The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate The Beach Boys Love You, released April 1977.

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

Sleepyhappygrumpydopeysneezybashfuldoc.

Great stuff.

The first new wave album. That's good enough for me.

When this LP arrived at my record store in 1979 it was played till the grooves were gone.
It also chased my customers away until The Knack Lp (don't figure...).
To this day even my Beach Boy buddies think I'm nuts..
Great record!
Pete

What can one say about this album?  Apparently anything.  Best. Worst.  Weirdest.  Beachboys album.  Brian solo album.  Spooky. Raw. Childlike.  Masterpiece.  Embarassment.  Rock. Disco. Retro.
Experimental. 

I never seem to get enough of it.

Today on Maury Povich: Beach Boys Love You album... What went wrong? Track by track.

Let Us Go On-  "God Please Let Us..." nice harmonies. Carl's vocals sound 'rushed.'
"God Please..." turn down the annoying key bass- it's TOO INTRUSIVE!!!!

Roller Skating Child- man oh man. You're already sunk when you write a song about roller skating. Awful lyrics. Instrumentation almost too barebones for the nice harmonies. Phase thing in right channel is terribly annoying.

Mona- Send out for more booze & smokes for Denny! We haven't reached the desired gravelly effect yet. Nice with bells, but keys bass still annoying.

Johnny Carson- OMG. Could be one of the worst released BB tunes. Did they really turn back to Brian to write some good tunes??? Why didn't he? Brian's voice is shot.

Good Time- Brian's voice sounds decent on this one. How is that possible from one day to the next? HOORAY- More drums than just snare!!

Honkin' Down The Highway- gosh darn highway?? Ugh. Annoying key bass, AGAIN. Brian sounds like he's forcing his falsetto.

Ding Dang- Dirty Ding Dang should have been here instead - Fock her big t!ts!

Solar System- creative tune/nice concept, poor execution. Could have been promising. Bri's voice is still shot. Did he know he sounded like this?

The Night Was So Young- WOW! We're treated to some guitar on this one! Could this be one of the best on the album. Real nice harmonies! Almost doesn't sound like Carl singing lead!

I'll Bet He's Nice- It's so hard to listen to Brian & Dennis' smoke-choked vocals when I know what they sounded like before and Brian even after. Warbling keyboard is yet again, annoying. Some nice harmonies.

Let's Put Our Hearts Together- Likely the best track on the album. Sounds like some thought was put into writing the lyrics. Nice to hear the Mrs! But again, it's hard to get past Brian's glass-gargled voice.

I Wanna Pick You Up- fun & creepy at the same time. No annoying setting on the key bass. Cool tack piano. Brian's cracked voice on 'Feed you 'break- fast' from a little cup' and 'and I'll 'bend' and kiss you on your head' lines make me laugh. The 'I want to pick you up/rock you back & forth and make you smile/I want to hold you close for a while' lines sound weird with everyone singing in unison instead of harmonies. Sounds like a cop-out for the lack of harmonies in that spot THEN Great harmonies to close the song.

Airplane- ho-hum. Lacks inspiration & life. Fuzz guitar sounds out of place. Brian once had imagination on how to put odd instruments together, now it just sounds like he's arranging... rather, almost not arranging. A few nice harmony spots and the song stops abruptly. The 'I can't wait' tag on the end sounds like it should almost be a different song.

Love Is A Woman- Stop with the keyboard jazz, OK! Bri tosses in some sax & flutes for good measure. Again they sound out of place due to lack of a real rhythm track.

Rule of thumb when recording your own album- Words or lyrics to not use: dirty boogie, falsies, Disco-disco-discotheque mama, when guests are boring he fills up the slack, honkin' down the gosh darn highway, pat her on the butt. EEK!

We all know what Brian & the Boys were capable of and hearing this album is a let down from what they'd given us and a handful of recordings yet to come. By the sounds of it, the whole album could have been recorded in a single day. This album is a fine example of using a technology (key bass) that was still relatively new and not knowing quite how to use it. 'Well we have it... gotta use it for something.' In my ears it's almost as if they were doing something they didn't want to do- something they loved to do- record! The youthful exuberance seems to be gone and they're only in their early 30's. The album just sounds like a bunch of demos of what might have been released as the real album several months later. Love You is simply- weak. Uninspired. Amateurish. It lacks the shine & polish that we know the BB's for. I really can't describe it any better than that. It just could have been so much better.
So in summation- if you were to take 15 Big Ones and combine it with Love You, you just might get 1 album's worth of stuff that's at least pleasing to the ear (Brian's good one) and a few knockout tunes to make up for the ones that don't have that high-lustre.

Here's my boot: 14 BIG YOUS:
It's OK, Had To Phone Ya, Everyone's In Love With You, Susie Cincinnati, Back Home, In The Still Of The Night, I'll Bet He's Nice, Mona, Good Time, Solar System, The Night Was So Young, Let's Put Our Hearts Together, I Wanna Pick You Up, Love Is A Woman.
Trash the remainder- I'd be content if I never heard a one of them again.

The one thing you really hate, the bass, is probably my favorite thing about the album.

And Carson, Airplane and Roller Skating Child are among my favorite BB tracks.

Definately better than Smiley Smile.

 :D

Nope, but right below it.

Actually, I'd say it's better than Sunflower.

Me too!

Yer both a bit zany!  :)

Strange, strange, strange album. A bit more distubing then Mike's turban collection but  not as downright scary Smiley Smile is. Ding Dang (best 59 second song ever), Good Time, Solar System (when you actually hear it on piano, it's a hell of a lot better). Some of the stuff like Mona I wish Brian sang. I don't like LPOHT because it has Marilyn on it AND NOT ME!!!!!  >:( (just kidding. It's just bad in general. Try that track or the whole thing on 45 speed. Sounds better.)


2 1/2 - 3

It's better then Holland and LA light at least.

'fraid you're dead fucking wrong on almost every single track. It's a great album, rough but gorgeous, its construction just as impressive as most of Brian's "heyday" in the '60s.  The production throws most people, and (if you're into just that) maybe rightfully so. But I love that album. I really, really do. It was my favorite thing to listen to for about a year after I first heard it.

Luther, my man.. Luther, who are you Bill O'Reilly? Chuck said discuss & give our opinions. Bill O'Reilly asks our opinions, too... and then tells us we're wrong! I can't be wrong... it's my opinion!
And I immediately shelved it after previewing about 20 seconds of every track on side #1, flipped and process repeated on side #2. It remained unlistened to for another 10 or so years. For me it's not how I know the Beach Boys. I don't hate it, mind you, in my eyes/ears it's just not good. I will go as far as to say it's better that the LA (Lame Album). However, both are uninspired.

Of course it's your opinion. But as I learned on the last version of this board--and really see the truth in now--if we all water down our opinions and point out that they're just opinions and begin disagreements with "while I understand you're entitled to your opinion," we'll all become intolerably dull and nothing we say will count. We could have one locked post under each thread that just says "MATTER OF OPINION."

It's my opinion that it's more fun and direct to say what we think, and let the arguments go as they may. Sorry if you don't agree...you're entitled to your opinion.

I'm with you, Luther, I'm with you.

That lesson sound like a familiar one, by chance?

A bit.

So.. let me see if I understand this. If it is not just an opinion but is yet, my belief, my belief stands for more if I don't actually say... in my opinion??? In which case I can say "Love You blows," therefore not just in my opinion... it actually does!!! SCHWEET!!!!  ;D

What's more, they're not just opinions, they're facts! :)

Doesn't weaken the thought, but it weakens the statement, thus the writing, thus the (for lack of a better word) passion, thus the debate, thus the board.

Thusly, no one wins since everyone has their own opinion. Opinions really mean nothing, which in the grand scheme of things means nothing anyway! Awesome. What the hell were we talking about...   ??? .... Oh Love You. I do love you though, Luther!   :-*

What did your grandmother tell you about opinions?

Wrong--I win.

Why? Because your pronoun is plural and your subject is singular.

When in doubt, hit 'em with grammar. That's what i always say. (Of course, that probably explains something I'd rather not think about...)

BURN!

[Bows to the left, bows to the right...and bows to the center audience, who cheers on our humble hero.]

Shoot, shouldn't have said "bows." We all saw what happened when Ian tried that word on this board.

Yeah, what a display of immaturity that was.

But yeah, we were talking about Love You. Y'know, the first new wave album!

Although I've got nothing against immaturity...obviously.

It is MY opinion that "Love You" is more enjoyable than Sunflower or Smiley Smile. It is the first Brian Wilson solo project. An eccentric genious at work. The outtake from 1970 (Good Time) gives a glimpse into the past, and the rest is simply a treat. The melodies are lush and beautiful, though sparsely arranged. The Night Was So Young is one of the most gorgeous Wilson melodies, as as I Want To Pick You Up.

It's a fun album which is unencumbered by Mike Love, whose vocal on Airplane is one of his best.

Lastly, Peter Buck's liner notes on the two-fer were a disgrace and a disservice to the fans. Would have rather had Leaf write them.

5.

I think they should get Sean Lennon to do all the liner notes on all the albums when they get remastered in 2011, for the 50th anniversary of the Beach Boys' first album.

'I listen to the Beach Boys' every morning! They make me soooo happy!'

This album is so strange.  It's strange musically, lyrically, and any other way you want to name.  I think anyone who has ever listened to this album can see why there is NO gray area with fans.  You either love it or you hate it.  You can put me in the "love it" category.  Frankly, if you think this album is too weird for your taste, I think you're just too normal. :D

Side 1 is definitely better than Side 2, but the album does hold together well as a whole.  I love that Moog just farting away and the harmonies are great.  A twisted, demented, hilarious masterpiece.  I give it a 4.

OK. Honestly. From my heart, really.
I'd like to have someone here who feels up to the task, write up a review (while listening to this album, as I did) and support each track and give it's weaknesses & strengths. Someone who really thinks this release is the work of art that 95% of BB's fans believe it really is. Someone who has a personal attachment to it. I don't see it and I want some rationale. Who's game?
Ian? Luther? Jason? Donald?
Make it shine!

I might even reciprocate with a glowing review of KTSA!    8)

I'll do it, no problem.

I might do that, but not likely tonight--or at least not for a few hours. Strangely enough, I actually have something I need to get done first. Later, possibly. But it won't be a complete opposite, because I really don't love every track, or worship it (or any other album, for that matter). So it will likely be more just something along the lines of me saying the things I hear, and generally enjoy. Sometimes it's something technically awful but funny/silly; others, more musical things, like a progression here or there.

Anyway, we'll see.

Love You is an albatross in the Beach Boys' world. You either love it and get it, or you hate it and don't get it. There is no indifference with The Beach Boys Love You. This album cannot possibly be ignored by any Beach Boys enthusiast, no matter how small they may be. It's a precious insight into Brian Wilson the person rather than Brian Wilson the artist, albeit one filtered through to you, dear listeners, through synth-heavy arrangements and some of the worst vocals ever seen on a Beach Boys record.

Let Us Go On This Way - a rockin' opener to the album, Carl in fine vocal form. Mike supplies the lyrics to this ditty and we already don't know what to expect. The lyrics are admittedly dumb, but there's a charm to them that cannot be ignored.

Roller Skating Child - This is the point when the casual listener's eyebrows perk up. A fascinating insight into Brian's childlike behavior, as seen when he was 34 (the album was recorded in late 1976). Al and Mike sing lead on this one.

Mona - Dennis' vocal is horrible, the lyrics are horrible, but it's delivered so straight that you can't help but like it. One of the all-time best examples of Brian Wilson the person.

Johnny Carson - Like Andrew Doe says in his book, by this point most listeners have taken this off the turntable or CD player and left it to gather dust. A simple ode to the nighttime wizard, with some of Brian's simplest lyrics and some of the best vocals on the album, which isn't saying much.

Good Time - A Sunflower outtake, and Brian has his 1970 voice on it. Written with Al, this tune seems out of place with the rest of the album, but is a fine leftover.

Honkin' Down The Highway - Never since Sunflower have there been so many rockers on one side of a Beach Boys record. This simple track in which Brian plays all instruments, is simply arranged, lyrically dumb (the Beach Boys were honkin' down the real highway in far better times artistically), and absolutely irresistible. Al sings lead.

Ding Dang - The shelf life of this song is unavoidable. First recorded in 1969 during the 20/20 sessions as "Rollin' Up To Heaven", then recorded again in 1973 with new support from former Byrd Roger McGuinn, this is the third known time the track was recorded. It doesn't mean anything.

Solar System - One of the real highlights of this record and one of Brian's better vocals as well. The lyrics are, again, dumb, but the vocals and idea of the song are wonderful.

The Night Was So Young - Brian's back in ballad mode and Carl takes the lead on what is undoubtedly the highlight of the album. Brian contributes some of his finest lyrics and Carl plays the ringing guitar.

I'll Bet He's Nice - Dennis is back and gruff as usual on this rhythmic ballad. Brian's obviously singing about someone he loves who is looking at another man.

Let's Put Our Hearts Together - Brian and Marilyn duet on this dumb love song. The vocals from the former partners in life are admittedly raw, but there's a sincerity in this tune that is lacking in a lot of music.

I Wanna Pick You Up - Dennis is back yet again and not as gruff as usual. The lyrics are, admittedly, disturbing, if indeed the song is being sung to a child. But therein lies the song's charm.

Airplane - Mike takes the lead on this slice-of-life from Brian, with some of his best and simplest lyrics. A real sleeper highlight of this record.

Love Is A Woman - If you've made it this far, you obviously get the album. If not...it sucks being you. Brian takes the lead on this raw, passionate tune that isn't hampered by its deceptively dumb lyrics.

That's The Beach Boys Love You. It's synthy, the lyrics are mostly dumb, the vocals are horrible. What's not to love? I stand behind the 5 I voted this album.

I've seen this before... last board?? Nice. Honest. You admit there's some clinkers. I respect that. Cool. Thanks Jason.
I wanna seen Ian & Luther's. Thanks boys!  :)

I will say, that at this point of their career (after 15BO) I'd have entrusted all the songwriting duties to Dennis and Carl for an album... And I think, hypothetically, it would have been better than Love You.  I mean, POB is...

I disagree! POB goes side by side with LY. Unfortunately the 3rd brother did not provide us with his own masterpiece.

No, but if he turned in just a couple of songs as good as "Feel Flows" or "Trader" to sit alongside Dennis' tunes, it'd be a hell of an album.

True dat, or even as good as Full Sail and Angel Come Home!
It's funny how slow and intense the rest of the band's heads were at in comparison to Brian's, on the surface.
The rest of the band are laboring over their heavy tunes from LA and POB and Brian is laying down Johnny Crson and Roller Skating Child!
Of course, then you realise that the issues Brian was dealing with in songs like Let's Put Our Hearts Together, I Wanna Pick You Up and The Night Was So Young were just as intense, just deceptively breezy and uncomplicated.
And in songs that weren't being released (It's Over Now, SInce I Dream Of It), he was plumbing the depths of adness.

Ah-ha, the heavy tones of what, to modern ears, can only be considered God-awful synths introduce Brian Lo—er, the Beach Boys Love You. And what the hell is going on, here? Didn’t this band release Holland, a pretentious but undeniably ambitious album, just a few years before? “God please let us go on this way” indeed.

“Roller Skatin’ Child” is joyful, exhuberant. Too many people fall into the Brian Wilson myth with this album, but when faced with the second song, what else can they do? A thirty-something, overweight, bearded man has given us a jubilant romp that celebrates the joys of how he and his girl (literally, girl) will “even do more when your momma’s not around.” It should be really, really sick. But, like the rest of Love You, somehow it’s a Get Out Of Jail card. Brian has free reign, so we can listen to “Roller Skatin’ Child,” to “Mona,” and all the others without shame. (You haven't lived until you've blasted this song--this album--in your car with the windows down while driving...preferably in a hip or tough neighborhood. Singing along. Loudly.)

Back to the point, Love You is a Get Out Of Jail card, just like the Beach Boys have always been. It just happens to be a different rendition of that same song (if you’ll forgive the reference). And it-“Mona,” that is—is a great song, one of the best on the album. An infectious melody circling those fifths, it’s one of his many examples of how Wilson could give a Spector production at the drop of a hat, although the lyrics are just oh-so-Brian.

“Johnny Carson” is also oh-so-Brian, but in a different way altogether. One of the joys of the song is imagining Mike Love’s reaction to being asked to sing the verses. Is it any better to sing “He sits behind his microphone / he speaks in such a manly tone” than “over and over, the crow cries, uncover the cornfield?” I mean, is it? As always, the mixture of simplicity and cleverness is apparent throughout the song, though. The keyboard parts through the verses, in particular, bouncing from part to part (and side to side in the stereo spectrum) are wonderful, as are the vocals in the refrain. And that outro…fantastic. Some things are just so f@cking stupid…

The ever-ready Beach Boys archives contributed “Good Time,” of course, but rightly so, and several years overdue. Somehow, despite the obviously less worn vocal cords, the song fits perfectly on the album, probably because of the interesting wood-block rhythm as it dances with other subtle, lovely, simple parts, all combined to make a whole that’s surprisingly difficult. And the fact is, after four songs of hoarse vocals, it’s nice to hear some of those sweet, pure high notes.

But “Honkin’ Down the Highway” brings us back, and we feel that same uncomfortable sensation as we did at the first track—the beat is insistent. Al’s voice is a good choice, just the little hiccup required to pull off a rocker. And the synth bass line is one of the best of the album. Somewhere along the line—probably at “I guess I’ve got a way with girls”—you realize that these lyrics are just beyond your usual Beach Boys triteness. But it doesn’t matter. Again, there is such energy…and such sincerity…and such craftsmanship. It just doesn’t matter.

