most people, but i wouldn't play it too often. One listen too many in one sitting can ruin it immediately. Still, a pretty good album overall.

^^ Nice username :)

This is such an odd album. About half of the material on the album is solid, but the other half is complete and total garbage.

Guess if I had to break it down track by track it'd look something like this

She's Got Rhythm - 3/5 (would be a 4 if Brian's falsetto here didn't hurt my ears)
Come go With Me - 4/5
Hey Little Tomboy - 2/5 (Not nearly as good as the version from Adult Child. The spoken word section really makes the song)
Kona Coast - 1/5
Peggy Sue - 1/5
Wontcha Come Out Tonight 4/5

Sweet Sunday Kind of Love - 3/5
Belles of Paris - 2/5
Pitter Patter 4/5
My Diane 5/5
Matchpoint of our Love - 1/5 (I'm sorry but I cringe every time i hear the lyrics to this one. I even tend to enjoy a lot of their sillier songs, but this is just too much)
Winds of change - 3/5

Some songs have lyrics that can overshadow any other aspects of the music, though it really is variable from person to person. It would be hard to listen to "Lets Go Away For Awhile" if the lyrics consisted of Hal Blaine singing about taking a crap at a Red Lobster.

Oh the music is fine, but much like wantsomecorn said, the lyrics override everything else in this case. This is especially odd for me since i tend to like their sillier songs as I said in my first post. Glad I gave the album as a whole another shot though because there are a few killer tracks in there.

This album SUCKS!!!! One of the Beach Boy's worst albums. Even Dennis hated it. 1 out of 5.

15 Big Ones, Keepin' The Summer Alive, and Summer In Paradise are still worse, however.

My Diane is the only great song from this album, i love it. A fine Dennis vocal, considering his voice was starting to deteriorate at the time. This song should have deserved to be on a better album!

Pitter Patter is all-right as well, it's really grown on me.

The rest of the album is complete crap. Match Point Of Our Love I enjoy for the music, but the song is ruined by some of the worst lyrics, courtesy of Mike Love. Shame really, the music itself is quite decent.

That's all i have to say about this album. Truly is an embarrassment in the Beach Boys's career.

This was one of the albums (along with the few after it) that I had not gotten around to hearing.  I suppose I was expecting the worst The BB had to offer.  But I finally listened to M.I.U. and I have to say, I don't know if it's just me getting older and mellower in my 40's or what, but I like it!  It's not great, but there's something about the mix and feel that I like (and probably turns others off).  Pitter Patter is my favorite track on it.  Go figure.  I'm letting this album sink in a bit before I move on the LA Light Album.  

I've been one of those youngsters…just turning 29, I hope there will be more below my ago who discover this wonderful recording…it's no Pet Sounds, it's definitely no Friends, or Holland...but it's an experience record that guys had to go through and it's Al's early hands on experience to go on to do others works of great music- Santa Ana Winds, Lookin Down the Coast, Don't Fight the Sea, Island Girl, CA Energy Blues, Waves of Love, Drivin, Lady Lynda/Liberty, PT Cruiser, etc.

That's exactly like me!

I love M.I.U. It's not Pet Sounds or Love You or even 15 Big ones  :lol And Adult/Child would've been 10 better than M.I.U. album that's for sure. But still, this one has good stuff too. Though I have learned that I shouldn't play this to anyone else. Others don't really seem to dig this. I just wonder why  :angel: I love the production. It's really 70's. Drums, strings everything. That's propably the biggest turn-off for people. I happen to like cheesy 70's sounds. The one thing I really hate in this album is the cover art. It's really stupid. Almost ruins the whole listening experience. That's how bad it is. BUT I have to brag a little bit. I have a copy signed by Al. I'm not 100 % sure though if it's real or not, I could post a pic of it and ask what you guys think. But then again who the hell would be crazy enough to make a fake signature to M.I.U.'s cover?  :lol

She's Got Rhythm 4/5
I love this song, Brian's "forced" falsetto is really cool. Still I completely understand why some people hate it.

Come Go with Me 4/5
Cool cover! The intro is so awesome.

Hey Little Tomboy 2.5/5
Pretty embarassing. I like the music, but the lyrics are too much.

Kona Coast 3.5/5
Mike sounds actually cool here. Funny song.

