The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Youngblood, released February 1983.

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A raw, rockin' album from Carl. Very fun to listen to. Dig the outtake "Where We Are".

I'm a hard core Carl Wilson fan.  But I can't imagine that any major fan of later day BeachBoys would not enjoy this album.  A nice mix of Carl the Rocker as well as Carl the soft crooner.  The 2 CW albums should be released as a twofer.

Horrible AOR stuff with sound that's just too busy.  Not as good as most of the first album, which in itself is no masterpiece...  Title track is about the best one on the album

Horrible AOR stuff with a busy sound?  OK.  some parts are.  Especially the single release that made the top 80 in someplaces.

But my comment was that fans of CW and LATER BeachBoys music featuring Carl, will find much to enjoy.  There is truly enough good music on the two CW solo albums to make one very nice album, at the very least.

If you like the CW material on KTSA and 85, you'll warm right up to the CW solo stuff.

Don't forget...we're talking about two complete albums from the man who could sing the telephone directory and make it sound good.

Outtakes??!! Oh, wow! I'd love to hear those.

Carl's solo albums are no POBs (or "Feel Flows" for that matter), but I still enjoy listening to them. It's his amazing voice, it gets under my skin in a way none other does. I love his version of "Rockin' All Over the World"!

Also, best album cover photo on any BB-related product!  ;D I've got a poster of it, personally signed by Carl, hanging up proudly at home.

It's nothing earth-shattering or anything, it's just a very nice outtake that would've fit nicely on the first side of Youngblood. I don't know about others, there might be a few. Hell, there might be dozens. I don't know.

This is better than his first one, but still, I think Carl could have done much better things(and I expected him to do so)

This album makes "Surf Jam" seem like a wonderful Carl Wilson composition in comparison.

Surf Jam IS a wonderful Carl Wilson composition, dude.

Meh, it's okay, I don't know, it's just a little boring.

If you don't like surf music, I guess.

I do like surf music, I just don't happen to like Surf Jam.

Well, at least we agree on how horrible Youngblood is.

Too Early To Tell is pretty good. What you do to me could have been good with better lyrics (like poetry yow!). The title track has a horrible production, hmm Rockin is ok if not worth playing over and over. Better then Beach Boys 85

Carl's cover of Billy's One More Night Alone is, IMO, among the best CW vocal performances and anyone disagreeing is itching for a fight. >:(

OK album, not that great.

I'd like to have the CW material on CD along with all of the Dennis material (I already have the BW material on CD)

I'd like to make a nice compilation of favorites.  I could do it with records but I've yet to buy the necessary software and patchup hardware to connect turntable to computer.

I would think someone would make this available in a legitimate release.

If it were someone else singing this, I'd never give it a second listen.

But I gave it a second listen, and I still don't like it. What You Do to Me is the only song I'd listen to often.

My least favorite is "Time". It's all over the place, and comes right after a soft ballad. The sequencing on this album is terrible.

I give it a 2 for Carl's voice and Carl's voice alone.

But it's crap. Crap crap crap.

About the same as the first album. I can listen to it, theres a song or two, maybe even three that are ok...

Actually, it is the lyrics that do me in more than anything. Not that bad...just spectacularly dull. Sort of a Survivor feel to the album.

I regularly listen to Carl's solo albums now. I guess I've gotten used to them.

A mediocre album by a guy who could do much better and knew he could do much better.

'Til very recently, Youngblood had gathered dust for years without me ever giving it a serious try. Have to say it reminds me of BB85 in places. In fact, Of The Times could have been among the highlights of that much-maligned album, which I never thought was THAT bad after all.

That said, as an album Youngblood is still pretty much of a bore. Also, Carl's trying a bit too hard to come across as a rock singer here. But maybe that's just me as I have always preferred his more gentle singing over his eighties rock voice. Our Sweet Love, that's the way I love him best. - 2/5

Just a reminder that the reissue of Youngblood is still set for release tomorrow, October 26th, per Amazon.com.

just a reminder this album is good. honestly, it's not as original as the stuff dennis or brian did, but it's worlds ahead of Looking Back With Love. The second track, She's Mine, i've liked from the first time I've heard this album. And honestly, Carl never really got to shred on many Beach Boys songs, so it's nice for once to hear him go all out.