“Ding Dang.” Ahahaha. Make fun all you want. But you can’t write anything better. Pick a part and sing along, and notice how you mess it up every time because the other parts confuse you. But before you get too confused at this Wilson/McGuinn song, you can move on to being confused by a Wilson composition. A VERY Wilson composition. “Solar System” is probably the most spare arrangement on the album, but it doesn’t much matter, or at least it doesn’t matter any more than that the vocals in the refrain are horribly out of tune. And Wilson rhyming “it” with “it,” for that matter. You wonder, was Brian serious? Was he kidding? Does it matter at all? It doesn’t. Get Out Of Jail card. Solar system brings us wisdom, goddamnit. And then we’ll have world peace. What a dilemma.

Of course, things get serious now. “The Night Was So Young” is more of a traditional Brian Wilson ballad in form and content, if not in orchestration and production. But imagine it (or, if you’ve the means, record it with standard instrumentation) and you’ll see how easily it fits into his classic work. It’s a beautiful, beautiful song—childish lyrics or not. Speaking of which, “I’ll Bet He’s Nice” is every bit the equal of its predecessor. The gurgling, burbling synths panned hard right and left are great. The background vocals are great. The (again, synth) bass part is great; the lead is great. The bridge, with Carl singing in his typically soulful manner, is great. So there are no drums. So the rhymes are, at best, forced into patterns your kids might have dreamed up. That doesn’t matter here because the song is really that good. It really is that good.

To me, the album ends here. Or at least it could have. “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together” has its moments, but for the most part is overly schmaltzy. And neither Marilyn Wilson nor the steel-drum sound is pleasant. “I Wanna Pick You Up” is better, even with Dennis barely singing at all, and an embarrassing group unison through the refrain, because of the nice progression hammered out by a beat-by-beat piano. The initial contribution of “Airplane” is to serve as a reminder that Mike Love was in the studio, which is a bit of a disappointment here. It is a sluggish song that does, at least, feature some group vocals and great organ and synth tones (as well as more of those primitive drum parts that saturate the album, sparse and elementary, but loaded with powerful echo). The final contribution of “Airplane,” though is a surprise reprise that’s probably better than the song proper.

“Love is a Woman,” is famous for being a track Brian, um, performed at the time. His hoarse voice struggles through the refrain before stepping aside for Mike Love’s rendition of some lyrics that Wilson should be pleased to have turned over to his cousin. Although, frankly, those he kept for himself are no better.

In the end, it’s a disappointing end to an album that started with energy, chordal inventiveness and production values generally unknown in music at the time. Love You is a ridiculous album, indefensible in its absolute childishness and sloppy performances. But, damnit, despite the obvious nods to old favorites and tried-and-true techniques, there’s something new here in the sound. And, far more important, there’s real life in the sound, energy and vitality that were nowhere to be found in the embarrassing 15 Big Ones or the bulk of what was to come after. So it has a Get Out Of Jail card. It goes free. Brian loves you.

Why won't the poll let me vote? Is it because I tried to rate LY at "0"??

Well, anyway I'm firmly in the "hate it" camp. LY always sounds to me like the guys were slacking off with a contractual obligation album. I really tried to like this one -- I heard some of the songs done live ("Airplane") before I heard the recorded versions, and the recording was a huge letdown after hearing the live versions.

Yeah. I feel the same way. I feel it's got this 'let's get it over with' kind of attitude. My opinion's already known.
And I don't 'hate' it. Hate is a pretty strong word. I just don't think it's as good as everyone wants to believe that it is.
Peace brotha's & sista's. I don't be hatin'.

Won't let me vote 5 either... 
Chuck?!!!

Anyway, IMHO LY is the second-best BB album of all time (after Pet Sounds, and not including the Smile stuff on GV).  It's just a lot of fun and manic energy (well, maybe apart from the first part of Airplane).

Guess I'm totally on the other side from Mr. Knutz, as I love it for the synths (especially the farty basslines), and the great barmy lyrics.
"It seems we have extra-sensory perception!  You can send me thoughts I'd have no objection"
"It's so cold I go brrr"
"And so she needs her falsies on"
"Take it one little inch at a time now... I guess I got a way with girls"
"If Mars had life on it, I might find my wife on it"
"I know it may sound funny but you're the kind of woman who'd make a very sweet wife"
"Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat her on her butt, butt, she's going to sleep be quiet"
"4,5,6, she fell for all my tricks"
This sort of thing should really give the listener the utter creeps, but instead it comes across as being totally honest and genuine.  I think this effect makes LY unique amongst my entire (large-ish) album collection.

And the production may be unconventional, rough & ready, but there are lots of cool and interesting touches (be it the cymbal crash in Johnny Carson, or the harmony vocals at the end of Love Is A Woman).

Only track I skip is Mona - too repetive and boring.  I'd possibly also ditch Good Time as it's obviously out of place (but it should have been released earlier).

Liam

I LOVE Love You. Everything about it. The sheer exuberance makes it work. I can't help but sing along with every song. In my iTunes, all of the songs on this album have been played at least 25 times in the last year, which is more than I can say for any other album I have. My least favourites are probably Mona and Ding Dang, but they're still fun and short enough that they don't really get in the way. I'd vote 5 if I could.

I tried to vote & give the album a 4. But the voting is locked. I'll try again later.

Anyway, what I want to say is that what I love about the album is the sincerity and that album gives you an idea of how completely insane Brian is. The songs are good and have a lot of charm. This is an album you work your way up to. I'm glad I heard it after I burned through all the 60's material and I felt like I was in tune with Brian's development. Then I was grateful that he gave us an album like Love You.

It's essential and the placing is perfect.  After the pedophile poetry of "Rollerskating Child" it's the kind of relentless assualt needed -- musically it sounds like he's just banging the chick.  Plus, if he's singing about his attraction to a little girl on the previous song, it makes sense to put a song about an older woman right after it.  They're both the same thing, just for different age groups.

And one of the most emotional moments in BB history is "I KNOW you're gonna love Phil SPECTOR".  Another is Brian's cover of the Crystals' There's No Other on Party. Proof that Brian was one of the ultimate FANS of music, and was able to work himself into equal measures of childish glee and tearjerking emotion over his idol's work, making art out of his feelings about someone else's art..
I think that's pretty damn cool.

Done.  A clear 5.  Sums up pretty much everything good about Brian's talents.

Yeah, I'd have to give PARTY a 5 as well!  ;)

the most under rated album in the history of recorded music!
i give it 5 stars

There's a certain point when enough people talk about how under-appreciated something is when it stops being so. I believe it isn't a hidden gem anymore (if it once was). People love it or hate it, but if you're a fan, you've heard it.

OK... I now understand the fascination with this LP (I'm being serious, now- not in normal smart-ass mode).
I see how some might equate it to SMiLEy and that's how this revelation came upon me.
Both are intimate & sparse in terms of instrumentation. Both are handsome in terms of vocal arrangement. Both were co-written& fully produced by a man who at the time of SMiLEy, was tired of working his anus off in the studio for something that never came to full fruition. Frustrated by this, a made a more laid-back LP came out of it's shadows. Love You is similar in that his bandmates wanted to see more of him. Under some pressure, he felt somewhat obliged to lend a hand. But, at the same time the effort to produce a 'bigger' album might have been out of the question both in terms of Brian's energy & ability considerating his physical & mental state.

Now in my ears (the disclaimer!), Love You is unintentionally wanting to be a more hip version of SMiLEy and not quite making the grade. A few simple songs (almost too simple). A few child-like tunes. A few faltered attempts at bigger production that almost make it. Nearly 10 Years after SMiLEy, the effects of excessive booze, drugs, & smokes have now altered the voices of Brian & Denny, thusly putting a bit of a damper on the album for me. The harmonies are not what they should/could be. If your voice is your bread & butter, wouldn't you want to take care of it?

After 'getting' what Love You is about, seeing why so many of you like it and realizing why this is the case, I still stand firm in stating that it's not my cup of meat. For a group that was once on top- it still sounds rushed to me. More demo-like than a real finished product ONLY knowing what they were capable of, collectively. It's certainly got it's moments, but for me... it falls flat. Again, I don't hate it, I just don't like it. It works in parts, but not as a whole.

Something else that dawns on me- why didn't Ten Years Of Harmony contain more Love You tracks? Only Roller Skatin' Child made the cut. Seems to me that an album that is revered as highly as Love You, should have better representation on a 70's 'hits' 2 LP-er. Wuzzup?

Because Love You, like Today, is meant to be heard as a full album!! It's all about context.

Actually, speaking of which, when I was first listening to the GV Box I was thinking "These songs are all really cool! Who says the later-period sucks?" I listened to the Love You songs in particular and they really struck me. I was happy that the rest of the album was as cool.

Brian did everything in his power to destroy his voice because he was trying to sabotage the group's career. It worked, he robbed the band (and himself) of sweet falsetto. Note that Brian isn't really singing too well on either 15 Big Ones or Love You, again, that's Brian sticking it to the group. There may be a cult around Love You, but there is the undeniable fact that it was just one more attempt by Brian Wilson to sabotage the band who he felt betrayed him.

Same here!

Curious!
To me, several of the tracks stand better alone than the album does as a whole. Too many dead spots that make me want the next track to come up. Hey Jason, if Brian was trying to sabotage the band with his vocal, maybe his attempt to make the entire album weird, ala: keybass, lack of BIG harmonies, lack of truly good songs, so that the general public would stay away. Sabotage might have been the intent at the time, but it is now his favorite album, and a good number of fans as well. That I find Interesting.

Brian did everything in his power to destroy his voice because he was trying to sabotage the group's career. It worked, he robbed the band (and himself) of sweet falsetto. Note that Brian isn't really singing too well on either 15 Big Ones or Love You, again, that's Brian sticking it to the group. There may be a cult around Love You, but there is the undeniable fact that it was just one more attempt by Brian Wilson to sabotage the band who he felt betrayed him.

Now THAT is a radical statement. I've heard, read, and seen alot about Brian but I have never seen anyone go quite that far. He is trying to "stick it to" and "sabotage" the band with Love You? God, I wish my hostility was so beautiful and great to listen to. Brian and Dennis both trashed their voices (Denny moreso, it was a croak by about '80), but Brian kept writing great stuff. Love You, in my opinion, is tied with Today as 2nd best album, right after Pet Sounds. I think the "cult" description may apply to Smiley Smile, which is an acquired taste, but not Love You.

By the way, this discourse is great. I am of the understanding that all disagreement and discussion is respectful and appreciated. I am new to this but have been a huge fan for 20 years and it's nice to discuss this with other fanatics.

I don't think it has to do with "sabotage" but more just "leave me be in the studio and this is what I'll do". I really think Brian loved to sing those songs which is a quality I love on the album. He may not be trying to be perfect but he's enjoying himself. On the flipside, he really pours his heart and soul into some of the songs (The Night Was So Young, Let's Put Our Hearts Together) and I don't think those are in any way sabotage. So you have some 'silly' fun songs and you have some real emotional depth on the album. Sounds like The Beach Boys to me. If the presentation's a problem (i.e., people want better singing or less synths), well, there's not much you can do about it. I happen to love it.

I certainly deny that fact!!

There is, as Ian will undoubtedly soon point out if he hasn't already, a direct line that ties together Party with Smiley SMile with lots of Brian's late-60s tracks with the Fairy Tale with Love You. That's just one aspect of Brian's creative mind -- the side that ISN'T the "meticulous layered production" side. In many ways, he can't do one without the other, and when he pushes too hard on either one side he ends up with crap. The balance between the two is necessary. WHich is why this album WOULD have been followed up with Adult Child, the new songs of which were again sophisticated and layered.

Aw hell no.  Sabotage with their best work???  Not right.  If anything was sabotage, it was "Gettin' Hungry."  Not this.  You honestly think he spent years in bed just to ruin his voice so the band would be f***ed, even though their status had already declined?

Destroy himself for revenge- does seem a bit 'out there.'

Yep, that's about it, man.

I'm not in a position to know what Brian's intentions are, were or ever shall be (same as most of you), but I find it difficult to believe Brian disliked the material on Love You, or put it out in a fashion so as to "sabotage" anything. It is certainly possible that he knew it wasn't what the bulk of the band would like, or that the public would like, but didn't care. It is also possible that he didn't know that.

But many of those songs have as much spirit in them as any of the hits from a decade before. "Honkin..." and "Roller Skatin' Chilld" and the like are the "I Get Around" and "Help Me, Rhonda" songs of the time for Brian. They fvcking rock. If he were going to sabotage, why use true, developed and originally produced music? Why not just make dissonance or feedback (Hi, I'm Lou Reed, and this is Metal Machine Music...sorry, Ian.) This is a real album, and a damn good one.

Soda Machine Music?

Brian did everything in his power to destroy his voice because he was trying to sabotage the group's career. /quote]

I don't think Brian intentionally sabotaged the Beach Boys or the LOVE YOU album. I believe Brian awoke from a deep, deep sleep in 1976, re-emerging as a very damaged man, as well as a damaged artist. It's almost as if he lost touch with reality. One can't listen to the vocals on "Solar System" or "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and wonder how he (or Carl) could allow them to be released. They're downright embarrassing, especially coming from the master himself. Unfortunately, I find this characteristic (losing touch with reality) present throughout much of Brian's solo career. I find a lot of his solo work - on record, in concert, on TV, in print - to very unsettling.

That being said, LOVE YOU is in my top 3-4 favorite Beach Boys' albums. Luther was right, some of those songs are on a par with his earlier, classic material. I was around when LOVE YOU came out, and I truly believed Brian was on his way back. There was still a spark of that old Brian magic (yes, genius) in those songs. Who would've thought that it would've been mostly all down hill from there, at least creatively speaking...

Dude, I am so stealing that! Don't worry, I'll credit you.

Haha :)  And make sure it rocks like Love You.

Maybe it should be a cover of the entire Love You album. Roller Blading Child!

An industrial interpretation of Love You.

I have said it before and I will say it again -- Smiley SMile and Love You must be seen as two sides of the same coin.  They both are pretty much unfiltered Brian Wilson making music for himself.  The pre-Pet Sounds music was Brian being commercial, or doing songs that were a blend of his *musical* vision mixed with the words of others.  PS is Brian with a professional writer speaking for him in more generally accepted terms.  But Smiley Smile is the Brian that started to be seen in hints in "Guess I'm Dumb" -- the insecure goofy person who loves birthday cake, who when meeting the Queen of England says "Hi, Queen".  In other words, the Brian we all know and mostly love.  Both Smiley and Love You had Brian doing most of the instruments and writing most of the lyrics (I think -- I question how much of the Mike Love credits were really him, especially She's Going Bald).  I find that most people who love one love the other and vice versa.  But they certainly are as raw and exposed in their own way as the more celebrated Plastic Ono Band -- and I would argue that they are better than that album.  To appreciate POB you must know John's history (how else could "God" have any meaning?), but Smiley and Love You are self-contained.

I knew those comments were going to be controversial. I stand by them, however, and am willing to back them up for those who don't believe me.

Based on what I've read and heard from various sources, Brian Wilson, after 1967, was intentionally trying to ruin the Beach Boys. He felt betrayed and beaten down by the whole Smile experience and was obviously hellbent on revenge, in removing himself as the group's producer since he knew none of them would be up to the challenge and releasing the very stripped-down Smiley Smile and Wild Honey as the group's first two albums after the Smile fiasco. I think Brian was intentionally trying to ruin the group's sound (not to mention credibility with Smiley Smile, which a lot of people still to this day do not understand). When he did participate, it was in a lazy manner. I believe the "misplaced" master for Do It Again can lay claim to having some kind of Brian Wilson involvement.

When Brian regained himself in 1975 and started production on 15 Big Ones, you'll note his horrible vocals on that album. Not that his voice wasn't already shot from years of smoking and drug abuse, but he was literally singing like sh*t. He was trying to confuse the band and confuse their fans. 15 Big Ones was a rollicking success despite these efforts, although many would attribute that to the steam they had going from Endless Summer and the beginnings of the nostalgia run. Love You, however, wasn't met with the commercial success that greeted 15 Big Ones. People just did not get it (and some still don't!).

Brian may have been a very damaged man, but I believe there was a method to his madness, and by all means, it worked. His productions after 1967 did much to confuse the fans. Hell, they confuse me! But alas, I was not around when these albums were released, this is just one guy shooting off his opinion. Take it as you will, I can't tell you what to do, but I stick behind what I said.

Well, even I disagree with you, but you stated your thoughts very well, man.

No question, and I've heard that opinion, too. It might be right, and Jason makes a good point. But Love You is SO FVCKING GOOD...I'd say it proves that Brian can't fvck up, but, well, I've heard too many examples of him sucking.

I agree with 95% of your post. The only part I question (just a little) is the aspect of Brian "making music for himself". While there's no doubt LOVE YOU is almost a BW solo album, and he was reflecting his unfiltered thoughts and feelings, I was always curious about "Let Us Go On This Way", "Honkin' Down The Highway", and kind of "Roller Skating Child". To me, I always got the impression that Brian was considering that this was a Beach Boys' album, and he might be thinking, "I guess I better throw a couple of BB-sounding songs in there". I don't think he totally forgot the band's image; it was still fairly close to the Endless Summer/Spirit of America releases. And wasn't "Honkin'" and "Roller Skating Child" released as singles? I think Brian was still thinking about producing hits FOR THE BOYS, and himself of course...

