It would seem obvious that between Sept. 11th and Oct. 9th Brian would bring play his way across the country from one coast to the other, literally. But in Beach Boys world...who knows....besides, that would give approximately about 3-6 weeks for tickets to sell.

As I've probably mentioned before, when I saw a few Sep/Oct dates pop up, I wondered if we might see a relatively "full" tour materialize around those dates. But I think it's unlikely at this stage. Certainly, I don't envision a strong likelihood of more September dates being announced as that would indeed not provide much time to sell tickets (as I recall, that "TLOS" date he did in 2008 in Oakland, CA that was notoriously poorly attended was due in large part to the show on going on sale *very* close to the show date).

I'm kind of curious how and why these random October/November dates are being booked. I can't complain of course; any additional chance to see Brian and Al (and Blondie on at least some dates) is awesome.

The September San Francisco gig was booked before the UK tour was called off, so I always assumed that one was a warm-up gig for the UK in addition to being a sort of fancy venue for a specific concert series (The "Great American Songbook" if I'm remembering the name correctly). So that seemed like a logical "one-off" gig.

Perhaps they really are just taking a few concert bookings here and there as in 2014, just gigs where promoters offer a good deal, and then it keeps Brian active and out there. I just figured since they're schlepping out to these concert dates, they would have tried to pursue some additional bookings to fill in some of the gaps.

These are the Brian "Fall" tour dates we know of so far (perhaps when we get closer to the SF show, we can start a new "Fall" thread): 

September 11, 2015
 Davies Symphony Hall
 San Francisco, CA

October 9, 2015
 Colden Auditorium at Kupferberg Center for the Arts
 Queens, NY

October 10, 2015
 The Seneca Allegany Events Center
 Salamanca, NY

October 23, 2015
 State Theatre
 Easton, PA

October 24, 2015
 Topicana Casino & Resort
 Atlantic City, NJ

November 13, 2015
 Four Winds Casino
 New Buffalo, MI

In all fairness, at least some of the early discussions here regarding a "soundtrack" seemed to be in reference to a typical "soundtrack" as opposed to the score, meaning solely BB/Brian recordings.

I don't think everyone in that discussion in January (or earlier) was referencing a potential CD with mostly Atticus Ross cues.

As I've said before, I would tend to think these cassettes are legit. It's quite possible random caches of this type of material can pop up (e.g. the working version of "Warmth of the Sun" with "Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again" ).

I'm more interested in the genesis of the project. Even *that* many in-house promo copies existing (enough to warrant actually sending it out to replicate and have labels done) makes me think it was more serious of a project than just a staffer throwing it together on a lark. But the timing and context don't make much sense; I still don't feel like BRI would be behind such a project in 1998, nor am I convinced Capitol would have listened to that in 1993 and thought it was good enough for its own stand-alone release.

I'm surprised more folks aren't interested in this, but I guess the 1977 X-Mas sessions aren't of great interest to a lot of folks. 

Hoping at least one of the eight or more folks who bought the '77 X-Mas cassette (the fact that someone is selling *that* many copies of an ostensibly "in house" item is a bit odd I have to say) will post some stuff on YouTube or something so we can A/B it against what's already out there. I'm very interested to hear if we have upgrades on a few of the tracks now.

Still curious what the circumstance were/are of the apparent attempt to put that X-Mas stuff out in 1993, and how so many copies (as if they were actual regular "promo" copies of something that was about to be released) exist, considering it most likely never got BRI approval and was an in-house item.

The author of the article seems to be making an assumption of “retiring for good” based on unspecified information. Yes, Brian made allusions to it in a few interviews, but then afterwards said he wasn’t retiring. Also, it may be a fine point, but I don’t recall him every using the specific phrase “retiring for good.”

I’m not a Brian fanboy in denial; I could easily see him entering a near de facto retirement at any time. I’d argue last year’s tour schedule was approaching that, at least in terms of retiring from regular touring. But there’s scant evidence he’s going to imminently enter any sort of true “retirement” where he doesn’t enter a studio or do a single live gig. Not sure why this article needs to dwell on that; it’s not like they’re a PR person for Brian trying to drum up ticket sales by implying it’s a “farewell tour.”

I’m not even necessarily convinced he’ll never get near Colorado again, as the article also melodramatically implies. If he does indeed do a “PS50” tour in the UK next year, I could easily see him taking a swing through the US for some PS dates too.

