The Smiley Smile Message Board

There's a thread about Midnight's Another Day up on the blueboard now in which many people (including the esteemed AGD) call it one of Brian's best songs. I happen to agree.

So I'm curious about what you all think of it, having lived with it (or maybe chosen to ignore it) for a while now. Some people here are not very impressed with TLOS. What about MAD on its own? Is it the best thing he's done in decades? Does it stand up there with Brian's best? Or is it mediocre?

Definitely not mediocre, definitely one of his best, a classic...his best since "Melt Away", and probably since "Til I Die".  TLOS on a whole, in my opinion, is his best non-SMiLE solo work.

I don't get too much into ranking, considering a favorite today is a fourth-favorite tomorrow is a ninth-favorite the next day is a favorite the next. But I think it's wonderful. A very, very good song. All time classic? Ask in five or 10 years. But really good. I very much enjoy it. I've literally teared up listening to it. That can't be a bad sign.

I like it. But I like half of TLOS, Live Let Live from the Arctic Tale soundtrack, the Christmas album, some of GIOMH and a few tracks on Imagination more.

Long story short, I don't think it's better than anything else he's done, but I like most of what he's done.

I think it's one of his best-ever songs.  I can't think of too many Brian has written or co-written that are better.

There are parts where I wish they could have gotten a better vocal out of Brian.  But that's mainly a quibble because if they had, I think they could have had a hit with it...it has that timeless quality.

I really like the album and I have to say that when I saw Brian and his band do it-they surpassed the album-Brian really gave a great performance and actually did some real singing (in a way stronger voice than when I saw him in 2002 or even when I saw him at Festival Hall in 2004)..while the spoken word stuff seemed a little odd on record..it actually works well on stage.  Honestly-I feel that the reunion thread made more sense last year-where he seemed to be treading water a bit-but I can't see him doing it now

I love that song.  I remember feeling funny for liking it early on, like I was embarrassed about liking it.  When I saw it performed as part of TLOS last month...it moved me.  I loved every minute of TLOS live, and MAD was the high point.  Of course I like Fairy Tale from GIOMH too.

The other day, I must've listened to Fairy Tale on loop for about four or five hours.

It's, by far, the best track in TLOS. By miles. But the lyrics suck.

It's the best song  Brian has done since Til I Die, easy.

It's hard to measure ballads vs rockers etc. So, restraining to songs roughly in the same style of MAD, what about "The Night Was So Young"? "Still I Dream of It"?

Melt Away is about the only solo Brian composition I like better.  MAD is really a moving piece of work.  It's a great song for a guy in the twilight of his career.

Okay, best released song, as I like Still I Dream of it better, and Everybody wants to live just once. As for The Night was so young....this may be an unpopular opinion, but I fucking HATE Carl's vocal on it. Hell, anybody remember what I said about it a long time ago on this same message board? Something like Peter Cetera gargling with battery acid, or something equally as harsh. Yeah, it was THAT bad to me.

I totaly love TLOS & MAD. Though, MAD is a great song Southern California seems to tug at my heartstrings much more.
I enjoy listening to TLOS & like every track. I don't get too hung up on "crappy lyrics" or "corny song" I just listen on face value & I love it all.

The whole package works: the melody, the lyrics and above all Brian's performance. The demo is definitive (but then, of course, the CD version is largely the demo anyway). It still moves me to tears. Hopefully a career capstone - he won't top this one. Magnificent, toweringly magnificent.

 Very good. Is it his best solo song?  Right up there. Do I rank it with his 63-74 work? Very close to it but not quite. Of course that's an impossible thing in my book because he was so good then.

I love it. It's a joy to hear that Brian can still write killer songs like this. I don't prefer it, but it holds it own against similar songs such as The Night Was So Young, Still I dream of It, Melt Away, Till I Die which should make any BW fan jump for joy.

I like Message Man almost as much - probably my 2nd favourite from the TLOS sessions!

It's a great song.

I agree with both of you, TLOS live was just that much more moving... that's just me personally... and don't get me wrong, I still love the album but it was just so much better live. As for MAD, I think it's his best solo song and certainly it ranks (for me) up there with his best compositions.

update: there WAS a thread on MAD on the Blueboard...

what happened?