3/5

I feel like saying "it's not as bad as Looking Back With Love" is equivalent to going "well, the album isn't as bad as Summer In Paradise but it's also not as good as Stars And Stripes, Vol. 1" -- which are not things that really make me want to go out of my way to listen to albums, I must say.

God put me on this earth to rock out to the guitar solo on She's Mine

Just picked this up the other day and was pleasantly surprised. It's no POB -- or even TLOS -- but it's definitely an album that suggests a lot about Carl's tastes. Some nifty songwriting on a couple of the tunes, too.

Curious as to what you think of "Of The Times"? I always thought this would have made a great Beach Boys album track.

It's just about my favorite song. It reminds me a lot of some tunes on BB85. Perhaps the standout on the album that's actually written by Carl.

Carl's voice shines on this. Actually I basically like anything with the Wilson bros on it  ::) The songs aren't that great but Carl's voice makes it worth listening to. His performance on Of the Times and Givin' You Up are just stunning. Voice of an angel.

Of The Times is a very good song, imo. It should have been a Beach Boys song had they recorded during that time period.

Another song the BBs should have covered. Carl's stellar voice combined with the BBs harmonies!!!  :o

Carl could've made a better album but some of this album rocks. I think the best song on the LP is 'Time'. Total rocker. A few tracks are way too AOR for my taste but I love the rockers.

An improvement over his first solo album. But it's still not a great album.
3 out of 5.

I like this LP..  It rocks + has good ballads also.. Really nice guitar playing by Jeff Baxter..  Should be a 2fer with 1st solo LP.. There are tracks on both LP"s that should have been BB songs..  4/5

I have heard on fb that there are plans to reissue Youngblood as a two-fer cd with the 1st solo album. We'll see....

"What More Can I Say" – 2/5
"She's Mine" – 2/5
"Givin' You Up" - 3/5
"One More Night Alone" - 3/5
"Rockin' All Over the World" – 2/5
"What You Do to Me" – 3/5
"Young Blood" - 2/5
"Of the Times" – 3/5
"Too Early to Tell" - 2/5
"If I Could Talk to Love" – 3/5
"Time" – 2/5

With the exception of the vocals, everything about this album is average. The ballads work better then the uptempo stuff, but the material is very 'samey', at least his debut had a standout in Heaven. Of the Times sounds like It's Getting Late in parts.
Overall 2.5/5.

Nice to see some love here for "Of The Times". It reminds me a bit of Tom Johnston-era Doobies. Jeff Baxter's playing on this album is great! "She's Mine" is a good example of that - and the piano playing rocking out behind him. Baxter said he sought out musicians that respected Carl as a singer and musician and wanted to work with him - and it shows. "Givin' You Up" is one that is just played and produced - and sung - to perfection. Carl's ad libs on the tag of "Givin' You Up" and "What You Do to Me" are good examples of what made him great as a singer, he put everything he had into the songs he sang. And then on the quiet side, there's "If I Could Talk to Love". Just a beautiful song, I have played it on the piano or guitar a few times. Enjoying the live Bottom Line cd now, but I sure would like to have a live recording from the Youngblood tour, too.

Bought a copy a couple days ago with a gold stamp over the barcode that says "FOR PROMOTION ONLY Ownership Reserved By CBS Sale Is Unlawful"

Did I hit the jackpot or are some guys in suits about to show up to my house and snap my vinyl in half while snuffing it out on the ground like a cigarette?

The sleeve has a bit of ring wear but the wax looks like it hasn't been played more than a handful of time. Not a huge fan of the 80s cheese but overall it's a decent album with incredible vocals.

I have quite a few albums with that kind of stamp on them. Used to find them all the time at a used record store down the street from Tower Records. And no one's showed up at my door asking for them back.

Back in my college radio days, pretty much every album in the library had that stamp.  They'd often find their way to used record stores when the station would clear out stuff from time to time.

This album is the best! I've heard it a bazillion times! 5/5

It's always nice to see positive comments about this album. I still love it.