Anyone seeing a listing for the download on iTunes or Amazon Music yet? It appears as though they may be rushing the digital release of this for awards season (Grammies at least), so I realize this may not be on the usual timetable. But usually a day before release they have some sort of listing if not previews. Curious if they'll get that all up by tomorrow morning.

It might be difficult to do an archival Brian-themed release unless they’re all home demos or something. As soon as studio tracks start coming into play, it becomes a BRI/Beach Boys situation, assuming pre-80's stuff is part of it, and potentially even if it's only later stuff. They have used ostensibly “Beach Boys era” Brian-centric recordings on “Brian Wilson” releases a few times in the past (the “Still I Dream of It” studio demo, where Mike was probably sitting right next to him while he played it, the early 80s “Night Bloomin’ Jasmine” track from the BW’88 reissue, and the “In the Back of My Mind” demo from some NPP editions). So I’m not sure there would be a problem clearing material for a “Brian Wilson” solo release. (Then again, didn’t they have problems clearing even a stripped-back “Baby Blue” for the POB deluxe set?)

HeyJude, if BBFC can get confirmation on Blondie joining those dates, we'd be happy to add him to the tour dates. All the venue websites I checked just list Al and Brian. Will add Blondie to the Sept. date, since he confirmed it on FB.

I do know that, initially only Brian and Al were listed for SF too. (The official artist billing for the show, and the tickets, still say “Brian Wilson & Al Jardine”). Before tickets went on sale, the SFJAZZ website did add Blondie’s name under Brian and Al’s. I don’t think any blurbs on Brian’s page or FB have listed Blondie for the gig, but if the venue and Blondie say it’s a go, hopefully that’s solid enough.

Perhaps someone can ask Blondie on FB if he’s doing the October gigs. Or maybe even he doesn’t know yet! I don’t think Brian has officially announced the 10/9 date himself yet either. I was curious if they were going to actually piece together a longer September/October “Fall” tour, but it’s looking more like they’re just doing scattered dates as they did in 2014.

Also, does anybody know if Blondie slated to appear at the October shows? He’s been confirmed for the September San Francisco show (though I don’t think Brian’s website, or Beach Boys Fan Club, etc. have Blondie listed; but the Davies Symphony Hall website lists Blondie and Blondie’s FB page mentions he’ll be there), but only Al is listed for the three October dates.

Here’s a link to a review of the Aspen show. The reviewer mentions that Al sang “Whatever  Happened”, but I’m guessing they’re actually referring to “The Right Time.” Not sure if the writer was just lazy and wrote down the first line of the song and then consulted the tracklisting for NPP.   

http://www.aspentimes.com/news/17601406-113/aspen-times-weekly-a-midsummer-nights-brian-wilson

It’s probably kind of like the “NonComm” show from May. Especially with these one-off shows, and one-off benefit shows, they often just fly in and do little rehearsal and often aren’t using their own sound gear; often just using rented equipment. One of the tells is when Al is playing a guitar he doesn’t normally play, as is the case in this clip.

It’s interesting, because nobody officially publicized this show on the usual websites or facebook pages prior to the show. Also interesting is that usually lately Al has not done the one-off, non-California benefit shows like this with Brian.

I only watched one clip in full so far, “Then I Kissed Her”, and that sounded okay, other than Al biffing lyrics as he often does.

Can someone point me in the direction to where I can download a good quality version of Somewhere Near Japan?  The videos on YouTube don't seem to have very good audio quality.  

Are we just talking about wanting the track, or the music video?

For the actual audio, if we’re talking just the standard version of “Somewhere Near Japan”, I would recommend just buying a used copy of the “Still Cruisin’” CD. That album was actually up on iTunes and Amazon for download purchase until not *that* long ago, certainly years after the CD went out of print. But if you need the audio, just buy a used copy of the CD. They’re as cheap as $4 on Amazon used, the song will sound better on the CD than either iTunes would have or the best YouTube download possibly could, and you’ll get at least a few other interesting BB tracks. Other than “Wipe Out”, I wouldn’t say anything else on the album is gawdawful.

I’m not a fan of the “single mix” of the song. It’s edited down, and the drums are kind of muted. It kind of just sounds like an “under-mixed” version of the song.