Well, Mike DID co-write Let Us Go On This Way.  So you may be hearing that?  And Honking -- come on, who else would write "Honkin Down the Gosh Darn Highway" and have it taken seriously?  Or "Well, oh my, oh gosh oh gee"?  Could you believe it from Pete Townshend?  Maybe in 1965 possibly, but by Quad it would have been so self-conscious.  But when Brian does it, it feels real and right.  And there is no other Brian track like "I'll Bet He's Nice" and I would love to hear the demo that AGD references in his books (he states that you can almost see the BB's jaws drop over the lyrics).

I'll Bet He's Nice is honestly among my 15-20 favorite Beach Boys songs ever. I am not being sarcastic or ironic in this post at all (including this sentence, which I realize could be taken that way).

You haven't heard that demo?
I'm sending it now!

PM me where to look...  :D

Well I guess we all agree to disagree.

"Hellbent on revenge"???  And the best he could do was 15 Big Ones???  Don't get me wrong, it's a nasty piece of work, but...huh?  And what do you have to support Brian misplacing that master tape?

Brian Wilson, HELLBENT ON REVENGE!!!!!!!

A birthday cake in one hand, a farting synth in the other.

This time, it's foda PERSONAL!

All in the name of Ol' Pet Sounds.  Tonight on FX, Paul Verhoeven's Brian's Back, starring Jeff Bridges and Dulph Lundgren.

Steve Desper settled the Do It Again story once and for all.  He and Carl worked for days making a stereo master of the song, which featured the echo and delay on the snare added during the mixdown process (i.e. it's not on the multitracks).  It apparently was as good a recording in stereo as the Sunflower recordings.  But while driving from Carl's house to the Capitol offices with the top off the convertible, the tape disappeared, likely having flown out of the car.  They raced home and due to a time crunch did the best that they could do -- grab a mono safety copy of the stereo mix and submit it instead.  And since the most important effect is missing on the multitracks, and since the machine used to make it is gone, no stereo remix can now be done -- the SOT 20 is the best we can get.

Notice that Brian Wilson's name is not mentioned once above.  He had no interaction in this story.  So it can't have been a revenge on his part.  Have you read any of Peter Reum's posts about Brian?  I would be interested to hear how you make your theories consistent with his professional opinions of what happened (based upon his training and interaction with all of the particulars).

Jeff, I have read Peter's posts about Brian. Chatted with him online about Brian too. Unless I read his comments incorrectly, his story doesn't jive with Mr. Desper's. If I have misspoken and Peter sees my posting then yes, I will retract all my statements and apologize for wasting everyone's time.

I know that Peter has posted extensively about Brian being crushed and hurt and having his breakdowns.  But I don't recall him posting about deliberate artistic sabotage.  IMO that would cheapen Smiley as it would cease to be something that Brian crafted from love for himself and become a spiteful, hateful piece of anger (to use an analogy that Ian would hold dear, it would be like Woody Allen's late work after he became spiteful and let it bleed into his work) that I would not be able to listen easily to without thinking of the feelings that went into it.  I have to think that at some level Brian knew how great Smiley was.  If it was just a big way of saying F you, then it becomes pretty shallow.

I certainly hope that Brian didn't *deliberately* choose to strike with his music.  Some of my least favorite music by the (ex) Beatles is the stuff where they were taking pot shots at each other because of the vile in them.  Though somehow Too Many People still works great, natch.

Well....in the end the only person with any real authority on this is most likely Brian himself and I don't exactly see him talking about this situation ever. Of course, we'd all love to have the record set straight. Until that day comes, and it most likely never will, all we have is speculation. That's all my posts were at their core. If they were wrong, hey, it's not the first time.

Hmmm, Jeff, I think there's a lot of anger in SMiLEY, and a lot of sabotage as well, but I don't think that makes it any less crafted or beautiful.
I mean, DYlan's Blood On The Tracks is almost deliriously spiteful, and that's gorgeous. I definitely believe, at least on a subconscious level, that Brian went even stranger and weirder than SMiLE in a passive-aggressive fashion, letting the tracks go unadorned, unfixed and unsane to prove some point to the band and public.
Which, to me, is a more honest staement than SMiLE would have been.

You see, sabotage would have been easy.  Just ask Van Morrison, perpetrator of the biggest sabotage job of music history.  Or the Stones with their last Decca single (just TRY to release THAT one).  I won't even mention Lou Reed as some people around here actually like that one.  If Smiley were just about getting even, if Brian didn't have something interesting to say, then it becomes more difficult to listen without detaching from the BB story, just like listening to those songs of spite from the Beatles pulls you into that muck.  I suppose that there is some artistic merit in airing your dirty laundry, but it is so hard for me to listen with pleasure to such music.

See, I draw a strong connection to Love You and say that we are seeing Brian in his pure uncommercial natural goofy self here, the guy who thinks it cool to sing songs about vegetables while using obvious sound effects, or a strange number about a woman losing her hair and the aftermath.  I could see the claustrophobic sound as a subconscious reaction to the strangeness going on in their lives, but I would be dismayed to see it as a deliberate attempt to ruin the BB career.  If that were the goal, there was no need to work so hard to make so good an album.

Maybe I think too much.  (Paul Simon 1982)

In-depth discussion is never a waste of time.

What about hanging around message boards all the fvcking time?

Those people are a bvncha cvnts.

Ah, more Latin.

BURN!

In the case of Smiley Smile, I've always believed that if it were just a case of Brian not caring then he would have just cobbled together some of the already finished SMiLE songs and called it a day. But he DID care enough to record a new album. So whatever he was feeling, those feelings helped make the beautiful record we know as Smiley Smile. On the SOT 18 they sound like they knew what they were doing. There is a lot of anger in Smiley Smile but also enough moments of greatness where you can't deny that Brian put some of his heart into it.


p.s. this seems out of place, but I'm responding to discussion on page 6

Exactly, Mike. Great post.

Probably the best BB album from the seventies. It came out in 1977 same year as Sex Pistols and Talking Heads first records and IMO the whole naive approach to the songwriting and the ”in your face” sound with the brash bass synth and Brian and Dennis’s shot voices makes it a pretty punky or ”new wavey” album, probably without them wanting it, seems like a case of synchronicity. Maybe you could also call it Brian's dada album.
Anyway, great album with some charmingly naive songs and I like the ”lego brick” sound of the production way better than the boring MOR type of production, that followed on the rest of their seventies albums.
Favourite songs are ” Let Us Go On this Way”,”Mona”, ”Johnny Carson” ,”The Night Was So Young”, "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", ”Airplane”.

Søren

I gave this a 2.

Has some interesting and catchy moments, but it makes me very sad to listen to this album, to hear what Brian had become in the years since PET SOUNDS.

Considering the craftsmanship of their 60s albums, and their early-70s works like SUNFLOWER and SURF'S UP--the wonderful performances on those albums, the quality sound--I still cannot fathom how all five members agreed that LOVE YOU was ready for release.

Same goes for 15 BIG ONES.

A five star affair that WILL get it's due one day.

I really do wish 'It's Over Now' could've been included, though. Brian's demo is one of my favorite recordings.

Perhaps one of the most simple yet beautiful american albums showing Brian where he really was at that time.  I highly enjoy this little oddball gem.  One of my all time faves.

There are some interesting things on Love You and some great moments, but it's hard for me to listen to this one. The Night is So Young is a classic...

A deeply flawed album, but what's good is great.

4

A masterpiece, weird new wave synth pop rock album, a disturbing but fascinating musical portrait of Brian Wilson in the mid seventies, 5/5.

What is known about the recording of "Love You"?  What was the mindset of the Beach Boys at that time? 

I know a majority of us here have a fondness for the album.  And I'm not knocking it in any way.  I just wonder what the other guys thought of it.  They were used to Brian being masterful in the studio, and here comes this album.  Mike thought "Pet Sounds" had nausiating lyrics?  What did these guys do when Brian showed them "Mona," "Johnny Carson," "Ding Dang" ??

Were the guys humoring him?  Did they really love this stuff?  I'd be interested to know.

There's  a tape of Brian demoing new material for the band at Brother in 1976. Initially, you can almost hear the atmosphere solidifying... until he plays "I'll Bet He's Nice", at which the rest of the band pretty much dissolve. His crooning on "Airplane" has to be heard to be believed.

I have some questions about this subject in to engineer Earle Mankey.  Perhaps he'll have an interesting angle.

for the love of GOD where I can listen to stuff like this???

On your stereo.

Love You and Adult/Child were the best material the band had been given by Brian since Sunflower. It's no wonder their jaws dropped.

Except for Til I Die and Sailor.

I would love to know the extent to which Brian participated in the creation of Sail On Sailor. I read it as it was a collaboration between Brian, Tandyn Almer, and Ray Kennedy in 1971-72, which was left unfinished. Van Dyke Parks then added a middle-eight and structured the song while Jack Rieley added some new lyrics (presumably the original lyrics were Almer's). Unless Ray Kennedy provided some of the music, I don't think Brian's participation in Sail On Sailor is noteworthy.

really? I need to return this toaster then...

So does this mean that the band LIKED all that stuff or not?


Sorry to be so dense!

No, it's pretty obvious that the reaction to stuff like "Still I Dream Of It" and "Mona" was negative, which I guess is why Brian did his crooner bit on "Airplane" - he figured he'd blown it anyway so why not have some fun ? Then he played (on the Piano)  "I'll Bet He's Nice", and the guys just about fell down. And rightly so.

Ditto.

Andrew, ever since you mentioned that in your book, I've been wondering where the heck I can hear this tape, as well.

How? Anything with Brian at the piano is classic, IMO.

If they disliked this stuff so much... why in the world did they put so much of it out?

And I was under the impression that the band (and you) actually LIKED "I'll Bet He's Nice."  Am I misremembering?

I thought so, too. The quote from his book mentions "jaws dropping" on IBHN.

I think he means in a good way.
The demos are incredible.

sh*t, ALL of it was incredible. Well, with the possible exception being Mona, which was "just" pretty good.

I just listened to the demos again. As Mr. Doe pointed out, no comments from the band (though I don't necessarily think that means they were unimpressed) on "That Special Feeling," or "It's Over Now." He then plays "They're Marching Along," and you can hear Mike start to sing along at towards the end on the "Hey little children, they're marching along" line. Mike then comments at the end, "That's a nice spiritual song." His tone of voice doesn't sound sarcastic, but I guess he could be. No comments on "Love is a Woman" or "Mona." Then Brian goes into "Airplane," and Mike seems to love it, saying, "I WANT that lead! If I don't get that lead, I f-cking quit the group, how about that!" Someone (Mike?) sings along at the end of "Let's Put Our Hearts Together," and afterwards Mike says, "Wow! That knowcks me out! Those two are bitches! Are those going on this album?" Brian replies, "Yep,"  and Mike sighs, "God! Whew!" Mike sings along on the "You my pretty darling" parts on "I'll Bet He's Nice" and just starts hollering and making all kinds of noises with excitement at the bridge. He seems to just LOVE this song! At the end he says "Sh-t! That is a mother-fu-ker!" Then someone in the background says, "It's a WILSON song," and Mike replies, "No f-cking sh-t, he ain't messing around!"

These demos are absolutely ESSENTIAL! They're just amazing! I just might happen to have a friend who might, if you ask him kindly enough through a PM, be willing to send some of you who haven't heard them, some mp3s.

I'll send them through AIM. I've got a few more hours left of my night i'll be online.

No, they're all incredible.


Ripshit, babies.  Ripshit.

I appreciate everyones responses here.  I would love to hear these demos as well.
Please PM me if anyone has information on this. 
I really lack a lot of essential unreleased Beach Boys recordings and that
makes me feel very incomplete.  Sigh..  maybe one day.

Mike asking Brian if those two songs are going on the album shows that Brian is
controlling this.  If I can read into that, it didn't matter if "Mona" and "Johnny Carson"
didn't floor the band, they were committed to doing what Brian wanted.  Which
sure would have been nice in 1967.

Well, he didn't play "Johnny Carson" (I wish he had!). One of the reasons "Mona" might not have gone over as well as the others (and we aren't even sure it didn't) is because Brian messed up every five seconds as he was playing it.

There is one thing that always confused me.

The exact same quote (not just the same words, the same recording!) can be found at the end of "Carry Me Home" on the old California Feeling bootleg LP.  "Sh-t! That is a mother-fu-ker!"

So was that comment copied by the bootleggers and attached to a recording where it doesn't belong historically? And which is correct? Dumb Angel Rarities has this comment at the end of Carry Me Home on volume 14, but not at the end of I'll Bet He's Nice on volume 4.

It's all in the pause. "That's a nice......spiritual song". I don't think he was too impressed.

Belongs on the demos - I had a tape of them back in the early 80s, pre-CDs.

Well, this sounds all great. Maybe someone can PM me too, if he has any infos.... 8)

I think all you need to know about the BB's reaction to "Love You" is summed up in the little blip on the liner sleeve of the LP.

There's a full page picture of Brian at his Birthday party (or somewhere similar) with Marilyn hugging him and whispering in his ear... Brian has this huge grin on his face and below it, it says

Well I mean, whenever he did.  I'm not privy to the demos that Andrew and Ian have.  I didn't even know the tapes Andrew has mentioned existed.  I was just curious as to how the guys accepted this stuff completely, but wouldn't give him the support he needed for SMiLE.

I don't know, Brian seems to be the only one sharp enough to come up with those changes, and to me it sounds like he also employs some of the same  type of chord sequences and melody on "Good Timin", but of course he could have learned that from SOS.

Søren

Well, they did give him support for Smile, just not the kind Brian needed.

I played Love You for my mom last night. She found it very, very disturbing.

"I like the early stuff better"

An exact quote   :-\

Ron, I can't believe you brought up this picture! I was just gonna mention it on the other thread about Beach Boys' pictures, because I have a question about it.

This picture has been bothering me from the day I bought the album 29 years ago. What is Brian holding in his hands. It is mysteriously blacked out. Is it simply a pack of cigarettes or is it something more, say, illegal?

Ciggies.

It's funny you brought up that picture. It shows you how long people have been trying to get Brian to perform again and make music. Everyone keeps holding out hope for him to make a comeback. I wonder if he has actually expressed a desire to make music or if he just nods and smiles when they bring his career up.

???

Maybe Brian had learned with the past and instead of asking the band to rerecord for months and one million times the same unrelated music snippets, he actually showed the group how the songs went before they went to the studio.

Actually expressed a desire to make music?  Uh... well, he wrote all those songs.  That expresses a desire, doesn't it?  Maybe somebody forced him to record, and maybe somebody forced him to tour, or perform, but how in the hell could they force him to write "Saturday morning in the City" or whatever?  Of course he has a desire to make music, it's what he does. 

He didn't say it like that.  He just said "its a nice, spiritual song."  There wasnt any emphasis or delay before "spiritual"

Just been listening to these demos and I think "Bet He's Nice" is better as this piano-based tune then the crazy electronic one on Love You.

I agree, Rerun!

Synth bass does not equate to "crazy electronics", man.

That's what I was thinkin'!

I stand by my statement!

You don't know sh*t about electronic music, then.

Oh.  Nevermind everybody.

Electronic music is a division of classical music, Love You is a rock album. Electronic music is difficult, what's difficult about Love You?

What the H are you talking about?  Are you trying to say there aren't electronic elements on Love You?  Those are real instruments?  Well, hot damn!

Yes, there is a use of synthesizers. But that doesn't automatically make it "electronic music". Brian Wilson isn't thought of as an electronic music pioneer. The real electronic music fiends out there would scoff at such an idea. The theremin was an electronic instrument, but it was meant for classical use. The first synthesizers were meant for classical use. Electronic music is a form of CLASSICAL music. 20th/21st Century classical music. Along with minimalism and musique concrete and percussion and avant-garde.

Look man, in 1976 you had your real instruments, your modular synthesis, and your Milton Babbit.  Since Milton wasn't on Love You, it's down to real instruments and Modular Synthesis.  While yes, the Synths are powered by electricity, so are rhodes pianos, electric guitar amps, and the like.  So no, there are no "electronic" elements to Love You at all, anymore than there are on Pet Sounds with it's exotic use of guitars and electric organs.

Why are you quoting "electronic music" like I wrote that?  I think you may just be debating with yourself.  I didn't say that Love You was some techno masterpiece.  Reread what I posted initially about prefering the piano-based demo...

I'm with H, Milton Babbitt is an example of an electronic music pioneer. Have you ever listened to his work with the RCA Mark II Electronic Music Synthesizer? Damn thing was built over fifty years ago but made some futuristic sounds that even sound in line with modern-day electronica sounds.

You said something about the "crazy electronic" I'll Bet He's Nice on Love You. I read that as you saying it was a form of electronic music. If I'm mistaken in my approach, I apologize. Techno isn't electronic music.

I'll Bet He's Nice probably has the most organic touch on the album, other than Uh, Ding Dang and the non-contemporaneous Good Time.

Well, at least Glenn Greenberg knew what I meant.  I'm not even sure what it is you guys are talking about, really.  I refered to the Love You one as electronic merely for the fact it uses synthesisers.  That's not even my point, anyway.  Brian on his piano is better than the produced one with Carl coming in for the bridge.  I believe this even though Brian's voice is rubbish.  The whole song just has a lot more energy and is plugging away.

As far as Love You goes, other than the fact Brian wrote the songs, I don't think he or Dennis should have been featured on the tunes.  When you have three other great singers in Al, Carl, and Mike, it just seems like a waste.

I agree with you.

I agree the song could have used a little more rhythmic intensity. 