Peggy Sue 3/5
Mediocre.

Wontcha Come Out Tonight 4/5
Up there with She's Got Rhytm. Brian does awesome job with the vocals! This proofs he didn't loose his voice anywhere during the mid-70's.

Sweet Sunday Kinda Love 3/5
Mediocre.

Belles of Paris 3/5
More mediocre stuff.

Pitter Patter 4/5
Really cool! It could rock more though. Al sounds great as always.

My Diane 5/5
The best song of the album. Dennis just can't do wrong with a lead. Oh why didn't Brian finnish Adult/Child  :'(

Match Point of Our Love 4.5/5
Another standout! One of Brian's best vocals ever. And I actually like the lyrics too. The sound of the drums and strings gives me almost too good vibes...

Winds of Change 1.5/5
Boring and really bad. I skip this one always.

So that's a solid 3/5 for the album. It's not a masterpiece, but very listenable for what it is. Only one unlistenable song,  5 mediocre and  6 awesome ones!

Now here is a LP that will divide the faithful .. Now  just on sound quality.. Vocal harmonies..  Instrumentation.. etc this is steps above 15BO + Love You..  But the songs seem to divide people here.. Who likes or prefers  certain songs.. But when this came out in 1978 the faithfull accepted it to a certain degree.. But it didn't do well because they lost a lot of fans after 1976.. A lot of people casual fans thought they were an oldies act after 2 weird albums in a row.. And they never quite recovered from that.. I like 8 of the 12 songs in varying degrees.. Don't like WOC... BOP..  HLTB... PS...  At this point its diminishing returns..  Concerts sell out.. LP"S so so.. The damage has been done by inconsistent records and lots of bad press for fighting.. drugs.. shows start to get sloppy.. etc.. The faitfull remain and the rest scatter.. Thanks to new generations growing up and discovering BB they will always have an audience..  Music 3/5  Cover art 3/5..

So - I gave it a 4.  That should get me off to a bad start around these parts  :-[

Reason? - great 60s sounding tunes married with the cheesy sorts of lyrics that characterised Love You.  Oddly, it sounds like they were actually really into the whole thing in spite of all the dramas going on with the band at the time.  I don't get all the 'tired sounding' comments - I'm not hearing it.

I would probably go 3.5 if we could split as I don't think it is (quite) as good as some of the other albums I will be giving a 4 when I go back and score those.

Aside -> for those looking to get this in the L.A. twofer - I did as suggested above and just bided my time on ebay and eventually got it for around AU$30 delivered which is pretty good given it has been oop for a while now.

^ Thanks for the nice welcome and glad to have company in enjoying this album.

It's totally underrated:

1. She's Got Rhythm  (4/5)
2. Come Go With Me  (4/5)
3. Hey, Little Tomboy  (2/5)
4. Kona Coast  (4/5)
5. Peggy Sue  (1/5)
6. Wontcha Come Out Tonight?  (4/5)
7. Sweet Sunday  (4/5)
8. Belles Of Paris  (2/5)
9. Pitter Patter  (5/5)
10. My Diane  (5/5)
11. Match Point Of Our Love  (3/5)
12. Winds Of Change  (3/5)

I have to side with David Leaf and say that I prefer MIU to both 15BO and Love You. 

I give it a four on the basis of strong tracks like She's Got Rhythm, Kona Coast, Come and Go With Me, Pitter Patter, My Diane, Belles of Paris, and Sweet Sunday. 

I also think Winds of Change is extremely moving & overlooked, and is an older cousin to the Suite that closes TWGMTR. 

This one feels more like a team effort than the previous two records, which I believe was a wise choice considering Brian really wasn't ready to take the reigns just yet.   

The MIU / LA two-fer was a reluctant purchase to complete my BB collection, but it has proven to be a diamond in the rough. 

Been a die hard BBs fan for over a decade now, and for whatever reason I barely gave this one a chance until I recently found my bargain bin LP of it and decided to put it on, and shockingly, I kinda liked it. Like, really liked it. SO much better than L.A., and I think the reason is that it is almost entirely devoid of the MORisms that ruined so much L.A.. Instead, M.I.U. is a lot of Brian, Mike and Al, the three quirkiest (quirky might be an understatement) members of the group. As much as I love Carl and Dennis, when left unchecked, their post-'75 songs can too easily veer into adult contemporary land, whereas Brian, Mike and Al's weirdness always shone through, no matter the quality of track (and the quality here is admittedly dubious). Overall, this record feels more like Love You than it does L.A., particularly with Hey Little Tomboy, which toes that funny/disturbing line like so much of LY does. Yes, it's totally ludicrous fluff, but thats probably why I like it.