I haven’t listened to the two versions in a while, but my recollection is that Al definitely used elements of the original circa 1976 version of “Come Go With me” for the eventual version released on MIU. I think some of the vocals were retained, and perhaps some of the instrumental backing. He definitely punched it up with new drums and whatnot.

I’ve always felt they were somewhere in between a different “recording” or “take” and a different “mix.” Perhaps the best way to put it is that it was partially re-recorded and thus of course remixed.

There’s no indication from what I’ve seen that Carl had a “falling out” with Al. Rather, by Al’s own words, there was an estrangement due to Carl not opposing the issues Al did in the late 90s. That struck me much more as Al being troubled by Carl’s actions than Carl being troubled by Al.

That's the sort of thing that could go both ways. "I'm pissed off with you because..." "Yeah, well I'm pissed off with you because..." Also Bruce may not have been a corporate member but he would still have an opinion on stuff.

Well, we only have the available evidence at hand. We have a reason why Al would have been pissed off (and, at least according to Al’s words, even that might be too strong a term; perhaps disappointed or frustrated are better possible terms) at Carl, and not much of any specifics as to why Carl would pissed off at Al. I’ve heard and read a lot of “pain in the ass” and “difficult” and whatnot, but not only are these vague references, they also don’t seem to amount to the serious, business/political/corporate loggerheads that have supposedly resulted in game-changing shifts within the group.

I’m not trying to downplay how much of a downer it can be if you are touring with someone who has a bad attitude, but I question how big of a deal it was for the BB’s, considering all of the members’ foibles and idiosyncrasies and handicaps they brought to the band over the years.

In short, I don’t think Al was edged out of the band primarily because he had a “bad attitude.” It certainly couldn’t have helped. But I think he just chose to “make waves” about the political/business setup of the band WAY too late in the game, and was left marginalized and powerless (e.g. the Spinal Tap-esque moment where David Marks rejoins the band and Al isn’t told, only eventually noticing that Dave keeps showing up at gigs), and making waves hastened his demise. I think he was subsequently humiliated and marginalized (punished, whatever you want to call it) excessively (I don’t want to start the “Family & Friends” debates again, but as Howie Edelson has said, nobody was confusing Daryl Dragon and Carnie/Wendy and Owen Elliott for “The Beach Boys”).

I'm sure Brian's relationship with Al had its ups and downs too. Remember when he told Usher he thought Al was an ass.

Definitely. Brian also expressed displeasure with Al during an unedited 1985 interview tape (with Westwood One I think), talking about how Al was haranguing producer Steve Levine or some such thing (at some point evidently/allegedly Levine broke down and cried). I have no doubt these guys all have issues with each other.

But when we’re talking about Al’s “exit” from the touring band in 1998, I don’t think a “falling out” between Brian and Al (or between Al and anybody else other than Mike) had much if anything to do with it. If anything, it could have been a lack of contact/relationship at that particular moment that contributed to Brian not coming to Al’s defense at the time.

I also question the extent and magnitude of “issues” others may have had with Al, in the context of looking at all of the members’ issues over the years. That is, I don’t buy that Al having a ‘tude or being contrarian or anything was such a HUGE issue that it impacted the band *more* than all of the other power/money/ego/corporate stuff going on at that time (or before or since for that matter). Al being poopy in the late 90s may have hastened the motivation for Mike to not want to work with Al, but my opinion is that that was not the main motivating factor. Now, Al having an attitude *about* a business issue, that’s a separate but related issue. But Al saying “hey, I don’t like where this is headed, this isn’t a good idea to hand over so much power and control and income” (or whatever or however he would have put it) is not the same thing as being a stick in the mud or something out on the road on tour. Issues with business stuff are a substantive issue, and whether one would agree with Al’s stance on that issue given all the information, it’s certainly understandable to be vocal about something he disagreed with. Other members of the band surely have and still do vocalize their concerns I would imagine. Al just had bad timing and no support.

There’s no indication from what I’ve seen that Carl had a “falling out” with Al. Rather, by Al’s own words, there was an estrangement due to Carl not opposing the issues Al did in the late 90s. That struck me much more as Al being troubled by Carl’s actions than Carl being troubled by Al.

That's the sort of thing that could go both ways. "I'm pissed off with you because..." "Yeah, well I'm pissed off with you because..." Also Bruce may not have been a corporate member but he would still have an opinion on stuff.