It's always so interesting to hear Brian's piano versions of later, fully realized productions, because Brian's piano version always have the same right hand pounding thing going on, either full block chords or rocking broken chords, and sometimes that gets carried over to the final production, sometimes it doesn't, like on IBhN.  That reminds me, I still need to get ahold of the audio of Brian playing "This Whole World" on piano in the hotel room...  That's not a hint or anything.

In my opinion, "Love You" is early electronic pop, in the sense that it preceeded all those synth bands of the early '80s.  Not that all of them heard it and were inspired by it, of course.  But Brian was one of the first to use synthesizers that heavily, including the Moog bass, and also to use electronic drums (on songs like "Let Us Go On This Way", "Roller Skating Child", and "Johnny Carson"...some of the other cuts have real drums, some played by Dennis). 

Someone once said,  I think on the BlueBoard, that electronic drums didn't exist in '76, but if you take a look at David Leaf's book, published in early '78, that's how he describes the drums on "Love You".  And, my God, just LISTEN  to 'em! 

Anyway, Gary Wright was another pioneer of this type of approach.  And, probably before him, there was Todd Rundgren (and Utopia).   And others, of course.  But Brian was one also, even if he didn't try to be.   

C-Man

Love You is early electronic pop? What about the pioneering efforts of Bruce Haack or Raymond Scott or Milton Babbitt or even Perrey & Kingsley? These guys were all doing their work in the 50s and 60s (Perrey & Kingsley in the 60s). Their stuff is electronic pop at its heart, despite electronic music being a classical form. Computer music, even.

Love You isn't the album that influenced all the synth pop pioneers. Look no further than Suicide's first album. It was nothing to do with their instrumental setup either. It was two men, a keyboardist and vocalist, with a drum machine.

Enough with the Suicide man!



 :D

Hey man, I'm just setting a few things straight. I don't hear anything remotely synth pop about Love You.

I've got to agree. Synth-dominated, sure, but not quite synth-pop or electronic pop. It's pop songs, largely built the same way that Brian built most of his earlier songs...just arranged with synthesizers as dominant instruments.

I give it a 4. I think it falls a little short of a masterpiece, but it's pretty damn close. The instrumentation is brilliant as are the chord changes. The lyrics are hillarious.  I like Brians scruffy voice on this you can tell he gave it his all. The only song I don't like on it is Love is a Woman.. I get creeped out when Mike Love starts singing.

Brian's one hell of a producer.

Good summation.  I didn't like "Love is a Woman" much at first, but it's grown on me.  So I pretty much agree with you.

Love You  is a great record with plenty of charm, but its faults are unavoidable-- to me at least.


"Let Us Go On This Way" -- Interesting way to start off a Beach Boys album.  Insistant.  Still, I never need to hear this again.

"Roller Skating Child" -- This one works for me, big time.  Great arrangement, harmonies.  Fun!  Brian singing "Rol-ler Ska-ting Childdd!" at the end just cracks me up everytime.  A 300 lb teddy bear!

"Mona" -- You could give me a recording of Dennis singing the phone book and I would dig it.  Thankfully this catchy Spectoresque novelty is a great deal more fun than that.  "Listen to 'Be My Baby', like I did 63,456,452 times!" says Brian.

"Johnny Carson" -- Now this one is bloody genius.  Name one other major artist cracked enough to pull something like this off while actually getting you to sing along with it.

"Good Time" -- Rightfully left in the can in 1970, this was ultimately given to Spring to record while the Boys' version was extracted some 5 years later.  One of the most overrated songs in their catalog, with lyrics about as abysmal as a head cold (and a dopey hook to boot).

"Honkin' Down the Highway" -- Another catchy rocker with godawful lyrics in the vein of cuts 1, 2 and 3.  Great drum sound, horrid synths.  Pure adolescent energy, as put forth by men in their 30s.

"Ding Dang" -- It's short.  It rocks.  I can take it or leave it.

"Solar System" -- Novelty number.  Fails to make much of an impact, on me at least.  Nice harmonies, more awful synths.

"The Night Was So Young" -- Even more overrated by Beach Boys fans than "Good Time".  It's a better song overall, but folks talk about this like it's on the level of Pet Sounds or something.  Clearly it's just not that good, save for the lovely bit of vocal harmonies on the "is some-body gonna tell me..." part.  The little electric guitar filagree that responds to each line of the verse annoys the bejesus out of me.

"I'll Bet He's Nice" -- Another good but not classic 70's Beach Boy ballad.  Loses points for the line "I'll bet he's nice.  I'll bet he's twice..."  I'll bet he plays dice and eats rice too.  Good God, where was Tony Asher when they needed him?

"Let's Put Our Hearts Together" -- Lovely duet between Brian and his lady Mar.  Just lovely.  A touching song, suitable for performance at any wedding.  I was in tears the first time I heard this!

"I Want to Pick You Up" -- Dennis is the perfect choice to sing this one.  His voice, and Brian's, are ragged but just so right for it.  The "pat pat pat her on the butt" has the same effect as the end of "Roller Skating Child" for me, except the closing harmonies "she's going to sleep/ little baby go to sleep" take this song out of the realm of the absurd, and into something more tangible and real.

"Airplane" -- Interesting song, structurely speaking.  Uniquely Brian Wilson, as are all songs on this record.  Unfortunately it sounds like little more than a demo to these ears.  The live version with Charles Lloyd (1977 CBS convention for example) shows how much better this could have come out had they cut it with a full band.

"Love Is a Woman" -- Even die hard Love You fans don't seem to love this one.  Wretched melody, awful vocal and retarded lyrics doom this to the bottom of the Beach Boy Barrel.


4 stars

Carl, too...  ;D

LOL...since he did most of the work.

I can see why you feel The Night was So Young is overrated. God, I hate Carl's vocals on this. Probably the only time I'll ever say THAT about a song.

 :'(

No love for The Night Was SoYoung?

Anyone?

Excuse me while I go cry.... :'(

Right here.  I love every song on the album and think it's the best thing they released.

Respect.

Boo-yah. Agree, though I put it after SMiLEY.

Works for me.  In many ways the same album, 10 years apart.

Honestly, it's the middle section of "I'll Bet He's Nice" where he drives me bananas. I'm speaking of the "Don't you ever tell me that you're leaving" part. That section of the song always sounded forced and phony to me.

Unrelated comment: I think Love You features some of Brian's most innovative chord changes.

I think he sounds drunk during I Bet He's Nice, actually.

 :'(

That "Baby... don't you ever tell me that you're leavin'", just that bit, is my second favourite vocal on the whole album.

My favourite is "IS SOMEBODY GONNA TELL ME..." etc, etc...

"T'get t'you babe ar want throo da ringa!" sounds more forced to me (but it's still cool)

Right on.
I love Carl's "drunk" voice, also showcased on It's Over Now, Life Is For The Living and Everybody Wants To Live.

And I ain't heard none of those :(

I'll have to take your word for it, sir.

"Liiiiiiiffffeeee...."   Yeah, that's classic.  I think Carl sounds drunk on just about everything he sings from this era: "Full Sail", "Sweet Sunday Kind of Love", "Livin' With a Heartache" and "Go and Get That Girl" all jump to mind as I write this.


Nothin' wrong with that, though.  I loves me some drunken Carl.

aww shucks that drunk carl on 'life is for the living'?

i thought it was drunk brizza :x

And see, those are the vocals by Carl I *don't* like. I'm sorry, but on those he sounds like Peter Cetera singing underwater...with a mouth ful of peanut butter.

Now that's a disturbing mental image!

(http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicStar/2373/pcc.jpg)

Aww yeah, it's the Beach-Tang Clan!  The Brizza, the Crizza and the Drizza, plus their partnas in cryme Mizzle-Lizzle and Al-Jardinizzle.

"Let's Put Our Hearts Together" used to break my heart listening to it. It's almost like a cheesy Mariah Carey tune, but because it is Brian and the group I can feel the sincerity in what is being sung. The simplicity in the lyrics is absolutely essential for this kind of song and album. Love is a complex thing but oftenly best described in an almost child-like way. Remember getting married on the front lawn to the neighbor girl? Yeah, that's the same emotion that is applied throughout this album. Simple happiness and bittersweet sadness.

love you is so quirky, i cant help but hold it by my side, it's all me and child-inmature like. i held the LP cover up to some girls, they love the cheesy-ness. i just hate that it's paper thin, i love that cover, it reminds me of a Light Bright. so is it really true Carl produced most of it? that  must mean a mix-down producer does everything?  :lol

Far and away my favorite Beach Boy Album.

So very strange, so very catchy, so very Brian... I'm a man in love.

I don't get it. I just never liked it and I like quirky. Bad vocals and lyrics and mix. Sorry I just don't like it. If it said produced by Mike Love would you? Anyways Good Time is great as I love the Sunflower era, and I'll Bet He's Nice and Night Was So Young are very nice. The rest is funny in a sad way but hard to listen to. I think New Album and Adult Child are WAY better.

One of the reasons I like it is because it gives you insight into how crazy Brian had gotten by 1977.

The following quote, in my view, sums up Love You perfectly:

“The best description of this album, for those who have heard the music of Jonathan Richman, is to imagine Richman suddenly being given the musical talent of Bach, and two days in the studio. Anyone who doesn't love this album will loathe it, but it's their loss.”

(From http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A543025)

Aegir from this website makes weirder music from what I've heard.  :D

Hahahahahahahaha, I'll take that as a compliment, weirder than Brian Wilson. Never really thought my music was weird, though, any tracks in particular?

:lol awesome.

Carl sounds especially drunk on Everybody Wants To Live, I bought another copy of the 15 Big Ones/Love You two-fer its great rediscovering those songs especially on Love You, Let Us Go On This Way is one of the boy's best rockers.

"Let The Bullgine Run" is actually a pretty good song. Obviously it would be better if it were properly recorded and performed by the Doors.

Don't shave the beard!

Eh, Let the Bullgine Run is just a traditional song, terribly performed besides.. me and the other guy's vocals don't even match up half the time.

the 15 Big Ones/Love You two-fer its great rediscovering those songs especially on Love You, Let Us Go On This Way is one of the boy's best rockers.

It certainly is. I picked up that cd for 7 pounds at a used cd store on a trip to Scotland. Promptly after my first listen to it I flipped the booklet around so the Loves You cover was face up and treated the cd like it was Loves You paired with 15 Big Ones not the other way around. My favorite tracks are Let Us Go On This Way, The Night Was So Young and Johnny Carson.

I think it was a missed opportunity to not release The Night Was So Young b/w I'll Bet He's Nice as a single.

4.5
when i heard 'love you' 5 years ago at a friends house, i couldn't believe it was the beach boys, let alone brian wilson. 5 years later (and much more interested in all things BW) i went out and bought the twofer "15bigones&loveyou". i won't say much about 15 big ones cause i haven't really given it the time of day yet, but as for "love you" it has to be one of the greatest albums i have ever listened to. i played it for my girlfriend and she said "this is the creepiest thing i've ever heard...". i have to kind of agree with her, but i also have to add that its so childish and charming that you can not help but love it. "The Night Was So Young" kills me everytime. that guitar is perfect and along with carl and brian's vocals, it is in my top 5 favorite BB's songs. the other track i find to be wonderful is "Mona". the line "i know you're gonna love phil spector" is so great cause only brian wilson would ever say that to a girl! its the same as you or me saying "i know you're gonna like my parents". i love it. i love the way dennis sings it. perfect. great album.

This is one of my favorite albums because it is full of great songs. But I had to give it a 4. Over half the songs are amazing, but a few are almost as bad as the original songs from 15BO (Ding Dang, Love is a Woman). But The Night Was So Young might just be as good as God Only Knows or Til I Die!

Love You is among the best records of all time. I don't care if people don't think so. It is more underground than Pink FLoyd is, and the songs are awesome. Ed McMahon comes on and says here's Johnny. Priceless. It's a humor album to me. My girlfriend Penny is kind of skinny so she needs her falsies on. Mona. Pick You Up. This stuff is wonderful, and after listening to this, it's hard to take other bands seriously nowadays. God Bless Love YOu!!

This is one of the funniest lines I have ever read. Considering about 75% of dorm rooms across America have Dark Side of the Moon posters hanging in them, and that the Wall was made into a feature film, and that P.F. has their own bazillion oldies tours ranging from laser shows to Waters' stuff to the other guys playing to whatever else, it is hardly difficult to be more underground than Pink Floyd.

What's next, more underground than Bon Jovi? More underground than the Eagles?

All that said, yes, Love You is a great album. But really, who gives a f*** what is or isn't underground, anyway?

Maybe Pink FLoyd wasn't the best example. Alls I'm saying is that Love You has a true cult following and is a true underground album. By underground I mean it has that quality to it that it hasn't been corrupted by mass commercial appeal...it is special to so many people without being well known by any means to the majority of western music listeners. Being that it is such an amazing album, and that it has those qualities, it makes Love You so much cooler to me...as if I've got some secret music that the guy next to  me hasn't heard of yet, and by America's most well known band, nonetheless! That is part of the appeal of this album. Pat pat pat pat pat her on her butt butt she's gone to sleep be quiet.........

I really like this album a lot. I dont really have any favourites because I like them all with exception of Ding Dang which Im not particularly fond of. I dont hate it or anything just not all that great. I usually skip over that one. The highlights for me are The Night Was So Young, Ill Bet Hes Nice, Solar System, Lets Put Our Hearts Together, Let Us Go On This Way and I really love the catchiness of Roller Skating Child and Mona. Love Is A Woman & Johnny Carson aint bad either. In fact Ill just stick to my intial opinion that I love the whole thing. :p

This would've made an excellent album:

1. Let Us Go On
2. Johnny Carson
3. Solar System
4. The Night Was So Young
5. Honkin Down the Highway
6. Airplane
7. Winter Symphony
8. Belles of Paris
9. Sweet Sunday Love
10. My Diane
11. Everyone's In Love With You
12. Still I Dream of It
13. It's Over Now

Probably in a different order

While I've been known to make my "should've been" albums, I disagree on that one. No Roller Skatin Child? Blasphemy! And the inclusion of Belles of Paris and Everyone's... mean you are not allowed to touch my CD player remote control. Sorry. Hands off.

Yeh you cant leave Roller Skating Child out. Thats one of the coolest songs on there.

My favorite on Love You is "Love Is A Woman"... That song is hilarious! I love how it sounds like a guy giving advice on woo-ing a girl then Carl (Al?) comes in with the sarcastic "1 2 3" bit and that snide saxophone then Brian sings the "Love Is A Woman" and you can almost hear the smile on his face.

Priceless!

If I could add one or two more songs, RSC, LIAW, Match Point, and Hey Little Tomboy would be on my list of possible add ons.

This is very close to my own view (and I too give it a 4). The first time I heard it I thought it was just dreadful ... but when the GV box set came out I found I liked a lot of the songs, and now I find it far and away the most intriguing and, in something of a perverse way, enjoyable album of the post-Surf's Up era.

"I'll Bet He's Nice" is the highlight for me musically. Wow, to be able to construct songs like that ... Would love to hear the demo tape that's been mentioned.  8)

Other than Holland, it's pretty much the only intriguing and enjoyable album of the post-Surf's Up era...

Agreed! Should've said "only" instead of "most" ...

Brian's last hurrah. The end.

Defintely the last Brian Album.

I agree with Heywood Floyd and pixletwin, but who would've thought it - back in late 1976 - when Brian wrote it? That was over three decades ago...

Do you mean that people thought he had more left in him, or that people thought he was already long past his last great album?

I would imagine both are true, depending on whether you were a Brian/BBs fan at the time or just a casual fan of their hits. If the latter, people probably barely remembered there was such a thing, Endless Summer notwithstanding.

(I was just born that year, so I didn't think anything except "goo goo ga ga.")

I hate to use the term, but when "Love You" was released, the overall consensus was that "Brian Is Back", or at least almost there. Tha album got pretty good reviews, even though it was a commercial disappointment. It was an album of NEW Brian Wilson stuff, it was interesting, it was different (in a good way), and it was FUN.

In 1976-77, like today, Brian was a sympathetic figure. People were pulling for him. And like I posted above, Love You gave people hope. But also like I posted, who knew it would be, in my opinion, his last great work.

It just shows though that he was still capable of producing a great album (Im not sure if he could anymore cause as someone mentioned that was around 30 years ago but still I think he has still delivered some great tracks just nothing in terms of one great work (of course BWPS doesnt count), though in my opinion his closest he ever came to producing something great again was BW 88 though it was a bit off the mark

Yes, it did show that, mikeyj. And, to me, it is STILL perplexing that he didn't. I was a new, enthusiastic fan back then, and I truly believed that Brian was going to write/produce more great things; maybe not sing/perform them, but at least compose them. And I was mystified and frustrated that he just faded back to oblivion. Love You had me excited, MIU was good but slightly disappointing composition-wise, L.A. had practically no Brian, and KTSA was merely OK. I won't even get into what happened when Landy returned.

The 1976-82 period is very interesting to me. I still have more unanswered questions from that period than any other...

It IS interesting. Not necessarily all that good (music-wise), but interesting.

But heck, the entire history of the Beach Boys--and certainly everything from Brian's retirement from the road onward--is interesting. What an unbelievable story...

Still I think that maby Brian does have it in him, I mean you dont just lose that ability overnight. I mean he is capable but its just whether or not he can be bothered anymore. I mean he has done SOOO much for us fans and so much for the music business that maby he feels that hes accomplished everything that he wants to.

You say that you were dissapointed that he "faded back to oblivion" but what do you think about songs like "It's Over Now" and "Still I Dream of It". I think those songs are fantastic, they were recorded after Love You werent they? Or am I wrong in saying that.