There was an argument (not about the song), so the thread was deleted, looks like. THere is still some discussion of the song there, though.

hmm, read something like that too... why not simply delete the specific posts instead of a complete topic?

o, well, it's not my business anyway ...

It's the nature of the Blueboard. The name 'Dick van Dyke' does not even pass the filter there. They are, um, conservative.

I agree almost 100%. The live performance elevated the entire piece quite a bit for me. MAD is a great song, close to Til I Die in the way it impacts me.

I strongly recommend you listen to the NPR stream of the live show from Washington DC. The recording is superb, far superior to the CD.  What surprised me was how complex and how intricate the arrangements and orchestration are, even live (in person) it was hard to pick up on all the subtleties and flourishes.

TLOS is full of wonderful songs - MAD, Live Let Live, Southern California,  and of course the stunning Can't Wait Too Long snippet. As good as MAD is, I find myself more and more involved with Southern California and FSBMSG.

I agree with AGD - I think over time TLOS will be looked on with more and more respect and admiration.

My idea exactly. Nothing to add here.

That's quite an oxymoron

It is, sir, it is. Just like in: 'Wild Honey' is a badly produced mono record.

Someone called me on my statement that the intro was something Scotty wrote some time ago, I supplied the source (p. 76, the 11/08 issue of Mojo), he disputed it, it got ugly.

To reiterate, to these ears "MAD" is the best thing Brian's given us since the "'Til I Die/Sail On, Sailor" era. Truly twilight's last gleaming.

I concur

I agree. And since it's such a peaceful day with only agreement, why don't we all have sex together?

Out of curiosity, am I the only one here who isn't quite so highly impressed by MAD? I much prefer "Going Home," "Southern California," and "Morning Beat" over "Midnight."

I share the same setiments with you. Trust me, I loved MAD when I first heard it and it is a wonderful song. However I LOVE the extended version of Southern California on TLOS. To me, each song is like a painting on that album. MAD is like one of Picasso's blue period pieces and Southern California is like Monet's painting of "Garden Path Giverny." As much as I do like Picasso and the anguish that is conveyed through it, I prefer the Monet painting. I like how the song is a reflection piece on his life and how Southern California is central to all of that. At first, I thought it was completly corny myself, but really thinking about it, it is a great song. It is my opinion after all and no one has to take my word for it.

Without wanting to turn this OT - Re: The other dispute about the Joe Thomas xmas bonus track on WIRWFC...while I don't doubt that you that Brian did this with Thomas, why is Joe Thomas nowhere to be seen on the credits of the WIRWFC CD if he was involved in the said bonus track?

Cheers

One thing I've learned in my 13 years of being a fan is that the honesty & accuracy of credits in the world of BB/BW leaves something to be desired in many cases.

Southern California is probably my second-favorite TLOS song, after MAD. I love the part about falling asleep in the band room and "glad it happened to me." I agree with you that it sounds corny, but it's not, IMO. That section, with the music and how perfectly the lyrics fit with Brian's life really made my heart swell. It's really bittersweet (considering what he went through on his journey) but leaning towards sweet. In fact, when I heard TLOS live, I leaned forward in my seat to hear that section and was disappointed that by that point in the night, Brian's voice was giving out a bit. But that was the only disappointment. That's a damn good song.

Same reason he's not credited for the basic production work on "Gettin' In Over My Head", or that Andy Paley's not credited for his work on "Soul Searchin'" & "Desert Drive" - history is being re-written and Thomas is now a non-person (not forgetting the small matter of a 1999 lawsuit). Back when the track was first released, late 1997, it was announced as being a BW/JT co-production. Shame, as it's the best track on the CD in my view. To call it 'precious' doesn't even come close.

And yet I can't stand "Joy To The World". Way too "sleazy listening" to me.

I'm with Mark H.: I would put "Melt Away" above it, but it's probably the best of the rest of Brian's solo output (not counting BWPS).

Not a new thing, sadly. Look at how Gary Usher got dicked out of "Walkin the Line". That said, I've always felt that there was more to the story.