Well, we only have the available evidence at hand. We have a reason why Al would have been pissed off (and, at least according to Al’s words, even that might be too strong a term; perhaps disappointed or frustrated are better possible terms) at Carl, and not much of any specifics as to why Carl would pissed off at Al. I’ve heard and read a lot of “pain in the ass” and “difficult” and whatnot, but not only are these vague references, they also don’t seem to amount to the serious, business/political/corporate loggerheads that have supposedly resulted in game-changing shifts within the group.

I’m not trying to downplay how much of a downer it can be if you are touring with someone who has a bad attitude, but I question how big of a deal it was for the BB’s, considering all of the members’ foibles and idiosyncrasies and handicaps they brought to the band over the years.

In short, I don’t think Al was edged out of the band primarily because he had a “bad attitude.” It certainly couldn’t have helped. But I think he just chose to “make waves” about the political/business setup of the band WAY too late in the game, and was left marginalized and powerless (e.g. the Spinal Tap-esque moment where David Marks rejoins the band and Al isn’t told, only eventually noticing that Dave keeps showing up at gigs), and making waves hastened his demise. I think he was subsequently humiliated and marginalized (punished, whatever you want to call it) excessively (I don’t want to start the “Family & Friends” debates again, but as Howie Edelson has said, nobody was confusing Daryl Dragon and Carnie/Wendy and Owen Elliott for “The Beach Boys”).

You keep saying 'Mike this' and 'Mike that' but the point is ALL OF THE BAND FELL OUT WITH AL!!! Carl only made peace with him when he found out he had terminal cancer. And I am only repeating what others have said in the past that Al became 'unbearable' to be around. It certainly is a part of the band's dirty laundry that has never made fully public but insiders have made one or two vague references to it on the board over the years.

The idea that the entire band had a falling out with Al is a vast oversimplification. There were clearly issues with Al, as described as early as the Goldmine interview with Mike in 1992 or 93 (and Carlin’s book points all the way back to 1990).

There’s no indication from what I’ve seen that Carl had a “falling out” with Al. Rather, by Al’s own words, there was an estrangement due to Carl not opposing the issues Al did in the late 90s. That struck me much more as Al being troubled by Carl’s actions than Carl being troubled by Al.

But I didn’t see Brian running back to the BB touring band in 1998, as if Al was the issue Brian had. Clearly Brian had as many if not more issues with Mike or simply the BB’s as a concept or organization back then. To pin it all down to everyone falling out with Al is too simple. For that matter, who was the “whole band” at that stage? If we’re talking about the touring band, then we’re really just talking about Mike and Carl at that stage in the late 90s. Bruce didn’t count (he goes where Mike goes, and even if he didn’t agree with someone, he has/had no vote in the matter). Brian has never seemed more annoyed by or estranged from Al than he has from Mike (Al being a pain in the ass or being poopy about Gary Usher or spending too much time tuning his guitar or adjusting his stage monitor doesn’t count).

Just as Carl was ambivalent apparently about Mike’s plans for the touring operation, he was apparently ambivalent about Al (in the sense of not trying to boot Al or anything along those lines). So it wasn’t, in my view, a case of the entire band falling out with Al. It was Mike falling out with Al (and vice versa), with Carl being ambivalent but either knowingly or unknowingly keeping the peace, and then Carl eventually having to deal with more pressing concerns and understandably not being too concerned with the touring band stuff (e.g. sending a message to David Marks that he was glad Dave was there). Again, Bruce didn’t factor into it, and Brian was doing his own thing and estranged from the entire band. 

To add a more general point to Wirestone’s excellent post above, it’s also worth noting that charts in 1988 probably were different in several respects to how they are now. It seems much more often now that, outside of a few HUGE sensations that continue to build (especially after winning Grammies, etc.), most albums and singles peak *very early* on the charts, often in the first week. Much less stuff “builds” momentum. When Brian or the BB’s put out an album in 2012 or 2015, the first week is almost always going to be the best in terms of sales and chart performance. People have more immediate knowledge of releases, more immediate access to releases, and charts are tabulated more easily.

I’m not an expert on this, but SoundScan appears to have come into play in 1991. So when “Kokomo” came out in 1988, I’m guessing stuff wasn’t as quickly and accurately tracked. Indeed, according to the SoundScan wiki article, prior to 1991: “Billboard tracked sales by calling stores across the U.S. and asking about sales - a method that was inherently error-prone and open to outright fraud.“

In a more extreme case, look back at US charts from the 60s. Huge hit Beatles singles would debut at like #87 and eventually build up to hitting #1. It probably wasn’t that slow of a build by 1988, but you have to allow for several weeks if not a few months when looking at a 1988 single and how other factors impacted its immediate sales. A single could get a “bump” and then still take several weeks to show that “bump.”