It sure is, and I think thats why us fans are so crazy about them because its not just amazing music its an amazing story too and there is so much to talk about and discuss

I may be wrong, but I believe Its Over Now and Still I Dream Of It were from the same period as 15 Big Ones and Love You.

Are the two extra tracks on "Love You (And More)" worth the price of admission?
(Saw a factory pressed version for $10)

Ok, here's my track by track runthrough of this album...monkeeknutz, you might want to look away  ;D:


Let Us Go On- Not all that great of a song. Probably the weakest here.




Roller Skating Child- I LOVE this song!!! It just might be my favorite beach boys song of all time.  ;D


 
Mona- Another great track! When I listen to the "Love You" album, I can never listen to this song just once.


Johnny Carson- Charming in a scratch your head kind of way. Only Brian Wilson could get away with writing a song like this.  ;D




Good Time- I've never listened to this song all the way through. So, I can't really comment on it.



Honkin' Down The Highway- As great as the album version is, this song COOKED in concert.  ;D


 

Ding Dang- This is a great song. But it's WAY to short.  8)





Solar System- I kind of agree with monkeeknutz(what a great name  :lol). This is probably one of those songs that sounded good on the piano at Brian's house, but lost some of it's charm in the studio.



The Night Was So Young- What a BEAUTIFUL song!!! This was probably the very last perfect-from-start-to-finish beach boy's song.




I'll Bet He's Nice- I love the "baby-ooooooooooooooh" backing vocals. Very pretty song, but sad to realise that Brian probably wrote and sang his lines with his wife in mind. 



Let's Put Our Hearts Together- Not that great of a song. I'm not that much of a fan of Marylin's voice.  :p


 
I Wanna Pick You Up- Charming and sweet, and perverted all in one. I love Dennis.  ;D


 

Airplane- Another one that worked better in concert. There is a nice underrated falsetto-ish vocal from Brian on the album version, however.





Love Is A Woman- I've never liked this song. The band sounds like a worn out "Saturday Night Live!" house band here.  ::)

In Mona, the line "Listen to Be My Baby, I know you're gonna love Phil Spector" always cracks me up. I bet you Marylin wasn't so crazy about Be My Baby and Phil Spector by 1976,  :lol

I wonder if the band had to compensate The Ronettes or Phil Spector in any way for that line?

:lol I have to say though, thats my fav line of the song...it totally makes me think of me trying to play 'God Only Knows' to every girl that passes by through here....

I love you Love You

Haunting album, one the BBs best.

Straight 5.

No. You don't have to pay for referencing a public figure / song. They would've had to pay if they slandered them (and thus got sued and lost) or recorded (or in the modern era, sampled) their material and had to be the appropriate fees. Just saying the name isn't something requiring permission, fees, etc.

Whoever says this album is bad, needs to get their ears checked..

It's pure awesome, 5 stars.

The best driving album ever.

Let Us Go On This Way- Really good vocals from Carl, and I really like the Mike part.

Roller Skating Child- I love it, Mike's voice is great here.

Mona- Dennis rocks on this, the voice works

Johnny Carson- My fav on the album, Mike's sleazy delivery and the whore house Piano are genius

Good Time- Sticks out like a sore thumb, but a great song in it's own right

Honkin' Down The Highway- Great drums, Al kills on this, the best driving song ever

Ding Dang- I always considered this an interlude into the more serious side of the album

Solar System- If Brian sang this back in the 'friends' era it would of been glorious, but it's just passes as ok due to what I consider 'passion' in Brian's voice

The Night Was So Young - Carl had the greatest voice ever

I'll Bet He's Nice- Pure Brian, great arrangement

Let's Put Our Hearts Together- Very intimate, a nice love song

I Wanna Pick You Up- Very strange, but it works, mostly due to the 'pat pat pat' part.

Airplane- The last 38 Seconds of this song are fantastic

Love Is A Woman- A nice closer, leaves you with a good feeling.

Agreed. I love this album...like it or not I don't think one has truly lived until they listen to this record.

Pretty good, except for I Wanna Pick You Up. That one is up there with Hey Little Tomboy as way too creepy. I don't really care for Love is a Woman, unless it was Brian playing a joke on Mike. Best tracks are The Night Was So Young, Johnny Carson, I'll Bet He's Nice (kinda new wavey), Airplane, Roller Skating Child, and Mona.

I love the whole thing(though it must be said my CD won't play Love is a Woman so I've never heard it.

That opening of Let Us Go On This Way is pure adrenaline.

Frankly, I never thought of I Wanna Pick You Up as creepy. In fact, to me it's one of BW's most touching post-sixties songs, as it's an incredibly honest expression of his feelings, no matter if people might term them inapproriate or not. I even wish there were more songs like that in most artists' catalgues.

(That said, I can see what people might find offensive about Hey Little Tomboy. Still prefer it over Winds of Change or Kona Coast.)

I think Hey Little Tomboy and Kona Coast are both just as bad as the other. And unlike the majority, I actually like Winds of Change.

Great album all around. The first time I heard it a couple of years ago, I couldn't understand why people were saying how incredible it was. I mean, I was sitting there hearing the guys sing these goofy lyrics about how Johnny Carson fills up the slack when guests are boring and I thought that "I Wanna Pick You Up" was the creepiest thing in the world. However, over time, I think I finally got what makes the album as magical as it is. I mean, how AWSOME is "I'll Bet He's Nice" and "The Night Was So Young"? Then, there's that opening! Doesn't "Let Us Go On This Way" have everything in it that the album as a whole does? I just love the "God...Please....Let...Us...Go...On...This...Way..." part. It's just amazing!
                                         

Love you is probably my 3rd favourite BB album. From top to bottom it never lets up. I just love how BRIAN it is. From the child-like lyrics, the brilliant-yet understated arrangements to production. I'll admit that this is my favourite phase for the boys, vocally speaking. especially Brian. this album never gets old to me.

Five. It's a crime that this album isn't mentioned on "best rock album" lists.  Granted, it's not a top 100 album but I think it should've been on Rolling Stones' top 500 list:

Best to worst:
Honkin' Down the Highway
Good Time
Let Us Go On This Way
The Night Was So Young
Roller Skating Child
Airplane
I'll Bet He's Nice
I Wanna Pick You Up
Let's Put Our Hearts Together
Johnny Carson
Solar System
Mona
Love is a Woman
Ding Dang

I love that you all love Love You.  I'd love to say that I like Love You but that would be to say that I love to lie; in reality, I too love Love You.

I could probably listen to Good Time 100 times in a row and not get sick of it.

5 stars.

The tune of Mona just came to me - out of the blue. I haven't listened to this in ages.  It's a classic example of an elemental tune unlike anything preceding it, but appearing really basic and simple. It's a huge achievement, and if our Western culture was more ... cultural, Mona, and its second-cousin-twice-removed Shortening Bread would be default karaoke standards.

What a great album.  What astounds me is how there is basically nothing else like it.  I love how there is still a great range in the songs even though almost all of them seem to be connected in sheer quirkiness.  Lyrics never bother me, and in this case the unpretentiousness of them actually enhances the experience for me.

Let Us Go On This Way - 5/5
Roller Skating Child - 5/5
Mona - 4.5/5
Johnny Carson - 5/5
Good Time - 5/5
Honkin' Down The Highway - 5/5
Ding Dang - 3.5/5
Solar System - 4.5/5
The Night Was So Young - 5/5
I'll Bet He's Nice - 5/5
Let's Put Our Hearts Together - 4.5/5
I Wanna Pick You Up - 5/5
Airplane - 4.5/5
Love Is A Woman - 4/5

Rounds to a 5, which I would have given regardless of my usual statistic-based decision.

Solar System - 1.0; Let's Put Our Together - 0.0; Love is A Woman, 1.0 and Airplane - 2.0.  I dare say that if those songs had been left off the album and maybe some of the cuts from Adult Child put on it, the album would have had a very different reception.   

I'd give Solar System a 10 out of 5.

Why? I'm not arguing with you--I like the song too, but for me it's nothing special. Why do you like it so much?

Tried to get a friend who was just getting into the beach boys to get into this album.  He took it away and then later called me to say that he'd snapped the record over his knee and threw it out the window!! Apparently he thought that it was some sort of practical joke and I had put a fake beach boys label on some complete piece of crap record I had found. !!

Then, after taking a closer look at the record realised he had been hasty and went looking for a replacement A couple of weeks later he came round to my flat with an apology and said that he had listened to it "a few dozen times" and thought it was his favourite BBs album.

Did Love You predate Elvis Costello's first album?

I just mentioned this in the 15 Big Ones thread, but I'll mention it here too... 15 Big Ones and Love You taken together make an awesome foda you to pretty much everyone expecting another masterpiece from Brian, and to "serious" rock music in general. Punker than most punk rock records!!!

I dunno how "punk" "love you" is but...damn is it good. The lyrics are awful. But in a charming way. I dunno, perhaps in a way that people see Hugh Grant. But the oppressed and doubted Brian makes his stand here. It is a feeble stand, but great nonetheless. a solid 4!


"I Bet He's Nice" takes the cake for me. Wow. Killer ideas. Great falsetto line- simple and choice.  Carl's line is great too. Love the "farty" bass synth as people have described it. again- awkwardly nice. Only track I don't love is "Let's Put Our Hearts Together."

God, I love Brian Wilson.

"I'll Bet He's Nice" is indeed full of great ideas. Love Mike's "You my darling" part near the end.

"I don't wanna tell you that I care for you and have you just ignore me"......That lyric seems like something you'd hear someone say to someone else in a regular conversation.

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT.

I don't know why people don't seem to get the conversational aspect of the lyrics on this album. These songs sound literally like Brian is across from you, in conversation. THAT'S the brutal honesty of this record. Maybe that's why people don't like it.

your welcome :)

I don't really mean punk in sound (except for the drums on Let Us Go On This Way and Honkin' Down The Highway), but more like punk in spirit...like Brian didn't really give a merda, and said "foda what everyone else thinks, I'm gonna make the record the way I want to!!".

Wasn't Brian that way back in 1965?

THIS ALBUM SUCKS
                    SUCKS
                    SUCKS >:D

Joking ;D

Yeah, in theory, this record is "punk". Brian was in "f*** everybody and everything" mode in 1976. This was the prevailing thought. 1976 brought the world a Summer Of Hate in the UK and elsewhere. The Beach Boys Love You, along with Smiley Smile, is one of the Beach Boys' great "f*** yous" to their legacy, fans, and public perception. And for that alone, we should respect them both.

I don't think there is anything to respect in a f*** you, just for a f*** you's sake.

i like the idea of this record and it's pretty fun, but man, 5s and 4s? c'mon son...

"the night was so young" is great, sounds like some Wild Honey material. i really like "mona" too. "solar system" and "carson" are cute/weird/enjoyable, but way overrated.

Anyone else here really like "Good Time"? Whether or not it should be on this particular album is a moot point, but to my ears it kind of sounds like a joke, a pastiche of something unusual which makes it weirder still. Yet obviously simple and direct as you'd expect. And a great intro with the tapping percussion. I do like a "Good Time."

Love it. Huge fan.

Fantastic in many ways, but I find I love it less than I used to. In some ways, having more solo Brian out makes Love You seem less important -- we no longer need an album from 77 to reassure ourselves that he didn't lose the plot in the late 60s.

Interesting. My "huge fan / love it" comment was in response to the prev. post, just about "Good Time," but I enjoy your post about your changing impression of the album. I can't say I have any similar feelings, though. I really like Love You, which I heard for the first time around the time of Imagination (which was relatively early in my Beach Boys/BW fandom). Loved LY then, love LY now. Brian's continued releases are a mixed bag for me, with BWPS at the top, TLOS very, very welcome in my collection, and everything else in the "nice to hear sometimes, I guess" range. But whether he puts out another Pet Sounds (cough, not gonna happen) or a Sweet Insanity, I guess my feelings about LY are the same. It stands on its own merit regardless of its creator's decades-later state.

It's hard to explain exactly, but I get the sense when I listen to this album that it's from the same guy who made Pet Sounds and Friends. Those three albums share an aura, I feel, they're from the heart in terms of both lyrical and musical content. The spacey sound of Love You reminds me in places of Pet Sounds, which also had a spacious, fairytale kind of sound in areas. It has the homey, simplistic feel of Friends. All three are also musically complex and insane at points in their own ways (obviously, as far as pure all-around complexity goes, Pet Sounds wins).

My impression of this album has changed twice. When I first bought it, I hardly liked any of the tunes because of Brian's rough vocals and the goofy lyrics, so I sold it. But as I got more into the BBs and learned Brian's history, I bought it again and really started to dig it.  Much later, after getting into 15BO and Adult Child, I found that I liked this one less than I used to.

As much as I've grown accustomed to Brian's vocals from this period, his singing here is rougher and displays less control than on 15BO or Adult Child.  (My least favorite vocal performance, though, is Marliyn's on LPOHT.)  Also, the spare, synth-heavy/minimal drums production often sounds undercooked to me.

But with those things said, the great songwriting (albeit with really wacky lyrics sometimes) really shines through and saves the album for me.  And speaking of those wacky lyrics, I really think that "I Wanna Pick You Up" (as opposed to, say, "Hey Little Tomboy") was written in the spirit of all innocence.  Anyway, I give LY a 4.  With more production, fuller drumming, and some vocal retakes (LPOHT) and shuffling (maybe Carl on LIAW) it could be a 5.

5. I don't know why, I just really like this quirky album. In all honesty, I probably should have given it a 4 for the reasons Ganz Allein gave (lack of drums, sometimes too much synth, and I'll throw it lack of guitars) , but I still listen to it and pretty much love it.

I love Good Time. I think it's the best song on the record. A haunting reminder of the glory days, punctuated by the falsetto voice that Brian would never again have. Placing it almost in the middle of the record simply sharpens the point. This is the Beach Boys, as a band, at their peak. A peak that they would never rise to again. Saddening, really, that the album just after this cemented their status as fat, decadent, rock stars. It's only more brutal when you realize that it was just 7 or 8 years ago. Not even a decade. Shows how much things can change in the short span of a few years.

My favorite Beach Boys album. Pet Sounds is definatley the "Best Album", but the weird psychadellic genius of Love You wins it for me, because I'm a huge weirdo and I love that unfiltered pure as the driven snow (PUNS!) Brian Wilson.

Also, goshdarn the I'll Bet He's Nice demo kills me. There's such an energy to it and it's so lovely.

"Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee, she really sends chills inside of me". Only Brian could write those lyrics and totally make it work. The Beach Boys Love You is a true diamond in the rough.

Reminds me how much I like seeing Brian swear in interviews. He seems so happy when he lets himself swear.

I just realized that many songs from Love You are near the top of my 'most played' list in itunes....I must really like the album  :)

'Solar System' is one of my favorite songs by the Beach Boys.

For me, Good Time is the proverbial sore thumb on Love You. Good Timin' with lots of synths would have been better in its place.

this album is a 10/10

you guys are crazy

and mona is the best track

Agreed 100%!

I read somewhere that sometimes it takes 5 complete spins, from start to finish, to fully appreciate the unbridled enthusiasm of Beach Boys Love You.

I already love Johnny Carson...

Wish me luck, here I go, I'll report my findings.

Adrian

Wow, 4 songs in and it only took a half of a spin--I'm a Believer I Love Beach Boys Love You.  If Smile is Brian's Lost Masterpiece, Beach Boys Love You is BW's Forgotten Masterpiece. ;D 

I think this album is awesome and kinda is Pet Sounds Part 2.

L.Y. is definitely one of Brian's forgotten masterpieces. It's a dynamic fun album that brings out Brian's unbridled enthusiasm towards his love of woman and song!

Half this album is Amazing.
The other half just proves how amazing the rest is (hahaha)!

My favorite track is probably "Lets put our hearts together" because the lyrics are so... Legit... So true that it... hurts!

However, I do believe this album is not all great (RSC, Honkin'...)

Johnny Carson is fantastic, along with "Let us"

3/5 Very good, but the vocals really kill some of the songs (Poor Brian...)

Amazing the difference in taste, your "not all great" are two of my favorites. My least favorites (but don't hate) are Love Is A Woman and Mona. RSC is Mike's best vocal since Holland and there are none after Love You.

I think that Love You is amazing for that one reason, that there are tracks for EVERYONE and someone might love one song, but hate someone else favorite...

So cool right? haha

I still think the only really bad song on the album is "Love Is A Woman". The rest are all excellent to good (if not 'very good')!

Ahh... Everyone has Opinions, but... I'd have to disagree :D

Take off Good Time and what you have is the perfect album. Not a fan of Good Time - actually I prefer BW's gruff voice to his 1970ish Good Time voice.

GOD PLEASE
LET US GO ON
god please let us go on this way ay
GOD PLEASE
LET US GO ON

The Good Time mix on Landlocked is much better. You can hear the background vocals much clearer and Mike's parts are very cool; the "dit, dit, dit, dit what do we care..." part.

On question has bugged me for a long time regarding this album: ... so, why is it that everyone's slurring their words and lisping on Johnny Carson???

As a Brian Wilson obsessive of 25 years who's never posted here before, allow me to take the plunge.

Let Us Go On This Way. Rough-as-guts mid-70s drum machine, big blurting bass synths, fist-pumping c*ck-rocker intro from ... Carl Wilson? I'm sure we all remember our inaugural Beach Boys Love You "WTF?" moment kicking in before the second bar of the first song was through. Tellingly, closer examination reveals it to be a minor work of genius: not because it's one of Brian's most subtle works of song craft, but because it's carried aloft by one grand moment of inspiration - the sublimely expansive chorus, and the way it plays off against the monolithic crudity of the verse and the middle-eight. Five stars.

