Is it a sign that I am too obsessed with the Beach Boys that as soon as I saw "Blondie" I immediately thought, "Chaplain"?

I do find it funny that many of my  other favorite groups are ones that were heavily influenced by the Beatles, yet I'm not all gung-ho about the Beatles themselves. A lot of it does  stem from their early stuff...the whole "She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah" type lyric with all the girls screaming...really annoys the hell out of me. The music is too poppy for me. Then again, I really don't care for most early 60s rock. Just a matter of taste. Compare what Brian was doing,and it's no contest IMHO. Now, if you want to talk about Beatles' later stuff, then I'll give it to you, although I personally don't see the big deal with Pepper. Again, a lot of it was due to Martin's production...and Brian's influence. I do like a bit of the later songs, but some of the lyrics...no. "Mean Mr Mustard", "I am The Walrus", "Come Together"...wtf? Great songs, but I cannot stand the lyrics.

Interestingly, I do like McCartney and Lennon's solo material, ESP. Lennon. Of course, some of that may be because my political views are so far to the left that they've actually are came back around from the right for a second lap.

Maybe the best measure of "best" is influence. Jon Stebbins alluded to this. I would be willing to bet that there was not one single pop-rock act after 1964 that was/is not influenced by the Beatles. Not one. Whether they know it or not.

Brian Wilson, Jimi Hendrix, Flat and Scruggs, The Clash, everyone.

Brian Wilson was/is also very influential. But because his genius was/is chiefly in vocal arrangements as performed by genetically related individuals, it couldn't be imitated as readily and so was less influential down the line.

Good points.Also, it was harder to emulate Brian because he came up with some unusual (for the time) chord changes. In order to truly copy him, one would have to try to unlearn any music theory they've learned in order to stand a chance.

I cannot say I don't like them, they were terrific, but they aren't THE only group who was great at the time.

Yet hear historians tell it...the Beatles were it. Period. Nobody better. I just don't buy that. IF you take the cultural shift they brought it away and just concentrate on the music, the earlier stuff is nothing special. Not bad mind you,in fact pretty good, but again...nothing better than what Brian was doing at the same time. Plus, George Martin deserves even more credit than what he has been given (and he's been given a lot). If they had a different producer, say, Mickie Most (), it never would've worked out like it ended up.

Also...I never thought their lyrics were that great.

 

I'll be honest...I've never seen what the big deal with the Beatles is. Maybe it's because I was born in 1978, and missed them when they were fresh, but I just don't see what's so f*cking great. I think though, too, that a lot of my feeling is colored by the fact that everyone acclaims them as the best, and I just don't think they were.

Yep! Mike, you win a hero cookie...

I actually thought he did. :/

Oh, and thanks for coming!

Also, there was this...

Brian and Al harp on continuously about what a great underated talent Denny was, but given the opportunity to highlight this to the wider world and they're too busy falling over themselves to see who can get the most of their own tracks onto the compilations, regardless of the quality..

Right. That's why "Lookin At Tommorrow", arguably Al's best song, is on it. Oh wait, it's not. Oh sh*t...

From memory, I know you have to click Instilliger, then testes...


This is getting into a whole new direction for me! Sure about that last part?

Ah jeez...

How come when Mike & Bruce depend heavily on these "fun in the sun" songs, they are criticized, but when Brian adds them, it's cool that he's revisiting them?

Oh, it ain't cool one bit. With Brian I expect more, esp. for the price.  I mean, I don't want Mike to try to sing Marcella. I'd rather try to remove my left eye with a corkscrew than subject mysef to that.

Anyway...Brian's been doing the same setlist (not counting the Pet Sounds or Smile sections) for quite a long time now. It's time for a change, or, better yet, some rest.

Anybody have Mike Love's phone number? :police

1-888-444-6404. Dare ya to call it...

 Luther... I was going to give you a step by step thing on how to do it, but once you get it to work, it always works. From memory, I know you have to click Instilliger, then testes. After clicking testen, try clicking Brian's name again.

I just tried it again. Sit there quietly for 17 seconds and Brian will tragically appear singing "Catch A Wave"!!!!

Fixed your post!

Thankee-sai!

I am just wondering if it is worth it anymore now these days.

Or for him to tour,for that matter.

because I bought it from that "Baseline Ticketing" that was hooked up with Brian's website).

As opposed to those "Freebase Ticketing" used for the other shows, as only a crackhead would want to charge us that much.

Hells Yeah! Even funnier would be if somebody photoshopped the head of 1976 Brian from, say, his Mike Douglas appearance on Will Ferrell's body in that pic I posted...