If the question is about whether someone is allowed to cover someone else’s song (which may well not be the question at hand at all), I think it’s free reign as long as the song has been published/copyrighted. If you just overhear Brian Wilson playing a song you’ve never heard, on the other hand, I don’t think you can just record it yourself, even if you give him credit. I’m sure there are some grey areas and weird scenarios.

I know in a few cases unreleased tracks have been covered. I think “Carry Me Home” was covered back in the 90s, and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Live Again” was also covered of course prior to release. I think a cover of “Soul Searchin’” may have come out prior to Brian’s 2004 version. But in those cases, while unreleased, the songs may have either already been published/copyrighted, and/or arrangements were made to make sure the songs were published/copyrighted prior to someone covering them.

Obviously, if you somehow hear an unreleased and unpublished song, you can *ask* the songwriter for permission to cover it, and I would imagine at least *sometimes* they’ll agree to it.

If I buy a blu Ray player, will it play my regular DVD's and CD's too?

I think every Blu-ray player ever manufactured has played DVDs as well, and in most if not all cases, CDs as well. You might find more sporadic support from stuff like audio formats like SACD or DVD-Audio. Sony players tend to support SACD.

A lot of Blu-ray players also have built in "apps" where you can use stuff like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.

As far as who is “still a Beach Boy”, I think the ambiguity in this is another sign of how f***ed up the band’s management and corporate setup is and has been for some time.

There is the “Corporate Beach Boy”, which essentially amounts to three guys and an estate (only one person from which actually tours using the name).

There is the “Official Beach Boy”, which is more simply a non-legal membership ascribed to members by the band itself and/or fans. This would be Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, Bruce, David, Blondie, and Ricky. This gets murky, because Dave, Blondie, and Ricky left. Bruce left but then returned. But then you have two deceased members. Notwithstanding Brian’s absence from something like the SIP album and various members only being sporadically involved, the “studio” and “touring” band were more or less one and the same up until 1998. Then, they became two separate things, with one component essentially retired. So when Dave rejoined in 1998, he was kind of only rejoining the touring band. Were both David Mark and Al Jardine still “Beach Boys” in 1999, even though Dave was not a corporate member but in the touring band, while Al was a corporate member but not in the touring band?

Yes of course, I’m sure some fans are happy to say “they’re all Beach Boys!”, and I’m happy to agree. But when it comes time for the media (or fans) to frame their story in some sort of actual text, things get murky. Al and Brian are often referred to as “ex-Beach Boys”, while Bruce and Mike never are. But this designation really only pertains to the touring band, which really isn’t even a corporate-managed enterprise at this stage, and is instead simply a licensed separate organization.

In a sense, all of them are simultaneously ex-Beach Boys and still Beach Boys. If they had real management, this would at least be somewhat less murky.

I'd love to read the whole story of how and why Al fell out with the rest of the group in the early 1990's. Somebody once posted on here that everybody, including Carl, signed a document of some kind to dismiss Al from the group. I believe it was AGD. Has the full story of that issue ever been discussed openly?

Dunno about that story of everyone signing a document to boot Al. If *everybody* had agreed to boot Al, then it would have actually been done. I don’t believe Carl ever actively supported dismissing Al in that late era. As far as I know.

The exact timeline and circumstances of Al and Mike being on the outs has never been clear. The Marks/Stebbins book goes into a bit of detail as far as the late 90s business arrangements. Long story short, business decisions were made regarding how to run the touring band; Al disagreed and Carl didn’t put up a fight, causing some measure of estrangement (but apparently not any serious ill will) between Al and Carl, and obviously a more serious rift between Al and Mike. Al apparently saw his demise coming, but couldn’t stop it.

But as Howie Edelson has characterized it, Al was essentially “s**tcanned and publically humiliated.” Doesn’t mean he was zero at fault; he certainly took part in the crafting of the BRI setup in the 70s and 80s, and I don’t doubt Mike’s early 90s Goldmine interview where he discusses how Al could be difficult and get stuck on things. But considering he was kind of s**tcanned circa 1998 and then kind of s**tcanned again in 2012 (to avoid the “nobody was legally fired!” argument, let’s just say “metaphorically or symbolically s**tcanned”), Al seems to be surprisingly relatively cool and easygoing about just enjoying touring with Brian now when he gets the chance.