Roller Skating Child. An excellent case study of what makes this album so bizarre: whereas Brian believed himself to be communicating with a young audience that shared his glee-club and locker-room vision of adolescence, he was actually displaying his alienation from contemporary reality and all the emotional disturbance that got him there. As Robert Christgau put it in his marvellous review: "As for the words, well, they're often pretty silly, but even (especially) when they're designed to appeal to whatever Brian imagines to be the rock audience they reveal a lot more about the artist than most lyrics do." Similar things could of course be said of the BBs' teen fantasies of the 1960s, which nobody begrudges for being unreflective of Brian's reality at the time. If only a wiser head had been at hand to edit the lyrics (wise heads being in regrettably short supply throughout the Brian Wilson saga), and the production given a bit more spit and polish, this could have been the hit Brian's ego so desperately needed. Its failure to be released as a single can only have been an act of sabotage on Warners' part. Five stars.

Mona. A disappointing comedown after such a marvellous start. For all the money they were paying him, you'd think Eugene Landy might have got it together to order Brian to finish the song before he was allowed to record it (and rewrite the Phil Spector verse while he was at it). And even in the best of circumstances, Dennis wouldn't have suited this material at all. Two stars.

Johnny Carson. The apotheosis of the album's inspired silliness for many, but I've always found its melodic charms rather too slight. Bonus star though for "It's nice to have you on the show tonight/I seen your act in Vegas - outasight!" Three stars.

Good Time. While it's a shame that an album as singular as this should be blighted by a song which sits so clearly outside its schema, it's interesting how it *almost* fits in. I didn't spot anything amiss the first time I heard the album - indeed, I found it one of the few things that immediately appealed. It's a reminder that Brian's artistic frame of mind had its roots long before the Landy era, but had been stymied (for better or worse) by Jack Rieley and his determination to burden the band with a "heavy" image in keeping with the mood of the times. Three stars.

Honkin' Down The Highway. Slight, but blessed with a groove that was nicely exploited on Radio Sweethearts' country-rock cover on the Caroline Now! tribute album. Cursed, however, with the line "take it one little inch at a time now/'til we're feeling fine now". Three stars.

Ding Dang. I still await an explanation as to how it could have taken two people to have written this - and how one of those two people could have been Roger McGuinn. Three stars.

Solar System. An unpolished gem, and the Beach Boys track I most commonly turn to when drunk. I never tire of the way the melody escalates a step with each line of the verse before opening out to infinity on the chorus, but the song's charm runs deeper than that - it's in the way the lyrics and the melody fuse into a perfect expression of Brian's childlike guilelessness. Five stars.

The Night Was So Young. The guitar figure on the verses is an annoyance, which is a shame as the song otherwise earns its reputation as ballad to match his mid-1960s work. To throw a bone to the album's critics, I have to acknowledge the harmonic complexity of the chorus calls attention to the disappointing lack of same elsewhere on the album. The raggedness of its execution also reminds us that no one in the band was at the peak of their vocal form at the time - Brian would sound smoother a year later on the otherwise wretched MIU Album, Dennis was well into his decline, Carl was hitting the bottle and it showed, Mike's nasality had lost its charm some time earlier, Bruce wasn't at hand to fill out the sound, and Al hardly matters (I can only clearly discern him on Honkin' Down The Highway anyway). Four stars.

I'll Bet His Nice. Each of this album's marvels presents the potential admirer with a hurdle to clear, and in this case it's the asinine opening couplet (reprised at the end). But the patience required to absorb the song in its entirety rewards the listener with one of the glories of Brian's entire canon: a sublime middle-eight beautifully rendered by Carl. Four stars.

Let's Put Our Hearts Together. Melodically sure-footed, but sappy: its open-hearted musical context gives its painful lyrical clunkers no place to hide. Three stars.

I Wanna Pick You Up. I'm charmed by this song's naivete, and it's always nice to hear accordions on a Beach Boys record - particularly on an album as starved for instrumental colour as this one. However, I generally don't care for Dennis's vocal performances on Love You, probably because we have Pacific Ocean Blue to place his voice of the time in a very different and entirely more appropriate context. Nor should talk of pre-adolescent butt-patting have made it past the gatekeepers. Three stars.

Airplane. A delight, mostly because it shows Brian still able to pull off a quite complex song structure. The "airplane, airplane, carry me back to her side" bit is one of the album's high points, and the coda is just stupid enough to work. Four stars.

Love is a Woman. Not difficult to see why this is the hardest track for the album's admirers to make apologies for: it's graceless, and not in a cute way. God knows what anyone was thinking when they allowed Brian to perform it on Saturday Night Live. For all that, I do have a sneaking fondness for the "one two three, she's falling in love with me" bit, which is one of a number of occasions on the album where an unexpectedly inspired mid-section places a flattering complexion on the material that surrounds it. Two stars.

seriously

There isn't a single drum machine on this record.

Just Dennis' "clubbing". It works wonderful on Love You. It gives the album a bit of a garage band sound.

I thought Brian played most of the drums....

I do beg your pardon - though I'm evidently not alone in the misapprenshion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honkin%27_Down_The_Highway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honkin%27_Down_The_Highway)

I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong, but that is our dear Dennis pounding those skins, at least to my ear. Jon, AGD, help! ;)

No, you're right - on the 'alternate' mix, you can hear him counting off iirc

Wikipedia is not a source.

I am not disputing that you're correct, merely pointing out that there are other people who think they hear drum machines on the record.

Dennis is playing on "Honking". Brian probably plays on everything else (except "Good Time" of course). Anybody know for sure? Who plays sax on LIAW for instance? Would be nice to know all of the details on that album as it is one of my favorites.

Other people are so accustomed to drum machines that they don't know real ones when they hear them.

1. Let Us Go On This Way 10/10
2. Roller Skating Child 10/10
3. Mona 9.5/10
4. Johnny Carson 8.5/10
5. Good Time 7.5/10
6. Honkin' Down The Highway 7/10
7. Ding Dang 8/10
8. Solar System 10/10
9. The Night Was So Young 10/10
10. I'll Bet He's Nice 10/10
11. Let's Put Our Hearts Together 8.5/10
12. I Wanna Pick You Up 8.5/10
13. Airplane 10/10
14. Love Is A Woman 7/10

Album Rating: 8.89

Shush.

Had my whole family yell at me when i played this on family car ride. ;D

In 1977 when Love You was released, my little niece & nephew loved this album. My niece is now 40 and she still like it. :)

Good for her, my older sister was about to punch me in the face when she heard solar system and love is a woman. :lol

lololololol

Someone should make a trollface comic out of this.

Or make a comedy sketch, the family's reaction to this album was laugh out loud funny.

Love it  :lol

This album would get a five just for the intro to the first song -- the combination of farting synth, Carl's "HRAAARGH!", and the drums is great and comparatively quite un-Beach-Boys!

I just ordered like 10 versions of this, Vinyl, and Mini LP and like 8 normal copies for friends.

I just realized that some little bits on this album are incredible!!! OH GOD! IT'S LIKE LITTLE BITS OF PET SOUNDS!!

EX.

-Solar System Chorus (Amazing Harmonies!)
-Synth on "I Bet He's Nice" (Da-dada-daa-da)
-Brian and Marilyn Duet on "Lets Put Our Hearts Together" and the AMAZING Lyrics on that track!
-The entire "The Night Was So Young"
-Johnny Carson Harmonies
-Pumped Up "Let us go on this way" (I often find myself singing "TO GET YOU BABY WENT THROUGH THE RINGER!!!" When I get home from school (out of happiness :P)
-"I love to pick you up" whole song until "Pat.. Pat..." then I get too embarrassed to listen :P
-"Airplane" Whole song, just incredible.

This album minus the 70's synths and with (dont kill me please) maybe some autotuned Brian Vocals would be INCREDIBLE!!!

Everything about Love You is awesome. What would be more awesome if there was a '77 version of Surf's Up recorded a la Love You. Would blow the '67 WH version out of the water.

A piano demo in 1977 of surf's up would be amazing as well.

The whole charm of Love You is to listen to it, warts and all. The warts are what make it work and what makes it different than any other Beach Boys' album.

Easily my favorite BB album. 5. Brian's feelings are so true throughout the album. Pet Sounds? No, but one of the greatest, weirdest and most underrated records of all time.

Along with Pet Sounds and SMiLE/TSS, this is easily one my favorite works by Brian. This album is utterly eccentric, cooky, brilliant and far out, an obvious reflection of Brian's mental state at the time. I would characterize Love You as the last truly great Beach Boy album. Let's hope the new reunion album can change that. 5 stars all the way.

I love it.  At the moment this is the album I listen to most, but It was also the one that took the longest to 'get'.  The vocals are all over the shop, drunky /slurry Carl on I'll bet he's nice, Mikes lispy Johny Carson and my favorite - Brians gravelly  Rolllllerrrrr skaaaaating chiiiiiiiild  at the end.   ha! love it.

To be honest, I'd tried to listen to this album a lot of times.
Of course, being a huge Brian/BB fan, I knew the backstory, why it's so revered....
Still, I couldn't get into it. Slowly, a couple songs started to stand out.

And, finally, this morning, just now, I listened to the entire album.
And I love it. All of it.

It's a beautiful day!

YAY!  You gave me a big smile reading that  :)

Anybody will come around in the end...  :)

(http://www.sergent.com.au/beachboys/honkindown.jpg)

One of my favorite BB/BW albums.

I love everything about the record, can't see why anyone would want to get rid of the phat synths, one of the best things about the whole production IMO.

If only (as I think AGD once wrote) we could have got an album of Brian Wilson tunes like this once every 2 or 3 years.

Thinking about the love for this album makes me wish (once again) that things like Adult/Child and the Wilson/Paley sessions found their way to our record stores.

I made myself a playlist/ fake album for my iPod I call Beach Boys '77. It's mostly material from Love You and Adult/ Child but I threw in a bit from 15 Big Ones, M.I.U. and Light Album. The idea was to make a great short late 70's Beach Boys album with no covers or use of 1969 - 1970 material for filler like on Love You and Keeping the Summer Alive. Here's the track listing;

01 Let Us Go On This Way
02 Honkin' Down the Highway
03 It's OK
04 Had to Phone Ya
05 It's Over Now
06 Still I Dream of it
07 Pitter Patter
08 I'll Bet He's Nice
09 The Night Was So Young
10 Lines
11 It's Trying to Say
12 Solar System
13 She's Got Rhythm
14 Baby Blue
15 Everybody Wants to Live

The whole thing comes to 39 minutes and I find myself listening to it a lot.

one does not simply remove Airplane and JC from a playlist to be replaced by It's Ok and She's Got Rhythm.

Is that correct, though? I think the whole song is performed by "young" Brian.

Young as in, Sunflower. It's not changed from the early 70's version (besides, IDK, mixing - no new recording)

what song are you thinking of, then?

Great album. Full of quirky tracks and funky moogs. The Night Was So Young, I'll Bet He's Nice, I Wanna Pick You Up, Ding Dang, Good Time, Let Us Go on This Way, and Honkin' Down the Highway are great tracks. Brian, Dennis, and Carl sound great on it! Worth listening in its entirety!

I listened to Love You for the first time today after hearing in the thead about the downer comments when it was one of "those" albums and the poor guys girlfriend, ripped it out of the CD player and whipped it out of the car.  I said, I must hear this!!!!!!!

I am glad I did. I find alot of their later output i dunno, bland and kinda desperate , although there are gems. Thats just MY opinion.
When I heard this, my jaws literally did drop.  I realize on songs like Johnny Carson, Brian is having a good joke. He could of written
maybe more "developed" lyrics, but he didnt want to, so its perfect.  Part of the appeal of the record is i think they are all burnt out and trying to go, and are basically toast....which makes the appeal even greater to me. Its not polished. No backing band here.
And the line about the falsies, just killed me. LMAO.  and Solar System? hahahahahahaha.  I love it.  I like this record because
my mind is having a hard time defining it and its wondering WHAT THE HELL WHERE THEY UP TO??? or...SOMETHING IS HORRIBLY WRONG...or...they are having fun and screw everyone else.  So its in my top 5.  Now i would of liked more guitar, but i'd rather
have it like this than session players and having it slick.  I do love the production. Love the "drumming" :)  I love The mimalist
thing, like on Wild Honey, you hear alot more than is actually there. Oh, and Brian Discovered the Hohner Clavinet. :)
Its a true oddity like Smiley Smile.  To me, its all good.

my fav BB album..
The most charming,honest,and emotional albums i have ever listened to..

There are some really good songs on Love You, but I cannot get passed the synthesizer sounds. They really, really annoy me. Brian's vocals are horrendous, too. 3/5

Aheeemmm. EX-girlfriend. :)

Hi everyone, its been a while since I don't post, although I read the board every single day...clearly an obsession  ;D

And speaking of current obsessions, I cant seem to get enough of Love You! And the funny thing, I don't know how to explain it.

Its an awful, awful album. Everything from the lousy cover art, to the cheesy photos, moron lyrics, off-tune singing and simplistic production...it as all the required elements to be a complete disaster, the epitome of what a pop-rock production should never, ever be. If someone ever wants to write down the manual of how to produce an album that will never be a commercial success, voila, this would be Exhibit A.

Now, having said this, I completely and absolutely love it  :-[

Someone said before this is Brian unfiltered, uncensored and I couldn't agree more. Every single song has such a raw approach, from the opener even to my least favorite (LIAW), that only early punk bands were able to transmit in a recording. The difference is that there's no anger, social awareness or rebellion in this record (as opposed to anything from Sex Pystols or Clash), but it's in-your-face as much as a song can get.

Honesty in music making is rare and even more rare is to actually get a message delivered once you attempt doing it. Brian and the Boys accomplished it with Love You. A song like Night is so Young can't be understood completely without the context of where Brian was back then, but at the same time has such an innocence and openness that's painfully raw and doesn't allow the listener to escape from it.

I would love to hear the early demo on I Bet He's Nice, that's one beautiful song that in a simpler arrangement (piano & voice) would be a classic. I read the review from Andrew Doe on how the group was so impressed from this song when the sessions started, I can totally understand why. Gosh, need to find that demo  :(

In any case, all songs are perfect. Even Love is a Woman, makes perfect sense sang by Brian in those harsh vocals. Same goes for the chorus in Solar System, the lyrics I couldn't care less, but that's a beautifully dark melody there. Same as with the bridge in Johnny Carson, man, there's a couple of bars that sustain this minor chord that's just amazing, amazing...even in the context of again beyond-any-understanding stupid lyrics.

I actually have a question (before I stop boring everyone with this post). Is it really Brian doing the falsetto in Airplane? Like all the high vocals in that song? Its very impressive, you wouldnt think he would be able to reach that register back then...or am I wrong and its Carl or someone singing this? It has to be Brian, its a great falsetto done by a heavy smoker, I'm sure of it! But then again, Carl was a smoker then...

Anyways, this is a great album and I thank you all for starting this post. It made me discover something very beautiful, a treasure that you need to dig and clean. It requires a lot of effort, but damn that it pays off  :)

See yaa

Love You is a wonderful, grin-inducing album. Exactly why GIOMH doesn't work yet Love You does is a matter of passion, I'd say. Creative spark. Something like that...

My favorite tracks - 'Let Us Go On This Way', 'Roller Skating Child', 'Mona', 'I'll Bet He's Nice' and especially 'The Night Was So Young', but the whole album is quite a trip and one of the very few late-period Beach Boys albums that's a JOY to listen to.

Hmm, I'd say.. a 4 1/2 or so.

schiaffino - Yep, that's Brian singing falsetto on 'Airplane'.

I'd love to hear an instrumental version of this album. So much going on musically.

That's so amazing! Thank you, Summer Days, this is the kind of stuff I need to know :)

I completely agree! A song like Johnny Carson would be a great subject for musical dissection :)

Good post.
The album is an embarrassment for 'sensible' people, it can only appreciated by someone who is open to something really unexpected and wacky.
I actually found it very very easy to get into. As soon as I heard the first chord of LGOTW I kinda knew this was an album chosen for me.

What parts on this reveal a punk-type of recording? I've often heard that referred to for this album, but with my in-experience with the punk-genre, I can't point anything out unfortunately.

I guess it's because it is very raw in its sound, that's about it. not punk in content, but maybe a punky production? especially the upbeat rockers on side 1

I agree with this exactly.  Everything awful you can say about it is probably true, but it's still amazing and beautiful and I love it. 

Listening to this album feels like eavesdropping inside Brian's head because it sounds so personal and immediate, as if the songs are wearing nothing but a towel.  So the first time you listen to it, it almost seems that something vaguely indecent is going on.  But Brian has courageously invited you into this private world of his, and if you already know Brian you know that there is nothing to fear and everything to gain from this kind of aural intimacy.  The reward is great whenever you let Brian Wilson songs into your soul.

Just recently learned to appreciate this album and I had to add my two cents.  I'm a huge BW fan and I sincerely think this album has some of the (if not the) best production of his career.  But let me start with theme here.

Pet Sounds is about youth/innocence/growing up/love etc. etc. it's all been said.   It's about the emotional and psychological maturation of youth.  It's about reaching an age of enlightenment and fun.

Love You is the ugly cousin of PS.  Unlike PS, it's about stagnation and oddity.  The BB have been singing about cars and girls for nearly twenty years, and it was getting old and creepy by this point.  Brian had spent a good deal of the last decade in bed, and the rest of the boys had been trying to reclaim their past glory.  Now Brian is back, so what is the result?