Fave tracks: Matchpoint, Come Go With Me, Sweet Sunday, Hey Little Tomboy (mostly for comedy purposes), She's Got Rhythm.

Winds of Change is just horrid though.

Solid 3 1/2 stars.

M.I.U. sounds totally MOR to me, in a much less ambitious way than L.A., and yet I greatly prefer it to that album. I think there's kind of a nice intimacy to the mellow sound, although it becomes too much in places ("Sweet Sunday" is the most aggressively M.I.U. track on M.I.U., by which I mean it's frustratingly bland), but when they go for something with a bit more scope in sound ("Winds of Change") it doesn't work at all. Maybe that song and "Good Timin'" should have swapped places, they seem to fit each other's album.

I suppose those two albums are as good as each other really... neither come to life very often. But M.I.U. is all in all pretty modest, and L.A. attempts to be colossal and ends up sounding like the adult contemporary Holland. I guess I just prefer the former because I like my sh*t twee.

I feel like a lot of MIU is still going for the Spector sound, but maybe Spector via Born to Run with all those charging saxophones and sleigh bells (especially on the first side).  L.A. Light is straight yacht-rock, which I like to a degree, but the boring moments are much more prevalent, IMO. And I think L.A.'s biggest flaw is the sheer amount of ballads on that record. It seems Dennis, and to a lesser degree Carl, saved all their mid-to-uptempo numbers for solo projects and gave the Boys nothing but ballads from Sunflower on. Some really good ballads mind you, but when you have Full Sail, Goin South, Angel Come Home, Baby Blue and Love Surrounds Me all on the same record its a complete slog.

MIU is a total blast comparatively.

1. She's Got Rhythm  (3/5)
2. Come Go With Me  (3/5)
3. Hey, Little Tomboy  (2/5)
4. Kona Coast  (3/5)
5. Peggy Sue  (2/5)
6. Wontcha Come Out Tonight?  (4/5)
7. Sweet Sunday  (5/5)
8. Belles Of Paris  (3/5)
9. Pitter Patter  (4/5)
10. My Diane  (5/5)
11. Match Point Of Our Love  (4/5)
12. Winds Of Change  (1/5)

Few agree but I think it's a major step up from the 15BO/Love You period. I wish Carl had been more involved in the recordings. I've replaced Winds of Change with Our Team for years now, a much better album closer.
A solid 3/5.

I agree with every word of this, except i'd swap "My Diane" for "Tomboy" in the list of fave tracks.


I like the tune.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but My Diane and Winds of Change are two of my favorite tracks of the MIU album, along with Pitter Patter. 

Speaking of Winds of Change, shouldn't Brian and Mike have been given a credit since they use the "Won't last forever / It's kinda sad" from When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)?

Always liked the 'wrong' mix on the first CD release, a sappy song but always been a guilty pleasure

A disaster of an album. The covers should belong with the other ones on 15 big ones. Some of the originals (Kona Coast, Wontcha Come, Sweet Sunday,) have awesome vocals but unfortunately, they are stuck inside bland arrangements. Tomboy was better in its original version on Brian's Adult/Child album. Pitter Patter, My Diane and Match Point are the only saving grace on this album for me, which get a full 2/5. The closing song, Winds of Change, is really syrupy but it is kind of a guilty pleasure. The alternate mix where Charles LLoyd's flutes are upfront is miles better.

This is how I would have done this LP back in the day (when it was still called "Winds of Change") with all the best compositions from this era from each band member:

01 She's Got Rhythm
02 He's A Bum
03 Where We Are/It Could Be Anything
04 Pitter Patter (alt. mix w/ sound fx)
05 Viggie
06 Tug of Love/Feel the Pull

07 Goin' And Get That Girl
08 Love Remember Me
09 My Diane
10 Match Point Of Our Love
11 Our Team
12 Winds Of Change (alt. mix with flutes)

then a few seconds of silence before the hidden track...