One of the bummers in the Peter Ames Carlin book is that on two separate occasions he alludes to the Al/Mike rift but doesn’t pick up on any detail. He makes a one-off reference to an attempt to oust Al from the band (and/or BRI) in *1990*, and then when he gets to that same circa-1997 era where it all started falling apart, he kind of skates past going into any detail, making some reference to how the legal/business issues regarding the splintering of the band and use of the name are simply too complex to detail (I realize his book was a Brian bio, but a little more detail in these two cases would have helped A LOT).

They played Memphis on August 25 1990. I'll check my files and see if I have a review of it. Perhaps that would shed light on whether al was there. Though often reviewers are clueless and can't tell Dennis from mike. 

Thanks for checking on that. It's been so long since I listened to the recording; I can't remember if Mike or anyone actually namechecks Memphis or Tennessee.

Setlists.fm is far from 100% accurate, but they only show performances of "Somewhere Near Japan" taking place in 1990. That *may* rule out any year other than 1990, and then, if there is some reference to Memphis or TN on the recording, then 8/25 could indeed be the date.

Curious if someone just made up the Mid-South Coliseum venue for the setlists.fm listing (especially since I sense that a lot of those setlists on that site are simply ripped from Eric's Setlist Archive).

There were some weird musical chairs going on in 1990/1991. Mike missed some shows in May/June with Gerry Beckley "filling in" (thought Al and in some cases Foskett sang most of Mike's leads rather than Beckley). Brian also filled in for Al I believe (or was it Mike? It's mentioned in the "In Concert" book) a few shows in 1990 I believe (separate from his few gigs he did the full lineup).

Later in the year, Carl missed some shows recovering from surgery. One of those shows (9/28 in Tahoe I believe) circulates from a camcorder video, and some other dude with big hair (forgot his name) filled in Carl's lead guitar parts, while I believe Bruce took some of Carl's leads like Carl's part on "Kokomo."

While we’re on subject of shows from around this time, can anyone confirm the date/location of a soundboard recording that circulates that purports to be from June 6, 1990 in Tennessee? The date isn’t listed at Bellagio or the “Beach Boys In Concert” book. On the recording, Al is absent, and Matt sings his part on “Somewhere Near Japan”, and I believe also takes the lead on “Rhonda.” It’s been quite a while since I actually listened to it. I don’t think Foskett or Baker are on it (Foskett was gone sporadically with Adrian Baker filling in, then did his last show on July 4 with Adrian Baker returning).

The reason the purported date sticks with me is that Mike missed a short string of late May/early June shows due to some “Endless Summer Band” gigs, including June 2 in Ontario (where Al sang all of most or Mike’s leads, and for which a wonky sounding audience recording exists). I always found it odd that the BB’s did a gig on June 2 without Mike, and then only four days later Mike returned but Al was absent. I also wonder if Matt Jardine did any shows prior to Adrian Baker’s 1991 (or was it 1992?) departure where he (Matt) did all the falsetto stuff on his own.

I don’t know if they did “Somewhere Near Japan” at any shows in 1991; I seem to vaguely recall it only sporadically was in the setlist in 1989 and/or 1990. So I’m curious if the dating is wrong (which could easily be the case), is the show still from 1990, or 1991? The only other thing I can remember, having not heard the recording in a number of years, is that Mike makes a passing reference to Al being “on sabbatical”, which I always assumed was a polite if snarky way to indicate he wasn’t out sick and maybe something was going on behind the scenes, but nothing too serious.

The show is on Eric’s Setlist Archive, but I sense someone submitted it based on the circulating soundboard recording, as it only lists the 6/6/90 date and that it was in Tennessee. It’s on setlist.fm as well, and lists a venue and city (Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis), so I don’t know where that came from.

Even if the production is a little slick, I think the quality of the songs trumps the production style.  The melodies and vocals are there. 

I feel like the vocal arrangements are impeccable as always. Brian *rarely* disappoints there. The actual melody lines on the songs are pretty strong too. My issue is the rather bland chord progressions/patterns on some of the songs. I went on about this in detail back when the album came out (site with my review is linked in my signature line).