Well, it's Love You.  The times have changed (note the synths), the BB have changed (check out the vocals  :o), but the big idea is still the same.  Pet Sounds has grown up more, and despite the beatings it took through the 70s it still hasn't lost that innocence and beauty.  The lens has changed, but the music hasn't.  And the resulting album is dark, strange, a bit funny, and downright creepy.  I'll expand on this idea in my track-by-track review.  


1. Let Us Go On This Way

- To me this song is a wonderful microcosm of the theme of the entire album.  It starts with gruff vocals and deranged synths.  The lyrics are similar to past BB but with the age of the singers it is now just creepy.  Carl and Mike are still in school hitting on teenagers?  Listen to how the music reflects the sad and creepy stagnation of the boys.  But then, suddenly...
"Please God...let us go on this way" ....yes the boys are still the Beach Boys and capable of producing beautiful harmonies over Brian's progressions.  The old meets new paradigm is in full force here and the lyrics of the chorus couldn't be more explicit about the theme.

2. Roller Skating Child

- This is similar thematically to LUGOTW.  Musically, it sounds as if Little Deuce Coupe got molested by its uncle.  The production is dark and creepy but like the chorus on the previous song it's BW gold!! Everything works, the sound is mastered brilliantly.  Lyrically of course it stays with the theme of old BB being out of place man-children.  Listen to the line of the bass synth immediately following the chorus.  I can almost hear that melody saying 'This is wrong, I know it, but I can't help my passion'. 

3. Mona

- Apparently this song was very personal to Brian.  I think it helps contribute to the stream-of-consciousness effect of the album.  Musically repetitive so not much innovation from a progression standpoint (unlike Roller Skating Child and many other tracks on the album) but it fills a purpose and whatever meaning it had to Brian I can only guess at.

4. Johnny Carson

- Ok, I don't love this one.  I think the composition and production is nice (not particularly brilliant), but the lyrics just lose me.  It adds to the dark humor tone of the album but I'm not really sure how or why.  It's a strange song.

5. Good Time

- This song continues the stream-of-consciousness idea but other than that I have no clue what it is doing on this album.  It was written in the early 70s and it sounds that way.  An odd inclusion, I don't see it adding much to the theme of the album.

6. Honkin' Down the Highway

- Brilliant!  The production is fantastic (love how the guitar licks meld beautifully with the synths).  Musically it uses pieces from Let Us Go On This Way.   Just as Roller Skating Child parodied the group still singing about young girls, this one uses the 'car' theme to show how the BB are doing their usual thing in a whole new light.

7. Ding Dang

- I think this accomplishes what Good Time achieves in the album (stream-of-consciousness) but without the inter-era awkwardness.  Nice song.

8. Solar System

- I want to love this one, but I just can't.  I feel similarly about it as I do about Johnny Carson.  Production is interesting but the lyrics are just plain dumb and I don't see what it adds thematically to the album.

9. The Night Was So Young

- If the lyrics of LUGOTW are a microcosm of the album's theme, the music of this song accomplishes the same feat.  It's been said before, take this song and use Pet Sounds instrumentation and it could easily be on that classic record.  But it's not.  It's been a decade, times and music have really changed.  Same old classic Brian harmonies and progressions, but the synths add that strange modern context which just makes everything sound hauntingly beautiful.  A truly marvelous song, one of the best BW has ever written imo.

10. I'll Bet He's Nice

- I feel basically exactly the same way about this song as the previous one.  Beautiful production, the melody and countermelodies of the synths really add a lot.  

11. Let's Put Our Hearts Together

- This one doesn't have that dark humor and simple lyrics that most of the other songs do.  It's really quite a nice statement of sentiment.  The production is really nice on this one, amazing how BW mastered the synth as soon as it became a popular instrument.  

12. I Wanna Pick You Up

- Thematically this accomplishes what Roller Skating Child does in terms of the band sounding like a bunch of pedophiles.  That said, the production is again fantastic and so is the composition.  This is another one that with different lyrics and instrumentation could have been an early classic.

13. Airplane

- I feel similarly about this one and The Night Was So Young.  Listen to the instrumentation, very PS.  The organ is using a very similar rhythmic pattern as the tack piano in I Know There's An Answer.  But context is key!

14. Love is a Woman

- I'm not sure how I feel about this one.  I definitely think it continues the theme of the album, with the blues-esque production that ends up going all over the place, but I can't tell what the position of the BB is on this.  





So that is my analysis.  For maybe the only time in their history since PS, the BB seem very self-aware of their image in the public and the album reflects that.  Brian is back, and still capable of the miracles he performed in the 60s.  But times have changed, people have gotten older and been messed up by drugs and people named Marilyn Manson.  

So PS has been stripped of its innocence and thrown into the culture of 1977 and the surrounding circumstances that the BB found themselves in.  It's a perfect period piece.  And the result is awkward, creepy, strange, haunting, but undeniably beautiful.  If you weren't a fan of the album before, give it another go, especially focusing on the production.  This is a BB record through and through and it might just be so weird that it's a masterpiece.  

Ladies and gentlemen, the quote of the year.

That's exactly when I stopped reading. Brian, Al and Bruce were 23 when Pet Sounds came out. Mike was 25. Using the "Love You is creepy" logic, then Pet Sounds is creepy too.

Hell, Mike already had a wife and a daughter when frickin' Surfin' first came out.

the fictional narrators of most Beach Boys songs are teenagers. but that doesn't make it creepy.

Not buying it....there's a huge difference between mid-20 year olds singing about teenagers than 40-somethings.  Plus it's over the top on Love You.  No non-creepy song begins with the lyrics 'She's a roller-skating CHILD' and has a chorus that says 'And we'll make sweet love til the sun goes down'

  The Beach Boys weren't exactly middle aged in 1977: Mike (36) Brian (35) Al (35) Dennis (33) Carl (31)

I understand the sentiment, but I don't know if the term creepy works for me in describing anything on Love You.

They're not slobbering and drooling and getting gross on Love You (like they do a little bit on the alternate "Hey Little Tomboy").  Perhaps it's the generally sloven aesthetic that alludes one to think "creepy."  I find Love You to be child-like in it's wonder-ment.  Sort of naive.  Blissful and kind of "special" -- but I mean special as in how we all feel as a naive kid, amazed at the Solar System, the stars or... Johnny Carson.  More "oh gosh, golly gee" than "creepy dirty man."  I don't get a creepy vibe at all.

Plus... the Rolling Stones... some may find the juxtaposition of aged-rockers, still rocking out at age 70 a little "creepy" too -- but I think the illusion and spirit of rock-n'-roll, from the beginning -- which all started with Elvis -- was sexual and "bad" -- a primal energy to some extent.  That's just an ingredient, perhaps one of the main ingredients in Rock and/or Roll.  Spinal Tap "Smell the Glove."

The Beach Boys, whether 22 or 42 or 72, have always dipped their... umm.. toe in rock n' roll.  They're not just POP.  They occasionally rock out with their c*cks out.

Just gotten to Love You for the first time in the last couple of weeks. I love it. As others have said, so much going on musically (and yeah you really can tell it's 99% Brian). The lyrics definitely border on downright silly (in a way that lacks the charm of the goofier SMiLE lyrics), but then lyrics were never a strong point for this group, in all honesty. But I really don't mind that when the songs are so interesting musically, they really hooked me in with intrigue at all the peculiarity that is going on.

The production, with it's buzzing synths and drum machines, are surprisingly listen-able. I like that they at least kept exploring new approaches to their production style, it really gives this album a strong sense of direction. There are some really unusual harmonies on most of the songs, and that's another thing that keeps me coming back to this. It's just so fascinating for all of it's oddness.

Brian's once angelic voice is almost totally shot, and yet he still uses his voice effectively. Same goes for Dennis. But these things just add to the character of the whole thing.

All in all I think it's fair to say I love it for it's unique qualities. Underneath all of the weirdness the songs are musically very good. Well done Brian!

Just wanted ton throw in my thoughts, this forum actually got me to listen to this album, I love it.  The synyhs are awesome, the songs are beautiful but yet humerous.  Thanks for leading me here!! Bought it on vinyl and cd

Haven't been able to stop listening. There's just something so good about this LP!

I don't hate this album or anything, but I don't think it's... that good. Most of the songs are just stupid ("Johnny Carson", "Honkin' Down The Highway", and "Love Is A Woman" especially), but they're at least enjoyably stupid. And very short. I guess it's bizarre fun but it kinda feels like the wrong sort of bizarre - I prefer the goofier SMiLE stuff for this sort of thing. Not at all bad though. 3/5

Gave it a 4/5. 5/5 would be more accurate but still the goofiness (mainly the instrumentation and the lyrics) is both the strength and the weakness of this album, which makes me a bit  :shrug thus preventing me from giving it the proper appreciation it deserves (at least on some levels a return to form if a bit of a "and now for some completely different" to put it mildly!). Goofy enough to prevent regular listening but charming enough to make you feel good when it happens.

Love You appeals to me as a voyage to the dephts of the human drunkness.

At first, alcohol gives you a boost; You're there, super psyched and excited in a innocent and young way, sceaming happily that you went through the winger to get that girl. It goes on to Mike's sick voice sining all about a Roller Skating Child, which ends with a drunk Brian giving it his final say. Mona is one of the subject's peak: a circular song that begs you to dance with it, in a silly way making refereces to Phil Spector and settiing up dinners and movies all at once. Johnny Carson is just a relapse of insanity amidst an environment reeking of intricated genius, which can't be shut down even if your brian can't actually make sense of what's happening. It's same what happens on Ding-Dang and Solar System, except the latter is already showing the signs of when the alcohol starts to wear off; There's this kind of weird self-conscience that strikes us all and leads into a very spiritual moment in The Night Was So Young. Unsatisfied and suddenly pissed of, I can imagine Brian feeling sorry for himself angrily singning about this other nice guy, however having no actual proof that he exists. He, then, picks up hope and still in a dorky drunk way musters the courage to say all that had been left implicit and it was ruining everything in Let's Pur Our Hearts Together. It's the kind of honesty that can't be manufactured. I Wanna Pick You Up and Airplaine floats around that innocent feeling from the beggining, together with induced and natural insanity, that can't help but showing a pain that the singer has yet to accepted and recognise - until he finally does. Love Is a Woman is that final moment where Brian (or whoever, actually) looks back at everything with a hint of nostalgia and sings with the voice of a veteran who has seen it all before. Advices are given in a sincere way, through a soaring and shot voice of a 30 something year old bearded drunk man that just knows what the reality has prepared for him.

This album and I just wanna a good time. 5 all the way. Pure genius and brilliance. One of the most honests and emotional appealing albums I've ever come across. Brian just can't go wrong when he is being Brian.

Completely take it back. Awesome album.

Completely take it back. Awesome album.
[/quote]

Glad to hear it! Love You IS a tremendous album, I "got it" at first listen, even though I knew it was a very odd album. I can easily see why it would take some people several listens to get the album, while some never do and will forever dislike it.

Judd, what was it that turned it around for you? More and more listens? A specific song?

Glad to hear it! Love You IS a tremendous album, I "got it" at first listen, even though I knew it was a very odd album. I can easily see why it would take some people several listens to get the album, while some never do and will forever dislike it.

Judd, what was it that turned it around for you? More and more listens? A specific song?
[/quote]
I really don't know... I think perhaps the album was too odd for me the first time, too unlike anything else the Beach Boys had done, so I couldn't really get into it. But a bit later I gave it another chance and I found myself loving it! I think it was Mona that did it...  :lol

This album should be coming in the mail soon. Can't wait...

Listened to it a few times. WOW!!! The best LP from the boys since Smiley Smile. The melodies on this record are beautiful, and more developed than anything on, say, Friends. Brian (and the rest of the Boys) obviously put a lot of effort into this record. More so than the appalling 15 Big Ones record... (shudder).

The use of the 1970 outtake doesn't hurt the record much. Its in the spirit of the record as far as the lyrics, and makes prominent use of the organ, like most of the other songs on the record.

I've only had this for a day, but it's already become my second, or third favorite, BB album after Pet Sounds (and Smiley Smile). 5 stars without a second thought

I knew you had good taste. Love You, The Beach Boys diamond in the rough. :)

Love You is the coolest album. It took me like a week till I got it- Then I never looked at music the same way again. This is punk rock. This is dance music. This is romance. This is humor. This is The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson unleashed. Great Art. Really great art.


EDIT:

I just had a thought- Love You is like the anti- Joe Thomas.

I actually had to wean myself off Love You in order to be able to listen to lesser recordings! Sounds crazy but it's true.

That is not crazy at all- you're among Friends. I learned so much from this album- artistically, spiritually, and how to live in reality...really.

Yeah, put me down in the pro-Love You camp as well. On the whole it's a very solid album, with the exception of Let's Put Our Hearts Together (which is a well written song with awful vocals), and I wanna pick you up (which just creeps me out every time I hear it).

Yes, love that comment re Joe Thomas. To me, an album like TWGMTR just sucks all the life out of everything that makes Brian Wilson music special to begin with!

If Smiley Smile is one of your favorite BB's albums, then you have exquisite taste!  I finally "got" Smiley Smile last year.  Awe-inspiring in its elegant darkness!

I'm in the Pro-Love You Camp. Puts me in a good mood with every listen. No doubt The Night Was So Young is the best track overall. I like the energy on side one. The loud bass key is cool. Reminds me of some of the punk I listen to, like The Stranglers and Wire. Wall Of Voodoo too. Not for everybody. But definitely for me. Thanks Brian!

I never thought NTWSY was the best track either. I think more or less everything on Side A is better.

Yea, I am a Side A person too.

I'm a Side B person. Night/Nice/Hearts/Pick You Up is like my favorite sequence of songs ever

Don't get me wrong, I love the whole album, but I tend to like faster music, on the whole.

The more time passes, the more it's becoming clear to me that I just #$%&ing love this album and I don't care who knows it. That is all. :)

Exactly.

My first exposure to this album was actually Brian's performance on SNL of Love Is A Woman and - oh man. I had NO idea what to think.

With no knowledge of his mental state or really anything about the band (aka me at the time) I was so confused "THIS is Brian Wilson?!". I was oddly infatuated with the track. it was so silly and he just sort of sounded BAD. But so bad that it was good. I tried to explain to my friends who have no idea about the beach boys why this song was glorious. I showed them the video and they would laugh but for some reason I couldn't get the song out of my head.

Keep in mind Love You is probably the 4th Beach Boys album I had listened to all the way through or at least given the time of day. First being Pet Sounds, second being Smile sessions, then Smiley Smile and then Love You.

When I first listened to the album I loved it. There were the gems like Let Us Go On This Way, The Night Was So Young, Roller Skating Child as well as the goofy, eccentric tracks like Johnny Carson, Solar System, Ding Dang etc. Instantly fell in love and I had to find it on vinyl.

I showed my girlfriend the album just because and to my surprise she loved it as well. She found it at the local record store on and bought it for me as a surprise. Over the past year or so it has become my favorite Beach Boys album for many reasons.

On a side note it is a great LP to throw on the turntable and drink whiskey to.
5/5

When I first listened to a few tracks off this album, my reaction was mixed to negative. I honestly did not understand why this album was so popular.
But this album grew on me. So much in fact that it's now a favourite!
"Mona" is by far my favourite track. I also love "Honkin' Down the Highway", "Johnny Carson", "I'll Bet he's Nice", "I Wanna Pick you Up", and "Airplane".
"Good Time" is also great, but like "Sloop John B." on "Pet Sounds", it shouldn't have been on this album. Too out of place.
The rest i'm not a huge fan of, but are all still great. One of the only albums without any true clunkers.
4.5 out of 5.

Beach Boys Love You is my all time favorite album ever! It's just so genius all the way! I loved it straight on from the first listen, and it still gets better and better on every listen. I've heard it hundreds of times. 5/5.

Let Us Go On This Way 5/5
Carl's really rocking out here!
Roller Skating Child 5/5
Propably the best classic fun rock tune Beach Boys ever did after Fun, Fun, Fun.
Mona 5/5
My personal favorite. Simple and touching.
Johnny Carson 3.5/5
This is a weird one. I like the song very much but it doesn't fit to the context of the album at all. Johnny Carson WTF?
Good Time 4/5
Little bit out of place, but fit's lyrically very well.
Honkin' Down The Highway 4.5/5
Really great song, Al shines as always. The drum intro is super cool.
Ding Dang 5/5
GENIUS! (Should've been a little longer though)
Solar System 4/5
Another weird one. It's a lot better than Johnny Carson. Funny lyrics.
The Night Was So Young 5/5
Masterpiece.
I'll Bet He's Nice 5/5
Another masterpiece. I love to hear all the three brothers singing. Those harmonies! wow!
Let's Put Our Hearts Together 4/5
Really touching little song. I like Marilyn's voice.
I Wanna Pick You Up 4.5/5
Would be 5/5 song without that "pat her on her butt"-line. Can't help it but that just sounds too weird. The last line "she's going to sleep" is so awesome!
Airplane 5/5
One of the best Mike vocals ever.  The fake ending and the last part after that is really cool. It could be longer, but it's still great. Brian sounds really cool here.
Love Is A Woman 4/5
I think it's a great song and it sums up the whole LP pretty nicely.

Pet Sounds, Love You and That's Why God Made the Radio's couple first songs + the last 4 songs make a perfect trilogy.

Probably the best album of the 80's.

Pet Sounds 2.