Drip Drop/Teardrops On My Bed (Let's go mofos*!)

This album starts off horribly with Brian's silly sounding falsetto on "She's Got Rhythm". Brian's falsetto never sounded silly on the early records - it was beautiful. Frankie Valli's falsetto sounded silly and shrill. I guess this song was the Beach Boys nod to the disco movement before fully embracing it on the next record. "Come Go With Me" is good, but then it's back to embarrassing with "Hey Little Tomboy". Nothing else here is as bad as those two tracks, but there is a sameness to the songs throughout; Al's remake of "Peggy Sue" is not bad, but it is completely lacking in the originality of the Buddy Holly version. Most of the album is not bad, just pedestrian. But at least it sounds more professionally played and sung than Love You.

Buddy Holly's Peggy Sue is a pretty bland song, imho. I never cared for it until I heard the Beach Boys version. While Al plays it safe on the verses, I love the liberties that they took on the chorus. Full group background vocals with Carl leading the way, really packs some power behind it. I even like Mike's bomps on the final verse. Of the later covers that they did, I found this one to be one of the better ones and given the best Beach Boys' treatment.

MIU was really the beginning of the band embracing middle-of-the-road soft rock. It didn't work too well here, but on LA it flourished. LA fits right in with the soft rock/yacht rock trend that was popular at that time.

I'd have preferred The Beach Boys to stick with the soft rock / yacht rock thing over the.......I don't know what to call what they were doing on KTSA and BB85.

KTSA...still the worst Beach Boys album. It should have been called Keepin' the Summer On Life Support. It would certainly fit the cover art.

Yeah, it's pretty awful, especially when you consider it's the last album that features all of the original Beach Boys (albeit only a cameo from Dennis). 

As least you can make the excuse for SIP that Dennis was gone and Brian didn't participate.   I still give the slight edge to SIP for worst BB LP though.

For me, SIP is only worse in terms of production quality and a song or two, but I do believe it not to be as terrible as others here do.

I think there are some OK songs on SIP.  But the remake of Surfin, Summer of Love, and the covers of Under the Boardwalk and Remember Walking in the Sand are unlistenable IMO. 

They're probably on a payroll or something. :P

I'm definitely with you on Brian's falsetto on She's Got Rhythm.  I've also never been a fan of Frankie Valli's falsetto, and I thought the only other time Brian got irritatingly close to Frankie's falsetto style was on Don't Back Down. 

I like the sound of Frankie's voice when he is singing in his natural voice, but yeah, that falsetto just sounds silly. I guess that was a big thing with doo wop music, which the Seasons sprang from, but a lot of their songs would have sounded better if he had not gone to falsetto. Overall, though, Brian's voice does sound better on MIU than on 15BO or LY.

I agree.  Those are the albums where we start to hear signs of the current BW voice.  Not the gravely one from the subpar 15BO & LY. 

Gave this another go recently. Some stuff like Wontcha or Sweet Sunday kind of shine, but overall it's just a drab uninspired mess. Would've been slightly more tolerable if they had used the California Feelin' tracklisting (Our Team is sublime) , but substituting Belles and Kona with Come Go With Me and Peggy Sue, respectively.

I don't think there's much that can be done to salvage this one. A couple good songs but this really was the beginning of the end. It's nowhere near as steamingly turdish as Keepin' the Summer Alive, that's for sure...but then again, no Beach Boys record is.

I would take KTSA over this one - primarily because there is more of a Carl presence.

I don't think MIU is so horrible, just a bit.... stale. But I love My Diane the more I hear it, and IMO there's nothing wrong with Pitter Patter. I also love the musical confidence of Tomboy, if not the lyrics. And I happen to like Come Go With Me quite a bit-not stale at all.

I'm a big fan of Pitter Patter and have always thought that it could have been a hit for them.

  Was the commercial failure of M.I.U. a surprise to the band?

Sorry guys, but I really love this album. Every guy has a great voice on it and the harmonies are beautiful!
I really love "pitter", "tomboy" "sweet Sunday", "come out tonight",  and" Diane". I just listened it yesterday (the 2 albums on one cd edition (with LA) great great sound!!!). And really, I love it. I love "15", "love you", and "MIU" very much. good LPs remembering me the end of the 70s...