The main difference between Brian and the Beach Boys is that he does fewer gigs, and his ticket prices tend to be higher.   His ticket prices for Silver Legacy are awfully high, especially in comparison to other acts.

WTF is up with that? The show I went to 3 years ago was cheap,and that was a friggin' SMiLE tour! Yet, now the prices are like $30 more across the board, for an oldies show.

MaleEgo is back?

That's exactly what I've been saying. He actually HAS a "rock" voice, so why not sing rock? When he tries to sing smoothly, it sounds like warmed-over ass. On Drive-In and the like, he sounds damn good. You know what i'd like him to try? All I Want to Do. That'd be interesting...

Casino shows?! Oh my fucking shits...hell, what's next? Minor league baseball games?

That was my initial reaction, Andrew, too. However, I think there were parts that were quite good, usually the more uptempo numbers. But blessed that started off bad.

edit...
freakin' word filters...

Don't try to tell anybody on the Blue Board that, as they are apparently loving it on there...

Oh, and thanks for coming tonight!

Thanks!

This is the most lucid I have ever seen Brian....He is acting much younger than age 65; forget about that fainting spell stuff....They should take that arrangement of "Marcella", go into the studio, clean up Brian's vocal, and release it as a single.

Agreed. Too bad the first half of the concert was so weak.

And thanks for coming out tonight ladies and gentlemen....

I got tired of him saying that after every song...

Sidenote: Jeff Foskett looks bigger.

God Only Knows Brian's really trying here, but his voice sounds shot. The last half of the song sounds much better than the first. I think its time to retire this song from the playlist. What was up with Foskett's facial expression at the end?! He looked sick.

Add Some Music
Much better, as he's back to his vocal stylings from before the last two songs. The middle part to me is the best he's sounded on the entire show.
Heroes& Villains Don't like the sax part at the opening. It's obvious that that IS a sheet of paper he's reading from, as he uses the intro he always uses for Add Some Music for this one. That he said, he sounds good.

 Do It Again
Jeff sounds like he was throwing Brian off.  I really like the a capella bit...

California Girls
Brian played the opening on piano before the song actually began. Sounded kinda cool. He royally fodas up the lyrics in parts, but doesn't sound bad.  Love the acapella bit. I also noticed it was for Brian to be able to hear his keyboard, as he appeared to be changing the settings for it...

Marcella Hell yeah. Now I know why Brian was changing the sound... great guitar sound, too. I love Brian's versions of this. Wish he really WOULD do that "rock album" he's been talking about for the past decade...

I'll finish watching this later...

edit

Skimmed towards the end. Brian forgot the lyrics to Love & Mercy, but I like how he improvised. "A lot of people getting shot..." that was classic.

Hawaii
Nowhere near as good as when I saw Brian on 10/23/04. Bad sound mix, as Brian's backups are too loud in the mix. The noise reduction is starting to get annoying, btw.
In My Room
I hate the harmonica part. I do notice that in some parts, Brian is singing like he did in 1976, esp. the way he over-pronounces certain things. His voice sounds shot, but his actual singing sounds pretty good.
Surfer Girl
Opening part Brian is way off. Weird pronounciation of "I" on "I have watched you...". The middle part sounds pretty good, better than Knebworth 1980.

Sidenote...It's getting annoying when he thanks the crowd after every song. Also, the Row Row Row your Boat thing has outlived its usefulness.
Wendy
Sounds way off. Brian's bgvs are all over the place. This is making me sad. Hurts so bad, indeed.  I do like the parts where he kinda shouts...he sounds better on the rockers than the ballads.

When I Grow Up Brian sounds really good until right before the second verse. Again, his backups are really bad. Ouch. It IS kinda sad. I've heard Brian lots of times, once live in person, the other times from various clips like this, and I've never heard him this bad, apart from the 1999 (?) show at the Beacon that showed up at various places.

Do You Wanna Dance Flat.

Drive in
MUCH better. Proves my point about Brian sounding better on the rockers. His intro is funny, and he looks involved. He's having real fun, and he's feelin' it .


I Get Around
Back in 15 Big Ones form for this, and it  works. Think the last song energized him...

Sloop John B
Pretty good. He again sounds like he did on the Knebworth dvd, only with feeling. I like the growl. At this point  I'm noticing that the show has picked up a lot. Interestingly, he sounds like he's playing with the melody on his leads, but in a good way.

Wouldn't it be Nice Sounds flat at the beginning, but it also sounds like the band started off in the wrong key. I like the way he goes low on "...whole night through".  The middle part is off key, though. Whoa...I see a sheet of paper on his keyboard. Is he reading from a sheet of paper, as opposed to a Tele-Prompter?!