10/10 5/5 9999/9999

Side 2 makes me want to hold my beating heart in my hand as i slowly squeeze the life from myself

Of the 80s? Came out in 1977

Jeez 16 pages for LOVE YOU..  :o  Well I read 4-5 pages and I gave up.. Heck everybody has said everything there is to say.. ;D   My reaction to this LP was SHOCK.. I played it many times to make sure I got it.. Well I could criticize production/ rough  vocals / instrumentation / trite lyrics / goofy synths  /  off key vocals / very little guitar / no trade mark BB harmonies /   Have I left anything out.? ..  So please explain how after 37 years I  STILL listen to this album.. :lol  I SWEAR I just don't know but I do.. I think im sick.. I know what it is.. Im afflicted with a virus known as Wilson fever.. And its contagious..!  I would never play this album for anyone but me.. No one is gonna understand this music but another soul afflicted with the same virus..  To listen to this music and use your imagination to find the true gems takes patience and love.. IMHO.. The true gems are:  Airplane ..IBHN.. IWPYU .. TNWSY.. SS.. HDTH.. GT.. LUGOTW... Mona.. And that still leaves 5 more songs and there are a couple I REALLY don't like.. LIAW  +  JC.. So that still leaves  3 so so songs..   JEEZ are you kidding me.!  If I was recording this either as a demo or a finished product I would never release this at all.. Shows how much I know.. So is Brian Wilson a genius or crazy..??  Are we crazy.. Easy to please ..Or tone deaf..?   I don't know but ill leave it to all of you to decide.... While its not close to being their best.. Listening for 37 years must mean something... What does that mean..?  3.5/5  cover art 2/5

more punk than new wave.

The main thing bout LY is that ya gotta take the times into context; the 70s was an awful time for commercially viable rock, in fact quality commercial rock died in the late 60s,not just for the BBs in america but overall. LY was and is a masterpiece for the fact that it was the BBs last strong album and I do believe that their contract with wb prevented it from being a solo album because with that bein said the  Holland was their last solid group effort. I mean think about this- the ramones rejuvenated rock in 77 with their leave home and rocket to russia albums and they were never a commercialy viable group so it was about quality and not quantity. The BBs from 63 to 67 made hit albums , after that the industry changed and quality groups made quality records whether they sold well or not and in the mid 70s the BBs solidified their place as the greatest-most beloved and important rock band of all time and that fact is carved in stone.

I never get tired of the magic of this album.. I think it speaks volumes of how far out Brian had gotten, and yet how he hadn't lost it. People so often use the word childlike to describe Brian and his music, and maybe here it could be described as childlike, considering he was 34. But I don't think it's "childlike", as if he was playing with legos between recording sessions. I think it's basic human feeling, longing for connection, and love. The same soul that wouldn't accept the truth in 'Please Let Me Wonder' longed for the love to never end in 'Let Us Go On This Way'. That love and longing, in the "pure" form (you don't know it, you feel it), is at the core of Love You. It was at the core of Pet Sounds, too. But there's a difference between PS and LY. On Pet Sounds, his love is there, blooming; on Love You, it's lost. And he wants it back. Brian's entire adult life up until that point was filled with that loss, ever since he fell in love with Carol Mountain back in high school, and one just has to look at the time between Love You to Pet Sounds and Pet Sounds to high school, from high school to little Brian listening and falling in love to the sound of his dad playing piano, the same dad who beat him. Brian's music has nothing to do about time, at all. The synths and sparsity of the sound compared to the full production of Pet Sounds shouldn't really turn anyone off. I remember being 13 and listening to Pet Sounds constantly, and listening to Love You and not feeling much of a difference between them. There is one difference though, I think, or one that might not be obvious. I think what Brian was longing for on Love You, and had been for years and years before it finally exploded into these songs, was the magic of Smile, and of Pet Sounds, and of the old days, when expressing himself almost made up for all the pain in his heart. It was the same pain that Brian was feeling when he wrote Til I Die, one of his greatest songs ever. Perhaps sadness/loss is the one only real thing in Brian Wilson's life. Perhaps subconsciously he knew that without it, he himself wouldn't be real. So for all those years between Smile and Love You, Brian was afraid to leave it's comfort, and only came close when its intensity pushed Brian to express it. One has to, in this regard, thank Eugene Landy for getting Brian out of bed during this time, and pushing him to the point where he could express himself again. He was obviously, in a very very weird place, and that's a magic about Love You. You can imagine Brian, washed out from his fear and wonder of his whole cosmic, multicolored 1960s experience,  just sitting down and watching Carson. Mike Love's vocal at the end it is one of my favorites of his. There's something funny about the "Honk! Honk! Honkin down the highway!" chorus of Honkin Down the Highway in the same way Barnyard was funny. I wouldn't say it's off putting, but something of that nature. It catches you. Solar System reminds me of that picture of young Brian looking up into the sky with a telescope. Maybe he was feeling nostalgic, or afraid of Landy, of band pressures, of everything, and so he escaped to the solar system. The Night Was So Young is one of the greatest songs he ever wrote, I think. I could go on about each song, but there's no reason for words really. Another thing, if one gets hung up about the silly words on this record, I think it's a pretty worthless fault. You're missing a beautiful, singular, cathartic experience. Like everything Brian Wilson did. And this is, really, a Brian Wilson album. I think it's said more actually then any of his actual solo records. It's the last great record the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson ever made. Brian even said to Peter Carlin 10 years ago, "That's where my heart lies."

There's something life affirming about someone diving into their own pain like this. It kind of heals yours. And no one went through pain like Brian did, and no one expressed it like he did. That's what Brian Wilson, the greatest musician in all of popular music, should and will be remembered for. It's nice to know that Brian loves you. 

Doesn't anybody know how to use paragraphs?

It's not hard.  :(

I don't see anyone doing anything wrong here  ???

I'm new to Love You, but wow. It's a crazy album, and I love it! Been listening for a month or two and not even remotely tired of it.

I'm curious about live performances of the Love You songs. I know a handful of the songs were performed in 1976-1978 or thereabouts.
Have Brian or one of the various BBs lineups ever revisited any of the songs in the 1980s, 90s or beyond? If so, which ones?

Brian has played "The Night Was So Young" 15 times (13 times in 2002, 2 times in 2004). Outside of that, I don't think he's done any other Love You songs  :(

Thanks for the reply. Would love to hear that live 'Night Was So Young' someday!

A shame that Brian hasn't performed more songs from the album in recent years. I can imagine some of them fitting nicely with his current/mature voice.

In a way, it's a pity that Brian and the Boys made other albums.  As outsider music, Love You is hard to beat. It would certainly have earned Brian a chapter in Irwin Chusid's book on the subject.

Yes, that coat----the one being trampled... ;=)

4/5. "The Night Was So Young" and "I'll Bet He's Nice" are two of my favourite BB songs. I actually think "Johnny Carson" is underrated. I think of that song as being about Brian and the pressure on him from labels and the other members of the band. If you keep that in mind, it makes more sense. A lot of it's really cheesy, but that's something I find endearing about The Beach Boys.

If you're still around, listen to the first couple of albums by the band Suicide.

This is my favorite forum post I've ever read by anyone on any subject. I mean that.

A work of flawed brilliance. In some ways, it's the Pet Sounds of the '70s--Brian barring his soul to the world. And in others, it's the anti-Pet Sounds with the complete lack of a Wrecking Crew and eloquent lyrics.

I think one could compare this to Syd Barrett's solo albums. That sense of a master at work is still there, but with noticeably sparser production and unexplainable feeling of damage and loss.

It's an enjoyable listen, I think the simple lyrics add to the sense that Brian's unafraid of exposing himself, warts/vulnerabilities and all, and that he's got nothing to prove and he knows it. He's just having fun again and trying to make a new album with the new 70s technology.

I take off a star for Solar System, though. Holy sh*t, what an absolute train wreck of a song. Here, those simplistic lyrics go from a stylistic choice and become an embarrassment. I hate to bash a Brian song to such a degree, but I'd be absolutely ashamed if anyone heard me listening to that song, and if I tried to say "The guy who wrote this is a genius who made the best music of the 20th century" they'd laugh in my face, I'd bet my life on that.

But aside from that brief moment where the album goes from cute to amateur-sounding, it's all good. A solid 4/5

It is awesome but feels like an intrusion on someone undergoing primal therapy to place him in a totally childlike state, like Lennon on Plastic Ono Band.

Some moments are as good as any popular music I have ever heard - The Night Was So Young stands up alongside any song you can name IMHO

Carl's plea, "Tell me what's on your mind" send chills

"I Wanna Pick You Up" also has eternal joyfulness for me.

I feel let down by the tossed-off middle eight of "Solar System". But ashamed of the song? No way! ;D

I actually do have to admit, the song has grown on me immensely the past couple listens.

Moooooooog Madness

Solar System is an awesome song and maybe the last Brian vocal that I unreseverdly love. It has all the charm of Brian at his best: childlike in his innocence (or naivety) but incredibly sophisticated musically. I don't think "mental illness" is a factor at all; Brian could have written it for Friends or even a pre-Pet Sounds project. Johnny Carson likewise.

The only songs I give less than a 5 on Love You are "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and "Love Is a Woman", which are just too MOR and trying to achieve arrangements that are outside of Brian's strengths at that point. Even in 1966, I'm not sure Brian would have made those songs quite work.

WARNING - What you are about to read is an unbiased opinion on my views of The Beach Boys Love You album, released in 1977.  These views do not represent the views of Mr. Michael Love, Mr. Brian Wilson, Mr. Alan Jardine, nor the Estates of Mr. Carl Wilson, Mr. Dennis Wilson, or Dr. Eugene Landy.  This is purely opinion, not to be taken as fact. 

OK, got that out of the way.  I have to give Love You a three.  Other than Mona and The Night Was So Young, nothing really stands up. 

I don't think this is a bad album, per se.  I just don't find it particularly good or memorable.  It's one of that albums that I can put on, and about four songs in, I'm watching the clock.   I just think its run of the mill.  To my ears, this sounds like a once great band going through the motions. 

Out of all the two-fers my 15 Big Ones / Love You gets the least amount of spins. 

The Night Was So Young is one of the best BB songs ever composed and one of my favorites. The synths and harmonies are beyond special.

This is the best comment I've ever read. I definitely feel a connection when listening to Love You. Its like for me, its all about knowing the feeling of Love, but not getting it or accepting it in your life, and it pains you emotionally, mentally and physically.  You always think about what Love can do, the wonders but you don't have that person or spark that will make you do it. TNWSY is such a heart breaking song, gives me the chills and helped me cope through my depressing and heartbreaking times through late high school. I love the synths and some of the lyrics its so cheesy but I love it, it makes me feel innocent and all fuzzy. Its just a shame I can't share my admiration with the BB to anyone else I know.

Let Us Go On This Way (3/5)
Roller Skating Child (4/5)
Mona (2/5)
Johnny Carson (2/5)
Good Time (4/5)
Honkin' Down The Highway (4/5)
Ding Dang (3/5)
Solar System (0/5)
The Night Was So Young (3/5)
I'll Bet He's Nice (5/5)
Let's Put Our Hearts Together (1/5)
I Wanna Pick You Up (0/5)
Airplane (3/5)
Love Is A Woman (0/5)

One gem, a few potentially great songs let down by poor production and horrid vocals, a very good song that had no place being on the record in that form and far too many abominations.
Overall 2/5.

Sorry if this is overly 'critic-y' but...

Admittedly, I like a lot of record as a fascination, rather than an enjoyable piece of music. The first side plays like a hypothetical Side 3 of 15 BO, silly rock 'n' roll numbers that are willfully obtuse in the sense that Brian seemed to be daring the listener to enjoy them. Totally abrasive and wild, and often very funny, but with a gleeful perversity to them that makes them very unique to this particular era of Brian/BBs. It's hard to enjoy them, it took me years not to immediately skip to "Good Time", which is a highlight for me, but I've learned to appreciate the sheer balls of recording a track like "Johnny Carson" or "Honkin' Down the Highway". Even though around this time most of the Boys were apologizing publicly for the let down of 15 BO, Brian seemed to basically double-down on that record's approach with an almost complete deconstruction of rock music as we know it, instead playing a stripped-down and mechanical machination of rock that almost plays like a parody of the genre itself.

Side 2 is where most of the record's gems lie, "Solar System", "I'll Bet...", "Airplane" and "The Night" are as good as anything they did in the '70s. They play more to the obvious strengths of all involved and are almost entirely devoid of rock music, but play well together as a collection of waltzes and robotic ballads. The instrumental arrangement on "I'll Be He's Nice" is brilliant, the guitars and synths play off each other like a call and response, so cool! Mike does an incredible job with "Airplane", and I actually love Carl's soulful, kind-of-drunk vocals that are all over the second side. "Love is a Woman" is an obvious weak point, no wonder its stashed away at the end there. "Pick you Up" I actually enjoy mostly because the lead synth sound is wonderful, and "pat....pat.....pat her on her buuuuuutt" always cracks me up, only Brian would ever sing that lyric on a record.

I'd give this record a solid 4, I'd probably even go 4.5 just for the complete madness that is this record. A classic Brian record.

Yesterday, I gave Love You the first listen in years----and thoroughly enjoyed it. What a strange, engaging album.

I seem to have already voted on it without comment----I hope it was a good vote.   

You should score each track like Mike's Beard has as you don't remember voting.  :P

I'm not a track-by-track reviewer. I'll just assume it was a good vote. ;D 

I'll take your word it was then.  :afro

I gave Love You another listen this evening while dining.

Say what you like about this board but if it hadn't been for Smiley I would not be the great fan of this album that I am today.

Thank you so much, folks, for converting me!

 Nice one man, it's an album that is so close to my heart. It's the album I put on when I'm in  a bad mood and need to cheer up...

I just listened to this album for the first time in decades and......I still don't like it. I won't go on why but I'm in the camp with the people who think of it as pretty darn bad. I'm so out of touch with Love You that right away I found "Good Time" to stand out as one of the few bright spots with Brian sounding good on it and to my surprise.. you all know the reason why.

To my point, this guy Peter Buck in the liner notes says it's Brian singing on Mona. Isn't it Dennis? I played it back three times. He also says Mike's vocal on airplane is one of his best ever...sorry but, who else seriously thinks that?

That guy is Peter Buck, lead guitarist from R.E.M., and yes it is Dennis singing but I can't blame him for getting it wrong given Brian's vocals at this point. Mike's lead on Johnny Carson is better than his lead on Airplane, and along with Al's lead on Honkin Down The Highway, are the best vocals on the entire album.

Thanks. Pretty bad mistake for someone claiming to be such a fan of the album.

I listened to the whole thing again and from a composition standpoint I can understand the praise but that's all. The production, vocals, lyrics......the whole thing sounds like a demo.

I would agree with that. There are some good tunes there if someone had written better lyrics for them, and if the whole package was professionally sung and produced. I gave it another listen tonight, thinking "maybe I've been wrong about this album" after reading all the praise of it here. Nope. I still don't like it.

For all it's warts, it is a "State of Brian" album. Where he was at writing, producing and arranging. It's demo quality sparseness gives it an edge that lacks on most post 1967 albums. I have loved it since the first time I heard Carl growl out that "Yeah" to start off the album.

That's a great way to put it, and I've always maintained the same argument. It's a true statement of Brian Wilson the man and the artist as he was in 1976. It's an important document for anyone interested in Brian's body of work.

I’ve been reading on this board for a bit now and I’m impressed by the high level at which everyone is speaking about the BBs music, and some even making their own bootlegs. Don’t expect a very profound review from me, I’m just a kid, dealing with my own share of mental illness. Well technically I’m just grown now but my brain is dragging me down most of the time.

I wanted to love this album. It’s because I love the cover art and always when that’s the case, I also like what’s inside. So I gave it a listen, but I got bored by everything except for Ding Dang, which is accessible in its whole lightheartedness and jolliness.

So I wasn’t very fond of it, initially. The BBs usually do better on vocals and the lyrics are even dumber than usual… Then I read through all the comments here, about how you’re missing something great if you just don’t get its beauty. I gave it another go, especially because of mr_oleary’s comment and I’m glad I did. I now especially like I’ll Bet He’s Nice, Good Time, Johnny Carson and Honkin’ Down the Highway. And Solar System is a nice thing too. Numerating all planets and saying something about them, now isn’t that sheer fun? But still, nothing tops the 58 seconds of Ding Dang. I don’t know what it is about this album that it has to grow on you.

I still find The Night Was So Young slightly disappointing, despite all the praise and recommendations it gets here. Mona is nice but repetitive and I think I will soon grow tired from it. The lyrics on Roller Skating Child are so wrong, sung by the Beach… Men, meantime, but for some reason I can take it and don’t find it at all as cringy as the less crazy/remarkable/paedophile/what else to call it When a Man Needs a Woman from Friends, where Carl gives his son “the talk” way too early. I also think the earlier recorded songs Good Time and if I remember it right Ding Dang fit in very nicely with the rest of the music and even much improve it.

I’m now discovering the later albums of the Beach Boys (it’s great btw) and I’ve now recently been listening to Friends, Holland and Love You. All great and quite consistent, however, there’s nothing on them that stands out for me as much as the Smile stuff for example and all the many hits before that. Even though people either love or hate Love You, I seem to be somewhere in between and give it a 3.5.

Braggart:  You have slight mental illness of the good kind, as I hope I do. Thank you for your honest remarks.
For Love You, try to draw up the history of garage/punk.  Louie Louie...Hang on Sloopy...Rockaway Beach.
Love You is Brian recognizing that and adding his own peculiarity.  And his band's voices.  Very good things!

Wow,thanks ! After 2 years of terrible struggling, a new doctor and new medicines are making me better and I could recover completely. And I’m going to check those out. About those voices, not all of them are worse than usual. I think Mike sounds great throughout the whole album, especially on Airplane. Good song that’s growing on me right now. The ending reminds me of A day in the life from The Beatles.